Little Earth
Link Between the Soil and Our Lung
Does the condition of the soil have a direct influence upon the lung? I believe it. The human lungs and the soil have the same function: pump the air for us and
with Jenalyn Entoy Image by Gabriel Jimenez
the plants to breathe. Healthy soil and lungs benefit the whole body and influence all aspects
The lung is seriously affected by the virus as the illness progresses. This manifests when the patient begins to have difficulty in breathing. As a respiratory organ, the lung has always been associated with the element of air. But the lung, according to the book “The Human Organs” by Walter Holtzapfel, only holds air and does not consist of air.
is membered into earthly life.” Like the solid earth, the lung is cold, hard and strongly formed. Georg Soldner of the Goetheanum writes that one of the weaknesses of the lung is “a lack of a relationship with the earth and sun.” Interestingly, more people are tending the soil in the time of corona. Perhaps it is what the lung, also called the “little earth,” desperately needs to breathe easy.
The element that the lung is related to is the earth. “Through the lung, the human soul …
of a human being’s life. Everything starts in breathing. Soil is one of the sources of life. If the humans cannot breathe, there is no life.
How does the soil breathe? Technically, soil breathes with its food, the microbes which makes the soil healthy and packed with nutrients. In spirituality, we need to talk to the soil spirit and the microbes so they can provide food for the soil and not to feed them with any harmful chemicals because the soil now is begging for a change. It is time to stop conventional farming so the soil can breathe and give nutrients to the plants.
Describe your breathing in and breathing out experience as you go through the inner conditioning exercise. I observed the gas exchange; while breathing in I inhaled oxygen which is needed by the body and during breathing out I exhaled waste, the carbon dioxide which the plants needed. Breathing in, Jane Entoy of the People’s Empowerment through Social Technological Active Livelihood Economic Services or PESTALES, an agriculture cooperative based in Argao, Cebu and advocate of organic farming, helps us show the link between lung and earth.
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I felt so calm; I felt the love of the Creator and grateful I am alive and appreciated the blessings which life brings. Breathing out, I released all the
worries, burdens and pains of past experiences. Humans should take good care of nature to have a balanced environment and better future. Humans and nature need each other.
Can agriculture address the “pandemic” knowing that it is both a medical and a food security issue? I believe that sustainable agriculture is second to spirituality in providing the answer to the pandemic nowadays, because pandemic is a wake-up call for humans to be awake in mind, heart, spirit and soul --- change their attitude. Everyone must value agriculture as this is one of the ways people survive if everything is paralyzed. Those who engage in agriculture can survive food crisis. ggg PESTALES began in 2014 with a 200-square-meter plot of land and less than P50,000 pooled together by its founders, young professionals who turned their back on corporate life to improve the state of farming in Argao. During the following year, they lost all their crops to El Nino. They took odd jobs to survive. But no one gave up. Four years later, the group got fresh funding enough to acquire six hectares of farming land and space for a housing project. Today, PESTALES is a venue for camps, workshops and tours. Crisis or no crisis, the group continues to work on their vision of a “new home of humanity with one mind, soul, spirit and synchronized heartbeat.” 3
Gestures of Healing with Dr. Grace Zozobrado-Hahn Image by Siora Photography In an expanded view of the human being, good health prevails when our physical body, etheric body, astral body and the “I” are in harmony. Etheric body is our life force; astral body or soul, our seat of emotions; and “I,” our spiritual core. The pain we experience during this time is said to be a result of the “debasement of the astral field” where animals (with whom we share sentient feelings) have been tortured or killed for years. It is not accidental that our heart and lung, which comprise our rhythmic system, are most affected by the novel corona virus. If we are not mindful, we breathe in fear and panic that takes a toll on our emotional well-being. Frequent handwashing, good nutrition and exercise help boost our physical body’s immunity. To bring it deep into our soul and spirit, eurythmy is prescribed in anthroposophic medicine. This form of movement uses the healing forces of gestures and speech to access “spiritual forces of healing and rejuvenation.” Dr Grace Zozobrado Hahn, pediatrician and eurythmist, shares her time to speak about the value of eurythmy in the time of Covid-19.
The debasement of the astral field (through such acts as animal torture) is said to have contributed to the spread of the virus. How does this affect our astral body?
affected by the virus?
