Celiac and Fat-Soluble Vitamins

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is the possibility that intestinal damage due to gluten grains (primarily wheat) contributes to the diseases of civilization by inhibiting the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. If it were a contributing factor, we would expect to see a higher incidence of the common chronic diseases in newly-diagnosed celiac patients, who are often deficient in fat-soluble vitamins. We might also see a resolution of chronic disease in celiac patients who have been adhering faithfully to a long-term, gluten-free diet.

One thing that definitely associates with celiac disease is bone and tooth problems. Celiac patients often present with osteoporosis, osteopenia (thin bones), cavities or tooth enamel abnormalities (thanks Peter).

An Italian study showed that among 642 heart transplant candidates, 1.9% had anti-endomyosal antibodies (a feature of celiac), compared with 0.35% of controls. That's more than a 5-fold enrichment! The majority of those patients were presumably unaware of their celiac disease, so they were not eating a gluten-free diet.

Interestingly, celiac doesn't seem to cause obesity; to the contrary. That's one facet of modern health problems that it definitely does not cause.

The relationship between cancer and celiac disease is very interesting. The largest study I came across was conducted in Sweden using retrospective data from 12,000 celiac patients. They found that adult celiac patients have a higher overall risk of cancer, but that the extra risk disappears with age. The drop in cancer incidence may reflect dropping gluten following a celiac diagnosis. Here's another study showing that the elevated cancer risk occurs mostly in the first year after diagnosis, suggesting that eliminating gluten solves the problem. Interestingly, celiac patients have a greatly elevated risk of lymphoma, but a lower risk of breast cancer.

There's a very strong link between celiac and type I diabetes. In a large study, 1 in 8 type I diabetic children had celiac disease. This doesn't necessarily tell us much since celiac and type I diabetes are both autoimmune disorders.

One last study to add a nail to the coffin. Up to this point, all the studies I've mentioned have been purely observational, not able to establish a causal relationship. I came across a small study recently which examined the effect of a high-fiber diet on vitamin D metabolism in healthy (presumably non-celiac) adults. They broke the cohort up into two groups, and fed one group 20g of bran in addition to their normal diet. The other group got nothing extra. The bran-fed group had a vitamin D elimination half-life of 19.5 days, compared to 27.5 for the control group. In other words, for whatever reason, the group eating extra bran was burning through their vitamin D reserves 30% faster than the control group.

Unfortunately, the paper doesn't say what kind of bran it was, but it was probably wheat or oat (**Update- it's wheat bran**). This is important because it would determine if gluten was involved. Either way, it shows that something in grains can interfere with fat-soluble vitamin status, which is consistent with the staggering negative effect of refined wheat products on healthy non-industrialized cultures.

Add to this the possibility that many people may have some degree of gluten sensitivity, and you start to see a big problem. All together, the data are consistent with gluten grains interfering with fat-soluble vitamin status in a subset of people. As I discussed earlier, this could contribute to the diseases of civilization. These data don't prove anything conclusively, but I do find them thought-provoking.

Thanks to Dudua for the CC photo

A Trip to Stockholm

Last week, I spent a few days with a friend sightseeing in Stockholm, Sweden. I have to admit I wasn't expecting much because I don't hear a lot of stories about travelling in Northern Europe from my friends. But Stockholm turned out to be seriously gorgeous and so comfortable.

The weather was absolutely perfect -it was cool, breezy and sunny. The weather definitely made the whole experience more comfortable and relaxing. Not to mention it made the sky and sea look especially blue for photos!

We first went to the Nobel Museum. Admittingly the exhibition was very short and there wasn't much to see. But there is a video room that plays short videos of past Nobel prize winners (mainly old interview footages.) You can sit there for hours and just watch -the videos are mostly pretty interesting. Coincidentally, we got the timing just right -we went there after 5pm on Tuesday so it was free entrance!

The next day we went to the Vasa Museum. It's basically a display of the old, sunk ship with many supporting displays of the old sailor days. It was definitely interesting to see such an old, authentic ship up close. After seeing the exhibition, we were very grateful we weren't sailors (despite our love for the nautical trend)! Afterwards we went to the Nordic Museum, which was frankly boring and not worth the visit.

