Woke up this morning to a beautiful piano riff, a song that as I lay in that magic moment between sleep and wake, allowed me to center deeply, remember my connection to Spirit, honor my intentions to stay connected, honest, integrated, loving. The trills also allowed my mind to begin its day of play, to marvel in the early morning light, to begin to create.
Many, many years ago, a choir teacher of mine would play classical music pieces and have us all sit with our eyes closed and just listen to the story told by each piece of music. For some the story came in images, colors and lights. For others the stories came full of drama, as if written in a book or played out a movie screen with a beginning, climax and resolution. For some, there were scenes of nature, of conflict, of interpersonal struggle. For all, there was a story, a cohesiveness, a groundedness that kept the piece of music on track. No matter where the notes went, which instruments joined in, how chaotic or peaceful the track became, there is a center to which the piece of music always returns. What is this that holds a song together and keeps it from becoming simply a jumble of discordant notes and sounds?
The composer determines the theme. An intention is set. Maybe a story is created. Maybe just an emotion forms the foundation. But, there is always an intention. And, from this intention comes a complex creation, full of nuance, and capable of being interpreted in a myriad of ways by each listener.
Our lives too have a root, a groundedness. In Ayurvedic medicine, it is said the number one cause of dis-ease is forgetting our true nature as Spirit. It does not matter what religious beliefs we each may have; but there is a deep resounding truth that we are all Spirit. This is the root. This is the theme that plays out below, amongst, sometimes hidden, sometimes prominently in the songs of each of our lives. The notes trill into what seems complete chaos at times. Sometimes they are barely audible. But, our story is being told and when we connect and remember our own center, delve into our own hearts, we can hear our own theme.
From this deep listening, we are invited to lean in, to trust that our heart/Spirit knows the way. As the orchestra follows each note, trusting that the composition will come into being as a work of beauty, we also are invited to find our center, breathe into the present moment, and from there live in complete honesty, integrity and wellness.
Often our own stories, our own moments of forgetting our true nature loom so large that it seems impossible to once again find our center, or to catch hold of our own theme. At its simplest, all that is asked is that we remember. But, to remember we must at times seek help, ground, get quiet, listen.
Getting quiet, grounding and listening can be done through the choices we make on a daily basis: eating a diet balanced and rich in season appropriate nutrients, tastes and energy; walking on the ground; meditation; meaningful connection with others who reflect our own truth back to us; working with our stories - testing what is really truth and what is simply a construct of the mind, asking ourselves which stories are serving us, bringing us into deep connection; and which stories are causing more separation, struggle, and suffering. Sometimes we need to ask for help.
Connection to our center/ to Spirit does not mean we lead a life without pain. It does mean we have the potential to live a life without suffering. Life is rich with emotion; both dark and light. Embracing each note of life fully whether we really like the sound or not, allows us to live with depth and richness. The fullness of our own composition can be realized. The seemingly discordant notes of the moment, the moments of trilling and lightness, the moments of intensity, the moments of darkness all come together to form a beautiful song of the Spirit - a song manifesting in each of us, connecting us one to another.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
ND's in Alaska need your help!
Please support HB266
This isn’t my normal style of blog or writing, but the following topic is vitally important to protecting the way I and all other naturopathic doctors in the state of Alaska practice.
As a little background, many of you know that in Alaska, naturopathic doctors are licensed primary care doctors with a limited scope of practice that includes utilizing plant medicines, vitamins, minerals, nutrition, hydrotherapy, physical medicine, lifestyle counseling, and other natural treatments to both treat illness and to work with patients to achieve optimal wellness. Naturopathic doctors in Alaska practice under state statute, following the guidelines of regulations developed in 1994 by ND’s and the Department of Labor.
By current statute, we cannot “give, prescribe, or recommend in the practice:
1. a prescription drug or
2. a “controlled substance.” Controlled substances are prescription drugs such as opiates that have the potential for abuse.
The Department of Labor (DOL), who oversees our profession in Alaska, adopted regulations in 1994 that “prescription drugs” does not include a “device or herbal or homeopathic remedy or dietetic substances in a form that is not a controlled substance” with further clarification that “herbal remedies” include the extract of a plant, tree, root, moss, fungus or other natural substance.
The DOL is now ignoring this regulation by restricting the use of plant-based medicine.
HB266 takes one sentence from our regulations (medicines derived from or a concentrate or extract of a plant, tree, root, moss, fungus or other natural substance), and places it into statute so that the thousands of patients and families who rely on Naturopathic care will continue to receive the current level of care they have come to appreciate and rely on.
Naturopathic doctors are the leading experts in herbal medicine, herb/medication interactions, and human physiology and the effect of plant medicines on both optimizing wellness and treating disease. Limiting the use of the medicines we know and use best would be detrimental to the welfare of our patients.
