Page 9 - 201004 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - April 2010

April 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 22/04/2010 11:26 PM Page 9 Why Avatar Didn’t Win the Oscar 9 Why Avatar Didn’t Win the Oscar: Psychologist, Dr. Jeffrey Fine Asserts: The Corporate World is Bulldozing America represent what corporate, modern life have done connect with nature, and engage in simple low- When Katherine Bigelow’s The Hurt to us -- steamrolling our soul and tech creative play. Locker won for “Best Picture,” many believed consciousness.” His book, THE ART OF CONCIOUS that James Cameron’s Avatar had been robbed. A former student of the famed Joseph PARENTING: The Natural Way to Give Birth, Speculation focused on Oscar politics and the Chilton Pearce, and a member of the Bond With, And Raise Healthy Children (which directors’ ill-fated marriage. But noted Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology he wrote with his wife, Dalit Fine, M.S.) has psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Fine says the reason is and Health, Dr. Fine says we can help combat been praised by child development experts simpler: Avatar didn’t win because the this separation by engaging in conscious child- worldwide. For information: Academy missed the movie’s deeper meaning centered parenting. He suggests that new www.thenewparenting.com Contact: and chose a “real-life” film instead. mother’s breastfeed, sleep with their babies, newparenting@gmail.com Those who’ve argued that Avatar mimics Dances With Wolves or Pocahontas A new approach to creating, prove Dr. Fine’s point. “The message in Avatar rediscovering, and renewing the intimate is not a simplistic return to nature or to a bonds between parents and children previous evolutionary stage,” he argues, adding, “It may be the next leap in the evolution of • Explains the importance of bonding consciousness, and the only one that may hold with your child in utero and the physical and the promise of survival.” mental preparation needed even before Pointing to the greed and cynicism that conception not only mark much of American culture, but have hardened American hearts, he says that • Shows how “green parenting”-- unless we wake up to Avatar’s message, breast-feeding, contact with nature, and low- humanity will be lost. “This film should be seen tech creativity--can enhance your child’s life by every man, woman and child” he says, suggesting that parents should take their teens and tweens to see it and discuss hidden Our first days and months of life are critical in meanings. “I see you," for example, comes from forming the attitudes we bring into adulthood and in structuring the very roots of our the Sanskrit Namaste, which translates to: "The personality. Simple bonding techniques--long forgotten in our modern world but stemming God in me sees the God in you" or “I see myself from the age-old customs of indigenous peoples--are at the core of a new model of in your eyes.” conscious parenting that can produce happy and well-adjusted children. These practices Like Star Wars, Avatar also appeals to also help parents experience an increased joy and intimacy both with their child and with our collective unconscious, or world soul. The each other. Na’vi experience of unity of consciousness with Based on obstetric and psychological evidence, Jeffrey and Dalit Fine reveal how other beings, all of which (themselves included) bonding begins in utero and that the physical and mental preparation of both the father and are really just manifestations of One Awa, or mother, even before conception, sets the tone for the future well-being of the child. They Yahweh -- echoing our ancestors’ belief in an show how sustained physical contact and simple ways of consciously interacting with your interconnected, ever changing intelligent web of infant--eye contact with the newborn, baby-wearing instead of stroller use, and co- life, symbolized by the World Tree. sleeping--have an observable positive effect. They also show that the “green parenting” Unfortunately, says Dr. Fine; Avatar’s practices of breast-feeding, contact with nature, and simple low-tech creative play not only “everything is connected” message lies in provide a more hands-on and intimate approach to parenting but also are more economical glaring contrast with the culture of separation and environmentally sustainable. From in-utero bonding through the challenges and joys of most Americans experience. Focusing on a rise consciously interacting with your growing child, this book will help parents rediscover and of the feminine, and the importance of bonding, apply the natural art of conscious parenting. this movie offers a blissful alternative to a world where mothers are devalued, and babies sent to www.thenewparenting.com day care at the ripe old age of six weeks. In the end, Dr. Fine concludes; this film is about standing at a crossroads: What do we choose for our children; commercial materialism or reconnection with all life? “Sadly,” says Dr Fine, “the bulldozers in Avatar