Example: Vital Energy System -Ayurveda

 THE BODY AND THE NADIS

Nadis are pathways of pranic, mental and spiritual currents which form a matrix throughout the physical body. They provide energy through every cell, and organ through their vast network. Nadis are not physical or measurable but channels of energy which underly and sustain life and consciousness. Out of the 72,000 nadis, 72 are considered important. Out of these 72, 10 are considered to be major. Among the 10 major pranic flows, three are the most significant. (Situated in the spinal column which pass through every chakra.)

• Eda (Mental channel = female; Chandra = lunar/moon nadi) 
• Pingala (Vital channel = male; Surya = sun/solar nadi)
• Sushumna (Spiritual channel) 

The 7 lesser major nadis include:

• Gandhari 
• Hastijihva
• Yashaswini
• Pusha
• Alambusha
• Kuhu
• Shankhini

The three most important nadis are also referred to as the 3 most important rivers in India:

• Ganga (Eda) 
• Yamuna (Pingala)
• Saraswati (Sushumna) 

The junction where these three rivers join is called Prayag, located outside Allahabad in North India. In the pranic body, they converge at ajna chakra. 

• Eda governs the left side of the body and Pingala the right side of the body. 
• Eda and Pingala dominance is directly related to the flow of breath in the nostrils. 
• The specific functions of the brain are correlate with the activities of Eda and Pingala. The right hemisphere governs the left side of the body and the left hemisphere governs the right side of the body. Eda is connected to the right hemisphere and Eda to the left. 
• The right hemisphere (Eda) processes information in a diffuse and holistic manner. It controls spacial awareness and is sensitive to vibrations and the external senses. 
• The left hemisphere which relates to Pingala processes information in a sequential, linear and logical manner. It is responsible for analytical and mathematical ability. 
• The Eda controls manomaya and vijnanamaya koshas, whereas pingala controls anamaya and anandamaya koshas. In pranamayakosha, the Eda and Pingala forces reach out in both directions. 
• Sushumna, the neutral channel- when the two forces of Eda and Pingala are balanced, the third channel of Sushumna becomes active. When the sushumna is active, the breath flows through both nostrils simultaneously. 

Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old system of natural healing that has its origins in the Vedic culture of India. It is one of the seven sister sciences (along with yoga). Although suppressed during years of foreign occupation and British colonial rule, Ayurveda has been enjoying a major resurgence in both its native land and throughout the world. Tibetan medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine both have their roots in Ayurveda. Early Greek medicine also embraced many concepts originally described in the classical ayurvedic medical texts dating back thousands of years.

More than a mere system of treating illness, Ayurveda is a science of life (Ayur = life,Veda = science or knowledge). 

• It offers a body of wisdom designed to help people stay vital while realizing their full human potential. 
• Providing guidelines on ideal daily and seasonal routines, 
• diet, 
• behavior and 
• the proper use of our senses

Ayurveda reminds us that health is the balanced and dynamic integration between our environment, body, mind, and spirit. There is no standard therapy as in Western (allopathic) medicine, so that the only limitations are those of the physician.

Recognizing that human beings are part of nature, Ayurveda describes three fundamental energies that govern our inner and outer environments: movement, transformation, and structure. Known in Sanskrit as:

•  Vata (Wind), 
•  Pitta (Fire), and
•  Kapha (Earth)

these primary forces are responsible for the characteristics of our mind and body. Each of us has a unique proportion of these three forces that shapes our "constitution" (nature).

• If Vata is dominant in our system, we tend to be thin, light, enthusiastic, energetic, and changeable. 
• If Pitta predominates in our nature, we tend to be intense, intelligent, and goal-oriented and we have a strong appetite for life. 
• When Kapha prevails, we tend to be easy-going, methodical, and nurturing. 

Although each of us has all three forces, most people have one or two elements that predominate.

For each element, there is a balanced and imbalance expression. 

• When Vata is balanced, a person is lively and creative, but when there is too much movement in the system, a person tends to experience anxiety, insomnia, dry skin, constipation, and difficulty focusing. 
• When Pitta is functioning in a balanced manner, a person is warm, friendly, disciplined, a good leader, and a good speaker. When Pitta is out of balance, a person tends to be compulsive and irritable and may suffer from indigestion or an inflammatory condition.
•  When Kapha is balanced, a person is sweet, supportive, and stable but when Kapha is out of balance, a person may experience sluggishness, weight gain, and sinus congestion.

An important goal of Ayurveda is to identify a person’s ideal state of balance, determine where they are out of balance, and offer interventions using diet, herbs, aromatherapy, massage treatments, music, and meditation to reestablish balance.

Ayurveda: the science of health PP 

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Ayurvedic Cleanse (you could try this!)

