Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.
Grateful to be alive.
How else would you?
Read at the recommendation of a friend, I had preconceived notions of the style and quality of this piece of non-fiction, and I am happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised to find varying degrees of superlative merits to the book.
Norris’ accounts of returning and settling into her late grandmother’s home in Lemmon, South Dakota (population 1,614) consist of loving descriptions of this vast and starkly beautiful landscape, of its extremes of weather and topography, and of its townspeople and farmers. Part autobiography, part social history and customs, and part meditation, Norris is clear and transparent in her thoughts and feelings for her motherland, and for how the external geography of the land shapes her own internal geography of her mind and heart.
This is a journey that begins on the surface in moving out West from the East coast, but continues even after she reaches her physical destination in that there is a self-knowledge that begins to occur by way of her observations of daily life in the Great Plains or what she calls the Desert. Things are harsh and extreme and uncertain in the desert, but there is a wisdom that may be gained from it. She says, “Maybe the desert wisdom of the Dakotas can teach us to love anyway, to love what is dying, in the face of death, and not pretend that things are other than they are. The irony and wonder of all this is that it is the desert’s grimness, its stillness and isolation, that bring us back to love. Here we discover the paradox of the contemplative life, that the desert of solitude can be the school where we learn to love others.”
In an easy-going yet elegant style of prose, she shares in considerable detail the intricacies of monastic life which leads her to a deeper understanding of herself. We get the sense that this self-knowledge heightens her own appreciation of the concept of community, both social and spiritual. And yet, she takes care not to over-idealize the monastic tradition. She says, “I suspect that monastic life is like marriage in that only those on the inside really know what’s going on.”
Hospitality plays a significant and essential role in the Benedictine monastic tradition, and Norris recounts a story of an older monk instructing a younger monk in the virtues of embracing everyone who may enter the monastery by asking himself this question: “Oh, Jesus Christ, is it you again?”
On a personal note, I found a few things particularly interesting in Norris’ narratives. The first is her self-realization of the role that the women in Norris’ family play in her rediscovery of faith and worship, and in her exploration of life in the Dakotas. Second, several of Norris’ very brief chapters are titled “God is in the Details.” It is fascinating to see through her eyes – even as one is perhaps seeing it through one’s own eyes – how one may discern the presence of God in these details.
Any questions?
On a lovely tree full of them.
Kegel exercises have long been considered women’s work. Because they tone the pelvic floor muscles that support the uterus, doctors encourage women to do them during pregnancy and continue them for life. Done for a few minutes a day, Kegels can ease childbirth, help with recovery, prevent incontinence — even improve your sex life.
But Kegels are not just for women anymore. Pelvic floor exercises can help treat incontinence and perhaps sexual dysfunction in men, too, studies have found. Now the rush is on to persuade middle-aged men to get on the bandwagon.
“People do cardio exercises for their heart, and they do strength training and work on their six-pack, but the pelvic floor is neglected,” said Dr. Andrew L. Siegel, a urologist and author of a paper in the July issue of Urology that reviews the benefits of Kegels for men. “These muscles are the backboard of sexual and urinary health.”
Dr. Siegel is a co-founder of Private Gym, a company marketing a new pelvic floor exercise system for men that includes an instructional DVD as well as a rather unusual device: small, ultralight weights on a silicone band that fits around the penis, intended for men who want to add a bit of resistance training to their routines.
Men have the same network of pelvic floor muscles that women do, extending like a hammock from the tailbone to the pubic bone. The muscles support the back, abdomen, bladder and bowel, and help maintain fecal and urinary continence. In men, these muscles surround the base of the penis; they are activated during erection, orgasm and ejaculation, and are responsible for the surge of blood flow to the penis.
Like all muscles, these weaken with age, doctors say. In order to strengthen them, men are told to tighten the muscles they might normally use to cut off the flow of urine midstream or prevent passing gas in a closed space. The contractions are held for a few seconds, then released, with the motion repeated 10 to 15 times for each workout.
While some proponents believe Kegels can enhance erections and orgasms, there’s little evidence to support the claim. But clinical trials have found they can be helpful for men with one of the most common sexual disorders, premature ejaculation. And some trials suggest Kegels may help restore potency in men with erectile dysfunction.
“It’s as good as Viagra, without the costs and the side effects,” said Grace Dorey, a professor emeritus of physiotherapy and urology at the University of the West of England and an enthusiastic proponent of Kegels for men. “The pelvic floor muscles provide the base for the erection — for the penis to sit on, if you will.”
One of the main selling points of Private Gym is that healthy men can enhance their sexual function through a Kegel exercise regimen that includes those tiny weights. A small clinical trial is underway, but so far there’s no proof and some experts are skeptical.
“I’d be very cautious about claims of enhancing sexual function and orgasm,” said Dr. Roger Dmochowski, a professor of urologic surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who specializes in incontinence. “There are other important factors that affect sexual function, like obesity and diet, overconsumption of alcohol, and smoking, which impacts blood flow and can have a negative impact.”
For most men, he says, lifestyle changes are the surest route to better sex. Yet there is strong evidence that pelvic floor exercises are important for men who undergo a radical prostatectomy and are at high risk for incontinence.
Studies showing that Kegels can hasten recovery from prostate surgery have been so convincing that surgeons now routinely recommend patients start Kegels before or shortly after the surgery. In one clinical trial of men about to undergo prostate surgery, patients were randomly assigned to start doing Kegels before the operation or to get standard care without exercises.
The difference in outcomes was startling, said Dr. Patricia S. Goode, medical director of the incontinence clinic at University of Alabama at Birmingham and one of the authors of the study, published in 2006.
“We were measuring the median time until the men were totally continent after the surgery, and in the trained group it was three and a half months,” she said. In the untrained group, half the men were not dry by six months, she added.
The American Urological Association also recommends Kegels, along with other behavioral modifications, for both men and women who have overactive bladders. Men with severe back pain should avoid Kegels, however, and anyone who has undergone surgery should consult their doctor. While many women have long experience with Kegel exercises, doctors find many men initially are baffled by them. Some have trouble simply locating the appropriate muscles.
Dr. Dorey has this simple advice: “It’s the area you sit on when you’re sitting on a horse.”
Especially when DD thinks so.
