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

How our thinking affects our health

The evidence of love

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©Glowimages

While the “evidence” of Valentine’s Day has mostly come and gone, the love still remains.

Flowers have wilted, romantic meals have been eaten and sweets enjoyed. Perhaps there are still cards displayed and gifts of jewelry being worn and cherished.  But was the love those things were meant to express ever actually in the things themselves?  

No.  The love that is motivated to give gifts is a powerful presence in our hearts, even after the gift has been given, and even though science is unable to measure it.

So does that mean our experience of Valentine’s Day love can’t be classified as “evidence-based”?

We can describe the love and how it made us feel.  We could maybe even point to a transforming effect it had on us to give or receive it.  And science can measure responses and reactions to love in the brain and body. Yet, because the love itself cannot be objectively measured, our “evidence” may not be considered proof of the power of love.

But as you and I know, the power and presence of love can be as tangible and distinct to us as the keys I’m tapping to write this.  So why can’t we prove it?Continue Reading

Defeating fear of Ebola will help defeat Ebola

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© GLOW IMAGES (model used for illustrative purposes only)
© GLOW IMAGES (model used for illustrative purposes only)

I’m not an authority on dealing physically with contagious diseases but I do know about handling fear.  I’ve learned that stopping fear of disease can go a long way toward stopping disease itself.

The Christian Science Monitor quoted Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group:  “There are two kinds of contagion, one is related to the virus itself and the other is related to the spread of fear about the virus.  Both contagions must be defeated.”

This Daily Mail article agrees that worry and fear are often unhealthy and linked to various health problems:  “Ebola: A crash course in fear and how it hurts us.”  (See related article, “Five Rock Solid Ways to Master Fear.)

Just how connected the contagion of fear about Ebola is to the actual spread of the virus is becoming more widely understood.  What happens in our thinking does not stay in our thinking.  Fears can be manifested in our bodies.  Protecting ourselves and our communities from Ebola and wiping it out, is as much about what we do mentally as physically.
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The future of healthcare: Patient Choice

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Check out this excerpt from the first post on my new Areavoices blog called,
Healthy Thinking Minnesota!  It’s also featured in the West Central Tribune.

© GLOW IMAGES

My wife and I recently saw the powerful documentary, “Escape Fire – the fight to rescue American healthcare”.

The film portrays a healthcare structure that’s designed for quick fixes rather than prevention or cure and is profit-driven rather than patient-driven.  One message that came through loud and clear to us is that healthcare needs to be rescued from lack of choice – for doctors and especially for patients.

The “Escape Fire” phrase refers to a 63 year-old true story of wildfire fighters known as “smoke jumpers.”  Several of them were trapped by a rapidly spreading fire and escape the top of the ridge appeared impossible.

Their crew chief, Wag Dodge, had an idea that was the perfect answer – but it was counter-intuitive.  He actually started a fire, so that when the main fire reached that point there would be nothing left to burn.  The others were either too frightened by that concept or misunderstood it and tried to run to safety.

Most of them perished.  Dodge’s escape fire enabled him to hunker down in the already burnt area and survive.

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

Curing the incurable

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Here is a guest post from my Australian colleague Beverly Goldsmith.  She tells from her own experience how incurable migraines were cured.

A spiritual response to: National Headache and Migraine Awareness Week

Do migraine sufferers want to just ‘manage’ headaches, or would they prefer permanent freedom from this complaint? I know what my preference would be!

In writing about National Headache and Migraine Awareness Week, September 17-23rd, Professor Paul R Martin, Adjunct Professor, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, and Head of “Conquer Headaches – The Headache and Migraine Program“, suggests how people can learn to cope with headache/migraine triggers.

From early in my life I experienced migraine headaches. My parents tried to find a cure for them. Doctors were consulted, drugs prescribed, and treatments undertaken. Numerous theories were put forward as to the possible cause. There was even a theological notion that I had to endure this affliction because it was God’s will.  Finally, we accepted the medical diagnosis that the headaches were triggered by a particular food. I stopped eating it. The headaches diminished in number, but they certainly weren’t cured.

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