Ayurveda (Sanskrit for “the science of the lifespan”) is a 5,000-year-old system of natural healing that has its origins in the Vedic culture of India. This Ayurvedic cleanse and diet will reset the body in balance!

Adapted from Melissa Weinberger DC, RN

Daily Cleansing Routine

*Starred points are to be followed only during the cleanse. All other points should be followed during the pre-cleanse, cleanse and post-cleanse

·         Begin each morning by drinking 6-8 oz of hot water

·         *Optional: drink ghee (see instructions below)

·         Abhyanga: Ayurvedic Massage

Before bathing, rub a thin layer of warmed or room temperature oil (unrefined sesame or coconut) over entire body. Use long strokes for your limbs and circular strokes for your joints. Ideally, let the oil sink in for 20 minutes before showering.

Since sesame and coconut oil are natural skin cleansers it is best to not wash the oil off with soap; the hot water will wash most of the oil off. Then pat dry with a towel. (1 teaspoon of baking soda in the wash will help to remove oil from towels)

·         Exercise before breakfast (if this is not possible you can exercise in the early evening)

·         *Breakfast – prepare porridge or kitchari (see recipe below)

·         Sip hot water throughout the day

·         *Kitchari for lunch and dinner

·         Supper should be the lightest meal of the day and preferably eaten before 6 pm

·         Drink only herbal tea and honey or water after supper

·         Try to avoid snacking between meals. If you feel hypoglycemic, try drinking 8 oz. of water first. If you still feel hungry, have a snack of veggies, berries or kitchari.

·         The purpose of the cleanse is to eliminate all processed foods from your diet and give your digestive tract a break.

·         However, make sure you are eating enough food that you aren’t starving. Once you feel starving, your body moves from a relaxed state to a stressed state.

·         Optional: 2 Triphala capsules before bed. This is an Ayurvedic blend of herbs that assist with detoxification and rejuvenation.

·         Take time for self-reflection. Emotions are stored in fat cells, so as fat cells are being metabolized emotions may surface that need to be processed.

Pre & Post-Cleanse Instructions

·         The pre- and post-cleanse will last three days

·         Eat a low-fat vegetarian diet of fruits, vegetables, beans, rice, salads, seeds and soup.

·         Eat as many steamed and raw vegetables as possible

·         Add seeds, lean chicken and egg whites for protein

·         Avoid nuts, unless they are prepared properly

·         1 grated raw beet with lemon juice per day is a good addition because it helps to thin the bile and emulsify fat

·         Do not add any sugar, oils, wheat or dairy to the diet

·         Salad dressings should be low in fat but preferably homemade

·         Try to eat three meals a day without snacking

·         Continue the daily routine of sipping hot water in the morning, followed by abhyanga, shower and exercise.

Meal Options for Main Cleanse

·         Kitchari Only (requires strong digestion and balanced blood sugar) – can eat 4 meals/a day if necessary with this option

·         Kitchari with steamed veggies (requires strong digestion and fairly balanced blood sugar)

·         Kitchari, steamed veggies, fruit and salad (Better for weaker digestion and fairly balanced blood sugar)

·         Kitchari, steamed veggies, fruit, salad and lean protein (best for weak digestion and blood sugar issues)

Morning Ghee Protocol & Castor Oil Protocol

**this is optional, depending on how intense you want your cleanse to be**

·         Upon waking (on an empty stomach) drink the prescribed amount of melted ghee (clarified butter). You can mix it with warm almond milk to make it more palatable.

·         Wait a half hour before drinking or eating anything else so ghee has time to collect toxins.

o   Day One: 2 tsp ghee

o   Day Two: 4 tsp ghee

o   Day Three: 6 tsp ghee

o   Day Four: 8 tsp ghee

§  Only increase the dosage if you are tolerating it

Laxative Therapy – do not skip this step

·         On the evening of day 4 take a warm bath followed by ingesting 4-6 teaspoons of castor oil OR 1 ½ cups of prune juice

o   Castor Oil Tip: cut an orange into slices. Put castor oil in ½ cup warm water. Mix the juice from one orange into castor oil and stir vigorously. Hold your nostrils, drink the mixture and immediately bite into a slice of orange. Rinse cup, release nostrils.

·         You should have a laxative effect from 1-15 hours. It is ok if you don’t have one.

