Stranger Danger

When was the last time you talked to a stranger? On the bus? In line at grocery store? Even just said "Hello" or "Good morning!"

A couple of weeks ago I was walking along on my way to a therapy session, deep in thought about what was coming. I noticed a lady standing still on the sidewalk with a really faraway stare. My spidey senses told me something was amiss so I approached her. After asking "are you okay?" She thanked me and told me how she's just saved a kid from being hit by a taxi on his skateboard. She was feeling overcome with adrenaline and was trying to calm down. This wasn't necessarily an instant where I made much of an impact in this woman's life. But I hope it was enough, just to create another connection in the world. 

The story of an Australian man named Don Ritchie has touched me very deeply. Don officially saved the lives of over 160 people from suicide (but some guess the number is closer to 400). He lived by a cliff on the coast of Sydney called "The Gap" that is a notorious suicide location. Each day Don would keep an eye out for people in trouble and would strike up a conversation with them, invite them for tea and just be there to offer a friendly ear or word. I've no doubt that many call this man an Angel. 

You never know when reaching out to someone - even someone you don't know - can change their life for the better. 

Perhaps the real stranger danger is the isolation and separation we create in our society as a result of our fears.

Here's a short video highlighting Don's amazing efforts... Enjoy, be  inspired and take action in your own way.


Jas <3

What I learned from reading "The Ultramind Solution: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First"

No, it's not a book about becoming an expert at mind control (bummer, I know) it's the best resource I've found on an integrative/functional based approach to mental health. Written by a medical doctor who, after his own struggle with depression, now practices functional medicine. (WTF is Functional Medicine??? It's the practice of medicine where underlying causes for symptoms and issues are addressed, along with treating the symptoms themselves.)

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but ESPECIALLY those who deal with mental health issues like depression and anxiety, even memory deterioration. My friend who recommended the book was using it to learn ways to optimize his already healthy body and brain function.

The book highlights how our body function, what we eat and ingest, either through diet or through the environment, directly - and often significantly - affects the function of our brain and therefore mental health.

As a result of what I learned from the book I've started including a few more supplements into my existing routine. I already take a Multi Vitamin, Vit B Complex and a probiotic. I've added Magnesium, an Omega oil blend and Vitamin D.

One of the major takeaways for me was how much of an impact toxins can have on our health. Did you know that less than 1% of the chemicals in use today have been tested for safety?!?! Have we learned nothing from mercury or asbestos?? I have a mouth full of amalgam fillings, some of which have been there over 20 years! There is a good chance that these fillings are leaking mercury into my system. This is a highly alarming fact and one I'm looking to address ASAP.

Lastly, it's worth stressing the importance that Dr Hyman puts on exercise and relaxation. The role stress plays in mental health is proven, widely known and accepted yet so many of us don't know how to healthily manage it. Stress and stress management really deserves it's own post, so I think I'll save that one for another day.

Here is The Ultramind Solution on Amazon. And Dr Hyman's website.

From David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008)

Suicide has been brought to the forefront of the social psyche recently. This is such a great description of the feeling...

“The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.”
— David Foster Wallace