Affect of Gardens, Allergy Tests, Meditation Retreats & Childcare on Our Health

Recently I wrote an article about how happy I am about the Health Care Reform, I feel the need to follow it up with the holes I see, not necessarily in the HCR (Health Care Reform), but in the entire world of "Health" and what it means to be healthy, what is recommended, needed, desired, and overlooked.

Allergies
Currently allergy testing is something that happens when someone is experiencing some extreme symptoms of an allergic response. I believe that it should be a standard part of medical care, though my experience is that only Naturopaths agree with me on this.

I did not get an allergy test until I was 28, after living with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) for over 8 years without many symptoms. I met my Naturopath through an MS focused workshop about "Empowered Living". My test results were shocking, and I was told that the last time my doctor had seen results like this, the patient was having seizures. Fortunately I wasn't having seizures, but I was so deficient in so many nutrients as well as being allergic to so many things that I had to wonder, and still do wonder "What if I knew sooner?"

I believe that if an allergy test was a part of everybody's preventative care plan (we all have one right?) then we would be a much healthier society. Personally, in dealing with having MS, one of the hardest parts is that we do not know what causes it. This fact leads to all sorts of 'what-if' questions coming to mind and in this case the biggest 'what-if' for me is: What if I knew what I was allergic to and followed an appropriate diet from childhood? Would I still have MS?

Unfortunately I'll never know, the closest to knowing will be seeing if my body improves/stops suffering from MS symptoms when I'm able to better follow my diet.

Gardens
Once I found out I was allergic to a huge number of things, and was able to get access to some land, I started gardening. I am a person that hates grocery stores and the produce section in particular, though relatively clean where I shop now, brings memories of grossness when I used to shop at not so nice stores. I have since gotten very passionate about gardening and in particular growing vegetables for this reason.

My first year, 2009, in my garden I tried all sorts of things, it was really a kind of test to see what grew the best, which turned out to be peas and kale for the most part, everything I planted had to be kid-friendly as I am a mom with two curious little girls that will likely be gnawing on the produce so it had to be nutritious and yummy as well.

Some things that I noticed about the gardening, were that it brought me outside, even when the weather wasn't great, I planted everything from seed which brought great feelings of accomplishment, and it also made me very aware of everything earth related from the neighbors trash blowing across the street to the water draining down the hill, and what we did with every little piece of food that we didn't consume.

My point is that a garden is something that everyone should be able to experience, and I also believe that in order to encourage it, tax breaks should be offered. Many people are intimidated by gardening and would need that extra push to get started. I believe that in addition to being readily available to anyone who is interested, seeds to grow food as well as small composting containers should be a staple of any food bank, as well as a part of the food stamp program along with simple educational literature. I believe this would help our environment, everyone's diet, and also increase the activity in people who otherwise don't get out much due to disability, speaking of which I think people who are on disability should have small raised kitchen gardens or green houses tended to by professionals (if they need it)or even better by neighbors so that they have the human connections and nutritious food always accessible.

Mental Health
Mental health is something that is in terrible shape in this country, and the neglect of treatment for mental health issues is a problem that I feel is as detrimental to our well being as the fast food industry if not more so.

I am active in a few organizations that focus on various aspects of the Mental Health industry, I am on the board for CAFETY which stands for the "Community Alliance For Ethical Treatment of Youth" as well as the board for "Washington Dads" which supports male caregivers of special needs children. Needless to say I am aware of a gross number of problems in this area regarding children and their mental health needs. China is even picking up some of our bad habits regarding the treatment of children as you can read in this article I found in WIRED Magazine about a Chinese boy who was killed during his Internet Addiction Therapy. If you look at the articles on the CAFETY site you will see a long list of articles referencing American children who likewise have died at the hands of these unregulated caregivers claiming to be 'helping' the children.

Many of these kids are acting out because they need help. Gifted students often are kept in 'regular' classrooms leaving them to be bullied, teased and left out and quite often they end up dropping out. Autistic kids are being kept in regular classrooms and bullied or kicked out of school for behavioral issues stemming from lack of proper treatment.

A friend told me a story recently of visitors from other countries being in shock at how badly we treat ourselves, and how other people in other countries integrate things like meditation, sleep, and thoughtful eating into their lives. Here that is considered rich fancy snob stuff it seems and overlooked in the general population.

Providing assistance and community support in the area of mental health would support programs that connect people suffering with people who have survived similar circumstances, provide professional therapy when needed without stigma or outrageous expense, and provide resources to help facilitate retreats for family, couples, and youth when life becomes too much for someone and they need a break and need to meditate or resolve their issues.

It all ties together like this...
If we could have all these things addressed, our communities would be stronger because the strong would be helping the weak with their gardens. Children facing issues would be assessed alongside their families and supported using positive therapy and community involvement. Criminals who likely have abuse or medical health issues in their past leading to their criminal ways would likewise get treatment and training in meditation and personal growth. Some leadership trainers are already taking it upon themselves to improve the world by healing those who are hurting and need it most to become leaders of tomorrow.

For me, it's as simple as working in my garden makes me feel better, it is my exercise, food, and meditation, therefore nourishing to my body and my soul. I also get to meet my neighbors and feel more a part of the community.

Sources:
http://www.cafety.org
http://www.wadad.org
http://www.ted.com
http://www.wired.com
http://www.klemmer.com