H e a l t h T h o u g h t s

How our thinking affects our health

Why caring about Cecil the lion is good for our health

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@Glowimages: Lion (Panthera leo) sitting in a path, Okavango Delta, Botswana
© GLOW IMAGES

I live not far from the Minnesota dentist/big-game hunter who killed a treasured African lion by luring him out of his protected national park, wounding him with an arrow and then tracking him for two days before finishing him off with a gun.  My British Columbia colleague, Anna Bowness-Park, helps us understand that the uproar (pun intended) caused by this kind of brutal slaughter, indicates a moral shift that can have profound effects on both societal and individual health.  Here’s Anna…

The senseless killing of Cecil, the nationally beloved lion in Zimbabwe by an American big-game hunter has provoked a media storm of angry protest and controversy.  Closer to home last year, Cheeky, a grizzly bear beloved by the First Nations who shared his territory, was shot and killed by an unapologetic NHL hockey star.  This angered First Nations’ people as well as many other British Columbians.

But the critical newspaper articles and social media frenzy in response to what has been historically a commonplace practice – i.e., hunting – indicates that these instances (and others) have awoken something in our hearts.  Is it that the senseless killing of creatures for nothing more than the purpose of sport is beginning to make less and less sense as we grow in our understanding of the connectedness and value of all life?…

Cecil and Cheeky may be rallying points for public anger, but there is no doubt that the moral compass regarding how we treat each other and the animals with whom we share this planet is undergoing a major rethink in Western society.  But does it have any staying power amid our flighty attention spans?  I think it does, especially as we begin to understand that how we treat each other and our fellow creatures is essential to both individual as well as universal health.

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Malala Yousafzai and the healing power of forgiveness

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malala1The world seems caught up in an endless cycle of attack and retribution.  Whether on an intimate, national or global sectarian level, mankind seems hopelessly drawn toward answering violence with violence.  But there is another way.  My colleague from British Columbia, Anna Bowness-Park, explains how one young girl’s example of forgiveness is having a powerful healing effect and leading us to peace.  Here’s Anna…

Is there a way to heal the effects of violence in our communities?

2014 Nobel Peace Prize co-winner, Malala Yousafzai, is not only convinced there is, but she lives what she believes.  At just 15 years old, she survived a brutal attack by a young “Talib” who shot her in the head on a school bus in Pakistan.  Her crime – in his eyes – was having the audacity, as a girl, to want to work toward an education!

When speaking at the United Nations in 2013, she said she knew her life was threatened long before the attack, and wondered what she would do if faced by a man with a gun.  She remembered thinking to herself:

“If he comes to kill me, what do you do, Malala?  I thought I would take my shoe and hit him.  Then I thought, ‘if you hit a man with a shoe, you would be no different to the Talib.  You must not treat others with that much cruelty and that much harshly.’”

In this description of her first reaction to the Taliban threat, we may think it merely the self-defence response of a child.  But in her culture, to throw a shoe at someone is a mark of deep disrespect.  What Malala was really saying is that disrespect was not on her agenda.  She wanted to have a conversation – to show respect for her attacker, rather than contempt and hatred.

Please click here to read the rest in its original context…

Travel Anger Management

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Here’s a more-light-less-heat type of experience from my Canadian colleague, Anna Bowness-Park.  I thought the best visual accompaniment would be her actual, soothing face.

 

A healthy way to deal with stress and anxiety

“We are unable to fix the problem with this aircraft, so we will have to disembark you and find another aircraft to take you to your destination.”

With this announcement the tension and anxiety palpably rose in the plane.  We had already been delayed by three hours in Chicago on a sweltering 100-degree heat day, and it looked like it was going to be a longer wait yet.  Despite the controlled air conditioning, there was no control about how people felt regarding this delay.  They stumbled off the plane furious and frustrated.

Many of us have found ourselves in this predicament at one point or another, and not just about travel.  It seems that we are becoming increasingly unable to handle the fluctuations and unpredictability of our daily lives.  In today’s society we have hair trigger sensitivity to discomfort and inconvenience.

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