Afterwards, we went to the Moderna Museet (Museum of Modern Art). The art there was actually fun and interesting to look at as it was modern and made up of artwork of a variety of medium, such as photography, sculptures and paintings. It's a nice change from looking at old paintings.

On the third day, we ventured out to see the Millesgarden, which is used to be the house of an architect. It's basically an exhibition of an amazing garden, his house and collected art pieces. I loved his garden! The fountain at the centre was absolutely gorgeous -especially with the amazing view behind it. It was so nice and relaxing to just sit there and feel the breeze!

Afterwards we went shopping, or at least we tried to. It turns out that the clothes in Stockholm were expensive, even more so than in London. We checked out NK, one of Stockholm's big department stores and were not impressed by the range of clothes or by how messy the sale was. So we ended up chilling at a park nearby, where a band was performing.

On the last day, we went to the Royal Palace, which is one of those must-see sightseeing spots. It was not a very grand palace (compared to the French or some other European ones) but it was still fun to walk in and around it.

Overall, I think it was just the weather and whole chilled out atmosphere of Stockholm that made it such a fabulous holiday! Seriously, look at the view!

Image Credit: My camera

Scene kids hairstyles

To be scene kid first you should get scene haircut.Scene hair is generally black that means you should dye your hair dark and add some streaks of blue,pink,green or blonde.
Sene hair It is normally hair with lots of volume,puffed top off head and the layers with long bangs or fringes styled to one side.There is no rules about scene hair and many variations are possible so its up to yours imagination to create your personal best.

Pictures of scene hair:

Scene hair for girls


Scene hair for boys


Cool scene hair


Short scene hair


Blonde scene hair


Choppy scene hair


Purple scene hair


Colorful scene hair

Window Shopping at US Urban Outfitters Online

Last month I online window shopped the UK Urban Outfitters (-no, I didn't end up getting any of those items,) so I decided to do the same for the US site. Boy I tell you, the US UO has a way better selection of clothes at very decent prices. I'll try not to rant too much about the much cheaper prices in the States compared to the UKs.

I love this dress, especially the pink and teal-coloured ones. It's not exactly unique and it really reminds me of the early Rory Becca and Lauren Conrad designs but that's why I love it. It's simple, colourful and looks very versatile. I imagine it would be fantastic for many occasions in the summer. Plus, it's made of chiffon and looks like it's worth the 48usd price tag.

Even I think this dress is boring, but if I still had to go to school everyday, then this would be a great throwing-it-on-in-a-hurry piece. And judging from the photos, the dress provides a good canvas for the accessories to liven up the outfit if you feel like it.

I really liked this dress when I first saw the photo although now that I stare at it more, I'm liking it less. Maybe it's because the design's actually more interesting than the plain dress above. But anyhow, it looks like a fun dress to wear during daytime. And it somehow reminds me of Lauren Conrad too. Oh gosh, why does everything remind me of her?

Even though this dress is really not my style, it just looked too pretty for me not to post it. I can imagine Peyton wearing it in One Tree Hill.

Barneys Girl recently emailed me about this shirt and I love it! It's got small flowers all over the pattern but it's nice in that it doesn't look fussy. The design is clean cut and looks easy to wear. I find it so hard to find pretty blouses like this because most of the high street designs are there are either too boring or has too much detail on them. But this one is just right. I want a red one!

I've always related Urban Outfitters to graphic tees -that was one of the sources for its original success right? Anyhow, I'm a fan of most white tees that have simple or black and white designs on them and these fit the bill. I especially like the scribbled tee -it's all about the designed messiness!

I've been looking for a mid-waisted, structured mini dress for ages. There are loads of black minis out in shops now but they're usually not structured or skintight. The slight A-line silhouette this skirt has is so much more flattering.

