Women's Day and Ecofeminism

“You’ve got to be small and different.”

— Dr. Vandana Shiva

In honor of Women’s Day, I signed up for a three-day advocacy course with Dr. Vandana Shiva on Ecofeminism, through her organization, Navdanya.  Women from around the world dialed in to hear about Dr. Shiva’s most recent work, and to be encouraged and inspired to be confident protectors of land, soil, seeds, food, and human rights.  

Read more about Navdanya here https://www.navdanya.org/site/ and here https://navdanyainternational.org/. 

I have followed and admired Dr. Shiva’s work for decades.  Her voice is a persistent, lucid, and fierce international presence in the realms of organic farming, world-wide agriculture policies and widespread corruption, colonization and technocratic interference with indigenous sovereignty and natural systems of resilience. 

“The future will be what we seed.”  

- Dr. Vandana Shiva

I am an inexhaustible activist by nature in the areas of women’s health, food as medicine, bodily sovereignty, medical freedom, and in my inconsolable desire to activate human potential.  As an Ayurvedic and Chinese Medicine practitioner I have been trained to seek, understand and address root causes of imbalance and dysfunction.  This leads me to be keenly interested in ecological disruptions, women’s health (and therefore human health and well-being), the up-rooting of humanity through mass displacement and perpetual crisis (trauma), food and housing insecurity, and thus, necessarily, political and economic corruption and grassroots activism.  Currently I am delving into issues of soil health and seed security by aligning with gardening experts and activists around the world, and by getting my hands into the soil to tend and discern the lessons held at the roots of life on this planet.  All of these issues, of course, are one and the same in their implications for human and planetary health and vitality.   

In a conversation about how to be effective in methods of stewardship and activism in the face of massive, extractive and manipulative global powers, Dr. Shiva tells us that “You’ve got to be small and different.”  Top-down mechanistic power structures seek to impose uniformity, conformity, and monocultures of the mind – in exactly the same way that mechanistic, market-driven agriculture debases the soil by planting low-nutrient, genetically modified single-species crops for volume and profit.  Dr. Shiva guides us instead to cultivate relationships in our local communities and with our natural environment, and to learn and practice indigenous regenerative agriculture methods that favor crop diversity, rich nutrition, and a reciprocal relationship between the land and all who inhabit it.

Through patents and intellectual property rights that now aggressively claim ownership of seeds – laying claim to life itself – corporate agribusinesses are increasingly seeking to bully, conquer, manipulate and master land, food, and the right to farm the land in India and around the world.  Dr. Shiva teaches, writes and implores individuals - especially women - to disrupt this pattern by taking responsibility to study and engage directly with the living systems in our local environments in order to create ecosystems and communities based on co-evolution, partnership and relationship; driven by what women bring naturally – an appreciation and deep connection with the aliveness and vulnerability of our world, nurturing care, sensitivity, awareness, compassion and love.   

How do we come together to effectively dismantle/disempower power structures that extract, manipulate, and seek to colonize and capitalize on every aspect of Nature’s bounty – seed to harvest, birth to death, from cellular structure to spirit and soul?  After years of advocacy on various issues myself, I suspect the way to do this will have to do less with opposing or fighting anything or anyone, as this is exhausting and leads to more and more physical, emotional and psychic violence.  I imagine that getting in the trenches; hands in dirt – heart-to-heart and shoulder-to-shoulder with our neighbors – will be the way to steward the Earth in a way that will make our ancestors smile and ensure abundant landscapes for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to inherit. 

In conversation about the lessons she’s learned as an activist and food and soil protector, Dr. Shiva had this advice for us:  (some comments are paraphrased) 

·      “Hold your ground.” 

·      “(Cultivate) resilience.”

·      “Keep doing the right thing.” 

·      Don’t wait for external funding to start or motivate your actions.  External funding means that you will be indebted to the wishes of those who financed your projects. 

·      Take action with commitment, conscience and courage. 

