The Wellness Bitch

I remember distinctly when I first heard and fell in love with the word “fester.”

I was on a high school summer political communications program in Washington, D.C. That night, Jill, a fellow Jersey girl, was offering up the punch line of yet another tale of her boyfriend back home, Terry, whom none of us had ever met, but was quite the character.

Terry was not just a Jersey guy, but a permanent resident of the Jersey Shore (if I may use euphemisms) and presumably possessed a signature style of speaking and behavior that lent itself to fodder for good storytelling.  

“And then Terry says,” my friend set it up, “That guy is like a sore festering on the back side of my ass!”

Wow. What a visual, I thought at the time. Fester: It’s a verb, I thought, with the power of an adjective.

And now something is festering inside me. It’s not just annoying or irritating me, mind you; it’s causing me lingering worry and emotional pain.  And like a festering sore on the back side of my ass, I can’t ignore this worry because it doesn’t look like it’s going away.

My worry has to do with anti-Semitism.

What does anti-Semitism have to do with wellness, you ask?

I’d have likely asked the same question a few months ago. But recently I’ve discovered there seems to be a connection between the two. And I fear I risk something by sharing my concern with you; by bringing politics into a non-political blog. I fear I risk alientating readers or worse, attracting unwanted ugly attention to this blog. But, I realize I risk a lot more by keeping quiet.

While the connection between the “wellness community” and anti-Semitism is under the radar, the overlap between social progressivism and left-wing politics is not. For instance, it’s understood that an environmental activist is often a liberal voter, right? If I were a betting girl (and I am), I would place a wad of cash on the chance that the majority of card-paying members of GreenPeace don’t vote Republican.

In many ways, I’ve ideologically aligned myself with those liberal voters because they often subscribe to expectations for society I also support, such as a woman’s right to choose, egalitarianism in the workplace, and, most important, the freedom to question and protest government intention and policy.

However, I learned somewhere along the way (read “college”) that left-wingers are often also anti-Israel: Something I am not. I am pro-Israel. So much so that I now live here.

Particularly in recent years, as Israel has become a main target for left-wing activists, I’ve become more and more conflicted about my alignment. And, while I will agree that Israel is certainly a piece of the human rights puzzle, I find it frustrating that activists often have a singular focus on Israel. This singular focus is peculiar and suspect to me and has always smelled a little bit like anti-Semitism, and/or Jewish self-hatred. When I read their posts on my left-wing friends’ Facebook wall I want to respond (but don’t): “But what about Syria?!? Or Libya, or Cuba, or Iran or other non-democratic governments in the U.S. State Department’s top ten most violators of human rights? Can we also talk about them? Are you also boycotting them? Are you crying for their abused women, brutally treated gays, and starving children?”

As a Jew with an interest in history, I’ve learned that left-wing thinking and anti-Semitism are no strangers to each other. (Look up Marxist theory. Or spend some time on the campus of a Liberal Arts college.) And I’ve learned to…ignore it. It’s just not my thang.

As an American Jewish Wellness Bitch who recently became an Israeli Jewish Wellness Bitch, however, I’m increasingly disturbed by the amount of anti-Israel, and even anti-Semitic messaging I find running through many wellness-related blogs and forums I visit; ones that focus on the types of ”alternative lifestyle” topics I’m interested in. 

What do I mean by alternative lifestyle topics?

Well, according to Wikipedia, something may be labeled alternative if it’s considered “outside the cultural norm,” but examples listed include lifestyle choices that I think many of us might consider normal, such as vegetarianism, meditation, herbal medicine, homebirth and hypnosis, to name a few.

It turns out, there are bloggers out there writing about topics I’m interested in (such as climate change and human consciousness) who are also entertaining submissions and comments from people who blame the world’s troubles on a “Zionist plot” or the Jewish-influenced media and banking elite.

Through following eco-friendly bloggers on Facebook and Twitter, I have discovered well-known and well-followed bloggers who position themselves as health-conscious and as concerned for the welfare of humanity; who speak and write like intellectuals, not like members of the lunatic fringe; and who, in one figurative breath preach meditation and in the other, rant about the “Rothschilds” (a reference to a Jewish banking conspiracy) and accuse Jews and Zionists of being part of a “New World Order” involved in secret governmental affairs. 