I've been looking for simple, long necklaces in the UK Urban Outfitters and found nothing. This necklace (from US UO) is exactly what I'm looking for, and it's so affordable at 18usd (although I would probably wait for it to go on sale.)

All this imaginery shopping is making me want to go to the States just for UO!

Image Credit: www.urbanoutfitter.com

Two Things That Get on My Nerves, Part II

Confusing Correlation and Causation

Recently, a paper was published that examined the association between sleep duration and the risk of death. Ferrie et al. showed that in their study population, subjects who slept either more or less than 7 hours a night had an increased overall risk of death. Here's how it was reported in Medical News Today:

Too Little Or Too Much Sleep Increases Risk Of Death

And here's a gem of a quote from one of the study's authors (excerpt from the article above):

In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around 7 hours per night is optimal for health and a sustained reduction may predispose to ill-health.

There's only one small problem: the study indicated no such thing. What the study showed is that people who sleep more or less than 7 hours tend to die more often than people who don't, not that the lack or excess of sleep caused the increased mortality. Have you ever noticed that you sleep more when you're not feeling well? Have you ever noticed that you sleep less when you're stressed? Could the increased mortality and sleep disturbances both be caused by some other factor(s), rather than one causing the other? We don't know, because the nature of the study doesn't allow us to answer that question!

The message the public ends up hearing is that no matter what feels right for your body, 7 hours of sleep is the optimum for health. Even though you'll have to go to work with bags under your eyes, feeling like crap, it's healthy. Even though you have the flu, you'd better not sleep more because it might give you a heart attack. I find that conclusion difficult to swallow.

The only way we could say that 7 hours of sleep is the healthiest amount (for the "average" person), would be to do an "intervention study", in which the subjects are manipulated rather than simply observed. Here's how it would work: we would take a large group of people and randomly assign them to either 5, 7 or 9 hours of sleep a night. We would then look at mortality over the course of the next few years, and see who dies more.

Intervention studies are the only way to establish causality, rather than simple association. At the end of our study, we could rightfully say that X amount of sleep causes an increase or decrease in mortality. Obviously, these types of studies are challenging and expensive to conduct, so it's tempting to over-interpret observational studies like the one I mentioned initially.  These studies are useful, but should be taken with a grain of salt.

This has to be one of the gravest, most frequent mistakes in the realm of health research and reporting. So many of the health recommendations we get from the media, the government, and even scientists are entirely based on associations! 

Two Things that Get on My Nerves, Part I

The "Thrifty Gene" Hypothesis

The thrifty gene hypothesis is the darling of many obesity researchers. It was proposed in 1962 by the geneticist James V. Neel to explain the high rates of obesity in modern populations, particularly modernizing American Indians. It states that our species evolved under conditions of frequent starvation, so we're designed to store every available calorie. In today's world of food abundance, our bodies continue to be thrifty and that's why we're fat.  You practically can't read a paper on overweight without seeing an obligatory nod to the thrifty gene hypothesis. The only problem is, it doesn't make much sense.

The assumption that hunter-gatherers and non-industrial agriculturalists lived under chronic calorie deprivation isn't well supported. The anthropological evidence indicates that most hunter-gatherers had abundant food, most of the time. They did have fluctuations in energy balance, but the majority of the time they had access to more calories than they needed. Yet they were not fat.

The Kitavans are a good example. They are a horticultural society that eats virtually no grains or processed food. In Dr. Staffan Lindeberg's studies, he has determined that overweight is virtually nonexistent among them, despite an abundant food supply.

The cause of obesity is not the availability of excess calories, it's the deregulation of the bodyweight homeostasis system. We have a very sophisticated set of feedback loops that "try" to maintain a healthy weight. It's composed of hormones (leptin, insulin, etc.), certain brain regions, and many other elements, known and unknown. These feedback loops influence what the body does with calories, as well as feeding behaviors. When you throw a wrench in the gears with a lifestyle that is unnatural to the human metabolism, you deregulate the system so that it no longer maintains an appropriate "set-point".

Here's what Neel had to say about the thrifty gene hypothesis in 1982 (excerpts from Good Calories, Bad Calories):

The data on which that (rather soft) hypothesis was based has now largely collapsed.

