Northern Reflections on Health

The healing power of gratitude

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'Are we grateful for the good already received..?'
‘Are we grateful for the good already received..?’

Who would have thought that a simple ’thank you’ is worthy of a scientific study?

Robert Emmons, Ph.D., and professor at the University of California, Davis, has written the first major scientific study on gratitude – its causes, and potential impact on human health. Published findings from his studies have shown that a conscious focus on blessings improved moods, coping skills and overall physical well-being.

Emmons says, ‘Gratitude is one of the few things that can measurably heal, energize and change people’s lives. It is a turning of the mind, not what I don’t have, but what I have already.’

As Canadians head into their Thanksgiving holiday, many will gather around a family table and acknowledge their blessings. Still, for many, there will be a ‘but’ after the ‘thank you’. It sounds like this: ‘Thanks, BUT I really need a bigger house, more friends, that promotion,’ etc.

Ingratitude blocks the ability to see what we already have. Inspiration from a well-used guidebook in my life asks the question: Continue Reading

Breaking free from addiction

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©GlowImages - breaking free
©GlowImages – breaking free

You may have noticed lots of headlines lately about the rise of prescription drugs – in particular, opioid painkillers – as a major cause of addiction and death by overdose.

Pain has become the most common reason that people see doctors. And, over the past decade, opioids have been the drug of choice; but this course of treatment has come with undesired side effects such as addiction, dependency and, more recently, a growing death toll.

The conundrum continues amid the current controversy swirling around in the news over the pros and cons of using medical marijuana instead of opioids for treating pain conditions.

But are prescription drugs and more regulations to control them the only solution to ending the pain and suffering millions experience every day? They are not. Promising solutions, based on paying attention to the emotional as well as the physical needs of patients, are on the rise. One promising therapy has to do with exploring the role love plays, not only in the patient’s life but also in the healing process.Continue Reading

Is your media diet helping your health?

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What is a healthy media diet? ©GlowImages
What is a healthy media diet? ©GlowImages

If you are like me, you may be considering what you are digesting in your daily diet of news reports and headlines.

In contemporary reporting, we are bombarded with death, disaster, and the latest health hazard. Satellites have opened the airwaves to almost immediate visual record of what is happening throughout the world. After considering the news of the day, your ‘diet’ may be making you feel anxious or depressed.

No doubt there is an ethical dilemma here – telling the news in a compelling manner and in a competitive environment– but toning down the theatrics or sensationalism.

We all wish to keep informed of local and world events, but a more balanced report on the trials and progresses of mankind would be better for our health.

Since the 1800’s, yellow journalism has called for more enlightened media.Continue Reading

Can you ‘self-arrest’ your health?

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©GlowImages -Tip to self-arrest your health
©GlowImages -Tip to self-arrest your health

With the upsurge of evidence-based medicine, some may feel caught in an avalanche of tests, treatments, diagnoses and even drug trials. But, one small change of thought can self-arrest this slide and change your circumstances, just like the tiny spike of an ice axe can stop the slide of someone mountaineering in snow.

This analogy came to me when reading this story about the use of an ice axe:

If you’ve ever gone mountain climbing in the snow, you may have had the chance to use an ice ax. It’s especially useful if you lose your footing, fall to the ground, and start sliding down a slope. As momentum builds, it becomes harder to stop. But if you have an ice ax, the same body weight that tries to pull you down the mountain can be used to arrest the fall.

All you have to do is put the ice ax up against your body, point facing down into the snow, and lie face down on the hillside. The ax has a small point on one end that is driven into the snow by the weight of your body. This creates drag, and this helps slow you down. This is often called “self-arrest.”

It’s pretty amazing to think that a tiny spike can change a situation for a climber from sliding down a slippery slope to one of safety.

To think of pain and disease as an unavoidable part of life puts us, mentally, in an always-at-risk mode. So fear is never far from the surface, and over time this underlying fear for our well-being wreaks havoc on our health.

Like the tiny spike of the ice ax, one glimpse of an insight into a divine source for our health, ever-present and all-powerful, can arrest the fear that our health is based on tests and treatments. That good health is, at best, a temporary status.Continue Reading