Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 3 Issue 76 i The Art of Healing

my spirit lives in a house made of earth and sky there are butterflies in my eyelashes stars in my eyes rose petals line my lips I dress my body with moonlight my spine is stacked with the bones of my ancestors a warm breeze carries prayers from my mouth to the divine a thousand petaled lotus blooms eternally in my chest my tears are a soft summer rain when I speak, honey drips from my tongue and my voice sounds like thunder there is fire in my belly my hips and breasts hold the peaks of ancient mountains the ocean ebbs and flows in my veins my feet are roots that dig deep into fertile ground I hold the universe in my womb a volcano sits between my legs…

Light stimulation has been proposed as a promising therapeutic alternative for treating various ND like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cognitive and sleep disorders. Light therapy consists of controlled exposure to natural daylight or artificial light of specific wavelengths. While neurologists worldwide have begun testing its use in clinical practice, less remains understood about the mechanisms behind how light affects neurological function. Thus, in a review article published in Chinese Medical Journal, researchers from China comprehensively summarise the growing knowledge on the mechanism of action, effectiveness, and clinical applications of Light Therapy in the treatment of ND. Neurologist and author Dr. Chun-Feng Liu explains how their work can advance our understanding of novel emerging therapies for ND. “While light therapy has been investigated in mental and sleep disorders, comprehensive knowledge on its use…

The GWI looked at the many ways that tech startups and the music industry (from the big streaming music sites to meditation apps) are increasingly creating music as intentional medicine: It’s a new world of wellness playlists and sound creations that help de-stress, focus, sleep, work out or just achieve bliss.  The most fascinating of these technologies that was found were ‘generative’ platforms that use biofeedback and biometric sensors and combine them with AI and algorithms to create an always-unfolding music and sound environment made specifically for the individual listener. With a new hearables revolution (smart headphones/earbuds), technology now listens to you to create sequences of songs, chords, beats, tones, etc. with the goal of making you more well. Consider: Spotify reported that in the first 11 (pretty dark) days of 2021, their users made an…

This has led linguists to estimate that 30 percent of all languages will disappear by the end of the 21st century. For indigenous cultures who mostly transmit knowledge orally, this high risk of language extinction also threatens their knowledge of medicinal plants. Threatened Languages Support Most of Unique Knowledge Researchers from the University of Zurich have now assessed the degree to which indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants is linked to individual languages. Senior researcher Rodrigo Cámara-Leret and Jordi Bascompte, professor of ecology, analysed 3,597 medicinal species and 12,495 medicinal applications associated with 236 indigenous languages in North America, northwest Amazonia and New Guinea. “We found that more than 75 percent of all medicinal plant services are linguistically-unique and therefore only known to one language,” Cámara-Leret points out. To quantify how…

Walking is one of the safest and easiest ways to improve fitness and health including heart health. Popular fitness apps and step counters make it easy to count steps, so researchers used a wearable step counting device to compare the effects of uninterrupted bouts of steps (10 minutes or longer) to occasional short spurts, such as climbing the stairs and general daily activities throughout the day. “Technological advances made in recent decades have allowed researchers to measure short spurts of activity. Whereas, in the past we were limited to only measuring activities people could recall on a questionnaire,” said lead study author Christopher C. Moore, M.S., a Ph.D. student in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “With the help of wearable devices, more research is indicating…

Did you know there are animals in your head? Four, in fact: an elephant, a guard dog, an owl and a sooty (a black-feathered bird a bit like a seagull). They constantly chat to each other. If one gets a bit over-excited – say, if the guard dog senses a threat and starts barking loudly – then the rest can’t communicate with each other, and that’s not good news. You might start to feel stressed or anxious or sad. Welcome to the first lesson in mental health care - for five year olds. The animals, and what those parts of the brain are responsible for, are the subject of a new podcast which teaches primary school children about their mental health and how to look after it. The teachers of…

Saffron is harvested from the stigma of Crocus sativus, a perennial plant belonging to the iris family, and today, most of the spice is grown in Iran, Greece, Morocco and India. When you’re buying saffron, look for a dark red or red orange colour, and you should be able to see individual threads. Saffron As Effective As Drug Against Severe Alzheimer’s Saffron has historically been used in Persian traditional medicine for the treatment of memory problems. Multiple animal studies have looked at the antioxidant protection saffron may offer along with its protection against cognitive decline and memory deficits. In one animal study, researchers used morphine to induce memory loss and found the administration of saffron attenuated the impairment. The main compound, crocin, is a water-soluble carotenoid that has demonstrated the potential to…