And what does he think causes overweight in American Indians now?

The composition of the diet, and more specifically the use of highly refined carbohydrates.

RIP, thrifty gene.

Juicy Couture: Something Looks Familiar

Whenever I go shopping, I can't help but say things like, 'This Zara top looks very Prada,' or 'Hmm, this shop is filled with Marni-esque stuff.' (Although I have been trying to voice it out loud less.) This year, while browsing through Juicy Couture accessories online, I can't help but see the similarities between the Juicy bags and bags by other designers. Now I'm not saying Juicy copied other designers. There are just elements of the bags that remind me of other bags.
The first thing I thought was, this looks like a Goyard bag. But after staring at the bag closely for awhile, it occured to me the print is of little puppies. And after staring at it for even longer, it starts to remind me of LAMB bags, which I didn't think was totally original either. What a web! (Or maybe just a triangle.)
The Gucci one is too cutesy for me and the Juicy one is too preppy and seems to be made of terry cloth (-says it all.) While the two technically have very different designs, they superficially look similar to me.
Reminds me of a Gucci F/W07 bag. I think it may even have been featured in an ad. Does anyone remember it and think so, or did I just imagine it?

It doesn't look exactly like a Gucci bag but that gold, circle metal piece in the middle is like the metal piece on a lot of the Gucci 08 bags.

Again, it's the metal plate on this Juicy bag that reminds me of another designer's bags. Can anyone guess?
I love this type of gold hardware that looks like a lock on handbags. The designer bag that has a lot of gold fake locks is by... it starts with the same letter as the one above.
This one is sort of obvious. One is by Dior and one is by Juicy. One is super expensive and one is relatively affordable. To be fair, both are equally cute, though not exactly my style.

Note that I am not saying Juicy copied the other designers. Nowadays with so many choices and designers out there, designers just seem to be inspired by other designers' designs or elements of the designs a lot. It reminds me of Derek Lam saying "There's no such thing as original design...... In a way, that's what fashion's about." Afterall, it's why certain designers are held higher than others, and why some designer collections are considered 'directional' in terms of trend. Anyway, it was fun just to look at the bunch of Juicy accessories together like this, wasn't it?

Image Credit: http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/, http://www.shopbop.com/, http://www.eluxury.com/

The Seat of Power

Have you ever wondered why the buttocks is one of the most attractive parts of the body on both sexes? I've heard it said that a man with a nice posterior will be better at thrusting during sex. I've also heard that it's purely aesthetic and nonfunctional, like a baboon's. Neither of these make any sense.

The shape of the buttocks comes mostly from the gluteal muscles (maximus and medius), superimposed by a layer of fat. The 'glutes' are some of the strongest muscles in the body, due to their large size and efficient leverage. Thrusting doesn't even come close to tapping into the glutes' tremendous power. What does? Heavy lifting. Sprints. Jumps. In short, some of the most functional full-body movements we perform as humans.

In any full-body movement, the hips are the central source of power. The strongest muscles surround the hips, and muscle strength diminishes progressively as you move further from them. A shapely buttocks is typically a strong buttocks, and a strong buttocks generally means a strong person. So if you want to decide at a glance whether a person is capable of sprinting and jumping after large prey, and then carrying it home, the buttocks is a good place to look.

The buttocks is also a storage area for fat. Humans tend to store a disproportionate amount of fat near their center of gravity: in the abdominal cavity, on the hips and on the buttocks. The right amount of fat indicates a healthy individual. A shapely buttocks is typically attached to someone who is strong and well-nourished. It's not so hard to imagine why we find it attractive.