In a healthy human being, the I rules over all three lower members. Once the astral body takes over (as in the case of the negativity involved with animal torture), the breaking down effect of the astral body overwhelms the whole person. The etheric body’s upbuilding is unable to keep pace and the balance is kipped in the direction of degradation.
Please tell us about the Hallelujah exercise and its connection to the present crisis.
Breathing in and breathing out also means what we bring in and out in our consciousness from media, etc. What healthy alternatives can we do to address this while in quarantine? One could try to:1) use the time to undertake meaningful activity (whether this be to bring order to one’s things, to update one’s diary, to do those things for which one always never had time for); 2) keep abreast of developments, ever-sorting facts from rumors and manipulations; 3) go into a reflective mood, asking oneself how one contributed to the situation, and then decide how one can actively be of help in the now.
How does eurythmy benefit us specially in relation to our heart and lungs, the organs most 4
Eurythmy is a consciousness soul art form. It brings into harmony the soul forces of thinking, feeling and willing, and thus supports the health of the whole person.
The Halleluiah was the first word ever done in eurythmy. It is an exercise which evokes reverence. It is used in situations which need healing such as before a faculty meeting; in the case of illness; or if someone just died or about to cross the threshold. Halleluiah is an expression of rejoicing and can also be performed when one wants to celebrate an event such as a graduation or an anniversary. ggg
Dr. Grace is first school doctor and eurythmy therapist of the first Waldorf School in the Philippines. She trained in basic and Eurythmy Therapy at the Eurythmeum Stuttgart and in Anthroposophical Medicine in Filderstadt, Germany. After having spent four years as a lecturer, therapist and adult educator in Asia and Europe, Dr. Grace has focused on www.koberwitz1924.com, an NGO she co-founded which is engaged in biodynamic agriculture, nutrition, health and education.
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What can we do to transform these depleting emotions?
Opening the Heart during a Crisis with Rowena Suarez Image by Louise Far
One quick way to transform these emotions is to focus on and touch the heart area then breathe in a rhythmic pace—for example, 5 seconds inhale and 5 seconds exhale. If the emotion we want to transform is intense, we can consciously recall a positive emotion like care or gratitude. It may be difficult to remember a positive emotion when we are we are too angry or afraid, but once we have done step 1 and step 2, we will find doing step 3 easier.
The novel corona virus seriously affects the lung as the illness progresses. Which exercises help build a strong immune system and rhythmic organs? Sustained coherence helps build a strong immune system and rhythmic organs.
The Little Prince said it best, “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” This “simple secret” is shared by the Hawaiians who have always believed that it is through the heart that we know the truth.
The HeartMath* System is an innovative approach that helps people achieve coherence and resilience through the heart. Practitioner Weng Suarez shares with us how acting with the heart is important during this crisis.
In the HeartMath context, coherence is the alignment of the heart, mind and emotions. It also means an energetic coordination between the immune, hormonal and nervous systems. Sustained coherence increases resilience, both psychologically and physiologically. The HeartMath System uses a specific measure, or indicator of resilience which is called Heart rate Variability. It is more commonly known to practitioners and medical professionals as HRV.
When making difficult choices, we are told to follow our heart.
During a crisis most people react with panic, fear and anxiety. How do these emotions affect our body, specifically the heart and the lung?
The heart has its own “complex intrinsic nervous system” called the heart brain. Since the late 1800s, it has been known that “the heart sends more information to the brain than the brain sends to the heart.”
Fear and anxiety are depleting emotions because they lead to the release of cortisol that tells our body to expend energy. Cortisol, which causes difficulty in sleeping, compromises our immune system.
The only thinking considered real beginning the nineteenth century has been intellectual thinking. Anything that cannot be measured, quantified or show proof is not thinking.
Depleting emotions also make us more vulnerable to respiratory diseases because they decrease our Immunoglobulin A or IgA levels, the immune system’s first line of defense against viruses, bacteria and pathogens.
Heart Lock-In technique, or its variation, brings about this coherence. This technique has been shown to create synchronization between human beings and the earth through a shared electromagnetic field. Global coherence would be possible.
On a heart rhythm monitor, depleting emotions look erratic and jagged, which means the activities in our physiological systems, including our hormonal and nervous systems, are not in sync.
Personally, I have expanded the Heart LockIn technique into a heart-based meditation, believing that apart from its benefits of strengthening our immune system and of accessing our intuitive intelligence, it has effects at the morphogenetic level which allows others
But in the early twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner spoke of a need to transition to heart-thinking if human beings want to advance in their development.
