[HANASHIR:2396] Natural Highs

[Red Sea Blue <Jess...>]

Dear Everyone,

I've been writing stuff recently that I just wanted to share. Whilst not
obviously about teaching Jewish songs, for me these things are central to
my work as a song-leader.

If you feel like reading this I would be really happy to receive comments,
feedback (constructive or otherwise!).

love
Jess


Natural Highs - Innovative Anti-drugs Music Work

Over the last 3 years I, together with my band mates, have developed this
contemporary Jewish music performance. Over the same time period I have had
other ideas germinating, relating to drugs education, young people and
music which are now coming into the foreground.

The Limitations of Contemporary Drugs Education

Although there are different models of anti-drugs and anti-smoking
education the 'Just say no' scare tactics, ie 'drugs will kill you so don't
use them' approach seems to have been proved to not work. Most young people
who use drugs have friends who also do and they appear reasonably healthy,
so if you try to tell them that the next drug they use will kill them, they
lose respect for you and won't listen to what you have to say.

What is happening more in England and I think in America also, is that
there is an acknowledgement that a lot of young people are smoking and
using drugs, so therefore you have to educate with a harm reduction
approach.  So educators are advised to give young people information on how
to use drugs 'safely', ie instructing them to use clean needles and drink
water whilst dancing, in order that they don't dehydrate.

They also ironically are teaching them about drugs and what sensations they
will get by using drugs. They are showing them no alternative routes to
having a 'good time'. So it is not surprising that when given the options
of either:-

The pleasure of drugs with limited side effects
or
no pleasure

so many choose the former.

Ecstatic Highs are Healthy - but only if Attained Naturally

Through my work with young people, and my experience as a dancer and a
musician, I have concluded that young people have discovered a quick and
apparently harmless way (in most of their eyes) of achieving a state which
is in fact an almost natural one to attain. This is the reason why illegal
and potentially highly dangerous drug use is so widespread amongst the
young. When these states are attained naturally they are in fact life and
health enhancing.  To experience ecstatic highs is good for you. It
increases heart beat, often it is exercise related, dancing etc. It
releases, happy hormones (adrenaline, endorphins etc.) into the blood, it
can be a way of releasing tension and therefore making you more relaxed.
This last point gains significance in a society like our own where high
levels of stress are a significant problem for the adult population.

The Process of Natural Highs

Therefore when looking at the issue of young people and drug use, we could
even be congratulating them on identifying this important aspect of long
term health needs! What is more difficult to get across is how external
drugs don't work with the body, but in fact work against the body. We then
need to be clarifying how the body makes its own drugs which can make you
feel high and happy, and why they have a positive effect on mood. We should
be teaching the process of natural highs, in the same way that they are
taught the process of reproduction. So what situations stimulate the body
to start releasing these various natural opiates into the blood? Being
relaxed, being with friends, listening to familiar and pleasant music,
exercise, dancing, being in a large group etc., having something to
celebrate. We should teach this so that young people understand it, in the
same way that we teach about photosynthesis.


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