SS08 Trend- Bronze and Blue Hues

One of my absolute favourite things to do every season is to scout out the latest eye shadow palettes. They are almost always drool worthy, making me want a piece of everything, even though I already have more make-up than I need.
This season the consensus for eye shadow seems to be bronze and blue hues. This look above from Sephora is the epitome of these two shades.
Smashbox calls it Desert Chic, with these Heat Wave (left) and Oasis (right) palettes.
Stila (left) just calls it their limited edition summer palette, while Lancome (right) calls it the Brazilian colors.
Shu Uemura has something similar with their Fleur de Rose (left) and Fleur de Source (right) palettes from their 25th Boutique Birthday Make-up Collection. I tried out the look for the Fleur de Rose palette, and besides bronze they also seem to favor a tinge of pink/red. The colors go on really strongly. The pink/red doesn't exactly make me look like somebody punched me (I asked), but let's just say that pink/red, dark purple and bronze (the suggested combo) is not exactly the most flattering colors for my fair skin tone. I think this Fleur de Rose palette has potential though, if you use only one or two colors at a time.
Other brands favouring the metallic bronze trend are Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier. Bobbi Brown also has a pink tinge, with their Bronzed Pink Look using the Bronze Pink metallic shade above (left). Laura Mercier has these really cute eye color pots (right) for their Gold Digger collection (they come up with all sorts of names for bronze....), that has an eye shadow shade AND a complimenting shade of their loose powder. I tried it and combined together, they go on extremely strongly. This is not for the faint heart. As much as I liked the double decker combo, it was definitely not my style.

To be honest, none of these bronze and blue palettes are really my style. Perhaps with the exception of the Fleur de Rose, none of the colors in these palettes seem to go together really well. Maybe it is just me, but despite the "look" shown above from Sephora, I just cannot imagine what I would do with these colors. It is a sad day indeed when this season's eye make-up palettes fail to excite me.

Image Source: Sephora, Shu Uemura, Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier

Real Food VIII: Ghee

All this talk about butter is making me hungry. Richard mentioned in the comments that he bought some ghee recently and has been enjoying it, so I thought I'd post a recipe. Ghee is the Hindi word for clarified butter. It's butter that has had everything removed but the fat. Rich in fat-soluble vitamins and lacking the sometimes problematic lactose and casein, ghee has rightfully been considered a health food in India since ancient times.

Another advantage of ghee is its high smoke point, which is higher than butter because it doesn't contain any protein or sugars. Consequently, food sauteed in ghee has a clean, rich taste.

The recipe is simple but touchy. I recommend using the best butter you can get your hands on. 100% grass-fed, unsalted cultured butter is the best.

Ingredient and materials

• Butter (1 lb minimum)
• Wide-mouth glass jars
• Cheesecloth
• Rubber bands
  

Recipe

1. Place the butter in a saucepan and turn the heat to medium until it's melted.
   
2. Once it begins to boil, turn the heat down to low. It's very important to calibrate the heat correctly. Typically, you will want the burner on its lowest setting. The idea is to evaporate the water without burning the oil. It should boil, but slowly.
3. The melted butter starts out cloudy but gradually clears up as the water evaporates. At the same time, a crust will form on the surface of the ghee and the bottom of the pan. Keep the heat very low.
   
4. Push a portion of the top crust to the side with a spoon to see inside of the saucepan. When the butter looks clear and bubbles only rise from the bottom every few seconds, it's done. You have to be very careful because once the water has evaporated, the fat heats up quickly and burns the crust. This gives the ghee an acrid flavor and color. Make sure to handle the pot cautiously, because hot oil can give severe burns.
   
5. Allow the ghee to cool until it's warm but not hot. Place a piece of cheesecloth over the lid of your jar. Secure it with a rubber band. Pour the ghee through the cheesecloth, into the jar.
   
6. Store ghee in the refrigerator or at room temperature. It keeps much longer than butter.

The picture above is of my last batch of ghee.

More Fat-Soluble Vitamin Musing

If vitamin A, D and K2 deficiency are important contributors to the characteristic pattern of chronic disease in modern societies (the 'disease of civilization'), we should see certain associations. We would expect to find a lower fat-soluble vitamin status along with the most prevalent chronic diseases: cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, tooth decay, etc. We would also expect that improving vitamin status could reduce the incidence or recurrence of these diseases, which would be more convincing than a simple association.