·      Walk lightly; be extremely sensitive.  Let the universe take care of you.  Give your bit; do your best, but do not expect an outcome. 

·      Life does not thrive with the imposition of top-down orders.  Mechanical systems dissipate energy.  Life thrives when it is tended with the love, compassion and nurturance of women. 

Read Dr. Shiva’s book Oneness Versus The One Percent. 

Watch the trailer for the soon-to-be-released documentary about her life, Seeds of Vandana Shiva:

“Monsanto’s worst nightmare...”

https://vimeo.com/518756378

Read about the farmer’s protest happening in India now, and the history of agricultural policies and corporate take-overs that have harmed India’s small farmers for decades. 

https://navdanyainternational.org/30-40-years-indian-farmers-protest/

Read recent reports published by Navdanya:

http://navdanya.org/site/eco-feminism/women-feed-the-world 


https://www.navdanya.org/site/eco-feminism/the-earth-rising,-women-rising

Medical Freedom, Women, Children, and The Right to Bodily Sovereignty Are Under Attack

This message went from my hand to the office of the Governor of California today, and a similar version will go to his wife, Jennifer Seibel Newsom, who is a fierce advocate of women’s rights, as well as for crafting healthier perceptions of femininity and masculinity in modern society.  Regardless of your stance, experiences, opinion, or level of expertise on vaccine policy, I would like to ask everyone who reads this to think carefully about whether you appreciate the right to bodily autonomy.  Is mandating medical procedures on a massive one-size-fits-all scale, without exception, exemption or individual choice, really a direction we want to take?  Do we really want to give such intimate decisions – decisions that directly penetrate our blood, tissues, organs and brain – to universally corrupt government institutions?   If you are a voter in California, make sure you understand the implications of SB276; act now.  If you reside in other states and countries, make yourself aware of similar movements in your neighborhood.  You may have to dig a little, but they’re there.

Dear Governor Newsom,

SB276 is a very serious violation of doctor-patient privilege, women’s rights, children’s rights, the right to bodily sovereignty, and ultimately human rights. 

That each parent’s testimony regarding their experience and observations with vaccines given to their children is not officially tracked as part of the “settled science” is unconscionable. 

That the testimony of each health care provider who has stepped forward, putting his or her career at risk to advocate for vaccine-injured children and vulnerable children, is being plainly disregarded, is unconscionable. 

The aggression with which parents - mostly mothers - have been rudely and dismissively smacked down in doctors’ offices and in public when bringing our concerns, questions, and testimony to healthcare providers and to public conversations regarding vaccines is a not-so-subtle form of systemized misogyny.  

Real science is never settled.  Therefore, reasonable access to exemptions, free of policy standards and other manipulations that interfere with the integrity of sound medical judgement and doctor-patient privilege, must be fiercely protected.   

I urge you to veto SB276 without delay. 

Athena Centre for Women - Volunteer Reflections

I spent a month in July 2018 volunteering at the Athena Centre for Women (a project by Action for Women) on the Greek Island of Chios.  The centre serves women living in Vial Refugee Camp, a severely overcrowded and underserved camp where more than 2000 refugees reside in broken metal containers, tents, and in many cases, with no shelter at all, completely open to the elements. 

Athena Centre for Women provides a vital service to the women living in Vial who are able to travel to the centre.  Here women find a clean, quiet, safe and welcoming space to rest and relax for a few precious hours a day – something that hasn’t been available to them since leaving their war-torn countries, on the precarious road they’ve traveled to get here, or at home in Vial Camp.  In the centre women also have access to legal and medical appointments, bras and undergarments, sanitary supplies, a wholesome meal, and, depending on the skills and talents of volunteers who come, may have access to language, wellness, and art classes. 