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to do the same. With more intentionality in doing the practice, we can use the crisis as a springboard to an alternative world that we want to create. In the very process of transforming the fear and the anxiety that is caused by the pandemic, we come into contact with our intuitive guidance which informs us of the ways we can heal our world beyond the physical or the material level.
Racism and discrimination brought about by the fear of the virus are increasing. How can we open our heart amidst a crisis? It requires a conscious choice to pause and reconnect with emotions like genuine care and appreciation—for anything or anyone. One can do the steps in the answer to question 1. With regular practice, one will discover that it becomes more natural to activate care even for those he or she discriminates, or that which he or she fears. The beauty of the process is that it also allows one to reframe the situation and spring into action—be it an act of gratitude, or of love, or of compassion. HeartMath is a registered trademark of Quantum Intech, Inc. For all HeartMath trademarks go to www.heartmath.com/trademarks ggg
Among the HeartMath techniques, which one can help best respond to crisis?
Ma. Clara Rowena “Weng” Ebdani Suarez is a Certified HeartMath® Trainer, an Organizational Learning Consultant and a Sustainable Development advocate.
There is a great opportunity for social coherence in the world. If more individuals achieved personal coherence, this would increase understanding and harmony among us.
Weng’s initiatives include: Open Heart Café is a Human Development Initiative that wants to help activate the heart of the country and the world through resilience-building workshops, online heart meditations and inquiries and dialogues, as a response to the divisive ways in which social and political issues are being tackled in groups or communities. Seeds of Transformation is an alternative approach to Organizational Development. Instead of Human Resource Development, its work is Human Re-Source Development, which is connecting individuals back to their source of creativity and strength.
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Covid as an
Apocalyptic Event with & image by Raphael Lazo
It’s the end of the world as we know it. To many, this is what’s on their mind --- a line from a 1987 song that describes the Covid pandemic. People have equated deaths, violence, hunger and governments careening out of control as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. However, an apocalypse is not only a picture of chaos and violence. It also presents an opportunity to unravel the illusion that has veiled our better judgement for many years. What this illusion is and how it can be revealed requires the will to “examine the truth with our thinking” and to digest the wealth of information ourselves. The distortion of truth via fake news and conscienceless propaganda sows in the soul stress and tension that weaken the immune system and deprive people of spiritual healing forces. To counter this, it is important for people to strengthen their inner sun or spiritual light through a loving feeling for others or living the values they believe in. In truth, it is the beginning of a new world. Using a spiritual lens, Raphael Lazo, looks at what the current crisis brings to the evolution of man and the world. 8
A priest from The Christian Community in the US has described the current virus situation as “apocalyptic,” meaning, for him, “lifting the veil of illusion.” What kind of “illusive forces” is at work here and how can they be revealed? The Greek word for apocalyptic does mean “lifting the veil of illusion.” This means first, we need to understand and perceive what is the illusion; and second, to lift said veil. The Resurrection of Christ is a good picture to work with. Initially, we are all overjoyed by His resurrection. There is this sense He is back among us and yet, where is He to be found? Emil Bock, in his book The Three Years, does an interesting study of this resurrection scene as recounted across the four Gospels. In his discussion, he looks at how each story, beginning with Matthew, works its way into an inner experience. While Matthew’s Gospel looks at the grandeur of the external world, the succeeding Gospels shows the women, the first on the scene, move from the entrance to the tomb to even deeper inside the tomb. Ultimately, in John’s Gospel, the Risen Christ makes His appearance to the disciples inside a dark and locked room. Could these times, when we are quarantined and limited to go outdoors, be the chance to seek within each of us in our household that “illusive force?”
