Bras contributing to breast cancer?

After my talk at the Dhyana Center last week there were some questions about whether bras contribute to breast cancer.  I have been researching it a bit and there does seem to be a link.  The theory is that bras (especially poorly fitting ones) constrict lymphatic flow in the breast to the axillary nodes in armpit.   http://www.inquisitr.com/1202191/your-bra-may-be-killing-you-scientists-call-for-boycott-of-komen/  This may be important because lymphatic flow traffics both toxins and white blood cells. 

Of note more breast cancers occur in the outer quadrant of the breast.  However some researchers do not attribute this to bras and deodorants, but to the fact that this quadrant has more tissue...  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15767185

Also of note many underarm deodorants contain parabens, substances that have estrogenic effects due to their ability to bind estrogen receptors.  Combine this with an antiperspirant and you no longer can excrete the toxins from your lymph via sweat. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12975767
I do think it is feasible to say that the combination of impaired lymph flow may contribute to breast cancer, be it via antiperspirants or bras.  Do they cause cancer in and of themselves?  Probably not.

Again, To get breast cancer 3 basic things have to happen:   1.You have to mutate key genes in the DNA that lead to uncontrolled cell growth. You have to have DNA repair mechanisms impaired.  2. You have to have growth promoters (hormones and xenoestrogens) so those cells can grow.  3.You have to have the immune system not function in getting to and killing these cells.  

Taking a look via a medical anthropologists lens, wearing a bra and deodorant is relatively new.. Roughly 2 generations out of 100,000+ years of human history.  Cultures that go bra and deodorantless have way less breast cancer (although that may be due to a multitude of other factors).   Here is a link to the book about bras and how they may contribute to cancerhttp://www.amazon.com/Dressed-To-Kill-between-Breast/dp/1930858051

In the end, I know it is a hard sell to recommend not wearing a bra, but to start I do recommend not wearing one at night.   I am not in favor of antiperspirants of any type and especially not ones with parabens or aluminum.

Keep the questions coming!

Gifts of Life. Embrace of Death. What is in between?

I am not at war with death, I embrace death.  An awkward statement to make by one who is in the medical profession.  Healing does not require life to continue unendingly.  It merely requires us to accept the gift of life in a body and accept the gift of the death of that body.  Life is a cycle of gifts.  The sun gifts us light.  The plants gift us photosynthesis and with that a plethora of unique life giving substances via fruits, vegetables, building materials, and healing compounds.  Animals gift us our lives so that we may live.  May we too gift our lives so the earth may live. I wish to make the fruits of my life a gift so others may live.  To do so I must embrace life and ultimately death.  My ceasing to exist allows for new ones to bring forth their gifts.   Often our attempts to avoid death are a great boon to the economy, yet ultimately will fail.  Death comes for us all.

All of these things in the natural world are given to us.  Yet increasingly our lives are taken over by a commoditization of everything.   Humans have figured out how to charge for everything... even yoga :)  Increasingly our lives are spent “making money” and servicing the unending debt that is required to have a “normal” life in this society.  As a descendant of slaves, I am troubled to look at my life and see the multitude of ways that I am still a slave.  I love Bob Marley’s lyrics “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds... Have no fear for atomic energy..”  Must have struck a chord as “Redemption Song” has over 29 million hits on You Tube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGgbT_VasI&feature=kp


In attempting to emancipate myself I ran across the book “Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in an Age of Transition”  by Charles Eisenstein.  I started it on my plane ride this morning up to Seattle and have been unable to put it down.  I am especially excited as his book promises to offer tangible solutions, not just trash on the problems with the status quo.  I look forward to hearing his thoughts and solutions... Check it out.  http://charleseisenstein.net/project/sacred-economics/
http://sacred-economics.com/film/

This exploration has lead to a newfound purpose in my life.  In the time between my birth and death, I will strive for two things:  Helping others heal themselves and the planet, and helping others emancipate themselves from financial slavery...  May our lives be a great gift to the whole.  Here’s to a great adventure! 

Human development in traditional cultures

I just came back from a great parenting class by a colleague Georgia Faye http://www.goldenmoonguidance.com/.  She presented a child/adulthood development model developed by Bill Plotkin http://www.animas.org/ that was quite eye opening.  Georgia talked about the ego centric model that we are familiar with in western industrial culture.  She then talked about Plotkin's model of soul centric/ eco centric development from his book "Nature and the Human Soul" http://www.natureandthehumansoul.com/newbook/  It was quite intreguing.

I learned that humans are mystical beings that are not just meant to fill a role as a cog in the industrial system and then die a meaningless death.  All humans have a soul gift that when expressed leads to a greater maturation in their culture and in the global community.  All humans have an innate ability to be a creative visionary whereby they can express themselves authentically without having to abandon themselves to belong in a community.

Humans in development undergo rituals, initiations, and rites of passage throughout life.  Plotkin notes that many get stuck in stages of development due to lack of initiation or a lack of appropriate mentors.  Consequently, we have lots of chaos in our culture as we loose our initiations, our link to the natural world,  and jump through the hoops to become cogs in the industrial complex.  This makes me think of many of the shows on TV "reality" where people do what they want, don't cooperate, and create unnecessary drama.   Basically acting like toddlers prior to parental direction, yet they are in adult bodies.  How can we have a mass initiation in our culture so we can have a culture of adults acting as adults?  Don't get me started on politics... that will come in later blogs!

I feel so grateful to have had so many teachers, mentors, and elders in my life to help walk (or push) me through initiations.  I am particularly grateful to the Lakota people and those in medicine man Black Elk's lineage as their willingness to share their medicine and initiations with me have lead to a great healing for me personally.  A big thank you to all indigenous healers that I have crossed paths with and who were so gracious to share their thoughts and teachings with me.

In summary I learned that we need to reclaim initiation and make new ones to match our changing world.  I also learned that we as humans need to reclaim our role and connection to our place in the natural world to live and thrive.  It is central to our having a future worth living for and passing on to our children a world in better shape than we found it.