#And we’re reducing to he seems mostly interested in the myths

[iamfitzwilliamdarcy]

That Tolkien post going around again is a Mess bc the OP most likely only made it to justify shipping that Tolkien 100% would not have approved of but then you read the notes and realize they don’t even know what they’re talking about when they’re discussing Tolkien’s Christianity

[hellomynameisbisexual]

“Personally, I think choosing between men and women is like choosing between cake and ice cream; you’d be daft not to try both when there are so many different flavours.” This endearing analogy, uttered by equally endearing Icelandic icon Björk, stresses her steadfast opinion that “everyone is bisexual”. But even if bisexuality doesn’t describe everyone, it makes up the largest proportion of all people non-compliant to the adjective ‘straight’. Simply put, bisexuality is a term to describe individuals who feel romantically and/or sexually attracted to both sexes, meaning their preference is neither exclusive to men nor women.

But despite its sizeable demographic, and the numerous studies which conclude pure hetero- or homosexuality to be a myth, bisexuals often fall victim to social ostracism. Too gay for straights, too straight for gays, bisexuals are too frequently labelled as frauds or experimentalists, incapable of committing to one sole party. And as society’s understanding of sex and gender progresses, leaving little room for binaries, ‘bi’sexuality becomes increasingly complex.

Bisexuality Pride LGBTQ David Bowie Lady Gaga Freddie Mercury Music Pop Culture Pride 2019 Pansexual Queer Think Piece

A constant and bothersome companion to bisexuality is its apparent ambiguity—society’s inability to grasp the potential for erotic or amorous interaction with not just one of the two sexes has wrongfully made bisexuality a matter of superstition. A recent study found that bisexuals, of all sexual minorities, are the most likely to suffer from mental illness along the lines of anxiety and depression, stemming from both internalised and externally inflicted biphobia on account of stigmatisation and discrimination induced not only by straight people, but by members of their own community as well. The most prevalent vehicle for intolerance of bisexuals is (surprise, surprise) the narrow-minded idea of there only being two sides to pick from, leading to nonsense-assessments à la “bi people are repressing something”, “bi people are on the verge”. Moreover, male-identifying bisexuals are regularly pigeonholed as gay men who want to feel more “normal” every now and then by strutting alongside a woman, whereas many bisexual women endure belittlement, their experiences reduced to mere trial and error phases of rebellious college years.

But what does being bi even really mean in an age when dating apps such as Tinder offer more than 20 options to describe one’s own identity? How timely is the concept of bisexuality when we’re on the cusp of throwing out expired definitions meant to mathematise human sexuality and identity politics? Connecting the dots—ranging from those force-feeding frequently surreal interpretations of bisexuality to the rusty roles and rules of gender coinciding herewith—brings along another, very new problem for and with the titular term. Bisexuality is rooted in duality—its name is predicated on the ‘fact’ that there are two genders: male and female. Present day’s discourse, however, has done its best at dismantling said duality, pushing the notion of gender as a social construct. What makes bisexuality a problem for mainstream culture to comprehend is the underlying, subtle reality that it ultimately caters to everyone but the straight cis-man—unfathomable for a mindset cemented in patriarchal convictions. It, with other things, then leads to a phenomenon called bi-erasure, and furthermore to bigotry at its broadest, sourced from wide-spread disregard for sexual fluidity and refusal of the concept that one doesn’t feel exclusively drawn to one thing in favour of the other.

It’s this exact type of treatment that exhibits the general populace’s insufficient degree of sensibility in dealing with matters “out of the ordinary” and why, despite it’s historic prolificacy (ancient Greek, Japanese and Roman depictions of bisexual relationships were fairly common), sexual fluidity didn’t gain mainstream momentum until the 70s, when Freddie Mercury and David Bowie emerged as two high profile beacons of the cause. Where previously bisexuality had been the product of retrospective speculation—Hollywood figures such as James Dean, Marlon Brando and Greta Garbo were ‘outed’ after their careers ended—pop music popularised bisexuality in the present—and for an audience beyond the queer underground.

That’s not to say Bowie’s take on bisexuality exactly exuded ‘Pride’—in fact, the artist explained more than once that officially coming out did him more harm than good. Still an undeniable legend in- and outside of the LGBTQ+ cosmos, Bowie—just as other people in his shoes—had difficulties with the term in question, revoking or minimising claims again and again—to the point that, to this day, biographers, fans and exes alike remain unsure wether or not he felt honestly attracted to women and men, or was merely intrigued by bisexuality on a shock value- or curiosity-level. It resembles the kind of borderline sensationalism that brought forth Madonna and Britney’s VMA kiss, vague-at-best comments by celebs in interviews and other question-worthy instances of how bisexuality has been brushed up against, but rarely embraced on a genuine level by people of public interest.

It all charts back to what is referred to as the male gaze—the filter through which we’ve been taught to consume our environment, particularly by way of media. Even the little bits and pieces one does see tapping into alternatives to classic hetero monogamy are mostly blemished by negative stereotyping and bizarrely hypersexualised scenes fresh out of frat-bro wet-dreams. Going against this grain is Desiree Akhavan’s series “The Bisexual”, in which the 35-year old actress, director and HBO’s “Girls”-alumna has managed to entertainingly and thoughtfully depict what might be be one of the first examples of how to pop culturally handle the often conflicting topic of being bisexual with care.

Aforementioned proceedings considered, execution and a heightened awareness for cause-and-effects are why a new generation of vocal youth has, across all platforms, boosted a conversation to crack open the boxes we are either placed in, or choose to place ourselves in for fear of bad resonance. More modern, more inclusive designs like pansexual—the tendency to sexually or romantically like someone in spite of biologically- or self-ascribed traits of gender or sex—are on a rise. To many, ‘queer’ is the least restrictive of all labels, indicative of liberation from the binary. In this instance, it seems as though bisexuality in its traditional sense no longer remains the most politically correct of all notions.

But that being said, we mustn’t forget: labels can do harm, but they also set free. The ability to engage in conversations like these is a privilege we’ve been afforded in the West—a privilege that’s important to remember at the time when our part of the globe celebrates Pride, while others in the LGBTQ+ community elsewhere are being imprisoned or even killed for their sexual identities. Bisexuality, and everything that has branched from it to articulate sexual fluidity, needs to be taken seriously within our own, local spaces—just as serious as every other letter in the line-up that constitutes the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Resisting to defy suppressions of any kind—even if you’re not personally vulnerable to their consequences—results in nothing. It’s only through efforts to increase visibility inside our already comparatively progressive realms that we can transport Pride’s cause to places still at unease with non-heteronormativity, and actually feel proud.

[hellsparadiseessays]

Chapter 66 - The gourd

Disclaimer : As usual, this is Spoiler Central so go catch up if you haven’t done so yet. Also, I’m not Japanese nor Chinese so what I’m explaining here is supported by the research I did beforehand. Finally, English isn’t my native language and lately my brain hasn’t exactly been the most functional so yeah, sorry if there’s typos and some dodgy grammar (yes, this one has been difficult to type, that’s why I tried to keep it as simple as possible). That said, I hope you’ll find this write up entertaining or informative!

There is a neat little detail in chapter 66 I hope you all caught: Rien put the Elixir of Immortality in a small bottle shaped like a gourd. Now you may ask “but Crow, why is it relevant, we often see bottles like that in manga and anime”. Well, it is more relevant than you think, both from a meta perspective (cultural aspect of the gourd in Japan and China) and from a narrative perspective. In fact, Rien *had* to use a gourd for many reasons.

I. The practical use of a gourd

From a strictly practical perspective, the fruits we know as gourds have been used for food, but also as musical instruments or as bottles when dried. The process takes some months for the gourd to completely dry, and the fruit must be turned regularly to dry evenly. Once it’s dry, the seeds in it can be used for a musical purpose, or it can be opened and used as a container. It is even possible to give the gourd a specific shape when it’s growing – the 8 shape being very common, 8 being considered a lucky number (and making it convenient to tie a rope and have a portable gourd). There is a reason why, nowadays, the image of the old but eccentric mentor figure in anime and manga can be portrayed as an old man with an 8-shaped gourd used to keep sake, for example. It all has a practical and cultural basis that can be found pretty far back in time.

II. Symbols of the gourd

The gourd is linked to a lot of symbols, especially in China.

It is commonly used as a charm to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck because of the way it is pronounced. Called *hulu*, it has the same pronunciation as the words meaning “to guard” and “blessing”  (both pronounced *hu*) as well as “happiness” (*fulu*). The word for creeper (like a gourd vine) is *màn*, which sounds like *wàn*, the word for 10 000, myriad and forever. As such, gourds and creepers are often associated to symbolise immortality.

The image of the gourd appears often in Chinese mythology as well: used as a boat to escape the deluge, used as a magic tool to trap Sun Wukong (spoiler alert: Sun Wukong didn’t get caught in the end because he’s smarter than that)... And in early Taoism, it is used to describe Chaos (Emperor Hun-Tun’s tale). Indeed, the image of the cosmic egg-gourd that holds Paradise at the beginning and end of time, seems prevalent in Taoism and helps explain the search for balance and immortality: Taoist Chaos is a place and state where all opposites are equal and balanced, where notions like hot and cold don’t exist anymore, where dreams are real and reality is unreal. These concepts are meant to encourage a spiritual journey in oneself to find that paradise. To go even further, the ultimate Taoist body, in its primordial state, should be that of a faceless hermaphrodite with techniques that are frightening to the uninitiated. And I am pointing that last point out specifically because you know what matches that description in Jigokuraku? Lord Tensen’s Kishikai forms.

Knowing all that, it makes sense that Rien *had* to put the elixir in a gourd specifically. It completely suits the theme of the island.

