Be the Farm

In this week’s edition we have:

  1. The COVID Numbers Update
  2. Practice check up
  3. This Edition’s Holistic Health Exploration-“Be the Farm”

Covid numbers update

  • The Berkshire case load tallies 401! cases these last seven days up from an average of 300 per week the last couple weeks.
  • Berkshire County has seen a slow, steady and consistent rise over the last couple of months
  • A lot of the cases are occurring in school-aged families.
  • Need a test? Get one. Call us, we have them. Or use the BHS testing center near you. Appointments are required at all BHS locations. Call 855-262-5465 for a BHS test for you or a guest or visit berkshirepatientportal.com.
    • Pittsfield COVID-19 Testing Center at 505 East St. is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    • The North Adams COVID-19 Testing Center at 98 Church St. is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    • Fairview Hospital at 29 Lewis Ave. in Great Barrington is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Play it smart around holiday travel and gatherings. Consider having everyone test. Open the windows. And maybe have it in the garage!
  • The Massachusetts 7 day average climbed again from 1,500 to over 2,500 cases per day. Southern Vermont is pretty active right now.
  • Michigan is the country’s hotspot and several states in the Rocky Mountain region are flared up. 33 states are on the rise.
  • The Delta wave is heating up in other parts of the country as the South quiets down.
  • Nationally, the seven-day-average figure increased to 88K, up from 77K last week and 72K the week prior. 
  • It’s difficult to understand the trends just by  following national numbers because each local region is doing its unique movement.
  • Europe is active right now too.
  • Please send REMOTE LOVE to the medical workers of the US and the world: “About 18% of healthcare workers in the US have quit since the beginning of the pandemic and another 12% have been laid off. The stressors of the current emergency have nearly doubled the risk of burnout among physicians, with up to 75% reporting symptoms of exhaustion, depression, sleep disorders, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” (Johns Hopkins)

How are you doing, Doc?

I’m doing well, thanks. Connecting with my roots to help prepare for the future.

I am excited with the work we are doing and the new offerings we are preparing. I remain optimistic and am confident that this is the Pandemic’s final act. I also know we are destined to face other crises whether it be shortage in raw materials and even food, or climate disasters. I’m not holding my breath for anything. I’m building a home in the chaos.

More Exposure to Our Holistic Philosophy

Show me an obstacle, and I’ll show you a stepping stone. It may just be the optimist in me, but hear me out.The key to changing an obstacle into a stepping stone is to embrace growth as a central part of your philosophy.

Integrating the adversity (remaining whole) as opposed to eliminating or avoiding your problems does not always come naturally. But it’s a powerful tool. To do it we have to seek out the tools or skillsthat weren’t there before that will make the system more sophisticated and resilient.

It’s not about removing obstacles but transforming them for the good. Nothing is inherently negative. Nothing. Everything has at least a silver lining. Many great people make the realization that without their most dire challenges they would never have awoken to their potential.

Often an illness makes us listen to ourselves more. It helps us find where we are out of balance and create good habits with sleep, diet, rest. It invites a cleanse.

There are two Archetypal steps:

  1. Face the adversity, honor it as a teacher. Acknowledge that you’re in a bigger system. You can survive anything. It’ll work for you with the right approach.
  2. Figure out what new tool or skill will transform the situation. Redefine your relationship to your life. With a new thought about yourself or a deepened commitment to harmony this becomes possible.

Remember these helpful pointers:

  • This is often done with assistance. We don’t have to go it alone. Partner in this quest wisely.
  • Realize that comfort is nowhere on this path. You aren’t losing if you are uncomfortable. That’s the sign that you are in the process of growth.

“Be the Farm”

Take an actual example from a biodynamic farm which illustrates this perfectly. 

The cover crop in the orchard was good grazing for the animals on the farm. The manure aided the cover cop in restoring the soil. It became quite rich and the gophers moved in uninvited. They thrived. There were so many gophers that they injured the tree roots in the orchard and many of the trees died.

What’s your move? A standard practice might be to knock back the gopher population with poison. This is an option that strives for maintaining the status quo, but the cost to maintain the old way is toxifying. Nothing good, nothing new is attained. There is no growth. Its the same farm as before just with residual poison.

Now freeze right there because this is a metaphor for your health. My friends, you are the farm.

So taking our steps: Face the problem, acknowledge it as a noble challenge that needs your creative attention.  Figure out how to grow the whole system. We have to realize that the gophers do bring some benefits to the farm and to the soil. All their digging aerates the soil which is important for it.

We could poison the gophers and aerate with machines…

Or we can grow the farm and get it back into balance. The biodynamic farmer sees the whole farm as an organism and does not use poison. The farmer in this example puts up several barn owl houses on the property. Barn owls eat gophers. Pretty soon the barn owl population grows and the  farm is brought into balance with the addition of a new natural element. The aerated soil thrives. Poisons are rejected. Trees are replanted and do well in the new balance.

The gopher problem is not a problem of the gophers. Gopher infestation is a sign of a missing element in the ecosystem. It is a signal something is out of balance. It is an invitation to find what is needed, to learn how to expand the system.

We all have our individual challenges, and if we could see the whole system at work, as if from a mountain top, we would never settle for status quo.

Here’s to your growing, diverse ecosystem!