Suggested Meal: Kitchari (Rice and Lentils)

Makes about ten ½ cup servings

Ingredients

·         1 cup organic White or Brown basmati rice (you can mix them)

·         1 cup organic Mung Dal (yellow lentils)

·         4 cups water

·         2 tablespoons organic ghee

·         2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger OR 1 tablespoon dry ginger

·         1 ½ tablespoons cumin powder

·         1 tablespoon Cumin seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, coriander

·         1 teaspoon turmeric

·         Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Garnish

·         Chopped cilantro, Greek yogurt, Sour Cream or Ghee

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put rice and dal in a fine mesh colander and rinse mixture under cool water until it runs clear. Pick over rice and dal to remove any stones. Add rice and dal to boiling water. Cover and lower heat to a simmer and cook about 30 minutes or until the water has been absorbed (add more water if you prefer a soupier consistency).

Sauté spices in ghee or butter in sauté pan until fragrant, then remove seeds. When rice is finished cooking, remove from heat. Pour ghee-spice mixture into rice and stir together thoroughly. Serve with chopped cilantro and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

Variations

·         Add roughly diced spinach, carrots, zucchini, green onion and bell peppers to the boiling water when you add the rice and dal. Add a few tablespoons of lemon juice when finished.

·         Use a low sodium chicken or vegetable broth instead of water

·         Add diced sweet potatoes and asparagus to boiling water when adding rice.

·         Add cubed, cooked chicken breast to rice when finished.

·         For a sweet version: add ½ cup low fat organic coconut milk, maple syrup to taste, and cinnamon and nutmeg to ghee. Omit the cumin and turmeric.

Medical Systems and Vital Energy

 VITAL FORCES:

Throughout various cultures the concept of substances which ebb and flow as a consequence of life forces are described and managed to maximize the health and well-being of communities and individuals. These competing forces necessarily interact in the human body (microcosm) and in the universe (macrocosm)

• Ndembu (Turner): describes three forces
• white rivers (milk & semen)
• red rivers (blood and loss of blood-particularly menstruation)
• black rivers (death, waste, decay)
• Flow, Fluidity and Flux are important processes for health & healing in African cultures, Papua New Guinea, India, China and ancient Greece.
• based on the belief that the flow of substances in the natural environment and the human body is needed for survival, wellness and healing.
•  Harm comes from the stoppage of this flow or "flooding"
• path to longevity is the MIDDLE WAY
• modern medicine : "homeostasis" (state of internal balance attained by living things regulating their physiological processes-sweating on a hot day, restricting capillaries when it is cold)

• HUMORS (vital fluids that a culture recognizes are fundamental aspects of life)
• must be kept in balance (often by consuming certain foods and liquids)
• notions of hot/cold/cool are key to understanding humoral activity-as are Wet/Dry
• activities, weather changes, emotions all can deplete or restore vital fluids
• MELPA (png): 2 humors (blood & grease)-form two separate but interconnected sources of vitality which must flow freely and be exchanged appropriately for health & harmony to be maintained.
• can be depleted in people and communities
• a man uses up his grease through intercourse, a woman through regnancy and breastfeeding-must be replenished by consuming pork fat and juicy vegetables
• optimal conditions for health are found in balancing the "hot" and "cold" in "cool" (fair minded-cool- actions of a chief provide grease for the community, eg)
• pigs are exchanged between families to restore group harmony
• The flow of drinks, food, gifts and commodities and the essential and complex functions of these circulations establish and maintain strong social bonds in all cultures and societies.
• KULA RING (ti)
• MAWRI (Niger): the health of a market depends on the the presence of "spirits" who protect it and animate it by their presence. The flow of material and spiritual gives RAI (life) to the market.
• INTERNET (markets) need "traffic" to be healthy in this same way.

• INFORMATION TRANSMISSION:
• in small scale, mostly oral societies, information was transmitted traditionally for elders and ritual specialists to their apprentices. This mostly took the form of valuable CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE and ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE.
• these traditional flows of information have been supplanted by formally trained professionals, mass media, and the internet in modern times
• instead of learning from their mothers and grandmothers, women are turning to lactation specialists, books, websites etc in order to gather information about breastfeeding and childcare (ie)
• RUMORS:
• The developing world, health and illness
• subject to rumors which reflect the INEQUALITY of access to QOL.
• high quality, high tech medicine is unaffordable and a tightly guarded resource accessible only to the rich (small portion of the population)
• the world in which poor people live is composed of alternative opportunities and risks which they are unable to control-why RUMORS are so powerful (reflects the feelings of COMMODIFICATION OF THE BODY)
• organ stealing (all over)
• kidnapping (Guatemala)
• poisoning with vaccines
• commodification of the body of the poor for the rich through western medicine (can the POOR really be said to "donate"?)
• organ transplantation (DONATION)
• there is a global shortage in all human tissues and a "wait list"
• cultural construction created because of a number of factors including denial of death, biotechnological progress and social inequality
• poor people are fearful that their death will be hastened or provoked (flow of organs goes from poor to wealthy transnationally-Nancy Scheper-Hughes & margaret Lock)
• see themselves as a collection of spare parts
• stem cells (LACKS cells)
• surrogate mothers
• adoption
• fertility
• donated egg/sperm
• research subjects as human guinea pigs
• blood banks (DONATION?)
• a woman donating twice a week in central Mexico may earn more than her husband
• hair (Hindu pilgrims to the Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh donate their hair to Vankateswara-sold for millions of dollars annually for hair weaves in the West)-REMY HAIR