I taught yoga and wellness classes at the centre, and generally supported administrative and coordination functions of the centre as needed.  I also engaged in many hours of socializing, snuggling babies, listening, giving and receiving shoulder massages, and sharing meals.  Together we experienced many funny and tender moments.  We anointed ourselves with essential oils, engaged in a photography project, and talked about dreams for the future.  When words failed us – because in a room full of five women there could be five different languages spoken – we communicated through art, body language, smiles, expressions of anguish and frustration, watery eyes, firm nods, and with hugs.  As volunteers, we would often cringe and ache internally when a request for a basic human need was made and we said “no” due to lack of resources or better solutions. 

Women from around the world come here to serve our sisters who have been in harm’s way for too long.  It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the degree of suffering we witness, but also the courage and resilience; and the beauty of women in whose eyes we can also see ourselves.    In this place we bear witness to the tenderness and strength of each woman’s heart, as well as the grave consequences of war, forced migration, and poverty. 

For me the Athena Centre for Women represents a space where women gather to lift each other up, promote self-care, share wisdom and stories of joy and tragedy, and to develop self-confidence and friendship.  Here we learn about what it means to be brave, and how to engage in heartfelt, respectful conversations with women of diverse backgrounds, interests, and cultures.    

Women who come here from Vial camp are tirelessly struggling to survive; the women who volunteer here strive tirelessly to elevate and inspire; we all endeavor to keep hope alive.  Volunteers arrive as advocates and activists.  We leave with a more accurate perspective on serious world issues and crises; with images etched in our hearts that will never be forgotten, and with new friendships that poke holes in the walls between our cultures and nations. 

Volunteers and donations are needed. 

Apply to volunteer at https://actionforwomen.ch/volunteer/

To donate:  https://actionforwomen.ch/donate/ 

Watch a video about the Athena Women’s Center: 
https://www.facebook.com/actionforwomenCH/videos/1385208041623681/

Conflict, Curiosity and Compassion: Healing a Divided World

This article was originally published in Acupuncture Today in December 2017.  

In March 2017 Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) brought 18 practitioners, it’s mobile clinic, and its therapeutic “Peace Circle” on a World Healing Exchange tour to Israel and the West Bank.  With hearts and minds full of curiosity and compassion, a bus-load of practitioners traversed Tel Aviv, the Negev Desert, the Dead Sea, the Christian, Jewish and Muslim sacred sites of Jerusalem, traditional herbal farms, a kibbutz, a TCM Conference, a local hospital’s TCM department, and several Palestinian and Bedouin villages with the intention of connecting, learning, and considering the role of healers in the pursuit of a more peaceful world, at home and abroad.  

We experienced in real time the pulsation of a land whose very culture is conflict; palpably present on both sides of infamous and controversial border walls. We traveled through armed checkpoints where we were at times searched and interrogated. The young soldiers, about the age of my college-sophomore son, were strapped with large weapons and trifled through our bags and asked pointed questions.  Though the landscapes and cityscapes we tread through were breathtakingly beautiful, they were commonly demarcated by threads of barbed wire.  The honey-gold vitality of the desert and rolling hills we traveled between on crude, bumpy single-lane roads to get to a Palestinian village one clear morning was betrayed by an ominous tension, and the sound of a military helicopter circling above our caravan.  

At each of our destinations there were a few awkward moments of looking one another up and down; can we trust these people?  Do they trust us?  Are we safe?  What makes us so different?  Are they judging us?  Are we judging them?  Our ability to manage our own mind chatter and Qi disturbances was challenged daily, for sure.  

Our own angst and discomfort as a group was unearthed and aired clumsily, in our practice of “Council” between destinations.  Council is a process of interpersonal conflict resolution and effective communication that has its origins in Native American, Quaker and Buddhist traditions. Council employs active listening without interruption and speaking succinctly from the heart.  The benefits of practicing Council are personal and professional.