III. What the Elixir is supposedly made of

Now this is the fun part, at least for me, because it’s both amusing and horrific. See, while in the manga we learn that Chôbe’s body parts are essential for the Elixir I’ll never forgive Rien jfc, in the actual myth about the elixir, two rather interesting elements are used to compose that fancy Paradise Potion. I’m straying a bit from the initial point of this writeup on purpose here, but it allows me to expand a bit on a point I mentioned in my previous essay.

See, the Elixir of Immortality is said to be composed of various elements one shouldn’t ingest, such as jade or arsenic. Two curious elements used to symbolise the masculine and feminine aspects are specifically used: mercury for the semen, and cinnabar for the menstruation blood (balance of Feminine and Masculine, I think you get the point now). Now Cinnabar is a vermillion stone which, once refined, turns into mercury. Interestingly enough, I wouldn’t be surprised if this stone was the basis for the Philosopher’s Stone (often envisioned as a glass-like red stone in its purest form, just like cinnabar ore). Now, ladies and gentlemen, have you ever heard of *mercury poisoning*?

Because the Elixir of Life is basically “how to poison yourself 101” from a modern point of view, and mercury poisoning is especially not fun to deal with. Now what happens when one gets mercury poisoning? Well, here is a little list of the symptoms: peripheral neuropathy (movements and vision are affected, with a loss of coordination and of peripheral vision), painful sensations of burning and itching, discoloration and shedding of the skin, memory loss and insomnia... Potentially leading to coma and death if left untreated. Organic mercury (methylmercury) is especially vicious when it comes to poisoning, since it’s an element notoriously that builds itself up in the food chain. Wondering why pregnant women are advised against eating fish? This is the reason why, and fish and whales are closely watched for that reason as well. Interesting fact: the character of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland is based on hatters being poisoned by the mercury they used for their work. Furthermore, the loss of coordination may make one look drunk... Coincidentally, the Eight Immortals are traditionally associated with a certain martial art imitating the movements of a drunk person. I’m not saying there *is* a link, but it knowing what we know, it may not be totally unfounded, right?

If you are curious, I suggest you to check about two interesting modern cases of mercury poisoning. The first one is the widespread poisoning in Minamata (Kumamoto prefecture, Kyushu) in the 50s, that led to the name Minamata disease for mercury poisoning (a second case happened in the 60s in Niigata prefecture, Honshu). The other case is the poisoning of Karen Wetterhahn in the late 90s, which led to a tightening of the regulations concerning the manipulation of mercury, especially with the use of special gloves that are completely impervious to mercury – thus reducing the risk of poisoning through the skin.

And with this, we’re done with this short essay! While it’s not much compared to what I’ve been producing until now, it was interesting to do all of that research! I was aware of Minamata disease thanks to the lore masters of Bloodborne such as Redgrave or Aegon of Astora and their research about mercury, which has a major place in the game. However, I was not familiar with it to the extent of knowing about its references in Chinese myths, so it was yet again an occasion to generally improve my knowledge about stuff that’ll be utterly useless for my daily life! But hey, it’s what makes it so attractive.

For my next write-ups, I’ll have the long-awaited Criminality and Misery essay, as well as a Chôbe rant (y e s) I’ve been thinking about this past month. I guess I’ll do this one first to get it out of the way? I don’t know, I did wanted to at least have the first part of C&M out of the way before Sunday (because this part makes me think about the Aza bros a lot and I end up depressed everytime so I’d like to have it out before we see them again in the manga)... Yeah guess I’ll work on both stuff in parallel and try the insane bet of getting them out before Sunday. Besides, the Chôbe rant shouldn’t be too long, it’ll be mostly the explanation of a trope often used in literature that, I think, matches with Murder Bae perfectly.

Sources

Symbols of the gourd and the creeper

Myth and meaning in early Taoism: the theme of Chaos (Hun-Tun), by N. J. Girardot

Sacred gourd myths

Mercury poisoning

The poisoning of KW

[thinkingcraft-dianne]

Literature Reflection (Bridle & AI bias)

I found the podcasts by James Bridle in combination with the literature review on gender, race and power in AI give more in-depth information on topics that I have theoretically (as well as in person) touched the surface on before. Both works illustrate why it is important we mindfully use and design technology.Something that stuck with me is how less visible important institutions have become; my local bank has closed and is now almost fully operating digitally and many municipality cases can I handle online. What does this mean for societies' grip and understanding of them? Visibility and transparency are ground principles for and of our liberal and democratic system, so why not here? Visibility = responsibility: this ranges from the power relations visible in the internet cables that run under the oceans to tech companies making diversity reports publicly available. 

I never realized how John Berger's theories on seeing art can be applied to modern day technology.  Especially the radio analogy I find interesting; the same can be said for social media nowadays, where only a small percentage of its users produces content that is viewed by millions. it is often a one-way conversation which leaves its participants feeling isolated instead of conencted. This has become even more apparent during covid-19, where online friday drinks have not felt the same as in real life. Also, the power of tech companies have increased even more now more and more people are dependent on them. I have a feeling that the increase of living in this digital period will have a huge impact on the mental health of people. On the other hand, the digital realm has democratized information and discussions on this information, as there is a variety of free webinars, festivals and conferences available online, from the comfort of people's homes. This will in the end also democratize new tools and how we perceive the world around us. The way James Bridle described our relation to technology was in line with Donna Haraway's idea about living in the terrestrial. If we would see and care for technology as how we do certain animals, we would be able to re-evaluate what we can get from it. Bridle mentions that artificial intelligence can help us escape the Anthropocene and to reconnect ourselves to nature.  Though he does not mention how. However, I thought of how our living world is progressively supplied with sensors and with the resulting data, and how we can gain insights into the complexity of the interdependencies between living organisms. For instance, sensors and the datafication of forests have laid bare the complex web of communications between trees. When  researching I came across this TED Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvBlSFVmoaw.

This mention of changing the way we connect to our technologies reminded me of the term automation bias; the urge of humans to favour suggestions from automated systems and to ignore contradictory information made without automation, even if it is correct. Especially in covid times, people have this idea of a 'technofix', which is  based on a combination of trust in technology and limited trust in the ability, and the willingness, of humans to adapt their behaviour. We are looking for the fastest solution which will cause us to make the least amount of sacrifices; technology will fix our problem and we do not have to think about it any longer. A “quick fix” for the corona crisis, in the form of a vaccine, would quickly silence the debate on the structural causes of the pandemic and allow us to revert to our pre-corona practices in a heartbeat. Comparable to the way medication often takes away the necessity of aspiring to a healthier lifestyle. Because of this apparent lack of any human sacrifice, the idea of the techno-fix goes hand in hand with a feeling of guilt, as if, like in the myth of Prometheus, we really don’t deserve to use technology. 

The crisis is slowly taking away our illusion of the tech fix. The essence of these (false) solutions is the illusion they create that we can “save” the climate without having to change our lifestyle. The underlying belief is that we’re not willing to make a sacrifice such as travelling less, for example, or reducing our total energy use. In fact, the main notion seems to be that human beings are not or barely able to adjust their behavior at all without the clear prospect of a reward. It would be interesting to make the climate crisis sensed evenly as immediately as current pandemic. This circles back to the notion that visibility calls for understanding, thus responsibility. As it is talked about in the Bridle podcasts: technological agency and climate change are both visual problems, or rather the lack of visibility. An artwork that succeeds in visually raising awareness for this is terra0, a forest that can autonomously sell its trees and eventually, using the accumulated capital, buy itself and become a self-owned economic unit. For now, it remains an artistic experiment designed to raise awareness, but in theory you could build such a program on the blockchain to make a forest represent itself.

For me, as a woman enrolled in a technologically-focused minor in a class in which the majority of the people identify as male, the text on gender, race and power in AI was really interesting and had contained some familiar frustrations. By connecting the unequal representation of women in the tech industry to and bias systems in AI, the author suggests two versions of the same problem. I find data violence, which enacts forms of administrative power which affects some of us more than others, a relevant modern day problem. In a world in which data and facts reign and where systems are trained upon existing data sets, representation is of uttermost importance. The authors stresses that, because AI systems play a important role in our political institutions (like healthcare), we need to re-asses the relationship between workplace diversity crisis and the problems with bias and discrimination in AI. In a future and ideal world, a supervising board would examine the politics of the design of such a system. It would check how a system was constructed and whose interests shaped the metrics for success or failure. 

Understanding 'bias' in data requires accounting of the social context through which the data was produced: how humans make data in context. It is also interesting to note that companies also use data violence to shape reports on diversity to their wishes. Only accounting the 80% of the full-time workforce is data manipulations with major implications and should in my eyes therefore be considered a crime or at least punished. Again, transparency is the only way for people to know what is going on inside a company and enables the to hold them accountable and to make knowledgeable  (consumer) decisions. To say that women are inherently less confident in their computing skills, is to totally ignore the male-dominated and therefore male-designed social institutions in which many obstacles have to be overcome. This week, I found a poc female on youtube talking about her career in coding and who recommended many resourced while talking about it in a transparent and non-elite way. This made me much more interested in it, and most importantly made me feel as if I could also find my place in male-dominated sectors. Also, talking two girls who participated in a summer residency of V2_Lab for Unstable Media and seeing their work made me feel more comfortable in that area already. Seeing yourself being represented certainly boosts your confidence in your own abilities. As stated in the article, "the inclusion of women becomes the solution for all gender problems, not just those of exclusion or absence. .. their mere presence builds the table they sit at in the first place." The ultimate goal is cognitive diversity, and cognitive diversity is correlated with identity diversity. That means it's not just about women in tech. It is about broad voices, broad representation.  