And just like other grassroots activists taking advantage of social networking, these individuals are also creating You Tube videos; they’re publishing e-books; they have radio shows and RSS feeds; all while selling nutritional supplements and invoking mantras.

It frightens me that an individual who may be searching for news and information  about “natural medicine,” or “Monsanto,” or “global warming” will stumble upon the unfiltered alternative news site, Before It’s News, or the alternative news magazine “Signs of the Times,” which admittedly offers relevant wellness-related news you likely won’t get on CNN.com, but also dedicates a significant part of their content to blatant anti-Israel op-eds and conspiracy theories that position Jews as “puppet masters.”

It’s mind boggling to me. How can you possibly promote “well-being” and ”awakening” when you are still so stuck in a cycle of fear?

Is it not hypocritical and counterproductive to foster paranoia and anger against other human beings when you preach well-being? I just don’t get it.

My message today?

1. I am a Jew and an ideological Zionist and I am not part of a global elite. If I controlled the world, there would be a lot more love and compassion and a lot less fear. My children would be growing up in a world that was safe for them. My blog would already be a best-selling book. I’d have much cooler clothes. And there would be more love.

2. There are Jews and Israelis both, hundreds of thousands of us, who are enlightened individuals – vegans, environmentalists, green builders, holistic health coaches, energy workers, midwives, yoga masters, spiritual gurus, organic farmers, writers, thinkers, and teachers. All of us passionate healers and educators, and many of us whom are working both behind the scenes and publicly to foster peace in both this region and the world. Our only plot is love. Our only intention is healing.

3. There is certainly evil in this world, but it’s evenly distributed among all nations and our energy is better spent on healing ourselves than it is on imagining and assigning blame.

If you found this blog because you were searching Zionist Plot or New World Order or Anti-Israel, I invite you to consider the idea that there is a Zionist Jew out there whose only purpose is to be one of many guides on your road to wellness.

I am forever indebted to my friend Lisa Duggan who in 2007 asked me if I wanted to write a story for her magazine about local massage therapists. The magazine was a start up and while Lisa’s budget to pay freelancers was low at the time, she told me that the massage sessions would be covered.

It took me about five seconds to commit.

Back then, I was a “massage on my birthday” kinda girl. I got my first massage when I was in college; a gift from my parents. It was an uninspiring and painful hour spent in a room off the dark upstairs hallway of the local beauty salon. Fortunately, that experience didn’t turn me off of bodywork forever. I tried a different therapist the following year on my birthday and decided massages were definitely for me.

However, I viewed massage as a luxury item; the second to lowest rung on a ladder that started with pedicures and ended with a Mercedes Benz and a house in the Hamptons. Sure, I giggled with pleasure when my mom would surprise me with a mother/daughter massage appointment or a gift card for my birthday, but I never paid for them on my own and I never considered massage therapeutic or preventative care.

Until Lisa. The story she wanted me to write would feature three of the more “famous” massage therapists in our neck of the woods, and was intended to be a gentle comparison between the three, but mostly a feature on how massage (and bodywork in general) could be integrated into a mother’s wellness regimen. (The core readership of the magazine was local parents.) What were the benefits? How could massage be seen as more than just a well-deserved pampering?

I enjoyed three massages in three weeks. It was pure bliss.

But more than bliss…it was a wake up call.

I realized the true meaning of therapeutic massage. I understood both experientally and intellectually, after interviewing all three, just how much regular bodywork can contribute to our state of well-being.

To be more to the point: Getting a massage, or Reiki, or QiGong Meridian Therapy, or reflexology, or craniosacral therapy can keep you out of the doctor’s office. Or in my case, it could reduce the incidence of migraines; it could alleviate sciatica during pregnancy; it could balance my endocrine system and boost my immune system. It could keep my head and neck moving left to right and lead me to a good night sleep.