Rudolf Steiner wrote that the “breeding ground” for viruses is where there are lies and deceptions. The world is full of it --- fake news, lying politicians, trolls, etc. What is the connection of widespread lies to people getting sick? Each spoken word, whether truth or lie, creates a being. Every post we make on social media that contains an untruth, feeds the being of untruth. And amongst all those beings, there is the being of objective truth. Without that being of objective truth, there will be an imbalance. We will not be able to stand between truth and untruth, and, we will not find our way. If we tend too much to one side or the other, then we are not in balance. If we live in the lie, we are unbalanced; and if we live only in the truth without recognizing what is a lie then we would also be unbalanced. And when we are not in balance, when we feel wobbly or dizzy, then we do not feel at ease; we feel “dis–eased”, “ill at ease” or sick. This sense of “ill at ease” may eventually translate into a genuine physical or psychological ailment. All our metabolic systems are sensitive to balance and they function to maintain the balance within us. When we “lose out balance” we disrupt the rhythm of our metabolic forces. In a way, we create our own illness, yet can cure it, too. Balance requires us to stand between the truth and the lie and to find our way. To stand in between means we know what is true and we know what is a lie. Only when we know where our feet should be and where our heads should be can we stand upright.
What is it about the gospel of St. John that makes it a good reading during the crisis? In Theosophy, Rudolf Steiner writes that the astral (sensitivity body), would easily have no real direction without the spirit. The spirit gives the direction to the movement of the astral. For this to happen, the spirit needs to be awakened and the astral healthy and ready to work with the
spirit and the etheric (life force) bodies. One of the possibilities of strengthening our spirit is to work with some reading (book or text) of significance. For those who choose to use the Bible, there are the Gospels. Rudolf Steiner, in discussion with the teachers of the first Steiner school in Stuttgart, indicates the Gospel of St. John for the deepening of the spirit. St. John’s Gospel begins with John the Baptist encouraging everyone to prepare – effectively to awaken – to the coming of the Christ. It is also the Gospel with no miracles. It speaks of the work of Christ and His teachings. It speaks as “plainly” and directly as possible. This is the direction the spirit is sharing with the astral. In the Gospel of St. John, the Risen Christ appears to the disciples in a room that is locked. The disciples have locked themselves in out of fear of what will happen now that their Teacher is gone. Christ appears to them, coming through the walls. They are frightened then assured. This is a wonderful imagination of how the spirit – the Risen Christ – may give sense of purpose, direction, balance to an astral that is overwhelmed by events – in the case the fearful disciples. In this way, the Gospel of St. John may be seen as truly nurturing in times of crisis. ggg As a member of the Christian Community, it is important to be clear on two points: 1) The Christian Community has no dogma that members and friends adhere to; hence, what I express here are my personal views as a member of the Christian Community and are not the views of the Christian Community itself; 2) The Christian Community is not the religion of anthroposophy. One may be a member of an Anthroposophic movement but not a member of the Christian Community and vice-versa. Having said that, the Christian Community had its beginnings with conversations and meetings with Rudolf Steiner. Raphael Lazo is currently a part-time teacher at the Manila Waldorf School. He is a member of the Antrhoposophical Group in the Philippines (AGP) and a member of The Christian Community. Together with his wife Lormie, he has been a student of anthroposophy for more than 20 years.
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What are the ways in which fears and anxiety associated with the crisis can be managed from the perspective of a trained responder? How can these be made relatable and practicable to ordinary people?
Calming the Tremor of the Soul with Theresa Mora
image by Louise Far
Acknowledge the crisis at hand.
There is another kind of life that needs saving during this crisis: our soul life. The measures taken to contain the spread of coronavirus have sent us fearing for our safety, security and liberty. Having been used to a rhythm of life that has worked for us, we find ourselves yanked into different directions, trying to attend to many things at the same time: “What happens to my job?” “Where can I get food?” “Who can I turn for help?” “What if I got sick?” The chaos we see in the streets reflect the state of our inner life. Coping with the crisis is harder for children as they are just beginning to make sense of their life and the world around them. The abrupt changes in their schedule and the scary images they see on screen make them nervous. The daily assault of fear on their nerve and rhythmic system can traumatize them. Trauma, it is said, is the tremor of the soul. “It shakes up the inner landscape and can bring the whole regions of the soul to collapse.” The book Educating Traumatized Children defines trauma as caused by shocking events that leave the victims in fear for their lives (“Will I get Covid and die?”) and powerless to act (“Why can’t I go out?”). While the signs of trauma in children depend on their developmental phase*, there are some general ones that can surface: frequent crying, sleeping and eating disorders, lack of concentration, mood swings, nightmares, fear. What the children need now is a “sense of mental coherence”: understanding what is going on; trusting that they can cope with the situation; and feeling that there is something meaningful about the crisis. Through its “educational-artistic methods which are based on the principles of Waldorf Education, Emergency Pedagogy is applied in the first weeks after the traumatic event but before the stage of posttraumatic stress sets in.” It is good to note here that Emergency Pedagogy is NOT trauma therapy.* What it does is awaken and strengthen the child’s power of self-healing. In this light, Theresa Mora, Emergency Pedagogy
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Take inventory of what is needed and what is available. Plan and assess to help people get organized and determine proper avenues for seeking help. Doing these grounds a person and helps prevent his imagination from further amplifying fears and anxieties. Assess the extent of the crisis. responder, briefly outlines ways to handle possible trauma that could arise during the Covid crisis.