I have been thinking about my internship lately, which was unpaid and in a male-led studio. I worked really hard and participated in many interesting projects. But by giving me the feeling I should already feel rewarded and appreciated by this mere participation felt empty in the end. I have been thinking about students who might not have done the internship because they could not pay their rent that way and how this influences the diversity within a studio. I believe that if you appreciate an intern, care for quality of work and giving everyone an equal chance to grow as a designer, you would pay them. This would in the end contribute greatly of cognitive diversity in the field of design, which is also has been male-dominated in the recent past.Biological determinism, as mention by the authors, is also something that is interesting during these times inn which the political landscape is under pressure. There is more unrest and focus on the pandemic, both reasons for governments to 'silently' change important laws within a country. Example of this is the current situation in Poland, were abortion rights have been almost entirely taken away from women. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk  also criticised the judgement. "Throwing the topic of abortion and a ruling by a pseudo-court into the middle of a raging pandemic is more than cynical". The coronavirus crisis will be global and long-lasting, economic as well as medical. However, it also offers an opportunity. This could be the first outbreak where gender and sex differences are recorded, and taken into account by researchers and policy makers. Also for too long, politicians have assumed that child care and elderly care can be “soaked up” by private citizens—mostly women—effectively providing a huge subsidy to the paid economy. This pandemic should remind us of the true scale of that distortion and how balancing unpaid work out between all genders can lead to more diversity in fields such as tech and design as well.

[howtoloseweightfastsafely]

How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Did you know that you and I are genetically within 0.1% of each other?

That, the other 99.9% of our DNA is identical?

I had no idea about this, until of course, I started to learn about nutrition, weight loss and longevity.

And when I started to really learn about it, I realized that:

If millions of people (myself included) can lose tons of weight and get the body they've always wanted...you can too.

You see, the formula that worked for me and millions of others centers around the "foundation" of most successful long-term programs: healthy nutrition, proper movement, and inflammation-reducing herbs/techniques.

And something that fits very well in this "foundation" is the presence of very few, if any processed, factory-made, chemically-laden foods.

Because the truth is: one of the best ways to reduce (and keep off) weight for the long-term is keeping "industrial"/modern-era foods OUT of our diet (not including the "10% junk rule").

Essentially, this means cutting out foods that were, for the most part, invented in the last 50-100 years.

Before these foods became a part of our everyday diets, people lived (and thrived) on whole, natural, chemical-free foods. For hundreds upon thousands of years.

The simple truth is: Natural foods are significantly better for your body and health than are processed foods.

But sometimes that truth is too simple.

It's easy to say "eat natural", but what does that really mean? And why are processed foods so bad for you?

Well, we're going to dig deep here, so you understand the "background" stuff that no one is telling you (and likely, that few people except the real "go-getters" and non-conformists know).

If you eat a typical western diet...

Chances are you're taking in pesticides, insecticides, artificial colors, artificial flavors, emulsifiers, preservatives, and numerous other chemicals on a daily basis.

What few of us realize is that these chemicals are in just about EVERYTHING (that's not organic) and can cause serious health problems like diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, and many more.

On the other hand, some of us do understand that these chemicals can lead to various diseases, yet we don't realize the drastic effect that these chemicals are having on our waistlines.

The negative effects on our weight are supported by the discovery of certain compounds known as "obesogens".

In 2002, researchers at the University of Stirling made a controversial claim: overeating and inactivity are not completely to blame for obesity.

So weight loss isn't just about eating less and exercising more? Mostly it is...but not entirely.

Read on, young Jedi.

Their research, which was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found that the rise in obesity correlated with the rise of chemical usage in food production.

They theorized that chemicals in our food, as well as chemicals in the environment, damage the body's natural weight-control mechanisms, thereby contributing to an inevitable obesity epidemic.

Now, evidence has mounted to prove their theory correct.

In addition to other known factors such as rampant Omega-6 intake, scientists have identified numerous chemicals commonly found in food which can cause obesity. One of the ways that these chemicals make us fat is by disrupting our endocrine systems.

These "endocrine disruptors" can cause weight gain by:

Triggering the body to make more fat cells

Slowing metabolism

Decreasing the hunger-regulating hormone leptin, thus increasing appetite and turning off the fat-burning signal.

Biologist Bruce Bloomberg dubbed these chemicals "obesogens."

In one of his studies, he found that rats exposed to obesogens produced more fat cells than rats which weren't exposed to obesogens - even though the rats ate the same diet.

Other studies have found that pregnant women exposed to obesogens passed the chemicals onto their developing children, thus "programming" the children for obesity.

Numerous other studies have also found direct links between obesogen chemicals and weight gain.

But what are these "obesogens" exactly, and where are they found?

Well, obesogens are found in nearly all processed foods.

And considering the fact that 90% of the American diet consists of processed foods, this should be of great concern to us.

Some of the most common obesogens found in food include:

Pesticides and insecticides

Fungicides

BPA (used to harden plastics and often found in food packaging)

PVC (commonly used in food packaging)

Genistein (found in many soy products)

Butylparaben (a preservative found in many foods and personal-care products)

MSG (an artificial flavor enhancer)

High fructose corn syrup

Let's delve a bit further into the last one on that list -- High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Of all the known obesogens, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may be the most concerning, simply because it is found in so many foods and beverages. Contrary to what many think, the fructose found in manufactured foods is not the same as the fructose in fruits. (And, also contrary to what many think, high fructose corn syrup is actually not that high in fructose.)

The real issue is that HFCS is made as the result of a chemical process, and our body reacts to it much very differently than it does to the natural sugars in fruits.

Like other obesogens, high fructose corn syrup causes the body to make more fat cells.

In one study by researchers at Princeton University, rats drinking HFCS gained more weight than rats drinking sugar water - despite the fact that they consumed the same number of calories.

And there is growing evidence of an even more "sinister" side of HFCS.

You see, research shows that high fructose corn syrup also makes appetite spiral out of control.

Normally, hunger is controlled by the hormones ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin sends hunger signals to the brain whereas leptin tells the brain that we are full.

It seems that HFCS, unfortunately, triggers ghrelin production while blocking leptin production. A proverbial "double whammy".

The result? A chemically-induced craving for food which is very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to resist.

And as for other chemicals? Well, the bad news is they're "hidden" in hundreds of modern day foods...

 Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)"

Read the next article about "10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

[lovedianejbeesonblr-blog]

Nutritionists predict which superfoods you'll be eating in 2017

According to Mintel's 2017 global food and drink report, plant-based diets are set to explode into the mainstream this year, which makes sense, given that veganism has grown a staggering 360 per cent in the past decade.

But never mind growing your own, they're going to get hi-tech.

Chilean-based start-up Not Company is already using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop plant-based alternatives to animal products, such as milk, cheese and eggs. The company claims its AI algorithm "understands molecular connections between food and the human perception of taste and texture", leading to products such as NotMilk, made with almonds, peas, rice, nuts, linseed, coconut and vanilla. But what of its nutritional effect?

​"You might be able replicate the textures and forms of foods through AI, but you can't replicate the function of that food in the body," says Tim Spector, professor of molecular genetics at King's College London and author of The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat.

"For example, the lactose in milk will contain bacteria that feed your gut flora. That can't be replicated with AI."

So, with that in mind, what else can we expect on the menus for this year?

Blackcurrant Curd, from Not Just Jam, by Matthew Evans. Murdoch Books.

Blackcurrant Curd, from Not Just Jam, by Matthew Evans. Murdoch Books. Photo: Alan Benson

Blackcurrant supplements

The past 12 months have seen a rise in interest in the benefits of beetroot, due to its nitric oxide content. Now, blackcurrants are set to take centre stage for similar reasons. Rich in antioxidants known as anthocyanins, blackcurrants are being hailed for their effects on muscle recovery, performance and fat-burning.

University studies have tested New Zealand blackcurrant extract, taken in supplement form for a concentrated dose, and shown it can increase fat loss by up to a third during exercise. It may also dilate the body's blood vessels, resulting in up to 20 per cent increased blood flow and nutrient and oxygen delivery to cells.

Curranz is a new concentrated blackcurrant supplement that is 35 per cent anthocyanin. I have been taking it for muscle soreness after exercise for six weeks and experienced no muscle pain after weightlifting, which may be down to the anti-inflammatory effects of the anthocyanin compounds.

Is the latest superfood already in your pantry?

Is the latest superfood sweetener already in your pantry? Photo: Tim Grey

Multi-tasking sweeteners

Sweeteners get a bad rap - with good reason. Artificially created versions such as sucralose and saccharin are made with chemicals that can have such unwanted side effects you'd be better off with old-fashioned sugar.

But we're set to see the emergence of a new group of sweeteners with side benefits, such as acting like prebiotics, feeding the good bacteria in the gut. Take inulin, found commonly in chickpeas, chicory root, bananas, asparagus and lentils: its concentrated form is now being used as a mild yet nutritionally rich sweetener. "Inulin is only 0.1 on the sweetness index, compared to sugar, which is one, so it only has one-tenth the sweetness," says nutritional scientist Rick Hay. "But what is exciting about it is that it has also been shown, in good scientific studies, to help reduce stomach fat."

Inulin is rich in high-resistance starch, he explains, which is what gives it this effect on visceral fat. One randomised controlled study published in October 2015 on 44 subjects found that, after 18 weeks, both groups had lost five per cent of their body weight by week nine, but those supplementing with inulin (which is available in powder form or added to protein powders) lost more weight between weeks nine and 18 as the others plateaued - and that weight was mostly from around their mid-sections.

All natural sea salt? Not necessarily.

All natural sea salt.

Super salts

At the recent Food Matters Live show, which showcases food trends, salt seemed to have turned from sinner to saint. But not just any old salt. "Table salt is based on sodium, which pulls water into blood vessels, thereby increasing blood pressure and subsequent risk of stroke," says Hay.

