Energy Medicine and the Politics (Politeia) of Health
“Politics” is derived from the juicier Greek word, “politeia,” which implies an active engagement in which people empower each other to enhance their communities. – Jean Houston
“The Earth is what we all have in common.”
—Wendell Berry
Political Choices Are Health Choices
First published January 17, 2022
Donna Eden and David Feinstein
A study recently published in a multi-disciplinary academic journal on the social implications of health policies looked at the relationship between life expectancy in the United States and social policies, giving state by state comparisons. The article opens with, “For a number of years, the United States has ranked last in life expectancy among high-income countries.” Our own audience is becoming increasingly international, and the implications of this study apply everywhere.
The study used information on 18 policy domains, such as labor laws, tax codes, civil rights, education, tobacco taxes, gun safety, abortion, and environmental policies. It found that some policies had a negative impact on health and longevity while others had a positive impact. For instance, in states whose legislation had, over the past dozen years, become more favorable in terms of policies associated with better health, life expectancy increased by more than two years. Meanwhile, in states whose policies had become less favorable, life expectancy decreased significantly.
The policies associated with longevity are, however, politically charged. What are we to do with such findings about the impact of social policies on longevity in formulating the health guidance we provide? Are we to ignore them in our public statements because they have become political hotwires? The truth is, so far, we have. We’ve not even offered guidance on the use of masks or physical distancing during the pandemic in terms of their impact energetically. Here is what we would have said: “Covid appears to Donna as a thick murky green. Masks and distancing keep that murky energy from moving into others.”
Why change now? Why are we ready to comment on highly charged social issues? The study of social policies and life expectancy, while even more dramatic than we realized, did not surprise us. What is new is that as the 2022 elections approach, we believe that the implications for policies that impact health are going to be momentous and probably unprecedented. For us personally, we are deeply concerned about the world our grandchildren will inherit. Will effective health care be readily available? Will they feel safe at a concert? Will they be able to do meaningful work for a livable wage? Will bridges be safe? Will they have fresh air to breathe and clean water to drink? Will their bodies enjoy swimming in clean oceans?
There is more to living a healthy life than just nutrition, exercise, adequate sleep, meaningful work, good relationships and, of course from our perspective, energy medicine practices. Attending to your environment is also part of the package. Gasoline did not have lead removed because the auto industry or oil companies demanded it. Toxic pesticides were not banned because the farming industry or chemical manufacturers thought it was a good idea. We are healthier today because earlier generations demanded better.
Our students have often heard us emphasize that “Energy medicine only works if you use it.” It is similar with your voice and your vote. You can’t be heard if you don’t speak up. If you want to live in a healthier environment, the evidence shows that the way you vote and engage politically makes a difference. The life expectancy gap between Connecticut, the state with the greatest movement toward policies associated with good health, and Oklahoma, the state that made greatest movement away from such policies, is 7 years. Political choices are health choices.
While we will be vocal in our opinions about specific health care policies and how to get them implemented, we want to be clear on one fundamental point. We do not expect to change the political views of anyone in our community! We will continue to enthusiastically embrace everyone, regardless of political affiliation, as we provide guidance on the use of energy methods for health and well-being. Our intention is not to change your opinion. Our intention is to offer our perspective on specific topics and to encourage those who are aligned with that perspective on that issue to make their voices heard. If our opinions do not resonate with yours, we honor and respect that. Jane Goodall summed up the arrangement: “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
In today’s world, the misinformation floating around is unprecedented. Social policies based on that misinformation are being enacted. That misinformation is, as you witness every day, aided and abetted by electronic media that literally rewires the brain. Here is what you can expect from us: We believe in science. We believe in the world revealed by invisible energies. We believe in critical thinking. The positions we will advocate will be supported by our best integration of these three sources of information.
We are more committed than ever to activate forces within you that support your health at the deepest levels and that support the conditions in your environment that promote health. In promoting your own health, you are taking a gargantuan step toward promoting the health of your culture. During these coming months, we will explore issues that will be impacted by the upcoming elections. To the degree that our perspective resonates with yours, we hope to inspire you to be vocal. We ourselves are inspired to be more vocal by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Feel free to share your responses. Your comments will not be censored. We expect differing viewpoints and hopefully rich discussion. Comments do, of course, need nowadays to be screened for trolls, bots, being respectful, understandable, on-topic, et cetera, so there will be some delay between your submitting them and their being posted.
Even though Donna and Donna won’t be responding to these comments directly, our purpose is to get dialogue going among the members of our community. We will also have a staff person answer questions that are directly pertinent for our organization to answer, such as questions about our policies. Finally, Donna and David will read all of your comments when they are writing subsequent articles so they will have them in their minds.
