Week one:



Introducing Myself



Arriving late to my first trimester of acupuncture school, I find myself more than a little discombobulated. But, in a nutshell, here is where I have been: I grew up and went to school(s) back east. Moved to California and practiced law for seven years in San Francisco. Then I got married and soon thereafter quit work upon the arrival of the first of my two boys, now aged 7 and 8. I have had a ball with them, but find myself ready to recreate my own life. My exposure to acupuncture as a patient has been life-altering. I am thrilled to be in a place to learn to help people as I have been helped.



Interesting to Me: Autism and Yawning



I think of empathy as one of the most uniquely human traits. I sometimes imagine my dog can empathize with whatever sorrow I might face. Then I realize she probably is just confused by my change in behavior, and so looks at me questioningly rather than in an understanding way (by the way, she says, you aren't too upset to get my dinner are you?). She doesn't empathize. Empathy for me is at the essence of what enables humans to rise above the animal kingdom. It's part of what enables us to be "spiritual".



But, I find the article about yawning disconcerting because it indicates that empathy is really just a biological function in the brain. New studies show that empathy drives contagious yawning. The function has been developed in humans as a way to increase survival likelihood for the pack. It enables the group to coordinate sleep patterns, and maintain alertness against potential predators. Those that empathize more keenly, the theory goes, survive better.

So empathy is not about spirituality. It is not an example of the human rising above his/her physical form. Rather, we find it is very much rooted in and determined by our physical being.



(Note: I don't fully buy this. I think empathy has developed way beyond the level necessary to assure survival. Look at deeply spiritual people who have abandoned identity with the ego. But, it's very interesting to me to learn that empathy has a physical basis.)