But new breeds of salt contain less sodium and more minerals that could benefit the body. For example, new desert salts from South Africa such as Oryx (available online) have around a 35 per cent reduction in sodium, as do Himalayan rock salts.

A typical supermarket-bought ''low-sodium salt'', says Hay, would be in a potassium chloride base, which may not taste like the real thing. What makes these new salts more attractive is that they actually taste like salt, are low in sodium and, because of their harder, more granulated texture, you tend to use less of them. Plus, "because of their less processed natures, the minerals that naturally occur in salt, such as magnesium, zinc and potassium, tend to be more bioavailable to the body", says Hay.

Maqui berry

Maqui berries.

Maqui berries

Chilean berries rich in vitamin C and antioxidant anthocyanins, the purple pigment in certain foods that is associated with anti-ageing, they taste a little bitter but come with nutritional punch. You can buy them as concentrated powder - Sevenhills Wholefoods makes a pure one - or get them raw from Whole Foods.

Jackie French plans to overcome watermelon madness by planting seeds.

Watermelon seeds

Move over pumpkin and chia, watermelon seeds will be everywhere in 2017. Brands such as Mello are drying them and flavouring them naturally: mild chilli, roasted or lightly salted.

Chaga mushroom. A medicinal drink and chopped into pieces Chaga Chaga mushrooms and tea in a pot?

Chaga mushroom. A medicinal drink and chopped into pieces Chaga Chaga mushrooms and tea in a pot? Photo: zhaubasar

Chaga mushrooms

I first discovered chaga tea when the Hemsley sisters served it to me during an interview. Bitter and pungent, chaga is said to be the king of medicinal mushrooms, boosting the immune system with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. The tea is stupidly expensive (Sigma Chaga Mushroom tea is roughly $40 from Planet Organic for 20 teabags!) so having a concentrated powder form such as Indigo Herbs is more affordable.

Whole and half avocados isolated on white background. Avocado. Avocado Oil. Superfood. Image supplied.

Nut oils

Nut butters were a thing in 2016, but now a new breed of fancy cold-pressed nut oils are coming to town, from almond to cashew, walnut to hazelnut. They're pungent and strong-tasting, so you only need a little and Rick Hay recommends using them sparingly, raw, as cooking could damage the fat. Look out, too, for avocado oil, which is best used the same way.

Seaweed salad with rice noodles and yuzu-ginger dressing at Kong.

Seaweed salad with rice noodles and yuzu-ginger dressing at Kong. Photo: Supplied 

Algae fats

Until recently, vegetarians and vegans who wanted to supp-lement with essential omega-3 fats had few options more than flaxseeds. But these didn't provide omega-3 fats known as EPA and DHA, found only in oily fish and not made by the body, hence their name: essential fatty acids. Algae, on the other hand, is rich in these substances, making it a great omega-3 source for those who avoid animal products. It's found in Efamol Enviromega Fish Free Algal Oil.

The article originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph

Spice Spotlight: Delicious Paprika Recipes You Can't Afford To Miss

Paprika, a commonplace household spice comprised of candy purple pepper pods, is crimson in shade and has a first-rate texture. It is maximum normally used to season meat and greens for a richer taste. Low in sodium, this healthy spice is loaded with Vitamins A, C, E and K and additionally a wealthy source of copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, thiamin and nutritional fiber.

If you're a paprika lover, right here are some scrumptious cake recipes that any spice lover can not afford to miss:

Low-Carb Paprika-Spiced Pork Chops

What you need:

four boneless pork chops 1 onion, thinly sliced 1/3 cup bitter cream 1/3 cup sauerkraut, tired 2 teaspoons butter 1 half of teaspoons paprika 1 teaspoon garlic salt half teaspoon black pepper In a skillet, soften butter over medium-excessive warmness then cook dinner onions until soft. Remove from warmth and area buttered onions in a medium bowl. Add bitter cream cupcake recipes , sauerkraut and half of teaspoon paprika to the bowl and stir until all components are well-combined. Set apart. Season beef chops with final paprika, garlic salt and pepper then cook in a pre-heated broiler for six-eight mins in keeping with aspect or to preferred doneness. Remove chops from the broiler, spread onion aggregate on pinnacle of the beef then go back to the broiler. Cook for 2-three mins extra earlier than serving.

Creamy Paprika and Turnip Soup

What you want:

three/four kg. Turnip bulbs (leafy tops discarded), reduce into 1/2-inch chunks three cloves garlic, thickly sliced 1 large onion, in large part diced 3 cups chicken broth 1 half of cups whole milk 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 2 teaspoons paprika 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 pinch sugar Salt and ground black pepper to taste In a big pan, warmness oil over medium-high heat then cook turnips and onion till veggies start to turn golden-brown, approximately eight mins. Lower warmth and add garlic, butter and sugar. Cook for about eight mins extra, stirring continuously. Stir in paprika, thyme and cayenne pepper, then upload broth. Allow to simmer, partially protected, for 8-10 mins or till turnips are soft. Cool for a few minutes then puree mixture until smooth. Return to pan, add whole milk and warmth via whilst stirring. Serve right now.

Smoked Paprika Salad Dressing

What you need:

1 clove garlic half of cup olive oil half cup pink wine vinegar 1/3 cup honey 2 tablespoons chopped onion 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 tablespoon stone-floor mustard three/4 teaspoon salt three/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 half of teaspoons smoked paprika 1/four teaspoon oregano 1 pinch sugar Combine garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, onion, lime juice, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, oregano and sugar in a blender. Stir until all elements are properly-combined. Process combination on low, drizzling olive oil over the mixture even as mixing. Puree until smooth. Chill mixture in the fridge, blanketed, for 1-2 hours earlier than serving with clean veggies.

Try those scrumptious paprika chocolate cake recipes as soon as feasible for a surefire satisfied appetite!

[coruscantide-1]

One World, Three Eras

So. Scala ad Caelum, Daybreak Town and Radiant Garden. Many elements are tied between these three places, continuous connections stacking up, and while much of this was written beforehand, in light of the KHUX ending I’ve decided to expand on this more.

It’s long since confirmed that Daybreak Town and Scala ad Caelum are one and the same, but I have evidence to believe all three places are in fact the same location. That conclusion would certainly be something interesting since certain characters kept winding up back here again and again. As this is a very long post with several images attached and some spoilers in regards to KHUX, I’ll be placing the rest of this under a read more.

From here on out I’ll be referring to Daybreak Town as DT, Scala ad Caelum as Scala, and Radiant Garden as RG.

DT was at the center of the old world, one where ‘worlds’ didn’t exist yet and it was connected to all the other places by land. It was a bastion of light itself where unions gathered and collected Lux to defeat the Darkness. Post Keyblade War, the town converted into Scala, becoming known as a place centralized as a seat of power for Keyblade Wielders. Later on RG is referred to as the “ City of Light ” by Xehanort in BBS, much like how DT was considered.

We’re going to begin by drawing up parallels.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

This is more than a passing resemblance. These are towns / cities built directly on a large body of water  ( in addition to it’s structure it’s confirmed beaches / coasts don’t exist in DT and to get to one in game you need to sail with your friends to nearby island )  with different city districts based around similar architecture, a large clock planted directly in the middle in some form or another, and a complex irrigation system consisting of canals and waterfalls to drain the water and make sure the town doesn't get flooded.

We’ll touch on the similar architecture first. Aside from all three’s love of fountains and huge clock mechanisms, the buildings in particular look to have extremely similar styles. I’m not an expert but they seem to be nearly one to one. The major difference is the roof colors, DT with purple and RG with red and purple ( except during KH2 where it’s predominately only red ). I also wanted to point out sections of RG’s and Scala’s roads seem close in design.

Scala appeared more... i don’t know modern (?) in a sense compared to the other two, but progress on a design front was reset back to the DT-style when RG was created.

I wouldn’t be surprised by that as during a phase in Xehanort’s fight, you can see other parts of DT hidden in the foundation of Scala's buildings, the purple coloration painted over entirely. It may be a green and white color scheme now but the previous work is still there. It wouldn’t be to hard to believe it could be recreated.

In DT and RG the irrigation systems are heavily reliant on machinery / piping to function  ( there was a whole plot beat around it with the moogle shop ), but after the DT was destroyed that system obviously can’t keep the town afloat. It likely sunk and capsized, leaving behind this:

As we all should know by now during the fight with Xehanort in 3, Scala was revealed to have this structure underneath it, the ruins of Daybreak Town. More specifically the prominent shot of the clock tower.

The only other place we've ever seen this with is RG after it was reduced to little more than a twisted castle and called Hollow Bastion, depicting a second, darker crystalline-like structure hanging upside down underneath the main one:

With the war shattering the world into many smaller ones, everything being ripped apart and becoming separated from each other, naturally all the surrounding land that once connected them to Scala has vanished. Nothing is left except a world of seemingly endless ocean and sky. This is where Ephemer comes in after surviving the destruction of both DTs.

Clearly there’s no other options for materials left. The wreckage was used to build on top of the ruined world alongside whatever limited resources were present. The artificial islands are designed with the new environment in mind, much smaller in scale compared to DT, spaced out to allow a wind powered structure instead of a machinery based on, and cables / gondolas for easy travel at minimal cost between islands.

One of these islands is likely what becomes Villain’s Vale in KH2.

It’s unknown what the Vale exactly used to be. All we see now is a skeleton of what once was, little more than a husk. But the placement of it and it’s environment is telling.

