Live Love--Share the Hearts

By Michael Oliver

As I embarked on my journey into 2020, I found my fellow human beings becoming increasingly angry, fearful, and distrustful of each other. I asked myself this question, “Is this who we really are?” It felt like the negative and dark energy hiding in the shadows finally found a doorway. So many triggers appeared, and they would consistently attempt to flip the switches of light, to darkness. At times it felt terribly dark and other times, it felt like light was returning. It is a battle that continues today, but is not a new battle; it is a different battle. 

What is different about this battle, you may ask? Awareness! Yes, we are more aware of what was lurking in the darkness than we were in the past. Humans are waking up! And it is in that process of waking up that we are learning to acknowledge the ways of the past that have been damaging to our species and limiting our growth toward living a life of love and joy. For me, 2020 triggered a deep and self-reflective time. I kept pondering over what I could do to make life for humanity better, and I came up with the Share the Hearts Campaign. 

The Share the Hearts Campaign was inspired by Dr. Kenneth McCulley who founded a human potential development program which included a poem titled I Live Love Every Moment of My Life. In that poem, Dr. McCulley’s primary message was to wake people up to the reality that we all come from the same source and as such, we are all brothers and sisters, one and the same. It was Dr. McCulley’s dream that all humans demonstrate, unconditionally, Living Love—performing acts of kindness for their fellow human beings. Motivated by the energy and effort of Dr. McCulley, our team wanted to build a campaign that would operationalize that message to the world. 

Sharing a simple wooden heart can make a difference! Every act of kindness, thoughtfulness, caring, and copassion, is an act of living a life of love—as the Beatles once sang, “All We Need is Love.”  True!  What a difference love can make. 

Mindtation, a small start-up company, is on a mission to help people find their paths of joy, because when people are living their joy, they live a life that is aligned with who they truly are, living in and experiencing positive synchronicities. We decided that we wanted to do something fun, yet meaningful, to engage people back into love consciousness and help them along with aligning with their true selves. 

Read related article: Living From the Awakened Heart

Along with teaching the power of meditation, the breath, mindfulness, intuition and sound, we are initiating the Share the Hearts campaign to help spread loving kindness.  Wondering how it works? Small packets of wooden hearts are purchased from our website and then you can give them to people you “catch” doing acts of loving kindness. In the packet, there is a heart and a card explaining the purpose of this event. Each one of us will be the eyes of the change we want to see. This act, this awareness, plants the seed of love and kindness into one’s consciousness—making it grow each time it is acknowledged within someone else. Each time a wooden heart is given for an act of kindness, it reinforces love and kindness within yourself (the giver) as well as expanding the consciousness of love in others (the receivers). 

At the deepest level, we are all one and the same.  As Peter Yarrow said, “There is only one river. There is only one sea. And it flows through you, and it flows through me. There is only one people. We are one and the same.” The kick-off for Mindtation’s Sharing the Hearts Campaign took place on April 9th, 2021.  To kick-off the event, Mindtation presented a video providing an overview of what it means to live in joy and love—especially during stressful times and the many benefits that it can bring. The purpose of this campaign is to bring us back to loving kindness and mindfulness...bring us back to awareness of our own humanity.  

Let’s re-learn how to respond to all situations with love. The goal is to put the intention of Living Love, our Truth, back into the world.  

If you are interested in this campaign and would like to learn more, please visit Sharethehearts.com. A percentage of all heart package purchases will be donated to select charities. 

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All Creatures Great and Small: Pippen— Our Own Little Mafia Boss

By Jenn Carson

My husband and I have been together for almost 30 years. In that time, we’ve raised four boys and six dogs. Well… six and a half if you count the puppy we raised for my mom for the first five months.

Most of our dogs have been of the “big” variety—labs and lab mixes. Our first dog we had together, Meghan, was adopted from the Huron Valley Humane Society. I was told she was a shepherd/lab mix, but we always wondered because she wasn’t built like either of the two breeds. She had long, slender legs, petite feet, a glossy coat, and a fan tail that curled up. It wasn’t until recently, when my husband’s aunt and uncle brought an English Shepherd puppy home that we had an aha moment—Meghan had been an English Shepherd.

Neither one of us ever considered getting a little dog—they were yappy, biting little creatures (or so we thought). Big dogs were safer—they kept strangers away from our kids, foxes away from the chickens, and our feet warm in bed. So, what made us change our mind?

Read related article: Sit. Stay. Go Home.