Let's start with cancer. This one is like shooting fish in a barrel. There are consistent associations between low vitamin D status and numerous cancers, most notably breast and colon. And it doesn't just stop at associations. Here's a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial showing a 60% reduction of internal cancers in 1,179 American women taking 1,100 IU of D3 (and calcium) per day for 4 years. I won't go through the rest of the mountain of data linking low vitamin D to cancer, but if you want to see more science go here.

Vitamin K2 has been less well studied in this respect, but preliminary evidence is promising. Cancer patients are often vitamin K deficient. Supplementation with menatetrenone (K2 isoform MK-4) may reduce the recurrence of liver cancer. There's a strong inverse association between K2 intake and advanced prostate cancer, with the effect coming mostly from dairy.

In my post on K2 last week, I mentioned a study in which investigators found a strong inverse association between K2 consumption and cardiovascular as well as all-cause mortality. Patients with severe arterial calcifications tend to be K2 deficient, and K2 deficiency can induce arterial calcification in rodents. Marcoumar, a drug that interferes with K2 status, also causes calcification in humans. There's a mechanism behind K2's effect on CVD. There are several K2-dependent proteins that may protect the arteries from calcification, lipid accumulation and damage: matrix Gla protein, gas6, and protein S.

There is also a compelling association between vitamin D status and cardiovascular disease. Here's a quote from one study that struck me:

The adjusted prevalence of hypertension (odds ratio [OR], 1.30), diabetes mellitus (OR, 1.98), obesity (OR, 2.29), and high serum triglyceride levels (OR, 1.47) was significantly higher in the first than in the fourth quartile of serum 25(OH)D levels (P<.001 for all).

In other words, the 25% of people with the lowest D status are more likely to have hypertension and high triglycerides, and much more likely to be obese and/or have diabetes than the 25% with the highest D status. Keep in mind it's just an association, but that is nevertheless an impressive list of problems that are linked to low D status. Here's a large study that looked specifically at the association of vitamin D status and heart attack risk, and found a strong association even for people who are only mildly deficient. Supplementing elderly women with a modest amount of D3 improves hypertension.

The link between fat-soluble vitamins and bone/dental health is very strong. Vitamins D and K2 are required for proper formation and mineralization of the bones and teeth, and proper development of the cranium and face (this is exactly what Weston Price saw). K2 supplementation has a major protective effect on osteoporosis and fractures, according to several controlled trials. The salivary glands have the highest concentration of K2 MK-4 of any organ, and they secrete it into saliva along with K2-dependent proteins. Weston Price documented the dramatic protective effect of cod liver oil (A and D) and butter oil (A and K2) against tooth decay.

I couldn't find any consistent associations between vitamin A status and chronic disease. This may be because, as opposed to D and K2, few people in the US or Europe are deficient. It's interesting to note that grain-fed dairy is still a good source of vitamin A, while it loses most of the vitamin D and K2 that's found in grass-fed dairy.

Osteoporosis and arterial calcification are not due to a lack or an excess of calcium. In fact, the two problems often come hand-in-hand. Calcium supplements are unnecessary at best. The Japanese, who eat far less calcium than the average American, have a lower risk of osteoporosis and fracture. The problem with both osteoporosis and arterial calcification is that the body is not using its calcium effectively. The studies mentioned above show that the fat-soluble vitamins are critical for proper calcium use by the body, among other things.

I hope you can see that a deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins could well be a major contributor to the characteristic pattern of diseases that afflict industrialized nations. There are two more facts that we need to complete the picture. First of all, some research suggest a high prevalence of vitamin D and K deficiency (or insufficiency). A, D and K are synergistic. A and D have their own nuclear receptors that alter the transcription of hundreds of genes, while K activates many of these genes once they are translated into proteins. Thus, you'd expect that giving them together would have a much larger effect that giving them alone. This suggests that the studies using single vitamins may be falling far short of the protection afforded by optimal status of all three.