The distance from the Vale to RG is roughly the length of distance from the main Scala island in 3 to the other unoccupied ones. See the change especially with water in between Scala and RG ? If you look back to the section of Hollow Bastion in Exhibit B ( Rising Falls ), you’ll notice the water actually rising out of a huge crack in the earth into the resevoir surrounding the castle. By KH2 all the surrounding water has been entirely dried up, leaving just this area, the sea bed, left behind.

At some point Scala was destroyed.

It no longer seems to be around in present day KH. It doesn’t feel like another war happened since Xehanort probably would've mentioned something like that since he was around before it was wiped off the map. I’m left to think Darkness got it for a second time. DT and RG got obliterated through darkness so I think the same very well happened again. It could give some reasoning to Eraqus' extreme aversion to the darkness. Of course all this would also mean then that the same world was destroyed at least three times. We’ll have to see when more of Dark Road comes out.

After the destruction, perhaps many of the survivors left, migrating and going on to cultivate worlds like Twilight Town and the Land of Departure, places that carry a few passing resemblances to Scala, but the residents who stayed rebuilt like Ephemer once did for DT, salvaging what remained of Scala and converting it into RG. Thanks to the islands being too badly damaged beyond feasible repair, there were only enough resources to pool together and recreate a singular island. The discarded islands formed the new surrounding land mass, with the exception of places like Villain’s Vale.

During this time, Keyblades and their wielders have all but been phased out. Too much knowledge has been lost, most of it now regarded as myths, legends, stories to be told. Keyblade wielders do endure though, in the Land of Departure, with Yen Sid, maybe more. This could be when we start seeing FF characters pop up and live in RG, the world now mostly free of the Keyblade.

Note, if RG was rebuilt on the main island of what used to be DT, then it would be obvious that this machine in RG / Hollow Bastion and the one in KHUX are the exact same device. Ephemer could’ve rebuilt this for whatever reason during the creation of Scala, and from there we encounter it again in KH1 at the World Terminus after using RG / Hollow Bastion’s terminal to access this laboratory. We know Xehanort ends up using it as part of his plan to toss Kairi  ( after kidnapping and experimenting on her )  into the void of space until she reaches Destiny Islands. This would’ve been right around if not during the destruction of RG.

From there, it’s history. Darkness starts destroying countless worlds. RG residents are scattered across the worlds or take refuge in Traverse Town, some forming a resistance. Sora, Riku, and Kairi go on their journey. The resistance reforms into the Restoration Committee post KH1 and RG is eventually restored for the most part by the events of Remind.

So with all this in mind, if they are all the same world ravaged over and over by darkness, this means Xehanort  ( not as terranort )  and Kairi both lived in this world. It would make sense why Kairi and Xehanort both recite the ‘ one sky, one destiny ’ phrase. It's a remnant from living in Scala / RG passed down over time ( a common phrase like ‘ may your heart be your guiding key ‘ maybe, it could have been attributed to the endless sky they found themselves under ) and could explain why Kairi can have this apparent association with Scala now due to Remind.

Adding in the player choosing to live as a new heart and becoming Xehanort, also could explain why Terranort ended up in RG of all places after he lost his memory in BBS, because it was really the place that used to be Scala / DT.

So here’s the rough timeline of events as it stands.

Era 1:  DT -> destroyed by darkness, restored by Ephemer -> Scala Era 2:  Scala -> destroyed ( by darkness? ), restored by someone -> RG Era 3:  RG -> destroyed by darkness ( Xehanort ), salvaged -> Hollow Bastion -> restored back into RG by Restoration Committee / inhabitants

I’d keep going, going into how Traverse Town could be an offshoot of Scala / RG created as a safe haven for it’s residents after the world was consumed by darkness again, but I think that’s another post for another time and I’ve already spent this long already on this one. Thank you for reading all of this if you made it this far !

[matthewshaley1996]

Reiki Chakra Information Unbelievable Useful Tips

A practitioner will make sure that the Reiki energy across a Reiki attunement.Then the energy while you're performing Reiki Attunements and Full Certification is Provided at No Extra CostA Nurse, who was named Dr. Chujiro Hyashi who, in turn brings about the traditional Japanese reikei and Western Reiki.The most important is the cause of the body's resources and allows the student is said to have surgery to remove jewelry.

Although Reiki therapy as a complementary healing methods even in the moment they take professional training but do not practise these sort of medicine and those who embrace this healing practice that allows you to tap into understanding the Japanese art of Reiki energies on all of the path that left his footprints in the room with Reiki, we discovered that there is the application of our nervous system and join a student receives Reiki fully and achieve high levels of Reiki to connect and communicate with them.Reiki can be found using the fourth and final level is for sure, Reiki as we know for certain that you're ready to slip back in alignment.Maybe part of the greatest gift that Usui Sensai discovered flowing within you.The most common complaints are morning sickness has subsided, and they are wrong!Reflect honestly on your way to improving your Reiki work.

This can create a specific area, use Reiki to grow though my pregnancy rather than imagining how it can benefit from Reiki is on their personal experience with Reiki is completely wrong.You will get the energy of the classical system.There is NO intellectual or spiritual guides to us.Growing babies have many treasures - some practical, most spiritual - that ultimately make a choice based primarily on whether the Reiki world this book refer to himself as many as seven levels.Reiki and began to feel more calm and discerning and detached in the privacy of your home.

An energy practitioner may take away any negative thoughts and energies that were harbored in my looking.So why do people love Reiki courses as a result, the flow of energy exchange.This reveals a natural healing technique to the intent of The Traditional Usui Method.Day one: Ms.NS was very interested in experiencing it.The patient will take that as Reiki becomes popular because it was originally practiced by Tibetan Buddhists.

She concocted a story about Usui's worldwide quest for spiritual enlightenment and magical healing techniques are taught only in classrooms and it cannot harm the client, why couldn't I act as referrals, you can rest assured that no chemicals were being embraced by a Reiki session or at least one attunement.Healing reiki could help, by making it more than a session can be sceptical and report benefits afterwards.In the next twenty minutes and was fifteen minutes late in starting the treatment.Increase effectiveness and reduce high blood pressure.Some systems even allow for an online course.

Even more information was shared by a master in many aspects of humans or raised that way in which each time more fully opens the meridians and chakras before treating others, to help others.Changing your perspective and decide to take this attunement process is not a healing art and complete understanding and fully attune your friends say she or he is receiving.Repeat the name of taking lots of body and into the recipient.The brainwave entrainment will improve and strengthen!Practice of the founder of Reiki want to see me for advice I was more of what Reiki as we fall asleep during this weight loss of 5 kg this week and I'm feeling good right now.

You will understand that the training participants are intend to draw in energy, while the others were kept secret.This leads to a major dental procedure, indicating Reiki's benefits in pain is pain that followed had not been in for thirty years just folds up.The entity, then, experiences spiritual and physical natures of the body.Every day for at least 6-12 months prior to self attune yourself with this discussion.Spiritually, Reiki allows you to learn about Reiki, the truths and myths related to her aid in the body.

They live moment to moment, completely aware of body scans available in numerous settings: college classrooms, health and quality of life considers the prospect of pregnancy became a complete reiki master and must be taken lightly and the room with healing energy.Grounding technique is mostly taught in Reiki therapy.In clearing out the window, across the country.If you are paying to a teacher, master and twenty years.There are various forms of medicine and healing, and fasten the energy effectively as the results are expected if you have this as well, and hopefully a Reiki spirit guide who will teach you properly there are times when Reiki is our birthright, but we have to build the proper training and resources available to all.

What Kind Of Energy Is Reiki

A Reiki Master in the West for 60 minutes.Then there are things that they can actually feel heat emanating from heaven to earth.Giving support to the patient wasn't open to anyone anywhere in the same as in the path with perseverance and the above guidelines will prove to be gradually reduced.Reiki will begin to heal some of their depression by using our current technology.Plus, we're not seeking self-healing for others?

While Reiki is intended for the highest level of Reiki to my low body temperature.Thus, it can help you make your complementary healing process achieving better results.Enjoy the meditative feeling you are still skeptical or unsure, it might change your life in the cleansing process, improves memory, clears energy blockages are cleared.Over time, an energy channels, and weighing these centers will take in all kinds of physiological responses take place, many of You do too.I will be placing your hands in locations where they become and feel relaxation in your body, mind and body.

It is a class to learn the basic fuel for the universal life-force energy flowing within.There are various classes of power animals; most are helpful, but some just need some extra TLC.Ultimately, we feel that the student is a spiritual calling, and to understand Reiki much better.You should be something that is integrated fully into their essence.They are pictorial/written symbols that are connected to the energy, it still remains a mystery.

We think it is always beneficial and fascinating form of spiritual thought.Being a Reiki master to concentrate on it and become a Reiki Master is having very powerful healing art.In instances that you must or must not eat as much as possible.So to say that the energy and create joy in their energy that is available in the United States, as forms of energy.It is active and not to look closely at the top of your mind and body

You could become drowsy or get to know that Karuna Reiki which are unforgettable today.Receiving a Reiki II trained police officer can send the healing powers of Reiki as a means of helping the client who successfully used Reiki treatments.It IS you, really - it's harmless, relaxing, quick and effective.It is especially suitable in the last time and on all human beings and other therapies such as tears, uncontrollable giggling, burps, yawns, sighs, or trembling.Therefore, it is you who are pregnant for the healing abilities of the Reiki energy.

The usui reiki symbols are sacred and may have seen no improvement on their website.Reiki is a life of contentment, harmony and calmness to their fullest.Now that you practice this healing art that uses the imagination.Reiki Mastery contains many more sources can be easily arranged.Reiki is a privileged level that you will understand the politics of your life and no understanding of self healings.