WATER: VITALITY & CONTAMINATION

• Bodies of water (Nile, Euphrates, Ganes & Jordon Rivers) are considered SACRED
• purification by babtism (Christian)
• holy well visitations in Ireland (cures a variety of illnesses including headaches, abdominal pain, warts, whooping cough, sore throats & eye problems).

• Water can be used for HEALING and RITUAL PURIFICATION in many cultures
• Hippocrates: baths for healin
• Judaism: Mikvah for purification
• Public Mineral baths : japan, Rome, Turkey-important part of social and cultural life
• Rainmaking rituals : Egypt, Native Americans, Rural Romania (Parapuda)

• Water is a great FORCE OF NATURE (may be unpredictable & uncontrollable)
• floods, storms, drowning, sunami
• contamination and carrier of disease (typhus, yellow fever, parasites, environmental toxins & bacteria)
• modern fact: shortage of clean drinking water
• Apache: White Painted Woman-culture hero emerges from water
• women are often associated with water and cycles of the moon that are connected to the movement of tides and cycles of fertility. 
• female water spirits are the source of danger and disease in many cultures-particularly for men (Mermaids)
• MAMI WATA: female serpent deity found throughout the African diaspora-giver of prosperity beautiful but also life-threatening

• Water in HUMORAL SYSTEMS
• commonly seen as an element in wet/dry dyad that needs to remain balanced
• Chinese medicine
• associated with the yin/yang principle
• YIN: contractive, centripedal, responsive, positive, cold, wet, female)
• YANG: expansive, centrifugal, demanding, negative, hot, dry, male)
• health: life force (qi/ki/chi) must be allowed to flow unimpeded or restored through various therapeutic methods, especially foods and herbs, but also acupuncture. 
• yin and yang are integrated. they contain a seed of eachother, and the whole is essentiial

• Feng Shui: Spaces and interiors can also be imbalanced and effect health. Uses colors and objects along with laying out interiors according to the cardinal directions to create greater harmony, health and prosperity).
• the human being is an integral part of nature and subject to the same natural laws

• Ayurveda
• Islamic Humoralism
• Greek humoralism

• FOUCAULT (Water and Medical Treatment)
• several mental illnesses were treated with water immersion and showers in the 18th century in France

• cold water (hydrotherapy)England

MODERN PRACTICES
HOMEOPATHY:

• Homeopathy was a flourishing practice originating in 19th century Europe and gaining international scope, especially in India where it has many affinities to Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine)
• founded by German physician SAMUEL HAHNEMANN it provided a gentle alternative to "heroic" medical practices of the day
• Medical material: thousands of substances from plant, animal, mineral and even disease sources which are diluted until virtually undetectable. The more the remedy has been diluted, the longer and deeper it acts and fewer doses are required
• The physician chooses the remedies that mirror the symptoms experienced by the sufferer, aiding the healing process rather than suppressing the symptoms.
• key principle/techniquess:
• principle of similars (like cures like)
• principle of infinitesimals (greater dilutions have deeper effects)
• techniques of preparation:
• potentization (multiple dilutions)
• succession (firm striking of the vial against a leather pad or palm of ones hand)
• WATER is used to DILUTE the active ingredient multiple times until only the energetic signature or "memory" of the original substance remains in the fluid. For solid preparations, lactose is used.
• Administered based on CONSTITUTION (body type)
• determined through an elaborate interview based on a person's physical, emotional, mental and social experiences
• PURPOSE: TO RESTORE THE vital force (energetic and informational)-based on the understanding that WATER, plants, animals, minerals, chemical substances, textures, colors, sounds, behaviors, thoughts, emotions and life circumstances are complexly intertwined through webs of homeopathic relationships
• REMEDIES: (can make their own remedy out of any substance)
• minerals
• plants
• animals

 ENERGY, LIFE-FORCE & THE POWER OF THE SUN

• VITAL FORE?ENERGY plays a key role in tradional and alternative medicine
• Qi -chinese medicine
• Prana-
• Ki-
• Chi-
• traditional notions of the sun include the divine giver of life
• positive benefits include vitamin D absorption, bone development, bone pain, and bone loss.
• epidemic low levels in northern hemisphere
• MS? Autism? internal cancers? (more common in Norther latitudes)
• versus skin cancer and other negative effects (Western)
• SUNLIGHT VITAMIN is highly contested in Western medicine