As life moved on, our priorities shifted. Everyone in our family is now an adult. Constant supervision is no longer something our children need, which leaves my husband and I free to explore the country—to see all the things we didn’t get to because we started a family when we were young instead of sowing wanderlust. We bought a small motorhome in order to do this, but a 90-pound lab and a small motorhome don’t really go together all that well. We knew we’d never leave a dog behind for three or four months, and we knew we wouldn’t want to be without the companionship of a dog. So, the search began—for a small dog with a big dog attitude.

Boy, was this a lesson in framing your wants to the universe correctly!

We got a small dog with a very big attitude.

Pippen was a sweet-looking, less than three pounds, little bundle of brown and white fur. A cocker spaniel, poodle mix. We’d never paid more for a pup than we did for her, plunking down 800 hard earned dollars. The first weekend we had her she wiggled under the claw-foot tub in our Victorian house—and came out with a blue pill in her mouth. A struggle ensued—she didn’t like to give found treasures up. A few months previous my husband had dropped his blood pressure medicine—he thought he’d picked them all up—obviously he didn’t get them all. I scrambled to the phone and called the emergency vet, since it was a Sunday morning. The receptionist was very calm until I told her that Pippen only weighed three pounds.

Needless to say, a whole day at the vet on IV’s, and $600 later, we came home with a little ball of fur with two shaved front legs and a lesson learned—small dogs can get into places you’ve never even thought of. Looking at this positively, the floor under the tub has never been so clean.

Even though Pippen is the smallest dog in the house (only 11 pounds)—we still have a 90-pound male lab, and an old girl who weighs about 65 pounds—she is the dominant dog—most of the time. Our old girl will still put her in her place occasionally, but our male dog lets her boss him around something fierce. It’s comical most of the time, but sometimes momma has to step in, like when the other dogs want to wake me up in the morning. As soon as they approach the side of the bed Pippen starts to guard me. While I appreciate the fact that she wants to let me sleep, the fact that she’s standing on my head growling at the other dogs doesn’t really help all that much.

Pippen can also be very demanding.

I trained her to ring a bell when she has to go potty. I was so proud of how smart she was! She learned this little trick in about four days, and even trained the other dogs to know that when the bell rings, everyone can go outside. But now I wonder if I trained her or if she trained me? She now rings the bell when she wants to go out to potty, but she also rings it if she wants to distract the big dogs, if she wants to sit on the porch steps in the sun, or wants to go for a walk. If I don’t get up right away she walks into the room I’m in and cocks her head as if to say, “What are you doing hooman? I rang the bells! Are you deaf?” The look on her face is priceless and always makes me laugh (and groan at the same time because I’ve been interrupted for about the tenth time that afternoon).

Pippen can also be very insecure.

When I put my shoes on, she starts to lose her mind. She steals and runs away with the shoe I haven’t gotten on yet and she attacks my fingers when I’m trying to tie my laces. I’ve started kenneling her up when I have to leave without her before I put my shoes on or putting her harness on first if I am going to take her with me—that way she knows she’s going. Thankfully, she has also developed a bond with the boys who still live at home, so if I do have to leave her, I feel better about it—but she definitely prefers to be with mom.

Okay—so having a puppy has always been like having an infant—I knew that going into this, but I didn’t think I was getting a new mafia boss in the house. I’m hoping that she’ll calm down a little as she gets older—and for right now, I’ll just remember that it feels good to be so loved, even if she does try to boss me around. 

Learn more online at fourpawsvetwellness.com.

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CRAZY WISDOM WEEKLY

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Gut Feelings and Your Brain ~ The Bidirectional Communication Between Your Brain and Digestive System

By Meghan Marshall

Anyone who’s ever had a “gut feeling” or felt the stomach-sinking effect of bad news probably believes in some kind of connection between the brain and the gut. These people would be right. However, the strong bidirectional communication between the brain and the digestive system is much more complex and intertwined than most people realize.

Bidirectional means that there are messages being sent both from the brain to the digestive system, and from the digestive system to the brain. The digestive system even has its own nervous system—the enteric nervous system.

The brain sends nerve signals, which are either carried out by the parasympathetic nervous system or the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is known as the “rest and digest” system, while the sympathetic nervous system is what responds during dangerous or stressful conditions. Consequently, when the parasympathetic nervous system is responding, gut function is stimulated while the sympathetic nervous system inhibits gut function. 

These signals are sent using nerves, hormones, and inflammatory molecules. The vagus nerve is one of the key components of this brain-gut connection. The connection of the vagus nerve between the gut and the brain can influence factors like appetite, food intake, pain, mood, and more. Interestingly, most of the signals sent via the vagus nerve go from the digestive system to the brain; for example, when the stomach is empty, ghrelin is released from the gut to stimulate feelings of hunger from the brain. The information generated in the gut that reaches the brain is then interpreted by the brain and sent back to the gut in order to adjust its functions.