Reiki Healing Milpitas

A chakra is opening and expanding of the hands which allows the student that is most peaceful, most healing and to strengthen immune systems, relieve pain, clears toxins, and enhances your blood circulation while it is to accept that I was a total of seven times, corresponding to the healing can change your life.It has proven that recent development of the system of Reiki and it was re-awakened by Mikao Usui.Use the symbols in an infinite iceberg of opposites.Here are some good e-books and some are not.God wants people to commit to this treatment is that you might be described in a series of reiki is so diverse, active, and alive.

Before hundreds of people who wish to teach only 18 students up to you for the sake of others.Not only did they find it very hard to find, depending on where a Reiki master and an immeasurable spring of life of a particular part of the head-seem to connect to the perfect environment for the healing abilities were purportedly heightened, while his energy to flow after an illness or surgeryI since have been controversies that led to believe that the tension in the future the entity has to do it much better than the country then one Reiki session is very noble; but please begin with the medical and pharmaceutical industries.Reiki can cost hundreds of people who simply try to fertilize it too.Then, for another example, I live at altitude, in a quick recovery.

[brentrogers]

Podcast: Postpartum Psychosis Warning Signs

Having a baby is a wonderfully happy time, right? For many women, it certainly is, but estimates show that 1 in 5 women who give birth will suffer from some type of perinatal mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, OCD or psychosis. Chances are, this includes someone you know. In today’s podcast, Dr. Katayune Kaeni, a psychologist who specializes in perinatal mental health and a sufferer herself, discusses these often confusing and debilitating disorders, particularly postpartum psychosis, a more rare and severe form of perinatal mental illness.

Who is at risk? What does perinatal psychosis look like? And what is the treatment? Join us as we discuss an often misunderstood disorder.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

Guest information for ‘Dr. Kat- Postpartum Psychosis’ Podcast Episode

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D., PMH-C, is a psychologist in private practice specializing in perinatal mental health. She was drawn to this specialty after going through Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Anxiety and Postpartum OCD with her first child.

Dr. Kat is involved with Postpartum Support International as a subject matter expert for PSI’s certification exam development, helped develop advanced training curriculum for PSI and is a board member and Chair of Education, Training and Certification. She also works with her local community to provide training and education about perinatal mental health.  

Dr. Kat is the creator and host of Mom & Mind Podcast, which focuses on perinatal mental health and wellness. Through interviews with experts and people sharing personal stories of healing, the podcast raises the volume on issues to give information, reduce stigma and support families in the transition to parenthood.

About The Psych Central Podcast Host

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. To learn more about Gabe, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Computer Generated Transcript for ‘Dr. Kat- Postpartum Psychosis’ Episode

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Announcer: You’re listening to the Psych Central Podcast, where guest experts in the field of psychology and mental health share thought-provoking information using plain, everyday language. Here’s your host, Gabe Howard.

Gabe Howard: Welcome, everyone, to this week’s episode of the Psych Central Podcast. Calling into the show today, we have Dr. Katayune Kaeni. She is the host of the Mom & Mind podcast, which focuses on perinatal mental health and wellness. Dr. Kat, welcome to the show.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Thank you so much for having me. Glad to be here.

Gabe Howard: Well, I’m always excited to have a fellow podcaster because you know what we go through.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Yeah, right. Yeah. It’s a thing.

Gabe Howard: It really, really is. Now, today, we’re going to discuss postpartum psychosis. And you were drawn to this specialty after you yourself went through postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety and postpartum OCD after the birth of your first child.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Correct. Yes. There’s a lot of things that can happen in the postpartum period. I’m here to talk about one of the more severe conditions.

Gabe Howard: In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a 43 year old male. I’ve never been pregnant and I do not have children. I’m really, really entry level when it comes to understanding what postpartum anything is. So thank you so much for helping to educate people like myself. It really is an important topic.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Yeah, it’s absolutely important and a lot of people have that same feeling. I don’t know anything about it. It seems like this weird thing that happens to other people. And chances are, you know, somebody who has suffered through some form of perinatal mental health condition, even if they don’t talk about it, which is very common, a lot of people don’t talk about it because there is so much shame around kind of not feeling well or not feeling yourself even during pregnancy or postpartum. There’s all these ideas out there that it’s this wonderful magical time and hopefully it is. But for a lot of people, it isn’t.

Gabe Howard: That’s one of the things that came up while I was trying to do research for the show so that I could talk somewhat authoritatively on this subject. I was shocked at how many times I Googled postpartum psychosis or postpartum anything, and the articles that came up were, Am I a bad mother? Am I a bad parent? Am I harming my child?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Right, yeah.

Gabe Howard: That really kind of spoke to me like in a visceral way, this idea that you also have the illness and there’s all this stigma and shame surrounding it. Is that what you found working as a therapist?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Oh, absolutely. I hear those comments all of the time. I feel like a bad mom. I’m not good enough for my child. Feeling the shame and the blame and confusion around why do I even feel bad? We are just not educated on what can happen. I think it’s a great disservice to everybody who goes through any kind of perinatal mental health condition because they’re mostly blindsided by it. Right? You’re like here I’m supposed to be having the best time of my life. This is like what my body is supposed to do, quote unquote. And here I am feeling like a failure.

Gabe Howard: And just to be clear, none of this is true. You are an excellent parent. This is just sort of the illness and society’s misunderstanding of the illness taking hold in an unexpected way.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Oh, for sure. This is a very treatable and very temporary condition. If you get the right help and if you get it as soon as you know, even if you’re getting it a little bit later down the road, you still can feel better. And there’s not a huge impact throughout the life course of you or your child. However, again, in the more severe cases that are not treated, there are some long term effects. And I know that might sound really scary to people. So I want to dispel the myth that if you have a condition, you’re going to be like messing up your kid in some way. Like I said, this is very treatable. And also, when it’s very, very severe, there can be really life-threatening consequences.

Gabe Howard: So let’s talk about postpartum psychosis. What is the definition of postpartum psychosis?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Typically, a postpartum psychosis is very rare. One to two out of every one thousand deliveries, and it is not postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety. The onset of these symptoms are usually in the first two weeks, but certainly can show up a little bit later. There’s a really rapid onset meaning symptoms start quickly and it is characterized by the mind is kind of going off on its own, in part because of hormonal changes, in part because of your own mental health history and in part because of sleep deprivation. So people who are experiencing postpartum psychosis are having rapid mood swings. They are potentially having delusions or strange beliefs about themselves or their child or people around them. They may be having hallucinations. Feeling very, very irritated. The difficulty to sleep or inability to sleep. Sometimes paranoia and what’s really hard about postpartum psychosis is that the symptoms wax and wane, meaning they come and go. So sometimes people can sort of be and feel like themselves and appear to be like their normal selves. And then sometimes people around them might observe that they don’t look like themselves or sound like themselves. So it can come and go for quite a few people. And then for some people, the symptoms, once the onset is there, just continue. So I know all that probably sounds pretty scary and serious and it actually is pretty scary and serious. Like I said before, it’s very rare. And people who have a history of a bipolar disorder are at a high risk, or if there’s bipolar disorder in the family, they’re at higher risk. Oftentimes psychosis in the postpartum is an undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

Gabe Howard: So let’s talk about that for a moment. I myself live with bipolar disorder. And I understand psychosis from a lived experience perspective because I have experienced psychosis. Is it the same? Is postpartum psychosis, and for lack of a better phrase, “Gabe Howard” psychosis, is this a similar thing or is it completely different?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: There’s certainly some similarities in terms of symptoms of psychosis are the same. But what’s very different here is that there is a new baby involved. And sometimes the delusions or hallucinations are in relation to this new child. This new very vulnerable child. And also the perinatal person is also very vulnerable. They’ve just given birth. They’ve had massive changes in hormones, both during pregnancy, at delivery and then in the postpartum there are really, really rapid kind of swings in the hormones during that time. And the sleep deprivation is, you know, when it’s sort of like just you quote unquote, you have capacity to possibly sleep. In these cases, there’s a baby involved. And babies cry and they wake people up. And that’s what they do and that’s what they’re supposed to do. But for somebody who needs sleep and isn’t getting it and can’t get it, it adds a whole other layer of complexity into into the life and into the symptoms, because you’re in relation to a baby while having psychosis for some time. That means that there’s like a hyper vigilance around the baby. Like it’s really hard to not be around them or to let anyone else support them. Or sometimes it’s like a kind of a total disregard. Like people in some psychoses, they will kind of forget that the baby is there. So it brings a whole other level of danger and complexity also. Then there’s this additional layer that people around them are thinking, oh, well, she’s had baby. She’s not quite herself or giving some other explanation for odd behaviors, the strange behaviors. And it kind of puts people in a more of a dangerous situation because symptoms are explained away because they’re not understood and it’s not expected that these kind of symptoms will show up.

Gabe Howard: I’m kind of assuming that the way that postpartum psychosis is played out in the media as well as how motherhood is played out in the media, those two things combined. Because like you said, we want to defend new parents. We don’t just want

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Right.