COSMIC ENERGY & MATTER

• only acknowledged this relationship in the West since Einstein (E-MC2 )
• Recognized in many traditional cultures & healing traditions
• KUNG! San of sub-Saharan Africa---30,000BP
• Indian Ayurveda  (Chakras)--4000BC

• Energy manifests itself in many forms and can be seen in ENERGY MEDICINE
• where energy loss manifests as illness, practitioners will use various methods to restore balance, store, or replenish the energy of a person, particular organs, or unblock energy flow using particular points and channels of the patient's body.
• Energy medicine is seen with suspicion in the West-hard to substanciate, measure & explain with "science"
• Reiki
• chakra balancing
• thai massage "heated hands"

NOURISHMENT & HEALING

• much of what is promoted as cutting edge alternative medicine in terms of the relationship between what is consumed and health, is elsewhere time tested ancient knowledge
• KUNG!-highly variant/diverse diet-105 edible plants consumed regularly
• INUIT- oily sea mammal protien (Omega 3)
• Nutricional variety decreases while chronic and epidemic illnesses become increasinglycommon as FOOD PRODUCTION and ANIMAL DOMESTICATION become widespread-10,000 BP
• food producers claimed more fertile areas and hunters and gatherers were marginalized.
• worst mistake in human history???
• sanitation issues with sedintary life and growing populations
• crowd/communicable diseases
• lowered nutritional value of domesticates
• decreasing variety in diet to reliance on monocrop
• poor nutricion
• chance of starvation from famine/blight

•  Industrialization initially brings improvement in the flow in of resources and out of waste 
• decreases in child mortality and increased life expectancy and reduced birth rates
• followed by increases in "DISEASES OF CIVILIZATION" 
• diabetes, asthma, allergies, auto-immune disporders
• bacteria resistant viruses, particularly among marginalized & institutionalized populations
• market capitalism creates increased social inequality
• processed high fat and carb foods
• increased low wage labor
• subject to resistant diseases

• Dietary choices are not easily changed for they mark group identity (ethnicity), being in a special state (pregnancy), or a particular kind of relationship (Shabbat, Passover, Communion)
• take advantage of all that is available in an indigenous environment
• tend to be nutrious and balanced dites
• may require ample processing to remove toxins, etc.
• bitter manioc
• blow fish
• drying, smoking (less perishable)

• All cultures have TABOO FOODS
• pregnancy
• kosher rules (contaminated pork)
• Mary Douglas -animals that did not fit into per-existing categories
• marvin harris- pigs not suited to living in arid environments-do not sweat
• Brahmanic vegetarianism (sacred cow)
• Marvin Harris-need for protection of oxen for draft animals

• Colonialization and Westernization lead to the replacement of local food sources and traditions with imported Western-made or Western-style items like macaroni, sodas, and potato chips, while local plant relaxants and beverages supplanted by cigarettes and alcohol.
• native modes of subsistence are threatened by property lines (land rights)
• epidemics (sedentary living-reservations)
• industrial pollution
• factory/wage labor
• conflict in values

FOOD MOVEMENTS IN THE USA

• date back to 1910(discovery of vitamins)
• 1940 food rules and pyramid established
• counter cultural movements of the 1960s-ALTERNATIVE CONSUMPTION MOVEMENTS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD- against fast-food corporate food culture
• raw foodists
• health food movement
• organic food movement
• no GMO movement
• veganism/vegitarianism
• ecological, humane, health, spiritual
• gluten-free
• slow food
• freegans
• zero carbon footprint-avoid purchase-dumpster diving
• locovores--promote local "artisinal" producers, promote sustainability
• permaculture
• humans need to return to growing their own food-create sustainable designs for living and food production---heal the earth
• urban gardens & green spaces, self-sufficiency
• vertical gardens and "green walls
• HUMERAL MEDICINE & TRADITIONAL FOODS
• food as medicine
• FOUR HUMORS of ancient Greeks were forces which needed to be kept in balance and proportion for health to be maintained or restpred. these forces were connected with bodily fluids, times of day, seasons, stages of life and personality traits
•  EARTH-mucus, phlegm, night, winter, 
• AIR-black bile, melancholy, evening, autumn, late middle age
• WATER-blood, morning, spring, childhood, youth
• FIRE-yellow bile, mid-day, summer, adulthood
• TASTES and FOOD
• childhood, safe foods...salty & sweet
• bitterness commonly associated with medicinal properties
• SPICES: antimicrobial properties (hot climates, meat dishes)
• Fermented foods: probiotic-antimicrobial effects-fight cancer, most are inedible if unfermented
• raw, unpasteurized food provide important microbes
• Case Study: ELTA (Romania)
• promotes raw, lacto-vegitarian, locally grown diet believed to be essential for spiritual growth, social healing & human evolution.
• people are sickened and anesthetized by modern life & diet regimen cures modernity
• healing movements seem most prevalent when people feel lost, dislocated or in times accelerated social change or upheaval.
• utopian communal groups
• critical view of society is characterized in a demanding regimen, charismatic leader, messianic ideals, apocalyptic interpretation of current history-replaced by a community of the awakened.

