In Latin, the word spirit means breath, as well as spirit, as well as air. In many ways, this word perfectly embodies the essence of this course “Mind, Body, Spirit”; for the term is as much about the breath in our body, as our spirit which is synonymous to breath, as it is to air, or in other words, the space to which illumination can occur.One afternoon this Winter, I was walking with a friend who turned to me and said “Wake up!” Taken aback, I had no idea what she was talking about at first. As we began to banter about it, I realized this was the first stage of pre-contemplation. She had in fact initiated a conversation about something simple yet profound. That conversation in tandem with this course helped me to begin a process of contemplation.My ambivalence came in the form of questions- Had I not been in touch with each moment of my life? In what ways had I been suppressing my own life? What does it really mean to be ‘in the moment’? As I continued to ponder these questions, I realized that certain events in my life had led me to believe that in some ways whatever I did or said didn’t really matter in the world. Perhaps it was a form of learned helplessness as a result of living without a father who wanted to spend time with me and a mother too busy to notice.But through this interaction with my friend, I felt inspired to live a more conscious and present life. It wasn’t as if I had a follow up visit scheduled with her, but the next time we met I told her about my new sense of determination and asked for guidance. We walked to the bookstore together, and through the maze of many aisles, she selected a meditative book for me written by a famous Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk.With the new school term well underway, work and a whole of host of other responsibilities, I admit the book made it’s way into some unnoticed crevice of my room with haste. I intellectualized many reasons why I could not have time to read a book that I didn’t really have much interest in. The most important reason of all being that “This book isn’t going to tell me anything I don’t already know” – a quick and seemingly logical conclusion at the time.Then, one lone evening evening after our class, I found myself thumbing through the pages and I discovered I was right: this book wasn’t going to going to tell me anything I didn’t already know. It in fact, it told me everything I already knew…and how to know it better! Every story contained was about living in the present moment through even the most seemingly mundane of activities, and each became a story of relevance to me mirroring some facet in my own life. The risk of not ‘waking up’ began to seem more costly than I had anticipated and the possibility of living a richer life became a motivation beyond any extrinsic reward.Taking action, I decided to begin with something really simple: my breath. Who ever though the act of conscious breathing could be so intensive?! I’d sit down on the floor intent on savoring every breath in my body. No sooner had I started to inhale the speaker in my brain would make an announcement – “Must wash my dirty socks, buy a dozen eggs…” “No!” I’d remind myself. “I should be focusing on my breath” I spoke in self-reprimand. I’d try again: inhale, exha- “The dog is barking outside and if it doesn’t shut up…”Now it was staring to get personal.;) Noticing these cognitive distortions and with my emerging value for compassion as demonstrated in the storybook, I decided to let go of my self-judgments and reactive thought patterns. Instead, whenever I noticed myself falling into mental distractions, I gently refocus my intention on feeling my breath. There can be such an ease in the passage of air through our system, whether by way of our lungs or through our minds, and it enlivens the spirit. The more I practiced this meditation, the more I found myself noticing the breath contained in day-to-day routines.A couple weeks ago I awoke and decided that rather than rushing to turn on the morning news, I’d stop and admire the view out my window. Instead of dismissing the tree that usually obscures my city view, I suddenly noticed myself feeling moved by the air circulating through the crevice of each leaf pair. I realized that I wasn’t the only one breathing in this moment, but that all of life reverberates together.I shared my new found observation with my friend. As if she had already sat through each of our class lectures, she reflected back to me the new found sensations of my experiences. She kindly offered her support by suggesting a form of partnership in joining her weekly meditation group. I accepted. This is now my maintenance routine. Not one to be fueled by rote habit, but one of conscious choice to live without feeling helpless but able.It’s not so easy for me to be present in every moment. There are many times each day when I find myself falling back to ‘sleep’ -feeling bored, wishing time would pass a little sooner, anticipating some event yet to happen. These are all distractions from the now. When I slip into relapse, I go to my meditation group, pull out my book, or simply stop to feel my breath.This evening I am sitting here writing this paper about the journey of mind, body and spirit. All that I have learned and experienced in this term merges on to these pages as I breath. This is the spirit of Oneness.

Charcot’s foot is one of the many problems which might occur in those with diabetes mellitus. The higher blood sugar levels that stem from all forms of diabetes have an affect on numerous body systems including the eyesight, renal system as well as nerves. In long standing cases, particularly if there has been an unsatisfactory control of the blood sugar levels, you can find problems with the nerves supplying the feet. This will make the feet in danger of issues as if something fails, you don’t know it has gone wrong as you can not really feel it due to the harm to the nerves. This might be something as simple as standing on a rusty nail and that getting contaminated and you are not aware that you’ve stood on the nail. Should it be a blister or ingrown toenail which gets infected and you do not know that it is present on the foot unless you have a look. This is why foot care can be so necessary for those with diabetes and why it will be provided a great deal of emphasis. A Charcot foot is the destruction occurring to the bones and joints if you have an injury and you do not know that the injury has happened.

A way of looking at it could be to consider this way: pretend that you sprain your ankle horribly and you also are not aware that you have simply because you do not experience the pain from it. You then carry on and walk around on it. Picture all of the additional harm which you do by walking about on it. The earliest you may possibly discover that there may be something wrong happens when you take a seat and look at the feet and you observe that one is a great deal more swollen compared to the other foot. This is exactly what occurs in individuals with diabetes who develop a Charcot’s foot. There may be some destruction, such as a sprained ankle or maybe a progressive failure of the arch of the foot and as no pain is sensed they carry on and walk around on it. It should be apparent simply how much more injury that gets done to the original injury prior to the problem is finally observed because of the swelling. At times there is not much swelling, but the Charcot’s foot is picked up from the difference in temperature between the two feet as a result of inflammation related process in the damaged foot that generates more warmth.

The development of a Charcot foot really needs to be dealt with as a bit of an urgent situation since the further it advances the much more serious it’s going to be and the more challenging it can be to handle. The individual definitely needs to quit all weightbearing without delay or at least obtain a walking support so that the damage is protected. For the not too major instances and those conditions which were serious and have improved a really supportive orthotic in the footwear is required to support the feet and the injuries. Sometimes surgical procedures are required to straighten the subluxed and dislocated bones. By far the most critical situations can end up with the foot and/or leg required to be amputated as the trauma has been doing an excessive amount of impairment.