It is our intent with HB266 to maintain our current status, as naturopathic doctors in the state of Alaska, with our current prescriptive capacity of natural substances. The bill will maintain this status by placing one sentence from our regulations into Alaska Statute, thereby defining more clearly the way we have been practicing for 20 years. It will not add to our current scope of practice. It will not give us pharmaceutical prescriptive privileges. It will allow us to continue to practice in the effective manner in which we have been practicing up until limitations were placed on the types of natural substances we could obtain.
Representative Cathy Munoz and Senator Lesil McGuire have sponsored this bill. We greatly appreciate their support. We now have 90 days to pass this legislation. This is where you come in. Our legislators’ highest priority is to represent the people in their own communities. Hearing from their constituents is vital in helping them make decisions that serve the people of their communities best. You, as patients of naturopathic doctors, are best able to communicate the care you’ve received and to request that your legislators support this bill that maintains our status and allows us to continue practicing as we have been in the state of Alaska since 1986. Your legislators need to hear that you have chosen Naturopathic care as either your primary choice for care or as an adjunct to other medical services.
I would appreciate a copy of any correspondence you send to your legislator as a way for us to keep track of support and requests. You can send copies to amycnd@gci.net. Also, please feel free to send me any questions about this bill. Letters of gratitude to our sponsors and letters in support of the bill to your personal legislators are all helpful to this process.
HOW TO CONTACT LEGISLATORS
POMs (public opinion messages): If you go to www.alaska.gov, you will see an icon on the right hand corner that says “the Alaska Legislature” which goes to their home page. On the bottom of that page under “Quick Links” is a link to “public opinion messages” that will allow you to send a 50 word message to all or some of the legislators. The link will want to know what district you are from. That information is on your voter’s registration card.
Some ideas of things to include in these messages are: how long you and your family have been working with a naturopathic doctor; the quality of care you receive; the effectiveness of treatment you’ve received; and asking your legislator to support HB 266 so that you, your family and all Alaskans maintain freedom of choice in their health care provider and model.
Direct emails: You will find the link to particular legislators by opening up the tab marked “senate” or “house” along the top of this page. That will bring you to the links for all the individual legislators. Clicking on any specific name will take you to a website that has the email address for that person.
Regular mail: I know, when was the last time you wrote a “real” letter? Sometimes in our world of technology, receiving a paper letter attracts attention. I would be happy to supply “talking points” to anyone who would like assistance.
Direct testimony: Our bill has been assigned to one committee in the House - Labor and Commerce. Individuals can weigh in on this committee by going to their local Legislative Information Office (LIO) to testify. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee that a bill will be heard when it is scheduled. So, though this is a powerful option, please know that they occasionally run out of time before hearing a bill and you may not have a chance to testify.
Contacting your local representatives is the perfect place to start. If you live in a district represented by one of the people on the Labor and Commerce committee (see the list below), even better! But, as the bill leaves committee, each representative will be asked for their vote.
We hope to have a bill in the senate very soon that will be worded in exactly the same manner.
House Labor and Commerce:
Kurt Olson - Chair (Soldotna)
Craig Johnson -Vice Chair (Anchorage)
Steve Thompson (Fairbanks and co-sponsor of HB266)
Paul Seaton (Homer)
Dan Saddler (Eagle River)
Lindsey Holmes (Anchorage)
Bob Miller (Fairbanks)
If you would like to track the progress of HB266, you can sign up for email alerts (home page of the legislature, under media center), allowing you to follow the bill as it goes through process. Also, on the legislative home page, you can put HB266 in the search engine to bring up the status of the bill. Or, you can live stream committee proceedings by going to AlaskaLegislature.tv. They make this available to anyone who does not live near a Legislative Information Office (LIO) or has problems getting to an LIO.
With immense gratitude for your assistance and for your presence in my life as patients, friends and community,
Dr Amy
This isn’t my normal style of blog or writing, but the following topic is vitally important to protecting the way I and all other naturopathic doctors in the state of Alaska practice.
As a little background, many of you know that in Alaska, naturopathic doctors are licensed primary care doctors with a limited scope of practice that includes utilizing plant medicines, vitamins, minerals, nutrition, hydrotherapy, physical medicine, lifestyle counseling, and other natural treatments to both treat illness and to work with patients to achieve optimal wellness. Naturopathic doctors in Alaska practice under state statute, following the guidelines of regulations developed in 1994 by ND’s and the Department of Labor.
By current statute, we cannot “give, prescribe, or recommend in the practice:
1. a prescription drug or
2. a “controlled substance.” Controlled substances are prescription drugs such as opiates that have the potential for abuse.