As healers who travel into areas of crisis and high tension, we are regularly and unavoidably impacted by the suffering we endeavor to alleviate.  AWB maintains that individual and interpersonal healing practices such as acupuncture treatments, Qi Gong, and Council are essential for maintaining proper boundaries and staying well in the field.  An essential part of AWB’s mission is to support healers in developing awareness and capacity to manage one’s own triggers and Qi disturbances.

Our team was led by an Israeli-Palestinian tour guide impressively well-versed in world history and religions.  Under his care, we were safely and skillfully guided through armed checkpoints, villages, markets, temples, holy lands, history books and propaganda. I was impressed by his ability to impart stories through a prism that could reflect as many perspectives as there are people on the planet, as well as his active refusal to give up the dream of a peaceful existence.  

We encountered many Israelis and Palestinians who are valiantly working together to transform conflict into cooperation.  We were told everywhere we went that PTS (post traumatic stress) is epidemic and part of the fabric of everyday life, having tenaciously infiltrated generations, families, communities and nations.  

Among the diverse cast of characters we met was a woman that was a main character in The Lemon Tree, the true story of a 35-year friendship between an Arab and an Israeli whose families shared the same home; an Israeli colleague who gives acupuncture treatments in a bomb a shelter along the Gaza strip, and told us of the bomb protocol – down to the number of seconds she has to prepare when the alarms are sounded; a Bedouin woman who gathers herbs in the desert, makes medicines and lotions by hand, employs and inspires the women in her village – and around the world; artisans of all stripes who imagine, create and bring to market the soulful fascinations of their hearts.  

We participated in a mobile clinic with Physicians for Human Rights in a Palestinian village with doctors and acupuncturists that regularly venture to “the other side” of the wall to provide care and friendship.  We visited the Temple Mount, the Wailing Wall, the site of Christ’s birth, and Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum).  We visited herbal farms employing Israelis and Palestinians, entrenched in property battles, and targeted by the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

We had tea and cake on a rooftop in Jerusalem with two men who live in diabolically opposed worlds, divided by walls and generations of conflict.  They shared the stories of their personal tragedies perpetrated by “the other side,” each having lost a child in violent incidents.  They shared their story of friendship and reconciliation, and introduced us to Parent’s Circle, the peace organization which they now both represent.  

Without exception, our hosts and hostesses welcomed us with hospitality, traditional homemade dishes and tea, curiosity and lively conversation – if complicated at times by language barriers.  Time and again we experienced face-to-face meetings – human proximity – where body language, smiles, gestures, warm eyes, hand shakes, hugs, and simple offerings of hospitality are capable of dissolving fears and ideological barriers.

Since being on this journey, I’ve been contemplating walls and checkpoints; how we consciously and unconsciously - figuratively and literally - build walls.  Is it human nature, somehow, that we so skillfully and nonchalantly alienate ourselves from one another?  I suppose it’s not unlike the walls which we construct within ourselves to dissociate from our uncomfortable emotions; little bits of tension, crooked postural habits, aches and pains, full-on disease patterns.  Coping strategies.  When we dissociate from ourselves, we cause self harm, often unconsciously, by eating food until we’re numb, working until we collapse, drinking until we feel no pain, or using recreational drugs, sex, relationships - or whatever – to experience momentary relief; numbness.   There is alienation between body and mind; spirit and matter.  The community of cells, organs, tissues, fluids and vibrations within us becomes hampered in its capacity to regulate itself and inner pathology develops.  

In our outer world we place physical and ideological barriers between “us” and “them.”  Religion, ideologies, border walls, cultures, economic circumstances, sex, physical and lifestyle differences are some of the many things we use to judge and dissociate ourselves from other humans. We build walls around our hearts and around our properties.  We work in cubicles and use literal and proverbial walls to delineate who we are and what’s mine and what’s yours.  Perfectly human nuances and potentially empowering institutions can be swiftly, if insidiously, deployed as weapons that decimate our capacity for genuine human connection and, ironically, compassion.  