The nervous breakdown was soon diagnosed as a major depressive disorder, and I began a pathway through treatments that I still explore today. And, as is not uncommon, the diagnosis was soon accompanied by the failure of my marriage; the end of my career; and a move into a two-bedroom unit, albeit one with glimpses of the Brisbane River. All these regretted endings are my responsibility, not the illnesses, but depression does leave you somewhat disadvantaged in dealing with life as it collapses around you. These opening paragraphs invite three questions: • How did I arrive at this turn in my life? • What has it been like to live these past years? • What health strategies do I use to get through this wasteland? The following explores each of…

Tuesday the 2nd March 2021 was an historic day as the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System (RCVMHS) were released. This Commission means an enormous amount to many people who have been harmed by the system, and this was acknowledged by Commissioner Penny Armytage. She spoke about a new system, one with foundations of compassion and care, a holistic system, where power is redistributed equitably, where connection with land, culture, community and spirituality are paramount, and where people are supported and safe. This article looks at changes afoot for art therapists and people presenting with mental health conditions in Victoria. Professor Patrick McGorry acknowledged the lived experience of ‘dedicated clinicians’ who suffer ‘moral injury’ through the failings of the system that harms clinicians too.…

With the end of the pandemic in sight and a longing to return to some resemblance of normalcy, Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki thinks the harrowing experience of the past year is a unique opportunity to reset people’s expectations about many aspects of society. Instead of simply returning to life before the pandemic, what if we could institute new personal and social norms that are more balanced, just, and equitable? Zaki believes a concept psychologists call ‘growth through adversity’ may be key to defining what this ‘new normal’ could look like. Instead of resilience, which is about bouncing back from disaster, unchanged growth through adversity is about finding ways to learn from those hardships and focus on what matters. Resilience is staying the course through a storm. Growth is charting a…

In an article published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, Associate Professor Priscilla Wehi of the Centre for Sustainability says now is the time to be thinking of potential changes; “New Zealand is currently re-setting its priorities for future Antarctic research, and Indigenous M›ori frameworks offer powerful ways of thinking about how we protect the Antarctic, by focusing on responsibilities rather than rights, including the responsibilities we have to future generations.” “An Indigenous Māori framework, focussing on relational thinking and connectedness, humans and non-human kin, and drawing on concepts of both reciprocity and responsibility, offers transformational insight into true collective management and conservation of Antarctica.” Antarctica is unlike any other place on Earth - it is remote, there are no permanent human settlements, and no one nation has sovereignty. “Consensus decision-making by Antarctic…

Nicer, More Open Personalities Emerge The global pandemic has changed people’s Personalities, with Australians reporting increased conscientiousness, openness to new experiences, and agreeableness. A majority of Australian respondents say they saw a change in at least one of the five major “OCEAN” personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) due to COVID-19. Becoming more conscientious (36 percent) and open to new experiences (31percent) were the most common personality changes. Further, and despite the stresses of the moment, one-third (30 percent) of people reported increased agreeableness due to the global pandemic. Increased Online Activity and New Hobbies Have Us Feeling Smarter More time at home has led to reading, streaming, and new hobbies, making Australians feel smarter. • 70 percent of Australians say they have read more and learned more…

The nutritional and overall health benefits of mushrooms are far-reaching, so to get a better understanding of the association between mushroom intake and cancer risk, researchers from Pennsylvania State University conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 17 cancer studies. After reviewing the findings, they determined that higher mushroom intake was associated with lower total cancer risk - and is particularly promising for breast cancer. THE BENEFITS OF MUSHROOMS “Edible mushrooms are rich in bioactive compounds, including phytochemicals (alkaloids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, carotenoids), fibre, polysaccharides, selenium, vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, ascorbic acid, and vitamins B and D), and the crucial antioxidants ergothioneine and glutathione which may play a significant role in the prevention of cancer,” the study states. These bioactive compounds also contain anti-microbial, anti-viral, and anti-tumour properties and have been shown to protect the cardiovascular…

To answer that question, we first need to understand how a paradigm doesn’t shift. Changes of paradigms never happen because the masses convince holders and reinforcers of old paradigms to give them up. They never get given up; they just become irrelevant. This is important to understand because there is still an underlying assumption by the majority of people that to see meaningful change in society, you need to go head-to-head with the old paradigm. This resistance energy is not a creative energy but a warring one. Protests, boycotts, and other resistance strategies don’t work in the way they are intended to. Even if there is momentary change, or at least the appearance of it, this is another clever trick used to fool people into believing ineffective warring consciousness actually…

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. Dale Carnegie The secret to happiness is freedom ... And the secret to freedom is courage. Thucydides Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. Andre Gide Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Steve Jobs Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. Anais Nin…

I was going to start this note by asking how you are .. but I think I know the answer. Yes. It’s tough. This is when we need to bring out everything we have, and do everything we can, to stay strong. For me this means I am paying more attention than usual to things about myself, such as what my brain is ruminating on and for how long that goes on, and what I am ‘feeding’ myself from outside – friends, society, the world. And I try to keep my antenna up for fear. Because gee, there is certainly lots of that out there. So I am going to write a bit about that, and use my own experience of public speaking as an example. For years I was…