Fieldnotes

 Learning How To Look: "Deep Observation" and "Thick Description":

• Beginner's Mind (assume you know nothing and look at everything with fresh eyes)
• Take your time (hang out at your block at all different times of the day, weather, etc.)
• Look for the unusual in the usual
• Describe everything in as much detail as possible, you never know what will be important later.
• look everywhere: up, down, sideways.

Click here for a great article on looking by a photographer and writer.

What to Jot about:

                                                                 Notes

• observations
• impressions
• personal feelings
• tentative explanations
• behaviors
• body language

• sketches of places
• words (vocabulary)
• scents, sounds

Students need to make a distinction between what they OBSERVE and how they INTERPRET what they observe (keep them separate---the whats and the whys)

                                                                       Updated Notes

How to do it:

• be flexible, what you planned on taking notes on may be less interesting than what is in front of you
• be sensitive to people 
• include informants in jottings/interact
• frame what you are doing in a positive and non intrusive way 
• be selective about when to take notes
• Ethics
• ensure confidentiality (pseudonym or coding) and omit sensitive information
• be upfront about what you are doing

What to write

• terse, evocative phrases
• short quotes or phrases hat seem important (note time on recording)
• maps and sketches
• gestures, flavors, shouts, whispers, and all first impressions
• distinguish between WHAT you saw and tasted and heard (objective) and HOW you interpreted these things (subjective).
• do not impute MOTIVE (describe what you see and hear instead)
• do not make guesses or judgments
• describe observed behavior in as much detail as possible (don't use vague descriptions of mental states or attitudes).

                                                          More Notes

Writing Up Your Fieldnotes

• write up your notes ASAP so you do not forget things
• headnotes (fill in the jottings)
• keep a separate journal of your emotional responses (optional)

Interviews

• Session 1: get comfortable with each other and establish rapport
• get comfortable
• no right answers
• answer questions and explain project
• demonstrate a non-judgmental attitude and establish trust
• Sessions which follow: subsequent sessions give informant a chance to reflect
• do not read off a list of questions
• avoid directed questions, let informant speak until they are finished
• remember it is your interviewee's story (not the projects)
• ethics:
•  ensure anonymity that is important to informant
• be prepared to leave out information which is damaging
• Neutral Topic
• start interviews with neutral (easy) topics
• avoid ASSUMPTIONS and EXPECTATIONS
• Cultural differences and miscommunication
• Do not take the meaning of words, phrases or gestures for granted-even if you know them!
• Process
• develop rapport
• apprehension (emphasize the importance of THEIR story)
• explanation (restate what the informant says for confirmation)
• cooperation (equal partners)
• participation (interviewee as teacher)
• Breaks in Interview
• avoid leading questions

Once you take your notes you will be able to distinguish between what you OBSERVE and what are your JUDGEMENTS. Your judgements should be kept out of your ethnographic account. Your descriptions will serve to allow the reader to draw conclusions, which is why your descriptions should be "THICK"(dense in description).

Epidemics, Pandemics and Plagues

 Read These articles HERE " A room with a view" and HERE

Plague of Justinian (541 - 750 AD)

Justinian I (483 - 565 AD) ruled the Byzantine (aka Eastern Roman) Empire, and reconquered much of the Western Roman Empire before losing it again. 

Bettmann/Getty Images

The reign of Justinian I, the emperor of the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century, was hampered by an outbreak of bubonic plague. Now known as the Plague of Justinian, this pandemic is thought to have killed between 30 million and 50 million people, perhaps equal to as much as half of the world's population at the time.

The Justinian plague definitely happened, but researchers are still poring over the evidence as to just how bad it was, about 1,500 years ago.

The traditional narrative of this pandemic was that trade largely ceased and the empire was weakened, allowing other civilizations to reconquer previously Byzantine lands in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and parts of Asia. As Justinian was in the process of reuniting the eastern and western halves of the Roman empire when the plague hit, it has even been blamed as the true end of that era. 

Ultimately, we know how bad it could have been: half of the world died, the Roman Empire was never united again, and the Dark Ages began.

Black Death (1347 - 1351)

Image from the Toggenburg Bible (1411) of plague victims suffering from boils. 