Just Admiring the Resort 09 Collections: A Few Favourites

Even though the Resort collections are becoming more and more important, they don't seem to have the directional importance that greatly infleunce trends. But the clothes are usually also a lot more practical and relateable. So this year I actually looked through most of the collection on style.com and picked out my favourite outfits:

3.1 Phillip Lim

As usual, his collection is very loveable. Most of the clothes look so young, modern and perfect for people who have the parties to go to (and the money to spend.)

These day dresses are so cute. I love the colour combinations -of the jacket with the navy dress and of the light green dress with the dark green belt. I'm really loving the long jacket with mini dress combination at the moment.

Phillip Lim's cocktail dresses never disappoint. They look so customer-friendly and imagine if you had loads of events to attend about town, then the dresses look like they'll be suitable for so many dresses.

Nina Ricci

Everything is so delicate and so etheral looking (-maybe it's just the models,) with a bit of edge.

Lanvin

The Lanvin collection was great to ooh and ahh over as usual, but there's a bit too much of eveningwear and expensive dresses to truly imagine them being worn by myself in real life. I love the loose-fitting, silk, white jacket with those large pockets (on the right.) It's so casual yet cool and luxurious at the same time.

There were a lot of sharp colours, as expected from Lanvin, although it seems to be the general trend for next year too, especially yellow and orange.

OK, this post is obviously not so much of a fashion analysis post and more of a ooh-this-is-so-pretty post. These clothes somehow look so much cooler and more modern than this season's floral dresses.

Image Credit: www.style.com

Meditation

Meditation is the single most effective tool I've ever found for cultivating calmness, positivity and self-acceptance. It's an ancient technique that's simple and free. In fact, it's so simple, I'm about to teach it to you in five minutes over the internet. I personally practice Zen meditation
several times a week, by myself and with a sitting group. Meditation is not fundamentally a religious practice, although it has been used by spiritual people in every major religion. Don't think you're patient enough for meditation? That's exactly why you should be doing it!

Let's start with posture. The main purpose of the meditation posture is to allow you to remain still for long periods of time without discomfort. I'll discuss two postures: cross-legged and kneeling. Before you elevate your mind though, you have to elevate your backside. Find something you can sit on- a firm cushion or a folded blanket will work well. Your pelvis should be at least four inches above the ground. Now cross your legs. Your knees should be lower than your pelvis. Adjust your posture until you can maintain a straight back without any muscle tension. You'll have to rotate the top of your pelvis forward slightly, curving your lower back in toward your stomach.

Now put your hands together so that your left fingers rest on top of your right ones, just above your lap. Your palms should face up. Now touch your thumbs lightly together. That's it! You are now sitting in a very nice meditation posture. It will get more comfortable over time as you adjust to it.

The kneeling posture is the same except you kneel and put the support under your pelvis, between your legs. Wooden 'seiza' benches work well for this, but are not necessary. Your pelvis should be at least six inches off the ground so that you don't hurt your knees. This is my preferred posture, but I'm admittedly in the minority.

Now that you know the posture, face a blank wall three or four feet away. You can also look at the floor (while keeping your head and neck straight) or anything else that isn't likely to capture your interest.

Try breathing 'into your stomach'. To do this, breathe using only your diaphragm, in such a way that it makes your stomach rise and fall rather than your chest. Breathe slowly and deliberatley, pausing after each exhale. Bring your full attention to the rise and fall of your stomach. That's it, you're meditating! Really. Don't get fancy: it's counterproductive to try to actively relax yourself or achieve some different mental state.

In Zen, we call meditation 'sitting'. We use such a simple word because that's all it is: paying full attention to the moment, while you sit. Just bring your attention to your breath. If your mind drifts, gently bring it back. Don't try to stifle your thoughts, just acknowledge them and come back to your breath. If you can't focus, that's normal.

Try this for 15 minutes at first. Every day is best, but do what you can. When you're more comfortable with the technique, increase your time to 30 minutes. Meditation is a practice that changes and ripens with time.