It was no accident that the writing assignment was offered to me at a major junction in my life. The moment at which I would choose wellness over illness. It was also around the same time in 2007 that the seeds of Mindful Living NJ were planted; and my journey to educate myself and empower others began.

Today, I’m working towards getting rid of a sinus infection on my own, without the help of antibiotics. I’ve found that antibiotics do me more harm than good (particularly creating major imbalances with yeast in my system), so I try to avoid them whenever possible.

I have been using a nasal wash with saline and grapefruit seed extract. I’ve been drinking Apple Cider Vinegar tea. And I scheduled an appointment with Tamar, who does a combination of bodywork (usually in the water) with the hopes that she could help open up my sinus passages and relieve the tension in my face and head.  My experience with Tamar (which was above and beyond expectations) also made me realize how much my body has suffered without body work since I moved to Israel in December.

When I consider the few contributing factors to why I’ve had more colds and infections since moving here than I’ve had in the last four years in total, I think about the fact that I was getting bodywork on a fairly regular basis — and here I have not been, at all.

Coincidence?

I don’t think so.

I invite you to change your way of thinking about bodywork. Instead of grouping it with the luxury items; the “what I want for my birthday list” or putting it away in the “I will never be able to afford it” file; think of bodywork in the same mindset you consider drinking eight glasses of water a day, or taking your calcium, or exercising, or annual exams. I daresay that regular bodywork, along with a mindful diet and good sleep, kept me out of the physician’s office for four years.

I invite you to make an appointment with a local therapeutic bodyworker.  Not to knock joints like Massage Envy, but I would recommend seeing someone with many years of experience, preferably recommended to you by a friend. I also recommend seeking practitioners through WellnessPossibilities.com, a wellness directory started by my friends Kathy and Dawn.

And last but not least, let me publicly acknowledge the professionals whose hands knew how to heal and who’ve helped my body remember what wellness is: Sue, Diane, Debra, Amy, Maia, Nate, Linda, Andrew, Suhail, Vera,  and any others I may have missed.

Your work is appreciated and valued. Thank you.

I consider myself very lucky to be past the diaper phase. All three of my kids were potty trained within reasonable, developmentally appropriate times; with my daughter (my third) achieving genius status. She was fully trained by 23 months. I thought babies who were trained before the age of two were simply myths, legends, or products of overactive imaginations of mothers who spent way too much time gushing about their children. Not so.

It’s been a year or two since I’ve had to think about diaper accoutrements. But today I asked my coworker for something to clean my computer keyboard with and she handed me a baby wipe.

I took it…reluctantly.

After wiping down my keyboard with the baby wipe, it was no longer sticky but it smelled like an eighty-year old women who forgot that she already sprayed herself five times with perfume. Not a smell I want to be spending my day with.

And, not something you want to be wiping your babies bottom…or hands with.

Before I had my first child, a friend of mine told me she made homemade baby wipes for her baby using paper towel and water. She said her daughter never had baby rash – never a one! Being the psychotic mom I was with my first (and by psychotic, I mean obsessed with doing things “right”), I made my own baby wipes, too, and taught my husband how to use them and make them.  And, just like my friend’s baby, my son stayed rash free for months!

The truth of the matter is poop stinks. But baby poop, especially breastfed baby poop, is NOTHING. My refrigerator smells worse than your breastfed baby’s poop! You do not need to be wiping her fresh bottom down with chemicals that are trying unsuccessfully to smell like the summer garden of St. Petersburg! Even if your baby is formula fed – trust me, those poops are nothing compared to what they’ll smell like once she’s eating meat. Even still, you really don’t need to wash your baby’s bottom with anything more than water, and a little natural baby soap. (We liked California Baby brand’s unscented baby soap for sensitive skin, but castile soap is great too, and a lot cheaper.)

Janelle Sorensen of Healthy Child, Healthy World recently posted this great article with tips for homemade baby products, including baby wipes.  If you are a new mom, or a mom with a new baby, please keep in mind that what you put on your baby matters as much as what you put in her.

And if you are a psychotic new mom-to-be like I was, just remember: If you’re reading this and thinking about it, you’re one step ahead already.