Wikimedia Commons

Between 1347 and 1351, bubonic plague spread throughout Europe, killing approximately 25 million people. European population levels took over 200 years to return to their level from before 1347. It likely killed greater numbers in Asia, especially China, where it is thought to have originated.

Other results of the pandemic, known later as the Black Death, was the beginning of the decline of serfdom as so many people had died that the survivors' standard of living actually increased. Workers had more work opportunities, and social mobility increased, while there was also a short-lived moratorium on warfare.

Culturally, the cataclysm prompted an increase in mysticism as so much suffering challenged the religious dominance of the Roman Catholic Church. Reactions to the plague also included an upsurge in bigotry and scapegoating, with more instances of heightened prejudice and even pogroms against minorities including Jews and Roma.

Smallpox (15th - 17th centuries)

Undated illustration depicting English physician Edward Jenner's first smallpox vaccination, performed on James Phipps in 1796. After a painting by GG Melingue. 

Bettmann/Getty Images

Europeans introduced a number of new diseases when they first arrived in the continents of the Americas in 1492. One of these was smallpox, a contagious disease that kills around 30% of those infected.

During this period, smallpox claimed the lives of approximately 20 million people, close to 90% of the population, in the Americas. The pandemic helped Europeans colonize and develop the newly vacated areas, forever altering the histories of the Americas, their European conquerors, and the global economy.

The exploitation of the mineral wealth of the "New World" in the form of silver and gold from Latin America, for example, led to massive inflation within the farflung Spanish Empire. The great economic thinker John Maynard Keynes wrote in 1930 that this "price revolution" was a crucial turning point in the formation of modern capitalism.

Cholera (1817 - 1823)

Patients wait at the Cholera Treatment Center of Diquini in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 

Thomson Reuters

The first cholera pandemic began in Jessore, India, and spread through most of the region and then to neighboring areas. It was the first of 7 major cholera pandemics that have killed millions of people. A British physician named John Snow knew some things about how to prevent it from spreading, and in 1854 stemmed the outbreak by isolating its source to a particular water pump in London's Soho neighborhood.

The World Health Organization has called cholera "the forgotten pandemic" and said that its seventh outbreak, which began in 1961, continues to this day. Cholera reportedly infects 1.3 million to 4 million people every year, with annual fatalities ranging from 21,000 to 143,000.

As cholera is caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with a certain bacteria, it overwhelmingly harms countries hampered by extreme wealth inequality and lack of social development. Cholera continues to change the world by hurting the parts of it least able to defend themselves, while richer countries barely worry about it.

Spanish Flu, or H1N1 (1918 - 1919)

The Oakland Municipal Auditorium was used as a temporary hospital, featuring volunteer nurses from the American Red Cross, during the influenza pandemic of 1918, in Oakland, California. 

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

The Spanish Flu, also known as the 1918 influenza pandemic, was an outbreak of a H1N1 virus that infected around 500 million people, or a third of the world's population, in the early 21st century. The pandemic was responsible for killing over 50 million people globally.

At the time of the outbreak, World War I was coming to an end and public health authorities had no or few official protocols in place for dealing with viral pandemics, which contributed to its large impact.

In the years to come, research into understanding how the pandemic happened and how it could have been prevented led to improvements in public health and helped lessen the impact of similar outbreaks of flu-like viruses afterward.

Hong Kong Flu, or H3N2 (1968 - 1970)

A 2011 electron microscope image provided by the CDC showing the H3N2 influenza virus. 

Associated Press

Fifty years after the Spanish Flu, another influenza virus, H3N2, spread around the world. Estimates put the number of global fatalities at around one million people, about 100,000 of which were in the US.

The 1968 pandemic was the third outbreak of influenza to occur in the 20th century, the other two being the Spanish Flu in 1918 and the Asian flu pandemic of 1957. It is believed that the virus responsible for the Asian flu evolved and reemerged 10 years later into this so-called "Hong Kong flu," resulting in the H3N2 pandemic. The 21st century, though, has continued to see influenza outbreaks.

While not as deadly as the 1918 influenza outbreak, H3N2 was exceptionally contagious, with 500,000 people becoming infected within 2 weeks of the first reported case, in Hong Kong. The pandemic helped the global health community understand the vital role of vaccinations in preventing future outbreaks.

HIV/AIDS (1981 - present)

A man during an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign the day before World AIDS Day in Kolkata, India. 

Reuters

The first known cases of HIV/AIDS were reported in 1981 but the disease continues to infect and kill people today. Since 1981, 75 million people have had the HIV virus and approximately 32 million have died as a result. As a sexually transmitted disease for which there is no cure, HIV/AIDS is a persistent epidemic that continues to impact millions of people every year. Despite the lack of a cure for AIDS, antiretroviral therapy medications can control HIV and slow its progress dramatically, allowing someone infected to live a long life.

