Storage Units: The Pathologies of Packing and Packing It On

It occurs to me that in this country we have parallel pathologies on the same trajectory to ill health. Have you noticed that nearly every community, no matter how small, has an extra “roll” around the edges of self-storage units? They are sprouting up everywhere. As a culture and a people we can’t seem to let go of “stuff”. We are on a path to collect stuff. We pass on our stuff to our kids and grandkids. We build whole new houses to put more and more stuff in. We forgo investing in businesses to help humanity in favor of the sure bet of building more storage units. We can’t seem to take responsibility for getting rid of the stuff that accumulates. Instead, we make excuses for the amount of stuff we have and stuff that stuff into bigger “clothes”. At the same time, as a people we are stuffing ourselves. We buy more and more low quality foods because we are lead to believe we can afford more of the cheap options. We eat more and more highly processed foods that put our bodies into storage mode. We trick our metabolism into wanting more and more calories so the body can create more storage units and we can buy bigger clothes. We then store the smaller sizes in the storage unit in the event that sometime in the future we will lose weight. The closer I look the more connected I believe these two pathologies are. 

Commonalities in development:

• Abdication of personal responsibility in favor of the “expert opinion” or “just take a pill”.
• The credit culture has eliminated anticipation and saving or working towards a desired goal. Waiting until you can actually afford something is seen as silly now. But because we can have whatever we want “now”, the thrill of the chase is eliminated, we grow weary of our new acquisition quickly, and fixate on the next “must have” item. Whether that is a Big Mac, a 65” TV or a Hummer.
• Dedication to the TV as evidenced by the ever expanding channels and the ever dumbing down of content (we now watch “reality TV” to see what life is like in the outside world).
• Reduction in interest in the physical environment and dissociation of humans from the environment to the point where children can’t recognize a vegetable or understand that chicken doesn’t just materialize in styrofoam and plastic wrap.
• Diminution of actual bodily movement -- the most used appendage seems to have become the thumb and some people manage to move little else. 
• Withdrawal from real human connection in favor of mass media entertainment and virtual worlds.
• Growing inability to communicate effectively which goes hand in hand with the last item.
• Oblivious disregard for personal impact on the environment. With no relationship there is no responsibility for one’s actions.
• Definition of success as accumulation and chronic overabundance, and the denial of the growing problem of excess. Belief that endless expansion is sustainable, but uncontrolled growth is abnormal growth. In cellular terms, this is cancer.
• Inability to find a starting point to make personal changes.
• Lack of tools to create and sustain lasting change.

Re-Style Your Lifestyle:

It's Spring Cleaning Time! Cleaning up and cleaning out your physical storage units has positive impact on many levels not the least of which is you may discover you don't really need most of what you've been storing. You can make money selling it off, or take a tax break for donating your "stuff" to charity. Hey, you may even discover you don't need to be paying rent on that storage unit at all! Now, with that extra money available, you can actually afford to invest in yourSelf. Now you can more easily get to work on your cellular storage units. Now you can afford to join the gym, sign up for Boot Camp, take a nutrition class, and/or upgrade your grocery choices...

More on this as the metaphor manifests... Get A Grip. Get Organized. Get REAL.

Sleepless in Southern Oregon

Every now and then I am hit with a night where sleep is beyond elusive, it's playing hookie somewhere and hasn't even bothered to text. This seems to happen when there is a perfect storm of triggers that let sleep off the hook for a night. For me these elements often include: a new or unfamiliar place (can even be a different room in a familiar house); new or unfamiliar sounds in the environment; too much caffeine after 3pm; getting really physically exhausted and then getting the mind engaged in something fascinating right before normal bed time; having a meal out that has MSG in it and finding out after it's too late; being on my cycle; and full moons. All but the last applied last night. Once the cycle of non-sleep begins, there seems to be little I can do to stop it without a little help, so I got up after tossing and turning until 2am and worked until about 4am and finally dozed off somewhere around 4:30. I would have tried my battery of sleep aids if I had been at home. These helpers don't include any pharmaceuticals and can work miracles. Since this issue is something a good number of my clients experience, I thought I'd post some ideas here that you my not have thought of or tried before.

Melatonin: Many of you have probably heard of or even tried melatonin which is a naturally occurring hormone that is in charge of inducing normal sleep. It works wonders for me especially when changing time zones. The best thing to do in that instance is to take 3mg (+/-) about 20 minutes before you would like to be asleep in the new time zone, and then go to bed as if you are there. I do this when I'm on the plane unless I have to change planes in the middle of the night somewhere.

Wood Betony: A simple tincture of this herb is used for other things more often, but a little known use that works for me is to get "the list maker" to be quite. You know the one, that little voice that pops into your head and says "oh, and when you wake up, don't forget to put that bill to be mailed in your briefcase" and then just as you're about to slide into blissful unconsciousness, "oh, and remember that tomorrow is Aunt Susie's birthday"... About 30 drops of Wood Betony can help get the volume turned down.

Chamomile (and/or Valerian) and Oat Bath: Get some cheese cloth and make a simple mesh bag about 6"x6". Fill it with chamomile flowers and rolled oats. Bring about a quart of water to a boil and pour over the bag and steep while drawing a hot bath. Pour the "tea" and the "tea bag" straight into the tub. Climb in and soak until you are really toasty. You can use the "tea bag" as a scrubby if you like. Towel off but be sure to stay warm and dive under the covers.

Turkey: If you find you are a wee bit hungry, have a slice or two of uncured turkey meat (dark is better). Turkey is high in the amino acid tryptophan which is the precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin. This neurotransmitter is responsible for that "ahhh" feeling of relaxation. It is one of the main reasons why people go into a dozy food coma after Thanksgiving!

Reduce Exposure to Glowing Screens: It has been shown recently that the screens that shine light at you like TVs, computers, and hand helds, have the power to reset your internal clock. Reflected light, like that bouncing off a page in a book, doesn't have the same effect. If you have trouble on a regular basis getting to sleep, try turning off all glowing screens at least one hour before you want to be asleep. You can read, or do laundry or play cards, but don't stare at something that glows back at you.

And a little note about alcohol and caffeine: Although alcohol can cause someone to "pass out" it's not really healthy sleep that you get in that instance. What ends up happening is you will bounce back awake again in about 3 hours and then have a really hard time getting back to sleep (not to mention you probably won't feel very well). Minimize alcohol in the evening and caffeine throughout the day. Caffeine clearance can take 5-8 hours for women especially, so be sure to stop ingestion by about 3pm to be safe getting to sleep at night.

Hope this helps! When all else fails, don't stress about not sleeping because the stressing will prolong the sleeplessness. Just get up and do something soothing (without adding in any glowing screens). You can't make up lost sleep, but you can take a nap later in the day which will help.