What is the difference between the Covid crisis and other disasters such as earthquake and typhoons? This crisis is different from other disasters we have seen in the country. We are dealing with too many unknowns and we come face-to-face with what has not been working, yet we are constrained to act immediately to address it. That inability to act compounds this uncertainty. The need to care for the unseen part of ourselves will also take a back seat (even when the need becomes very apparent) because we cannot afford to lose time to act. Unwittingly, we lose more in the process. It is a quickening of what needs to be seen and what we need to engender in ourselves to act.
What is the first rule in an emergency/emergency response? Rational and objective assessment needs to be in place in order to respond effectively and efficiently. Otherwise, responders will hinder rather than help. The assurance of the safety of the responders is paramount. Before the team arrives, an inventory of what is on the ground must have been made. This informs the coordinator what needs to be brought (aside from intervention materials) and what can be procured on site. Planning for contingencies is also a must to minimize the strain experienced by emergency organizing teams and agencies on the disaster site.
Know the type of crisis and possible timetable of the extent of the crisis. This helps people get a good understanding of the problem in order to adequately find solutions. Their fears and anxieties are also pacified when they know about the available resources and solutions and avenues to seek help. Feel the SELF in relation to the crisis. In times of crisis, the amygdala takes over to ensure survival and puts people in a “fight or flight” mode. However, some people may remain in this state long after the crisis. They could overthink situations and re-live the crisis in their minds which can create a cycle of stress and lead to Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder, in the longterm. Some ways to help them avert cyclical retraumatization include getting in touch with the body, being mindful of emotions and sensations, and doing exercises. Create a safe space for the self and others (internal and external). For the most part, we seek safety in our bodies and our homes. If either one is compromised in any way, it would create a highly stressful environment which can trigger the amygdala to run longer than needed. Creating a safe space helps alleviate our feeling of danger and bring us back to our normal brain and body functions.
What kind of trauma can a crisis, in this case a pandemic, bring specially to children and older people? All kinds of normal human interaction and activity have been put on hold as a result of quarantine, globally agreed as the most effective prevention against Covid. Because people of different social classes react to the quarantine in different ways, it is hard to pinpoint the various traumas associated with this preventive measure. However, there is one kind of trauma that cuts across most social classes and geographical location: the trauma of separation. Frontliners cannot go home and hug their children. Loved ones cannot be physically together. The masks and protective clothing and social distancing are representations of this separation. As human beings we live in a community and thrive in our relationships. The duality of the separation created by the quarantine presents a dilemma for us – we need to be close to people to survive but we also need to be away from people to survive.
What learnings from emergency pedagogy can be used to address the emotional impact of the current “pandemic?” • Importance of rhythm & rituals in life • Relationship of quietude and SELF • Creating a safe space that is nurturing ggg
Theresa Mora is an Emergency Responder since 2013. She has served in missions in Leyte, Samar, Mindanao, and Benguet. She is currently one of the country coordinators of Emergency Pedagogy. She is currently finishing her Master of Family Life and Child Development in the University of the Philippines. You may read more about creating safe spaces for the Self and Others at www.raisingurduja.com. *Ruf, Bernd, Educating Traumatized Children Waldorf Education in Crisis Intervention, Lindisfarne Books, 2013
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Hornet’s Sting and Covid-19 by Maya Vandenbroeck with Dr. Rosalinda Maglana Image by Louise Far
As if I was not in so much pain already, I requested to pass by a friend’s wake towards the evening. After an hour’s stay there, we headed home and arrived late at night. Having showered and prepared for bed, I took a look at my face and checked the swelling. I noticed that it was gone, and so was the pain. Only a terrible itchiness was left. So how is this related to Covid-19? In a couple of phone conversations with Dr. Rosalinda Maglana, an integrative primary health care and anthroposophic medicine community practitioner based in Kidapawan, I learned many things that can be applied to both my hornet sting experience and
At 10AM, a day before reporting to my new job, I joined my father and some workers to plant seedlings on our family’s tree farm. While walking to the planting site, I accidentally bumped into a hornet’s nest and got stung 21 times. (Yes, 21 times! I counted the number of stings on my body.) My whole face was so swollen! Refusing to be rushed to the hospital or given any medicine, I just stood near the nest, frozen. I waited for my father and the workers to finish planting while I, my body racked with poison, was 12
crying, shivering, and convulsing. The poison in my body gave me pain so excruciating, I wanted to scream and beg for relief. But I changed my mind and just asked everyone to hurry with the work.* On our way home from the farm, we stopped by a neighbor’s birthday party at noon. Everybody had lunch but me. I stayed in a room to lie down on the floor until everyone was finished eating. When it was time to go, I had to be assisted to the car because standing was making me faint and my vision had become “all white.” I reclined my car seat and travelled home not caring whether I could see or not. I just had to bear the pain. (“Bear the pain!” I kept telling myself.)