I noticed many times during our journey that when we left a room it was always with our hearts fuller than when we entered; smiles from the inside; eyes full of hope; yearning for more time together - deeper connection, more productive conversations.  I wondered if our hosts and hostesses felt the same way?

Could it be that in the heart of the world’s suffering lies the impetus for the greatest healing?  That this entire conflicted land could serve as a dynamic acupuncture point for the entire planet, sending a ripple of human healing potential into the cosmos? It feels as if we’ve visited the orchestra pit from which a band of worldly healer/musicians are sending their unique and sophisticated sounds and sensations of love, understanding and compassion into the world through education, cultivation, hospitality, artistry, healing modalities and other diverse means.  The invitation is for the world to be inspired and to join the orchestra, in whatever healing capacity each one of us instinctually and passionately embodies.

The potent beauty of what we bring as acupuncture practitioners – Qi doctors – I think, is the capacity to transcend words and stories; to gently touch and re-organize dis-ease into fluidity beneath the surface, at the level of cellular consciousness. We know well that when isolated cells start communicating and collaborating, miraculous transformations are possible.  We can see in and among our patients that when one cell lights up, the one next to it already feels brighter, more alive.  With a few intelligently placed needles, and the exhilarating experience of heartfelt connection between humans, we embark on a mission to ease and inspire internal worlds, outer auras and, through a ripple effect, entire communities.  

Acupuncturists Without Borders Travels to the Heart of World Issues

This article was originally published in Acupuncture Today in April, 2017.

A child plays at Ritsona Refugee Camp in Greece.

If I once believed in fairytales, the dreamy blue Greek Islands was certainly one of them.

At the beginning of 2016 I had no idea what was in store for me, but I was looking forward to a personal retreat on the Greek Island of Paros; a graduation gift to myself after 22 years of motherhood, and 4+ years of Chinese medicine school.  That first trip to Greece really was a dream come true.  I saw with my own eyes that the water and sky are indeed THAT vast and THAT astonishingly blue; and I experienced that the Greek people are indeed uncommonly outgoing, warm, and joyful.  

But even in that first breathtaking and dream-fulfilling trip to Paros, Santorini, and Athens, the signs of trouble in Greece were undeniable.  Greeks make it their business to ensure that the international crisis occurring within their borders does not detract from the enchanting experience meant for tourists - for those who choose not to wander beyond designated tourist havens.  Just outside of these beautiful destination areas, however – the back of the house, you might say – there is an eerie emptiness; abandoned real estate, barren storefronts, and uncomfortably quiet, over-grown and run-down villages.  

While studying Traditional Chinese Medicine, I followed and admired the work of Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) and felt clear that community style acupuncture and not-for-profit relief work would be in my future.  Admittedly a bit of a starry-eyed idealist, I knew from the get-go that our ancient, holistic, energetic and economically practical medicine held extraordinary potential to heal some of the deepest wounds of our troubled modern world.  It seemed serendipitous, when I graduated from TCM school and my life circumstances relocated me to Europe, that AWB was mobilizing its throng of activist-healers to address the refugee crisis in Greece.  

I reached out and dove in.  I was soon to learn that visiting Greece as a relief worker is a vastly different experience than that of a tourist.  

The Greeks, grappling with extreme poverty, unemployment, and political unrest, are host to an estimated 62,000 displaced people who have navigated treacherous crossing from the Middle East, by land or on foot, to arrive within the relative safety of Europe’s borders. They are dispersed among 50-some-odd refugee camps, barred from migrating to other European countries due to border closings.  It is anticipated that some will be deported back to their countries of origin, and could face detention or death. The lucky ones may receive legal asylum in Greece, even though the economy cannot support them.  These gruesome facts notwithstanding, I have been astonished by the generosity and concern of the Greeks I’ve met, who have transcended their own adversity to provide what relief they can.  