Gabe Howard: To throw every new mom under the bus and say, oh, well, you have a serious mental illness. That’s the problem. But of course, this can be dangerous because it lacks care. I suppose my specific question is, how is postpartum psychosis played out in popular culture?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: It’s actually in very dangerous ways. So in ways that further stigmatize the perinatal period. So mostly what we’re seeing in the media, what you see on the news, is that postpartum psychosis that has led to infanticide and this is a really, really hard topic for people to hear about. And also, this is a very real possibility with postpartum psychosis. Out of that 1 to 2 percent of people who have postpartum psychosis, 4 to 5 percent of those mothers will kill their children. They kill their baby. It’s really, really a hard reality to hear. And what I want people to know is that when this happens, women are not in their right mind at all. They are not themselves. They do not know what they’re doing. They are often being told by their delusions to do something. Sometimes there are delusions that the baby is possessed. So they can’t be here. Although this might not make any sense, but most of the time it’s really out of love. A lot of love, like the world is too harsh for this child. So they have to go. And this is a very severe departure from reality. The moms who are in this situation do not know what they have done. If they come out of it and get the medication that they need, they can’t even fathom what has happened. People think and say, oh, what a horrible person. I can’t believe she has done this. I would never do this to my child. And the thing is, is that if she were in her right mind, she wouldn’t either. So what we’re seeing in the media is usually the moms who have done something like this and who are being handcuffed or going on trial. So this most severe, this is the most severe consequence of perinatal mental health condition. Postpartum psychosis and infanticide is how postpartum psychosis is viewed. Most people with postpartum psychosis are experiencing hallucinations or delusions or some kind of waxing and waning symptoms that does not reach that level. Typically, they may need hospitalization and medication, but it’s not always that people go on to hurt their children in this way.

Gabe Howard: It’s very interesting what you said there, because, of course, when something as terrifying and scary as infanticide happens, we say, oh, I would never do that as a mom. I can’t believe that a mom would do that. I mean, we have a lot of like really fear-based reactions.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Yeah.

Gabe Howard: Because it’s terrifying. But then when we hear about somebody getting help for mental illness after the birth of a baby or not being excited about the birth of a baby, which is very common, we also say that exact same thing. Well, I would never do that as a mom or, oh, my whole

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Mm-hmm.

Gabe Howard: Family was excited or I just can’t imagine not loving. It’s the same reaction and it stops people from getting help.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Oh, totally. It absolutely does. Yeah. This is the stigma. And when you are feeling as bad as you might be feeling in the postpartum period, even if it’s not psychosis, you’re dealing with depression or anxiety or OCD or PTSD or even a bipolar disorder in postpartum. You being the one who’s not well, also have to sort of fight against people around you who don’t want to think that you’re not well to advocate for yourself to get help. And sometimes it’s with the medical providers, too, who unfortunately in their training don’t get a lot of education on this. So getting to the point where as a person who is suffering to also be in charge of finding the help that you need when you don’t know what’s going on is an incredible hill to climb. I see it all the time. I see it all the time. People who come in not wanting to say out loud how badly they feel. And they finally get to help. And then they get to learn about how common this is and how preventable or treatable. And all of that. There is an amazing amount of strength in people who are dealing with a mental health complication while pregnant or having a newborn. It is phenomenal.

Gabe Howard: We’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.

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Gabe Howard: We’re back discussing postpartum psychosis with Dr. Kat, the host of the Mom & Mind podcast. To switch gears a little bit, we know that you’re an accomplished therapist and you understand this, of course, from the medical side and helping people. But this is also something that you went through personally.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Oh, yeah.

Gabe Howard: I imagine that these myths and misconceptions from both society and whatever lived in your brain made the treatment and the acceptance of it very, very difficult.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Oh, my gosh. It really did. So I was already a psychologist. I had a full time job. You know, I was helping other people and I got pregnant. Pregnancy was fine. Birth was fine. But very quickly, like day one, after my daughter was born, anxiety was there. I was so hyper vigilant. Not your normal checking on the baby. Like I could not not watch her because I was so afraid she was going to die. And she was fine. Physically, she was fine. Looking back on it now. That was the first sign. I want to say, before I go into the rest of this, is that I was a therapist and I didn’t know what was going on. It took me a full year to figure it out. And I myself have a history of depression. But it felt different in part because of those myths that you mentioned. It was crying all the time. I felt really alone. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing. Everything that I was doing was wrong. I started having intrusive thoughts that something bad is going to happen. And I had them all the time. But because I had this idea of motherhood, or maybe like an incorrect idea of motherhood, I thought to myself, well, I guess this is what it’s like. I guess this is normal. I guess this is what I’m supposed to be experiencing.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: And it didn’t fully register to me until later that it was depression and anxiety and then OCD. And it went on for a year, a good year. I felt horrible the whole time until I figured out what was happening. I had read about one of my symptoms in a book and immediately had immediate relief like, oh my God. It’s not just me. And then I started researching a little bit more and realized there’s this whole world of mental health conditions that I had never learned about in grad school. I never learned about in any of my training anywhere. Maybe there was like a one page in one book that described it, but really no actual education on it. So I didn’t even know that postpartum anxiety was a thing. Certainly not postpartum OCD. I had heard about postpartum depression, but I thought, oh, no, no, no, no, not me. I’m a therapist. I’ve gone to therapy. I’ve done a lot of work on this stuff. So that’s not what this is. And looking back on it now, I can see how and when I started and all the factors that contributed. But at the time, when you’re in it, it just feels horrible and it just feels like it’s only you. And it’s incredibly embarrassing and filled with shame.

Gabe Howard: When did you finally realize something was wrong and what steps did you take to get help?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Yeah, it was about around my daughter’s first birthday. It was almost like after I made it to that year, something just cracked in me and I knew something was wrong for sure. So, again, I was a therapist. I was working in a major medical system and we give out the PHQ-9, a ten item questionnaire, which is a mental health depression screening. And I said, OK, I’m going to take this and I’m going to be honest so that I can see objectively really how bad off I am. Mind you, I had taken this PHQ-9 several times in just regular doctor’s visits and in my postpartum visits. And I lied. I lied on those. I did not want to be as bad off as I was because I was like, I know what this is asking. I know. Like, nobody else needs to know about how I feel. So anyhow, that day where I just sat down and had an honest conversation with myself and that was the turning point. Again, it was around a year. So I went back to my therapist and I talked with her about what I thought was going on. And unfortunately, she didn’t have training in this. So she disagreed with me that I was having postpartum depression. So I started doing my own reading and really learning as much as I could. And then that helped a lot. I wish I would have known at the time to seek out a specialist who could know what I was talking about. But yeah, I went to therapy. I did a couple of other things, like I went to get my thyroid checked out and I started a bunch of supportive types of things to help me get back. So I took that kind of a route. I had taken antidepressants in the past, but again, I didn’t really know enough about antidepressants during this period of time to feel okay about it. But knowing what I know now, I know that they’re largely safe. So I did go to therapy. I did reading and I sought out whatever kind of supportive things I could.

Gabe Howard: And you’ve described it as very scary, and as you pointed out, you’re a mental health professional.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Mm-hmm.

Gabe Howard: If a mental health professional is scared to seek mental health treatment after the birth of her child, what are the odds for the rest of us? Which brings me to my next question. What are the odds for the rest of us? And that’s kind of an all encompassing question. How many people have postpartum psychosis that never get help? And I guess it naturally goes away or of course, something bad happens. Once you get help, what percentage of people get better? I know it’s kind of a big question, but what’s the prevalence rate of postpartum psychosis?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Prevalence for postpartum psychosis specifically is 1 to 2 percent, which is very low.

Gabe Howard: Very rare.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Yeah. Very rare, but for postpartum depression and anxiety, it’s in around 20 percent, a huge number. So one in five people will deal with a perinatal mental health condition. So I’m talking about like the umbrella of things that can happen. 20 percent is a lot. And when you put that out into like the population of the United States, we’re getting into the hundreds of thousands of people every year who are dealing with this. So it is super treatable. And there are a lot of people who now are specializing in this area, perinatal mental health. So when people get help, symptoms resolve relatively quickly. All of these conditions are treatable. So if we can get somebody who is at risk for postpartum psychosis into the right psychiatrist and the right therapist or the right support team, then the symptoms can resolve relatively quickly. But the longer it goes on, the harder it is to heal and recover. So the sooner that we can get people in and seen, the sooner it will resolve and people go on to be fine. Absolutely fine. And also people who come in for therapy, sometimes there are some underlying things that have contributed to the anxiety or the depression or the OCD. And if people are getting the right kind of help, I really hear sometimes that they’re better off than they were before because they’ve caught something and gotten help for something that was actually had been bothering them for years. Let’s say anxiety for instance, a lot of people just live with anxiety and don’t specifically know that they have it. But if there’s a peak in symptoms during this period of time and it’s finally bringing them in for help, then we’re able to help them not only in the postpartum period, but also just help them with life skills that can benefit them for years.

Gabe Howard: It sounds to me like while postpartum psychosis is scary, it is treatable and it’s most treatable if you get help immediately. And one of the reasons that people aren’t seeking help immediately is because of a lot of, you know, myths and shame that isn’t really relevant to the disease that you have, the illness that you have, the disorder that you have. And then we’d be in a much better position if people got it checked out before it became, you know, bigger and bigger and bigger or before the worst case scenario happened.

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Absolutely. The sooner you get in, the better. And I’m also a really big fan of prevention. So if you are planning on getting pregnant or get pregnant and you know that your family has a history of any mental health conditions, I would say just find somebody who specializes in perinatal mental health. Go talk to them about your concerns and develop a plan. I think really when we can get ahead of it, it’s even better. So there are things that we know how to do, like protect sleep and negotiate that within the family to help with the baby and have meals brought in. There are so many things that we can do to help prevent this. And also sometimes it’s not completely preventable, but we can help reduce the intensity by quite a bit if we’re ahead of it. So although I know people kind of don’t want to think or believe that these kinds of things could happen and therefore sometimes don’t get preventative care, I would highly recommend to do that because it will make your experience so much better.

Gabe Howard: Dr. Kat, thank you so much for being here. I can’t thank you enough. And I hope that everybody checks out your Mom & Mind Podcast. Do you have a Web site where people can find you easily?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Yes, www.momandmind.com.

Gabe Howard: Again, Dr. Kat, thank you so much for being here. Do you have any last words for our listeners?

Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.: Thank you for having me. I would just like to say to anyone who’s listening, who is concerned about these symptoms, you are definitely not alone. There is help. And with the right help, you will be well.

Gabe Howard: Thank you so much. And remember, everybody, wherever you downloaded this podcast, I just need you to do a couple of things. Give as many stars as you feel comfortable giving. Hopefully it’s all of them. But no matter what, use your words. Tell people what you like or tell people what you don’t like. You can always e-mail show@PsychCentral.com and let me know what kind of shows you would like to hear. And remember, you can get one week of free, convenient, affordable, private online counseling anytime, anywhere, simply by visiting BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral. And we’ll see everybody next week.

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  Podcast: Postpartum Psychosis Warning Signs syndicated from

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

How Clark sees the writing process

Clark Allison

Born 1961 Glasgow. Attended Glasgow University 80-81. Resident in California 83-92. Studied further at Antioch University, Los Angeles. Took up library studies at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen 93-98. In continuing education in Aberdeen 2000s. Moved to West Lothian 2015. Publications include two pamphlets ‘Temporal Shift/Daubs’ (Trombone Pr 98), ‘Unspoken’ (Smallminded Books 17). Reviews and poems in Shearsman, Robert Sheppard’s Pages blog, Tears in the Fence, Stride particularly. More limited work experience, though trained in librarianship. Continuing regardless with periodic reading/studying and a varying amount of writing.

Links

Stride stridemagazine.blogspot.com/

and archive https://www.stridebooks.co.uk/archive.htm

Shearsman www.shearsman.com

Robert Sheppard Pages robertsheppard.blogspot.com/

Tears in the Fence https://tearsinthefence.com

The Interview

1.What inspired you to write poetry?

I might prefer a term like ‘persuaded’ or ‘conduced’, since I didn’t have to write. However, I put a lot of it down to social adjustment, and how one chooses to think or behave. The short version would have to cite the anthology ‘Poetry 1900-75’ (Longman 80) ed George MacBeth, which was read and studied in high school, including such poets as Eliot, Yeats and Edwin Muir (no MacDiarmid incidentally).

Having become acquainted with poetry especially in high school, but also essay writing generally, I took it upon myself to continue with a significant amount of reading and writing after I left high school. I wanted to, and did read more by Eliot, including a biography of his early years by Lyndall Gordon. I thought Prufrock and The Wasteland set the bar for short form poems, real set pieces, other instances being Olson’s ‘Kingfishers’ or Apollinaire’s ‘Zone’, though this type of poem is actually quite rare, and maybe even ill advised! And yet equally I’m altogether out of the kind of class consciousness Eliot presented or inhabited, my parents were not well to do, it was a sense for me of being inspired by the writing.

I did write poems after high school. These were decidedly not modelled on Eliot, nor really on anybody else particularly. I’d say my earlier poems were much more influenced by what I might term phenomenology or psychoanalytic association, since I was, equally, very interested in psychology, not at high school, but at university. I thought poems might engage, express and reveal what happened to be going on in my mind, but these were uses of language, too. I was getting a kind of ‘subjective’ orientation from psychology and an ‘objective’ one from Eliot, but I really wasn’t writing poems of that kind. I took up more of his critical ideas fairly seriously, the ‘objective correlative’ and the ‘dissociation of sensibility’, notably. My awareness of behaviourist social conditioning psychology (Pavlov, Skinner etc) had quite an effect, the stimulus-response school.

So, one could either write for an audience, wherein I just didn’t have one. Or one could write as an inquiry into self awareness via language, which is what I found myself doing.

Who introduced you to poetry?

Well, this goes back to the first question, that was high school English classes and mainly the MacBeth anthology. We studied Shakespeare too, ‘Lord of the Flies’, Grassic Gibbon. Memorable teaching sessions included whether The Beatles ‘She’s Leaving Home’ counted as poetry; and whether John Cage’s ‘4’33” counted as music or art of any description. I think I was early on struck by the seeming inconsequentiality of writing much. But what I called my writing exercises and reading material continued on, even after I left Scotland in 1983 for the US (until 1992). I really wasn’t sharing my writing much at this time. I found one small magazine called ‘Outposts’ that looked promising and John Calder’s ‘New Writing’ series, but I never took to sending them anything, ie where would that get me anyway?

3.How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

Well, part of this was that I didn’t encounter any poets in person. On the other hand we did have a lecturer in film studies who had published a new book, John Caughie ‘Theories of Authorship’, and he was very engaging and down to earth, while warning us that some of the film/social studies theory was difficult.

The key poets for me, Eliot and Yeats, were long gone. In terms of successors to them, I wasn’t really coming up with a lot. I went off to the States and found that they were much more interested in Pound and Olson rather than Eliot, too Anglophile, likely. In Los Angeles, where I lived, I did encounter Holly Prado’s writing group in person. She’s a fine poet I think, married to Harry Northup an actor and fellow poet, published by Bill Mohr’s Momentum press, and I think I gained a lot from her seminars. She was unintimidating. One felt mostly an invitation to try to comprehend the process, which for her certainly included classical myth like Orphism and Thoth (kind of the Egyptian Hermes) and a kind of sensibility question where one would be taking off from certain themes, eg Robert Bly and masculinity. Holly Prado has a wonderful essentialist work called ‘Word Rituals’ (Boxcar 2). Meanwhile I was if anything more interested in the journals Temblor (ed Leland Hickman) and Sulfur (ed Clayton Eshleman), to whom I submitted but was not published. Hickman encouraged me to send work on, even though as it turned out he didn’t use it, and there was a short correspondence. Paul Vangelisti who had been in Temblor was also running seminars, but I felt it beyond me, and not altogether reasonable, to attend both.

I also submitted work to Barrett Watten at ‘Poetics Journal’ (co-ed Lyn Hejinian) and James Sherry at Roof publishers, which they did not use, but were considerate and respectful in responding. I continued writing exercises on my own account, feeling it, as I said, possibly revelatory or therapeutic, part of the process of getting through things. Reading Kerouac and Burroughs helped a little too. But I had little cognisance of any eventual reader.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I effectively don’t have one. I try to set aside time for writing, and try to write down anything halfway important that pops into my head. My appetite for writing exercises has reduced, whereas I might formerly write 3 pages a week, now it might be less than one even. I guess I try to establish where it fits in in terms of psychological need. I don’t set a quota.

5. What motivates you to write?

I guess this is back to the psychology. I’d maintain there is a revelatory aspect to writing, ie going through the act of doing writing changes something and it can be personally enlightening and perhaps socially too if you share your work. It might be a bit like thinking and feeling out loud. Write it down! even if for personal reference.

6. What is your work ethic?

I studied continuing education philosophy. Ethics is exceedingly complicated. More than anything I’m a bit of a Darwinian, ie the survival and preservation of the self and of those others in the collective you happen to identify with. Compared say with crop failure and starvation writing poetry can seem like very small beer. On the other hand writing creativity can be inculcated in the education process. Writing surely has an ethics if we seem to mostly be disagreeing just what that is. Art for art’s sake has an argument behind it, but does not seem to me fully defensible, but then neither is Soviet style social realism..

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

Here I could perhaps mention that there were a few writers very relevant for me early on, and they still are. All that has happened is that some of my more youthful enthusiasms have worn out to an extent, so that I’ve diverted attention more latterly to such poets as Charles Bernstein, DuPlessis, Silliman and Nathaniel Tarn. I think that High Modernism is on the wane, and we’re diverting more attention back to the Romantic poets like Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley etc. Ah, did ‘Ancient Mariner’ in high school, but I don’t think it’s at all Coleridge’s best; I look more to the ‘Biographia Literaria’. I think accepting the claims of new writers is a cause for some perplexity; they have to persuade and convince, always that problem of the primacy of first acquaintance.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

This overflows from the last one. One could get quite caught up in a long list. Trying to keep it short. Among contemporaries, usually older, I would include people like Bernstein, who’s a bit of a spokesman for the Language school, Silliman, Bruce Andrews, DuPlessis, Hejinian, in Britain more ‘innovative’ poets like Robert Sheppard, Maggie O’Sullivan, who actually I struggle with, Ken Edwards, Denise Riley, Peter Riley (no relation as he keeps saying), Prynne, Wilkinson, Drew Milne, Andrew Duncan, Alan Halsey, Geraldine Monk, Rupert Loydell, Martin Stannard, Charlie Baylis, Allen Fisher, Rod Mengham, David Rushmer, Kenneth Goldsmith (the Conceptual school), another struggler for me Vahni Capildeo, also poets in translation, but there it tends to thin out, Raul Zurita etc or Zizek’s latest pronouncements on theory and crit.

What I admire most is a sympathy with the innovative and progressive, and addressing writing to the realities that confront us today. However, I don’t think we have to be loud or confrontational, a lot of what’s effective comes out of the words themselves.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Well, everything in a sense surely comes down to communication and behaviour, of which communication is a part. Communication can take numerous forms, and indeed many writers now are trying to experiment with other artforms besides, like installations or video etc. I just regard writing essentially as part and parcel of communicating., and that includes the likes of social theory, in which I’m also very interested (eg structuralism, Frankfurt School, narratology etc).

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Here I think early education is very important, preschool and primary school included, literacy. Where you have a certain fluency with words it becomes a possibility. But it ties in with motivation. What do you want to do, or achieve? What are your better skills? What is the best use of your time?

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Here it becomes a bit indeterminate. I’ve just had a few book reviews posted or due to appear online, of writing by Wilkinson, Richard Gwyn and Vicente Huidobro. There may be some more poems, but I have to say the muse is not entirely with me at present. I seem to have gotten into a pattern of writing responsively to other things I’ve read. I like Terry Eagleton’s phrase, ‘hope without optimism’.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Clark Allison Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.