The hornet sting incident made me realize that when we know our body well, it is easy to sense what it needs. When I was in pain because of the toxins in my body, I knew I could take it because my body, cared for by right food and exercise, told me so. In a pandemic, knowing the body (including the soul and spirit) is crucial to awaken the courage and creativity it needs to respond to the illness. According to Dr. Moon, there needs to be a healing of the whole person - physical, mental, spiritual, economic, environmental, and societal. ggg
The Power of the Will It was my powerful “I” or “will” that helped me heal*, according to Dr. Maglana, or Dr. Moon, as she is fondly called. By not letting panic or fear overcome me, I was able to will myself to heal. She adds: “It’s important to ask who are we that are doing the asking? What is our consciousness?” During Covid, our level of consciousness in relation to the illness is critical. Is our “I” overcome by panic, fear and anxiety? If it were so, Dr. Moon points out, such negative, cold emotions and thoughts could constrict the body ‘like water solidifying into ice,” and thus cannot flow and give life. The warmth of the will to bear pain, trusting one’s healing forces and concentrating on the planting task for the community facilitates blood flow and activates one’s immune system to neutralize toxins and overcome harmful elements in our system.
Who would have thought I’d learn a lot about responding to Covid from an encounter with hornets and phone conversations with a doctor?
Know Your Body Well
Let Fever and Inflammation Do the Fighting Had I agreed to take a medicine for the swelling of my face due to the hornet sting, I would have felt relieved immediately BUT it would have suppressed my immune system from fighting the toxins. In the case of Covid, where inflammation and fever occur, giving antipyretics or antivirals unnecessarily can make the immune system “not perceptive, lazy and weak.” Fever and inflammation are signs that our bodies are adjusting and learning how to respond to pathogens and allergens and produce antibodies to fight them.
Maya Flaminda J. Vandenbroeck a.k.a. Maya Flows is the resident storyteller of Little Flow Stories about extraordinary grit, resilience and transformation. She says, “I love to explore varied perspectives because I know that by changing the way I look at things, the things I look at change.” ggg Rosalinda Maglana, or Dr. Moon as she is fondly called, is an integrative primary health care and anthroposophic medicine practitioner. She co-founded AKKAP (Alternatibong Katilingbanong KalamboAng Panglagwas) together with dedicated and committed former healthcare workers from various community-based programs in the parishes and dioceses of Kidapawan in Mindanao, Philippines. She is also a co-founder of SOL, a youth program that creates space for self-knowledge, healing and development. Dr. Moon is committed to working with cross-cultural communities and other organizations towards a communitymanaged integrative primary healthcare program for the healing and development of the individual, community and the earth. *It is not suggested that this is true for everyone. Individuals react differently to toxins; some may need urgent medical attention.
