Winter 2007

We are pleased to launch the 8th issue of the Body, Mind, and Balance Bulletin. We’ll bring you new issues of the newsletter at the Body, Mind, and Balance website four times each year, to coincide with the first day of each new season. As always, this newsletter will feature topics related to the integration of physical health and mental health toward the goal of living a balanced life. Though the newsletter will change quarterly, you will be able to access archived issues. Do not forget to check back to the newsletter more than once during each quarter as new features may be added from time to time. For those of you who have been following our journey, thanks for staying with us. And for those who are new to us, welcome, and we hope you’ll keep visiting.

Spring is here! It is strange to be writing this at 7:00 PM in March and it is still light outside! This time of the year usually finds people with a little extra energy due to the warmer temperatures and the longer day light hours (at least for our northern hemisphere readers). This short article focuses on expanding one’s boundaries. This may include an array of areas. For the purposes of keeping this article brief, I will focus on the physical, intellectual, and emotional dimensions. This will be geared towards suggestions for expanding your own boundaries and making personal breakthroughs.

There is an abundance of ideas for expanding one’s physical boundaries. Perhaps starting an exercise class, working out every day for at least ten minutes for the rest of 2008, participating in a local 5K running event, playing outside with your children (tag, stick ball, etc.), going on a hiking or biking trip, or eating more healthy. It really does not matter as to what you focus on as long as you find it motivating and enjoy the process of feeling healthier and happier. It is absolutely amazing when a person who in March can only walk a mile is running two miles by June!

For many adults, our crystallized intelligence tends to increase in the respected fields of our occupation, but what about other intellectual interests and pursuits? Maybe learning to play a musical instrument is something that strikes a chord with you (music is a type of intelligence and more can be found in the works by Howard Gardner of Harvard University ). Perhaps, taking a class in a subject that you enjoy such as art, history or physics. What about learning a new language? If you are constantly learning you are constantly growing! It will probably also add to the quality of your life!

Emotional boundaries are perhaps the most rigid to break through as we establish our comfort zones as adults. Defense mechanisms become more solidified and we tend to brush off the unfamiliar. However, we might be missing out on deepening our emotional well. There are several ways to expanding one’s emotional boundaries. This might include meditation, journal writing, or spending more time with loved ones. See what might be useful to add to your own emotional well. The personal breakthroughs in this area can be very gratifying!

I wish you much success on expanding your own physical, intellectual, and emotional boundaries and the fulfilling feelings that accompany them. Please feel free to drop me a line to share your own personal breakthroughs. Enjoy the journey along the way to your achievements!

Cheers from Valerie

Family Folklore - Keeping the Stories Alive/Benefits of the Lessons Learned

I am glad to know some of my family’s folklore - stories of their experiences as they emigrated from different parts of Eastern Europe and came to the US in the early 1900's. What I admire most is the ability of my immigrant ancestors to leave their old lives behind and come to a place where they didn’t speak the language, didn’t know what they would do for work or housing, yet they were able to start over, make a living for themselves and grow to prosper in this new country they adopted. I have visited Ellis Island and have seen the names of my family members on the wall commemorating them. I stood in Ellis Island’s large main room and as I looked around, I imagined what it must have been like for them to stand there waiting to be admitted to America. These stories of risk and courage and determination are sources of inspiration for me as I continue on my journey. I am grateful to these people who came before me, and for the lessons taught by the stories that are applicable to my life today.

My maternal grandfather was a great storyteller. I especially enjoyed hearing the stories about his adventures from childhood. The one I remember best is the story of how he came through Ellis Island twice. My grandfather was the oldest child. His father had already come to the US two years prior, found work, and my great-grandmother and the children were coming to join him. As the family traveled by train from their home in Poland to Antwerp, Belgium to get the boat to America, my grandfather’s younger brother Louis fell off the train. He managed to get back on the train, miraculously unhurt, and the family continued their journey. But when Louis fell, some cinders got stuck in his scalp, where they remained through the entire journey. When the family arrived in Ellis Island, Louis was not allowed to come into the US, because the doctors examining him saw the cinders and thought he had ringworm. So Louis was sent back by boat by himself to Poland to stay with an uncle. Someone must have taken care of Louis on the boat, and someone must have put Louis on the train for Poland. Of course there was no way to communicate to find out about Louis, to find out if he was all right. We’re talking early 1900's here - no computers, no phones, no cell phones, letters traveled slowly by boat. It was decided that my grandfather, who was maybe 15 years old at the time, would be sent back to Europe to bring Louis to America.

My grandfather got on the boat, went back to Poland for Louis, then he and Louis took the train to Antwerp to get passage on a ship to America. While in Antwerp, they stayed in a rooming house and my grandfather worked as an errand boy for a diamond merchant to pay for their expenses. His job was to deliver diamonds to customers and take the money back to the merchant. His other ‘job’ was to deliver Louis safely back to his mother, so he took his brother everywhere with him. It wasn’t always a calm and quiet existence though, because periodically the Belgian government authorities would decide to round up all of the immigrants out of the boarding houses and force them to go back to their countries of origin. On one occasion, my grandfather and Louis were among those rounded up to be deported back to Poland. My grandfather grabbed Louis’s hand and they ran down an alley and hid until it was safe enough to come out and continue their wait for the boat to America.

Recently I had the opportunity to pass along this story to my 13 year old nephew. He was working on a school project on family lineage and I told him the story. My nephew asked how old his great-grandfather was when this story took place, and when I said he was around his own age, he couldn’t fathom how a kid his age was able to do all that. I heard from my sister-in-law that my nephew shared the story with her, and I felt proud of my grandfather all over again, not only for his accomplishments, but also for the gift of this story to pass along to generations coming after him.

Each of us has family folklore, stories handed down through generations. They are part of our heritage to share with our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They are part of who we are, part of what makes each family unique. The family told these stories when we sat around the dining room table for hours after a holiday meal. They are a source of pride in the achievements and accomplishments of the people who, by coming to this country, gave us the opportunities we now have. We have the responsibility of passing along these stories to the generations standing in line behind us. I am glad to have had the chance to share that special story with my nephew. As he and his siblings learn about immigrants in school, we can bring stories of their own immigrant forebears out of our memory vaults and bring the personal aspect to the school lessons.