Knowing about this strong and intimate connection between the gut and the brain, it only makes sense that emotions, or a certain state of mind, can considerably impact digestive functions. Particular emotions can even be a predictor of certain diagnoses, like irritable bowel syndrome or chronic constipation. How can this be possible? Well, as mentioned, the body reacts via different systems depending on the present situation. When stress or danger is signaled, the sympathetic nervous system responds, moving blood away from the digestive system to help negate the threat (i.e. bringing blood to the muscles so you can run away), inhibiting the vagus nerve and slowing digestion. The hypothalamus in the brain releases a molecule called corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), generating a gastrointestinal stress response and also releasing the stress molecule cortisol. 

Read related article: Why Your Gut Won’t Heal – And What You Can Do About It

During very high-stress or anxiety-inducing situations, the gut signals are felt more sensitively, which is what can lead to an immediate response of diarrhea or even vomiting during these types of situations. 

This response is very helpful in life threatening situations. However, it becomes problematic when this response is chronic; common in our high-stress, demanding lifestyles nowadays. With persistent unpleasant emotions—as in someone with an anxiety disorder—this can lead to changes in the enteric nervous system over time. These changes can induce continual, increased gut sensitivity and lead to symptoms like bloating, stomach pains, or constipation. This dysregulation in the digestive system can eventually lead to diagnoses like IBS, indigestion, or chronic constipation or diarrhea. Unfortunately, each of these can be a “catch all” diagnosis when physicians can’t seem to find a physical explanation for the cause of these symptoms. Treatments for these conditions are usually aimed at minimizing symptoms instead of correcting the root cause for the dysregulation, and relief from the symptoms can be hard to come by even with these therapies. New studies are now being conducted on the effectiveness of psychotherapies like cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and hypnotherapy for IBS and similar conditions with promising results. 

Stress isn’t the only emotion that can have an impact on the digestive system, however. Depression, sadness, and hopelessness can result in a decrease in peristalsis, which are the wave-like contractions along the digestive system that help to move the food through the intestines, possibly causing constipation. Anger and aggression can trigger the contractions in the lower intestine. 

Furthermore, your body has the ability to store responses and memories of a traumatic or stressful event, which can elicit reactions after the event occurred, even years later. Childhood and even generational stress can cause a predisposition to the gut overreacting to stressors, leading to gut-related symptoms. 

Visit Dr. Krasknick online for more information.

On the reverse side, dysregulation in the gut can also have a negative impact on a person’s mental and emotional state. One type of dysregulation could be the makeup of one’s microbiome, which is the name for the trillions of microorganisms that populate the digestive tract. The activity in the brain or state of mind can influence the microbiome, and the microbiome can reinforce emotions and even prolong them. Not surprisingly, the microbiome has the ability to also influence risk for digestive diseases. Some of the non-beneficial or harmful microbes are able to increase their numbers with the metabolites that result from stress. This imbalance of “bad” bacteria in relation to the beneficial bacteria is called dysbiosis. Dysbiosis can also lead to undesired gut-related symptoms. 

Studies are even starting to show the association between neurodegenerative diseases and the gut. Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, may be one example of this. Some recent studies have found that even before characteristic Parkinson’s symptoms materialize, the enteric nervous system goes through the typical Parkinson’s nerve degeneration and is accompanied by a change in the gut microbiome. 

With all of this evidence contributing to clear proof that the mind and the digestive system are strongly interconnected, what should you do with this information? 

One recommendation is to avoid eating whenever you’re experiencing high, short-term stress. The body’s focus won’t be on digestion during this time, which can lead to acute gut-symptoms like stomach pain and bloating. 

For someone who’s chronically stressed or overwhelmed, therapies aimed at relaxing the mind and body can be beneficial. This could include yoga, meditation, walking, or spending time in nature. 

In regard to supporting the microbiome, fermented foods are ideal. Some recommended sources are kimchi, miso, sauerkraut, and unsweetened yogurt or kefir. While food sources are optimal, supplemental probiotics can be an alternative. However, desired results can vary depending on probiotic strain, so it is recommended to begin these under the supervision of a qualified medical professional. A healthy diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is also favorable for gut health and supporting the microbiome. Avoiding antibiotic overuse and not purchasing antibiotic soaps or household products can further benefit the microbiome and help to reduce the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Being aware of this impactful gut-brain interconnection can help lead you to a happier, healthier life. 

Meghan Marshall is a Registered Dietitian with a master’s degree in Nutrition and Functional Medicine. Meghan currently works as both a clinical and community dietitian, and is the owner of Black Moon Nutrition + Wellness. She is the creator of and writer for the new blog, Black Moon Nutrition Blog blackmoonnutritionblog.com.

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