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Conversations on Covid-19
with Maya Vandenbroeck, Dr. Rosalinda Maglana & Willa Maglalang image by Louise Far When Covid reached the Philippines, the first thing AKKAP (Alternatibong Katilingbanong Kalambo-Ang Panglagwas) did was to ask questions. For the Kidapawan community of healthcare workers and volunteers, it was important to understand the illness from their “inner world.” For them, knowing the inner world allows them an objective response to the external world. How is this virus different from the rest? Who are affected by it? Who are not affected by it? What is happening to our ecology? Where am I in relation to the pandemic? Dr. Moon Maglana, the integrative primary health care doctor who works with AKKAP, believes that healthy humans are decisive and in control of themselves. Her advice: “Stop what you’re doing when you get sick and observe your body. You’ll find out things like, ‘I usually get fever in the afternoon.’ ‘I am very sensitive to noise.’ Our bodies are telling us all the time how to take care of ourselves, if we only listen.” In our busyness, listening to our body has become an inconvenience. The fast pace of life deprives us of a chance to tune inwards. We lost trust in our body’s ability to naturally fight an illness. When we get sick, it is faster for us to pop a pill than wait out for fever to break, or for the inflammation to subside. “What is problematic is our wrong view and attitude towards fever and our own inflammatory body responses,” Dr. Moon adds. When it comes to Covid, the respiratory lining in our body recognizes and eliminates the flu viruses through sneezing or coughing. If the virus penetrates further, our white blood cells naturally deal with it through inflammatory responses. Fever sets in as a natural immune response to the invading elements. There will be a feeling of fatigue because our body is working extra to resolve and eliminate the virus. Thus, the need to rest well and manage unresolved emotions to support our immune system. 14
In the course of what we call progress, we also forgot how we are in relation to nature. We saw nature as apart from us, a resource for our own taking. Minerals. Forests. Animals. Water. We thought we were nature’s master. Already facing so much destruction, we still went further as to modify nature. Plants were injected with genetically modified organisms to make them grow “bigger and juicier.” Such unnatural and violent act introduce toxins to the bodies of plants. Animals, on the other hand, suffer in the way they are raised and slaughtered. These toxins and violence are passed on to us through our food. It is no wonder that, for the first time, the virus has crossed from animal to human being. The pollution and the electromagnetic radiations for super fast wireless communications that we have created are the same things that injure our respiratory system and penetrate deep into living organisms which injure our organs. “Covid-19 comes at this time of great extremes with pollution and destruction everywhere.” Is there anything we can do about the havoc we wreaked on nature which eventually contributed to the “unleashing of the virus?” “Growing our own food, preferably together with our neighbors, is the most healing activity we can do during this quarantine,” suggests Dr. Moon. According to her, our country is blessed with sunshine everyday, whose warmth, so important in maintaining health, benefits our people and our plants. She suggests growing crops with jagged edges, hairy or needle-like forms and roots. They have more nutritional value because they better absorb warmth from the sun: ampalaya, lagundi, sweet potato leaves, kangkong, oregano, lemongrass, ginger, carrot, among others. In the case of AKKAP, the community had been growing their own vegetables and rice, organically and biodynamically, for the past few years. They have even made their own herbal teas.
The most important thing to do is to awaken our will and heart to a more conscious way of dealing with Covid-19 and the future.
observing, asking questions and deciding for themselves the best way to self-heal in a nurturing manner.
1. Trust that our warmth organization and immune system are able to defend ourselves from the virus. Be conscious in strengthening the immune system through healthy nutrition; a “rhythmical life of productive, loving activities;” regulating use of gadgets to what is essential; relaxing activities for our brain, heart and limbs; and a truly restful sleep. Bringing unresolved or undigested emotions to sleep disrupts our body’s healing process and compromises our immune system.
3. Treat patients with such dedication and compassion, not out of fear, but out of love for our fellowmen. This also allows the sick to feel safe, cared for and nurtured and allows for their own healing forces to be activated. AKKAP follows a healing framework that covers the Self (physical, life forces, soul, spirit), Earth (plants, air, water, animals and man’s relationship to each one); and Society (economic, political and cultural).
2. Tap into our innate capacity to observe the environment and think things through for ourselves. This is the time to think about and act on what is essential and relevant. Let us not blindly follow what we are told. In AKKAP, farmers, teachers, parents, and students have trained in the basic principles of integrative medicine that they have become adept at
As a community, we are being called by Covid-19 to participate in rebuilding a society with an educational system that recognizes the four-fold human being; pluralistic health system that expands wellness and healing; and an economic system that supports life and the further development of the human being. ggg 15
May our Feeling penetrate Into the Core of our Heart And seek to unite in Love With people of same aim With Spirits that Grace filled Look down upon our earnest heartfelt striving Strengthening us from spheres of Light And illumating our Love
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