Starting with my Colour – Am I a Picture of Health?

Recently I took a serious look at my wardrobe.  My friends are right – everything looks a bit brown and red.  That’s because I went for colour-coding yonks ago (remember when that craze started ladies!), and I’ve stuck to it religiously.  There’s no doubt it’s saved me money, and I’ve felt good in “my” Autumn colours.  However, my booklet of swatches is only a guide, not my identity, and I’m ready for change.

Scientists have created a pill to prevent grey hair!  You probably knew that was coming, but there are strings attached;

The “healthy lives” of Christian Scientists – a doctor’s view

Christian Scientists are known to use prayer for their health and wellbeing.  Tony Lobl shares his findings from a doctor’s view on the matter.  Thanks, Tony!

A very interesting blog has just been posted by a US primary care internist on a blogsite called Why is American Health Care So Expensive? The article is called: “Christian Science, faith healing and mind-body medicine with mention of the work of Elisabeth Fischer Targ MD”.

The blogger is a clinician who writes from the perspective of wanting to share her insider’s concerns about “various aspects of the practice of medicine that make no sense”. In this article she details some of those concerns in contrast to two of her patients “who were at the end of their lives, had been very healthy up until recently and had received close to no medical care for nearly nine decades.”One of those patients was “a devout Christian Scientist”. (The other was a Seventh Day Adventist.)

31 Orange Jumpsuits – New Beginnings

What kick-starts your New Year?  This moving account by Keith Wommack is a reminder for me to ask myself… what will I do to help the world this year, starting today?  Thank you, Keith!

It was 3:30 in the afternoon. A squirrel rested, unaware he was about to be an afternoon snack for an approaching owl. So, I started my rent car, which startled the squirrel, and he dashed to safety.

My actions saved one, yet, irritated another. Then I wondered about the actions that had landed the young people, I was about to meet, into trouble. What had caused them to act or react? 

Building Bridges: Thinkers on Spirituality in Healthcare

Credit: fineartamerica.com 'Bow Bridge Reflection' by Christiane Schulze

I’ve been away from my blog for a while! Whilst travelling in this work, I’ve had the privilege of attending a conference in Santa Monica on spirituality in healthcare, and meeting people reporting on, or working in healthcare. Most of these media professionals, healthcare service providers, and the general public agree that spirituality is a key component in wellbeing and healing.  This includes prayer.

A very recent study conducted by the University of Adelaide, shows that one in two men diagnosed with cancer in Australia, are turning to complementary and alternative medicine. Samantha Chan reports in AsianScientist, “Prayer is the second most popular CAM therapy… Reasons for turning to alternative options were because

Hugs to All! (Far Cheaper than Therapy!)

Juan Mann, from Sydney Australia, began a great “free hugs” movement a few years ago, and it spread around the globe! We all love hugs, and my guest, Daryl Francis, tells us his special experience. Thanks, Daryl (with a hug).

Sometimes I see patterns in life, in my experiences of life. Perhaps we all have something to learn from the patterns that crop up in our own daily walk through life. I know I do. Perhaps we all do. Trouble is, life seems to go past at such a pace sometimes that we don’t take the moments needed to see what’s going on right where we are. 

Singing Prescribed for Your Health and Happiness

“I’d like to see you take up singing”, said the doctor to the patient suffering from Parkinson’s disease, as he signed off the prescription saying just that.

“I encourage you to take the time to be kind to others, and by writing a gratitude list each morning”, said the doctor to the patient suffering from a condition of irritation, as she signed off the prescription saying just that. 

Aboriginal, Western, Asian? Spirituality critical to wellbeing.

I have a wonderful, little book, ‘Story About Feeling’, prepared and edited by Keith Taylor.  It’s filled with stories told by Aborigine Bill Neidjie (c.1920 – 2002). It begins with him saying (sic), “if you got story, heart… then speak yourself, stand for it!“.  My guest post, by Kay Stroud, reveals more about spirituality, intrinsic to all people’s wellbeing.  Thanks, Kay!

Aboriginal Art by Enkay Tee

I get the impression that a lot of people think that the use of prayer for health care is at best OK if used along with modern medicine (it’s great to ‘cover all bases’), and at worst delusional or akin to believing in fairy stories and miracles.