Before I had kids, but when I was adult enough to start thinking about having some, I knew their names would be Emma and Sam. Being a Jennifer, I always wanted kids with names that weren’t unusual, but were not so common to be on the list of the top 50 most popular names.

Why ”Emma” and “Sam” then, which were both easily in the top 25 by the time I had my own children? (None of whom are named Emma or Sam.) 

I’m a trendspotter. 

I liked those names in 1997: a good five years before Rachel Green named her baby Emma.

I tend to be aware of things before they become a trend. When they’re still a little unknown and even unaccepted.

Please understand: I’m not a trendSETTER. In general, no one gives a shit what I say, think, or do, except for a handful of you loyal readers. But, every now and again, I tell my friends and family about a new product or behavior, and before you know it, you’re reading about it in USA Today.

I sense this happening with American society’s concern about food coloring.

While unfortunately the FDA did not in March retract “its long-held position that the dyes pose no risk to children or anyone else;” more mainstream media outlets are reporting on the matter and more parents are reading and sharing these links on their social media networks.

I have my relatives forwarding me links from NPR writing, “You told us about this five years ago!” My husband looks at me with a proud smile when he sees the top story on CNN health is about new studies linking ADHD and food dyes.

I don’t want a pat on the back or a medal. I do, however, want to be able to walk through a grocery store in under an hour because I no longer have to read and monitor the long list of behavior-disturbing and asthma-inducing chemicals in my family’s food. I do want to be sure that the produce I buy is naturally colorful, not from Citrus Red 2, which is a carcinogen. I want to know that when my kids go to their friends house for a playdate, they’re not going to return climbing the walls because they ate Yellow #5- laced Kraft Mac and Cheese.

I don’t need my sister-in-law to call me and tell me she’ll no longer have fruit punch at her kid’s birthday party. Or my son’s preschool teacher to let me know she removed the Fruit Loops from school projects. (Though both would be dye-free icing on the cake.)

But I would like to see that this is a trend that takes. And benefits us all.

Those of you who’ve read this blog for a while, know that I am an IMPERFECT being.

I am a work in progress. I am a WELLNESS BITCH in progress.

A few of the areas in which I still need to work hard include “kicking my nasty sugar habit,” “giving up coffee forever,” and a very broad category known as “getting in shape.”

I am fit for many things. I am fit to eat a chocolate chip cookie. I am fit to write a blog. I am fit to talk smack about doctors, Big Pharma, and the FDA.

But I am not fit.

I am certainly not fit to ride my bike, which I just had fitted for new tires yesterday. My bike hasn’t seen the light of day in six years, since we moved from Tucson, Arizona to Northern New Jersey. This morning, however, with the sun shining here in Israel and the streets finally dry after a week of heavy rain, I hopped on my Huffy and rode like the wind down my street. What a glorious feeling…until it was time to pedal uphill.

[Oh. My. God. I. Can't. Breathe. When. Did. I. Become. An. Old. Lady?????!!!!!???]

Through sheer will (and the prospect of humiliation) I made it up the very steep hill. Not without feeling the heavy burn in my lungs and trembling in my legs following years of inactivity.

WAKE UP CALL: You can eat right. You can even look thin and young. But neither of these means you are healthy or fit. If my life depended on running a mile in ten minutes, I’d surely be dead….within the first five minutes or so.

Did you ever think: “If only we could manifest every day the level of love, caring, awareness, and positive energy that our civilization manages to muster during times of tragedy?”

I’m shocked and saddened by the news from Japan and the Pacific, and of course rally my positive thoughts and healing energy toward the people who have been impacted by the earthquake and tsunamis. It does strike me, however, when I’m reading status updates on Facebook for instance, how powerful we are as a greater community. And how easy it is for us to rally around victims of natural disaster (as we did after the 2004 tsunami or the Haitian earthquake) or around certain fatal diseases (such as AIDS or cancer), but that we are incapable of joining together for the simple daily purpose of compassion, kindness, and understanding towards each other and our physical planet.

I include myself in this observation, of course.

And, I ask you…why?