The Dhamma Brothers

I saw a movie a few nights ago called 'The Dhamma Brothers'. It's about a meditation program at Donaldson correctional facility in Alabama, one of the most violent prisons in the country. Two Bhuddist teachers of Vipassana meditation led a 10-day silent retreat for a volunteer group of inmates. They got up at dawn and meditated for several hours each day. Some of the inmates went through an amazing transformation.

They were forced to confront and accept the horrible crimes they had committed. When you aren't allowed to talk for 10 days, and all you have are your thoughts to keep you company, it's hard to ignore your feelings. Many of them had breakdowns as they felt the full force of their own suffering for the first time.

At first, the warden was skeptical that the prisoners were just acting to get parole; "fake it 'til you make it". Then he started noticing major changes in the inmates' behavior. They became less violent and easier to deal with. Some of them left their gangs. Even after the program was discontinued thanks to an overzealous chaplain, many of the "Dhamma brothers" continued meditating on their own.

It's hard to doubt a grown man's sincerity when you see tears running down his cheeks. These men were hardened criminals, most of them serving life sentences for murder, who rediscovered perspective and humanity simply by spending focused time with themselves.

Meditation is a powerful tool. There are two types of knowledge: intellectual and visceral. You can read books until you're cross-eyed and you will never connect with the fundamental, animal, visceral side of living. We like to think of ourselves as rational, conscious beings. It's reassuring to us. We're in control of our minds and therefore our lives. But that's more illusion than reality.

Neuroscience and meditation have shown us that the human mind is like a monkey riding an elephant. The monkey is our conscious and the elephant is our subconscious. The monkey can tell the elephant where to go, but ultimately the elephant is going to do what it wants. The monkey likes to be in charge however, so it retroactively decides it was the one that chose the direction.

To illustrate the point, imagine doing a simple algebra problem. Do you have to go over everything you ever learned about algebra in your head to solve that problem? No, your subconscious navigates the strata of accumulated knowledge and practically hands you the answer. What happens when you decide on an entree at a restaurant? Do you make a pro/con list for each item and weigh them accordingly? Or do you decide based on a feeling? Where does that feeling come from?

Meditation is plugging back into the vastness of human experience. It's acknowledging that your conscious, declarative mind is only a small slice of the pie.

A Weekend in Amsterdam

After spending last Friday in Paris (more on that later,) I headed off to meet up my friends (who flew in from London) in Amsterdam for the weekend. We met at the Centraal Station and took the tram to our hotel. The trams make getting around very easy and convenient, although we stayed pretty much within one area for the whole weekend so we mostly walked.

Once we got out of the Centraal Station, we saw this church on the left. We took pictures because it looks so pretty but we weren't bothered to get closer. Throughout the trip, we see other churches around. Afterwards, we went to the famous Anne Frank House, which was very interesting. Unlike most museums you don't actually see a lot of artifacts in the House, but the presentations you see when you walk through each room of the House really gives you a sense of what happened and how it felt.

At night we visited the Red Light District, which was very interesting. I've definitely not seen any 'shops' like the ones there before. It was also really uncomfortably crowded so we didn't stay long.

On Sunday morning, we went to the Van Gogh Museum. I thought it was going to be just another art museum (-I've never studied art so I can't say I know how to fully appreciate art museums,) but it actually turned out to be pretty interesting. The museum splits Van Gogh's work into different time periods and the presentation boards have good descriptions that explain those time periods. As you walk along, you can really see the development and influence in his artwork even if you're not an artist yourself.

My favourite thing to do there was just walking along the canals, admiring the quaint little town feeling of the area and relaxing in the many coffee shops. So pretty and relaxing!

Along the canals, there were some boat houses. Not that I would ever want to live in one but isn't this one look so cute?

Before leaving on Sunday afternoon, we went peddle-boating (-is that the correct term?) Basically we water-cycled in the canals. Even though we didn't seem to be able to master the steering device and kept bumping into the walls and boat houses, it was so fun! It was a great way to just enjoy the sights without getting bored.

Now I understand why people seem to like going to Amsterdam to relax for a weekend!

Image Credit: http://www.vangoghmuseum.com/ and my friend, L