The Department of Labor (DOL), who oversees our profession in Alaska, adopted regulations in 1994 that “prescription drugs” does not include a “device or herbal or homeopathic remedy or dietetic substances in a form that is not a controlled substance” with further clarification that “herbal remedies” include the extract of a plant, tree, root, moss, fungus or other natural substance.
The DOL is now ignoring this regulation by restricting the use of plant-based medicine.
HB266 takes one sentence from our regulations (medicines derived from or a concentrate or extract of a plant, tree, root, moss, fungus or other natural substance), and places it into statute so that the thousands of patients and families who rely on Naturopathic care will continue to receive the current level of care they have come to appreciate and rely on.
Naturopathic doctors are the leading experts in herbal medicine, herb/medication interactions, and human physiology and the effect of plant medicines on both optimizing wellness and treating disease. Limiting the use of the medicines we know and use best would be detrimental to the welfare of our patients.
It is our intent with HB266 to maintain our current status, as naturopathic doctors in the state of Alaska, with our current prescriptive capacity of natural substances. The bill will maintain this status by placing one sentence from our regulations into Alaska Statute, thereby defining more clearly the way we have been practicing for 20 years. It will not add to our current scope of practice. It will not give us pharmaceutical prescriptive privileges. It will allow us to continue to practice in the effective manner in which we have been practicing up until limitations were placed on the types of natural substances we could obtain.
Representative Cathy Munoz and Senator Lesil McGuire have sponsored this bill. We greatly appreciate their support. We now have 90 days to pass this legislation. This is where you come in. Our legislators’ highest priority is to represent the people in their own communities. Hearing from their constituents is vital in helping them make decisions that serve the people of their communities best. You, as patients of naturopathic doctors, are best able to communicate the care you’ve received and to request that your legislators support this bill that maintains our status and allows us to continue practicing as we have been in the state of Alaska since 1986. Your legislators need to hear that you have chosen Naturopathic care as either your primary choice for care or as an adjunct to other medical services.
I would appreciate a copy of any correspondence you send to your legislator as a way for us to keep track of support and requests. You can send copies to amycnd@gci.net. Also, please feel free to send me any questions about this bill. Letters of gratitude to our sponsors and letters in support of the bill to your personal legislators are all helpful to this process.
HOW TO CONTACT LEGISLATORS
POMs (public opinion messages): If you go to www.alaska.gov, you will see an icon on the right hand corner that says “the Alaska Legislature” which goes to their home page. On the bottom of that page under “Quick Links” is a link to “public opinion messages” that will allow you to send a 50 word message to all or some of the legislators. The link will want to know what district you are from. That information is on your voter’s registration card.
Some ideas of things to include in these messages are: how long you and your family have been working with a naturopathic doctor; the quality of care you receive; the effectiveness of treatment you’ve received; and asking your legislator to support HB 266 so that you, your family and all Alaskans maintain freedom of choice in their health care provider and model.
Direct emails: You will find the link to particular legislators by opening up the tab marked “senate” or “house” along the top of this page. That will bring you to the links for all the individual legislators. Clicking on any specific name will take you to a website that has the email address for that person.
Regular mail: I know, when was the last time you wrote a “real” letter? Sometimes in our world of technology, receiving a paper letter attracts attention. I would be happy to supply “talking points” to anyone who would like assistance.
Direct testimony: Our bill has been assigned to one committee in the House - Labor and Commerce. Individuals can weigh in on this committee by going to their local Legislative Information Office (LIO) to testify. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee that a bill will be heard when it is scheduled. So, though this is a powerful option, please know that they occasionally run out of time before hearing a bill and you may not have a chance to testify.
Contacting your local representatives is the perfect place to start. If you live in a district represented by one of the people on the Labor and Commerce committee (see the list below), even better! But, as the bill leaves committee, each representative will be asked for their vote.
We hope to have a bill in the senate very soon that will be worded in exactly the same manner.
House Labor and Commerce:
Kurt Olson - Chair (Soldotna)
Craig Johnson -Vice Chair (Anchorage)
Steve Thompson (Fairbanks and co-sponsor of HB266)
Paul Seaton (Homer)
Dan Saddler (Eagle River)
Lindsey Holmes (Anchorage)
Bob Miller (Fairbanks)
If you would like to track the progress of HB266, you can sign up for email alerts (home page of the legislature, under media center), allowing you to follow the bill as it goes through process. Also, on the legislative home page, you can put HB266 in the search engine to bring up the status of the bill. Or, you can live stream committee proceedings by going to AlaskaLegislature.tv. They make this available to anyone who does not live near a Legislative Information Office (LIO) or has problems getting to an LIO.
With immense gratitude for your assistance and for your presence in my life as patients, friends and community,
Dr Amy
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