The first day I arrived in a refugee camp with AWB, our small team of acupuncturists carrying our mobile clinic neatly stashed in our backpacks, what I saw, felt, and sensed made me feel small.   What can a few of us do, really, to make even a tiny dent in the profound suffering we are witnessing?  A message scratched on a wall in one of the camps spoke volumes:  “We are not animals.”  In a moment we had gained an education about the world, and realities not like our own. 

The conditions we encounter in refugee camps are unpredictable, at best, and challenge us to employ skills we’ve cultivated in our personal meditation and Qi Gong practices.  Acutely aware that we are standing in the heart of catastrophic human suffering, we endeavor to remain composed amid chaos, clear in our purpose, and present to our patients’ needs.  It is essential that we are able to think on our feet, anticipate and function as a team, and deliver our medicine with steady and skillful hands.   

Our team of healers collaborates with camp volunteers to identify space where we can set up our clinic.  Circumstances are reliably less than ideal, and inconsistent.  It’s often too cold or too hot, dirty, and lighting may be poor.  We use whatever supplies, furnishings or materials we can get our hands on to set up our clean field and make the floor comfortable for our patients.   We spend time walking around the camp, introducing ourselves, attempting to communicate with residents about our services with signs printed in Arabic and Farsi.  We are excited and relieved when we meet residents who speak English and agree to help interpret for us in the clinic.  
 
The simple yet potent standardized auricular acupuncture protocol we use in AWB field clinics is the NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) five-needle protocol, which was developed to support recovery from addiction.  On their website, AWB explains that “the use of acupuncture for drug addiction led to its use for the prevention and treatment of trauma. Research in the past decade has shown that acupuncture is a helpful somatic therapy that rebalances the brain after significant stress, as well as the nervous and hormonal systems. Acupuncture treatment, especially shortly after exposure to traumatic events, can help prevent the development of post-traumatic stress (PTS). With more extended treatment, acupuncture can also restore resiliency for those who suffer from long-term PTS.”  

In the eyes of the refugees we encounter, we see immense sadness, grief, pain, frustration, and loneliness. We also see undeniable signs of love, healing and hope. As we continue to return to camps over time, we are enthusiastically welcomed and residents line up for treatment.  We are invited to have tea in refugees’ tents.   We listen to stories of bombs that fell on workplaces, children lost to war, and of family members imprisoned or stranded in other parts of the Middle East and Europe.  

We meet volunteers who have been working in the camps for many months or longer.  Some come for short stays and then extend their service period.  They become attached to the residents and see that the volunteer organizations are short-handed and that the needs are great.  Several we spoke to reported that they work long hours, sleep poorly, eat poorly or not at all during the day, and describe the work environment as highly stressful.  We recognize the symptoms of secondary trauma and arrange community clinics for volunteers in the evenings.  

During treatments, we are able to observe the positive effects of our medicine.  We see our patients becoming calm; some nearly fall asleep sitting up.  We are told, through interpreters, that some sleep better, feel more relaxed, and there are reports of less pain.  On some level, our work here is helping. 

One of the most satisfying things about our medicine, for me, is our ability to connect, in a way that transcends words.  Without imposing anything, we show up to create a sanctuary.  We hold space for quiet meditation, and skillfully elicit subtle, spontaneous reorganization of organs and systems.  We perceive each encounter as a seedling for individual, family, and community rejuvenation and rehabilitation.

Since last May, AWB has sent six volunteer teams to work in four refugee camps.  An essential aspect of AWB’s mission is to train Greek acupuncturists to do this work,  which expands its capacity to provide relief.  So far, AWB has trained twenty Greek acupuncturists who now work in teams to provide treatments twice a week in the Oinofyta and Ritsona camps, near Athens. AWB’s goal is to expand treatments to three more camps in 2017.

Rather than doing nothing, or simply watching from afar, we are doing something.  We are showing up, offering our time and our gifts; communicating with words and with our medicine that our deepest desire is for a more harmonious and peaceful world.  

Source:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/10/greece-severe-weather-places-refugees-at-risk-and-government-under-fire

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