Well said. Now there’s the little outpoint of endangering yourself and others by getting the jab so you can have your boat ride up the Rhine. Many of us who love you are concerned about you and others that follow you down this toxic road. We are continuing in our research for a solution to stop the replication of the spike protein in the bodies of those who got the jab. Heavy metal detox is in order for the graphene. I have other resources if you would like them.
Interesting article and I also am not clear about the requirements for the boat ride – I was mostly shocked when I read that detail in the email for the trip. I’m thinking you who recognise the power of our bodies and teach others about energy, why would you go there? Why make people do something that damages their natural immunity?
We appreciate your concerns, Niki, as well as similar comments from several others. The Cruise has been challenging in many ways. We initiated it before the pandemic. You may not be aware of this, but our first cruise attempt scheduled for February 2021 was cancelled due to even more extreme Covid challenges closing borders everywhere. Everyone who signed up for the 2021 cruise was offered the option to cancel for 100% refund or roll over their registration to a new date in 2022. We refunded over 55% of the attendees without penalty at that time. We figured that was the death of the cruise, but surprisingly those refunded cabins sold out in a week when offered to new people. So we rescheduled it. As this current 2022 cruise approached, we reached out to the cruise company about cancelling or rescheduling, but this was not possible. They have been running these cruises in Europe since July 2021 without incident and thus held us to our contract. Cancelling it on our own initiative would have left us the choice of everyone losing their money paid or us having to file for bankruptcy and closing our doors. Neither of those options was appealing. The majority of participants had already been vaccinated, and a great event will still be in store for them. For those who weren’t vaccinated and didn’t wish to be, we created a window where we assisted them in reselling their cabins by launching a successful marketing push, finding them people willing to buy their cabins. Everyone who notified us of their unvaccinated status in that window was able to resell their cabins and receive a full return of their money. Nothing in this arrangement has been perfect, but we’ve been as responsible as we’ve known how to be.
Thank you for your article. I see you’ve been careful to avoid talking about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines and also about the mandates etc. You use the word ‘misinformation’ and ‘the science’ and I wonder if you use it in the way mainstream media are using it i.e. to discredit the views of those who question the way the pandemic has been handled. I feel it would be useful for us, if you are keen to start blogging about the politics of medicine, to be clear about where you stand on these issues.
Fair point, Erin. We have been clear in the past and will repeat it here. Our entire approach to health care is centered around personal choice and personal responsibility. We believe that whether to take the Covid vaccine is a deeply personal decision. With so many differing perspectives and even differing interpretations about what the science actually says floating around, it is beyond our expertise to tell you which ones to believe and which ones to discount. Each person needs to find the best information available to them and to decide what resonates. We have explicitly stated that we haven’t revealed our choices (until recently due to the Cruise requirements) because we don’t think our choices in this particular situation are necessarily going to be the best choice for others.
Love this and love all of you! I cannot be spiritual without being political. We must lift ourselves up which is why I have invested in I think most of your courses in the last year! You are helping me help myself which lifts the community I am in. We will get to a point where we realize when anyone is losing, no one is winning.
“We will get to a point where we realize when anyone is losing, no one is winning.”
Bravo Krista, this is why Germ Theory does not make sense to me.
I’m happy to be the first to comment. The “misinformation” that I have found most detrimental is the withholding of the FDA-approved, award-winning effective early treatment drug Ivermectin, as well as hydroxychloroquin (remember, they treated Trump with this) in most countries. One has only to look at Utter Pradesh and their success in stopping the virus, as opposed to the extremely high rates of infection and death in those countries with the highest vaccination rates, to become extremely concerned about what is being labeled as “misinformation” as opposed to what truly IS misinformation, incredible blocking of freedom of choice, and draconian measures that take away freedoms without stopping the viral spread.
My deepest respect for your stated position on the impact of politics today. For someone who has been “off the grid” to take a stance not in defiance of anyone but in support of what feels right “on the grid,”i.e., science, critical thinking, etc. is truly admirable. Thank you for speaking so clearly on the subject. You inspire me to do better.
thank you for your clear words and inspiration to be as clear in these difficult and volatile times.. and your on going work…..
Thank you for sharing this, I love your approach to energy medicine, science and politics (and the recognition that science and energy medicine can actually go hand in hand).
Kudos to you both for sharing your opinions. You are viewed as health care experts and your followers expect you to lead with your knowledge, not just in the category of energy medicine, but in the entire healthcare realm. Thank you so much for speaking out.
I agree. I think this is the year for action, for making our voices heard in terms of the world we want to create and pass on. Freedom of choice is under attack, and to claim it, we must act in peaceful, but impactful ways. No longer can we sit back and hope that someone else will fix it.
Thank you for taking a stand on issues that affect all of our health! We can’t be silent any longer!