“Loud noises are not only desired following social exclusion, they are also effective at mitigating the negative psychological effects of social exclusion, such as social pain, feelings of anger, loneliness, and worsened mood,” said lead author Dr Adam Wang from James Cook University. “It seems that preferences for louder volumes may not be solely driven by physiological reasons, such as wanting to obtain more sensory pleasure from loud music, but by a need for social connection.” This research is particularly important as we look at ways to endure, and recover from enforced social isolation as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia and around the world. “Loneliness is both pervasive and costly, for example, it could be thought of as the psychological version of chronic pain, which can hinder people’s…

An example is Tianren Culture, a Chinese-based, next-generation social platform whose mission is to drive positive values and lifestyles to their audience. The Wellness Moonshot China shares techniques and tools to improve dietary, respiratory and mental health issues and is disseminated via WeChat, the largest social media platform in mainland China with over one billion active monthly users. “To move the needle on preventable disease means galvanizing people to make everyday health changes, and to do that you need partners grounded in the culture, the language and the health needs of the population - and you need to reach them where they live. Tianren Culture, whose vision is “One Health, One Wellness,” works with NGOs, investors and business partners to create high-impact social innovation initiatives to improve people’s physical and…

Even though our bodies are resilient and can put up with a lot, there comes a point when enough is enough, and it starts to give. No one becomes chronically ill overnight, and showing symptoms are your body’s ‘check engine’ light. But unlike a car, you can’t upgrade to a new model. You can only love the one, beautiful body that you have right now. So here are the not-so-obvious signs your body might be chronically stressed: 1. IRREGULAR BOWEL MOVEMENTS While you might associate irregular digestion with a food intolerance, chances are you are less likely to attribute your change in bathroom habits to stress. However, when you are stressed, it can lead to inflammation in the gut and a whole slew of inflammatory bowel issues. You can thank the gut-brain axis for…

Associate Professor Gary Sacks from the Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention in Deakin’s Institute for Health Transformation, said that the places we buy our food heavily influence what we buy and what we eat. “Unhealthy diets are leading contributors to poor health in Australia. Our diets are so bad because wherever we go, unhealthy food is pushed at us,” Associate Professor Sacks said. “At Australian supermarkets, it is almost impossible to pay for groceries without being exposed to unhealthy food and drinks. Unhealthy products are ‘on special’ almost twice as often as healthy foods, and the discounts on unhealthy foods are much larger than the discounts on healthier foods.” Australia’s Food Environment Dashboard brings together the most up-to-date data from research institutions…

This particular feeling is so common these days, it has warranted its own title: FOMO. Short for ‘Fear Of Missing Out,’ which has become widely used in our daily exchanges. As a functional medicine practitioner, I have seen firsthand how much stress and anxiety FOMO can cause, and how that heightened stress response can trigger health problems and exacerbate symptoms. I’ve also seen that, during the pandemic, people have embraced the chance to slow down, without the fear of missing out because, well, there’s not much to miss out on. And they are thriving! I have long referred to my love of self-care and taking time to rest as JOMO: short for the ‘Joy Of Missing Out.’ And now that the world is beginning to reopen, a lot of my patients have…

Self-compassion helps us cope by accepting our difficult feelings, and also by changing the circumstances causing them. In Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power and Thrive, Kristin Kneff explores both approaches. Tender self-compassion uses warmth and nurturing to soothe and reassure ourselves when we are distressed. Fierce self-compassion uses the power of action to protect ourselves, fulfil our needs, or motivate change. Metaphorically speaking, tender self-compassion is like a parent comforting his child, while fierce self-compassion is like Momma Bear defending her cub. Self-compassion has the three core components of kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. The fierce and tender aspect of each has an important role to play in the social justice movement: • Kindness provides warmth, love, and understanding when we’re hurting from the…

Other names: Bitterwort, blowball, cankerwort, clockflower. Keywords: Ruled by Jupiter; masculine by nature. Superpowers: To lead, to pioneer, to make new, to honour a wish, to fight and succeed. THE CONCRETE ANARCHIST The common name dandelion comes from the French dent-de-lion, or ‘lion’s tooth’, in reference to the plant’s rough-sawn leaves. Although much maligned in modern times, dandelion has a long list of virtues, not only for human health but also for that of animals and soil. It’s been used medicinally for much of recorded history and every part of the dandelion – leaves, roots, and flowers – is edible. It’s a nutritional powerhouse, rich in betacarotene, fibre, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins and protein. Dandelion is perhaps one of the most perfect of nature’s designs. We need…