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Taking Action

Spring into Summer

Spring holds many beginnings and a wide berth for transition. Slowly heat builds Spring into Summer. We invite you similarly to grow your passions. Passions point to the heart and in Ayurveda passion is infused with heat. Feel willing to follow your curiosities early and share your processes openly. Take your interests to their point of impact.

We are currently encouraging you to connect with the earth, the soil, the plants in your surroundings. As such we suggest you bridge community by weaving your strengths and surplus with any local organizations that are also encouraging gardening education and community gardens. This could look like visiting your local community gardening, supporting a gardening business, learning something new about the plants in your neighborhood to share with your loved ones, or simply making a one-time or renewing donation. Here are a couple virtual visit options for your inspiration:

Please share with us your experience with all that is happening in your communities in the comments below. #gardens #communitygardens #ReadySteadyGo

-This post was authored by Wana Shue

 

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Share Your Experience, Share Your Prosperity

Invite someone, a friend, a neighbor you like, someone on your block you see around but don’t know yet, anyone to join you for a walk around the block.

Even if anyone can’t join you at this time, share with someone a story from your walk(s). In conversation build out awareness of your environment through these changing of seasons. Broadening your self-awareness is fostered with broadening (y)our consciousness and considering the people, plants and animals around you. Speak your care.

On your path was there a plant or animal you had an interaction with?  

What does this plant or animal need from the springtime?

What does this plant or animal give to the springtime? 

What have you been needing differently?  A loved one? Your neighbor?

What offerings have you extended to yourself in this new day? To a loved one? To your neighbor?

#SharingIsCaring #SharingIsProsperity

-This post was authored by Wana Shue

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

A Walk Around the Block

Take a walk through your neighborhood to engage your health, your heart, and our communities. For our physical bodies, walking stimulates the lymphatic system, supports our lung capacity, encourages the proper operation of our muscles and joints, along with many other benefits. For our minds, our movement and breathing outdoor air has the power to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Emotionally and spiritually a relaxing stroll creates spaciousness for self reflection, development, and reconnection to gratitude.

Honor your senses through this walk. And let us know in the comments below:  

How were you able to cultivate presence for yourself through this experience?  

What did your senses gravitate towards today? What did you see? What did you smell? What did you listen to? 

What did you notice in your body? How was your balance? How was your breathing? How was your heart?

Did any one part of your body speak more loudly? 

How can you give attention, support, or praise to this part of your body?

-This post was authored by Wana Shue

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Listening Local

This week we invite you to engage your local music community. Although this might have been best accomplished by showing up in person for a show or performance at a neighborhood bar, the rise of the delta variant of COVID-19 suggests that we should exercise caution before deciding to attend crowded events. There are, however, a number of alternative ways to get involved with your local music community.

Visit local parks and gardens where local performers are filling the air with their self-expression. If you pass a performer you enjoy, take the time to look for their information, they often have a social media and Venmo handle listed. If you like what they’re playing, it’s likely worth a Venmo tip or Instagram follow, or even a coin or a bill in their tip jar. Even if it isn’t your favorite music in the world, it still feels good to support your local artists who have really been hit hard economically by our society’s response to the threat of COVID-19.

Many musicians share their work on platforms like Reddit, Soundcloud, and Spotify where you can stream their content, the simplest and most effective way of finding new music and listening local, though it can’t compare to a live, in person, analog experience. 

Whether you’re able to get out and see a local performer live or on a digital platform, supporting musicians in your community is a wonderful way to feel more connected. Let us know which artists you’ve found by using the hashtags #ListeningLocal and #ReadySteadyGo!

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Share a Song

Chloe (age 6) and Anna (age 8) Delamotte playing strings in North Beach, San Francisco.

Music, as impactful as it can be, is even more powerful together. Scientific research tells us that listening to music stimulates areas of the brain that regulate emotions, and a result, increases experiences of empathy. To foster social connections and connect more deeply, this week we are encouraging readers to share a song you love, with a person you love. Perhaps even consider asking those close to you to send you some of their favorite tunes.

You may or may not share the same taste in genre or style but broadening your listening repertoire can bring you closer to those around you, and yourself. Whether you build a joint playlist on Spotify or burn an old-school CD,  or even older, a mixed tape cassette, remember that the purpose is to listen not just for enjoyment, but for connection.

 

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Mind Your Music

Gabrielle Malaniak, a viola student at the Eastman School of Music at the Lilac Festival on a spring day in Upstate NY.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote that “Music is the universal language of mankind”, and according to recent data, he was probably right. As of 2017, Americans spend over 32 hours each week listening to music. It’s a widely loved activity, and one that also happens to provide a myriad of benefits to our mental, physical, and emotional health, which is why it is our focus this August.

Listening to music with intention can help us to feel more engaged, present, and in-tune (so-to-speak) with ourselves. It’s that feeling when you’re listening to a song you haven’t heard in so long, but still know each word. Or when you hear a new song for the first time and have to stop yourself from hitting repeat too many times. Listening to a song with intention helps to foster connection with music, and thus with oneself. So for this week’s action item, we ask that you identify a song, or a few songs that you love, and take time to really listen to them. Perhaps find a quiet place, or set off on a walk with some headphones, but either way, listen  generously (and we will too).

If you like what you hear, share your song choices (even the guilty pleasures, we don’t judge!) and experiences with us as a comment on this post, Facebook, or Twitter with the hashtags #ReadySteadyGo and #MusicILove.

Happy Listening!

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Black Businesses Matter

While it may seem daunting to ”fix” racism in our communities, it is helpful to remember that system changes have to start with small steps. What can we do on a local level? How may our Black brothers and sisters be impacted socially, economically, or emotionally? This week we simply ask that you support a Black-owned business! Shop beauty, foods, books, music, appliances, clothing, accessories, decor and more!

Source: KQED.
Chef Chew, Chef Leilani, Chef Nigel Jones
Photo credit: Evan Morsell, Sharome Skinner, Bethanie Hines

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Spark A Chat About Race

Designed by Freepik

 

Now let’s take this test to the test! This week, share the implicit bias test with a change maker you trust. Think friend, family member, coworker, boss, religious leader, teacher, etc. Encourage the same exercise of self-examination and then a simple act of change that he or she might implement as a result.

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Ending Racism Starts Within!

In recent months especially, acts of police brutality, voter suppression, and backlash against kneeling in sports have highlighted the racism that continues to exist in not only the U.S. but all over the world. Black Lives Matter! People are outraged and voicing their concerns through (mostly) peaceful protests. Usually the noise dies down until the next story in the headlines but how do we keep the momentum going? Tackling racism is not just a black and white issue but a movement towards a more just and humane society for all. Ready, Steady, Go!

Let’s start the conversation with ourselves. This week we encourage you to take an implicit bias test created by an international collaborative that focuses on diversity training. Then self-examine how you can change to decrease your own biases.

ID 94960961 by Mushika

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.

Animals Are People Too!

In exploring the connection between humans and animals with the underlying question of whether there are mutual benefits, an area in which the benefit is perhaps undeniably one-sided is the global trade of wild animals for purposes of food, entertainment exotic pet sales, or traditional medicines. These animals are treated very differently according to national and sometimes local laws that offer minimal protection. This week we ask that you consider signing this petition against animal cruelty or supporting the cause in another way that speaks to you.

Please Note: Doctor Chander cannot practice medicine via the internet; no matter how hard she presses on the keyboard she won't be able to feel your pulse. Doctor Chander will not dispense medical advice via email - if you have health concerns please schedule a consultation or see your doctor. For full disclaimer please see Disclaimer Page.