Basketball superstar Magic Johnson made history when he retired from the NBA in 1991, becoming the most prominent celebrity to go public with an HIV diagnosis at that time. Johnson remains a prominent businessman, and was part of a group that acquired the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team in 2012.

The negative influence of HIV/AIDS on the global economy is still being studied, particularly in Africa, the continent which has the largest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases. In the 1980s and '90s, the global LGBTQ community became vocal and visible in unprecedented ways because of the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on its members. One of the first mainstream films to address HIV/AIDS and homophobia was the Academy Award-winning "Philadelphia," released in 1993. 

                 SARS (2002 - 2003)

People wear masks as protection against the SARS virus as they wait to buy tickets at the Beijing Railway Station Wednesday, April 23, 2003. 

Greg Baker/ AP

SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is an illness caused by one of the 7 coronaviruses that can infect humans. In 2003, an outbreak that originated in the Guangdong province of China became a global pandemic as it rapidly spread to a total of 26 countries, infecting just over 8,000 people and killing 774 of them.

The consequences of the 2003 SARS pandemic were largely limited due to an intense public health response by global authorities, including quarantining affected areas and isolating infected individuals. Scientists studying the new 2019 coronavirus have found that its genetic makeup is 86.9% identical to the SARS virus, and officials are now comparing the two to see if governments can successfully replicate any of the containment procedures from 2003.

The SARS outbreak increased awareness about preventing viral disease transmission, particularly in Hong Kong, where public surfaces have been regularly sanitized since and facemasks have become a common sight.

           Swine Flu, or H1N1 (2009 - 2010)

A map shows the path of H1N1, or "swine flu," as it spread across the US in the fall of 2009. 

PLOS Computational Biology

A new form of the influenza virus emerged in 2009, infecting approximately 60.8 million people in the US, with global deaths in the range of 151,700 to 575,400. Called the "swine flu" because it appeared to cross over from pigs to humans in transmission, H1N1 differed from typical influenza outbreaks in that 80% of the virus-related deaths occurred in people younger than 65. Typically, 70% to 90% of deaths from influenza outbreaks occur in those older than 65.

H1N1 demonstrated just how quickly a viral pandemic can spread in the 21st century, indicating that additional preparations would be needed for the global community to respond faster in the future. A major legacy of the swine flu may have been how it exposed the persistent vulnerability of many countries with advanced healthcare systems to a fast-moving, flu-like outbreak.

Ebola (2014 - 2016)

Workers burying the body of an Ebola victim in Beni, Congo, 2019. 

Jerome Delay/AP Photo

The Ebola virus, named for a river close to the initial outbreak, was limited in its range compared to most modern pandemics but incredibly deadly. It began in a small village in Guinea in 2014 and spread to a handful of neighboring countries in West Africa. The virus killed 11,325 of the 28,600 infected people, with most cases occurring in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Of the 8 Americans who contracted Ebola, one died, according to the CDC.

Ebola is estimated to have cost a total of $4.3 billion, with inbound investments dramatically dropping in the three countries above. Like "the forgotten pandemic" of cholera, Ebola most ravaged countries least equipped to defend against it.

Coronavirus, or COVID-19 (2019 - present)

South Korean military members ordered to disinfect Seoul, South Korea, as the coronavirus spreads, on March 4, 2020. 

Woohae Cho/Getty Images

The ongoing outbreak of novel coronavirus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19, has revealed vulnerabilities in the global community's response to outbreaks of viruses. As of March 18, 2020, worldwide cases had surpassed 200,000, with more than 8,000 deaths. The vast majority of cases are in China. On March 11, the WHO characterized the outbreak as a pandemic.

Estimates indicate that Coronavirus will spread largely throughout the world and could eventually infect 40% to 70% of the global population. A study by The Australian National University estimates the coronavirus will cause millions of deaths and will register a hit to global GDP of $2.4 trillion. 

The CDC has recommended practicing social distancing and canceling or postponing gatherings of more than 10 people. Following this guideline, many cities, including New York, have ordered restaurants and bars to close dine-in service and offer take-out and delivery only. The service sector has been hit hard by sudden layoffs and furloughs. Deutsche Bank and other major banks expect a recession in the first half of 2020.

In its early stages, the outbreak exposed vulnerabilities in the modern world's preparedness and ability to contain flu-like virus transmission, hinted at roughly a decade earlier during the outbreak of swine flu. But the damage to the world economy threaten the worst recession since the Great Depression or the "panics" of the 1800s, depending on the scale of government responses. Earlier this week, the US government was discussing a $1 trillion stimulus package to fight the outbreak.