The CN Tower was a-glow in purple light for Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and now, some participants will be a-glow as they take part in the annual CN tower stair climb. One the climbers we know shared she does the climb to beat her previous time and just for the fun of it!
Monthly Archives: February 2015
Songs to Recovery showcases the healing power of music
The Auroran
Source: http://www.newspapers-online.com/auroran/?p=9942
February 26, 2015
By Brock Weir
Music is very often something that comes directly from the heart and, from that source, can come a certain vulnerability.
But, for Melissa, an upcoming graduate of Seneca College’s Social Work program, putting yourself out there, despite your vulnerability, can bring its own rewards.
Melissa, a member of the rock/pop band Ravyn Red, has been spending time over the last few months working with the Aurora-based Eating Disorders of York Region’s Riverwalk Wellness Centres (EDOYR). Her link with the group was formed when she came to perform an acoustic set for EDOYR’s clients and there was an instant connection. Through her continued involvement with the organization, she has come to put her musical talents to good use, preparing to perform in and organize the group’s upcoming “Songs to Recovery” concert.
Songs to Recovery, which is slated to take place March 14 at the Aurora Cultural Centre, is aimed to bring the community together for an afternoon of music celebrating the themes of love, overcoming challenges, and self-discovery, while showcasing the work of fledgling visual artists who have emerged through EDOYR’s art therapy programs.
“My vision is to incorporate all different kinds of performers,” says Melissa, noting the inclusion of the up-and-coming band Soul in Motion. “We will also have solo performers. It is going to be very open, and a very welcoming, supportive environment for everyone there to just express themselves.”
While the concert will also be a way for EDOYR to build awareness both of organizations and the spectrum of issues that fall under the term “eating disorder”, there is more to it than that, says Janice Morgante, Executive Director of EDOYR.
“It is a great way to get together. You can bring your family and friends, but you don’t have to clean your living room, because we’ll be hosting it! It is really about sharing the warmth, especially in this cold, chilly weather. Often we don’t make time to be together and creativity is fantastic for helping us feel connected to our authentic self.
“Whether we are creating the art or appreciating art, I think it is an experience that brings us closer to our feelings. We can take a rest from the busyness of our life and the world. Connection is very important.”
Beyond the concert, these connections will continue in myriad creative programs EDOYR has in store for the coming year. In addition to this event, Melissa will be co-facilitating “Music As Expression”, a weekly group held in their Aurora headquarters focusing on the health benefits of music. New groups are also getting underway shining a light on woodworking, “TeleStory”, a photography program, and “Art of Living, with Dr. Victor Frankel, beginning in April on the theme of “meaning-centred living.”
“It is not about the end product, it is not about the painting, it is about experiencing the emotions,” says Ms. Morgante. “We’re looking for connections, including what is universal, that we all experience and that is why with Songs to Recovery, it is for all of us. It is a community event, but it is also an opportunity for individuals in our program to share their art with family, friends, and the broader community.”
Songs to Recovery gets underway at the Aurora Cultural Centre on Saturday, March 14, from 2 – 4.30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available via http://www.edoyr.com, by calling 905-886-6632, or by emailing info@edoyr.com. For more information about the art therapy programs and other services offered by EDOYR, give them a call. Participation in art programs is contingent on referrals from EDOYR or Addiction Services of York Region.
Finding Balance
The following poster was created by summer students Michelle and Leviana a couple of years ago, for our outreach to schools. Great reminder 🙂
The Birds
Source: Buddha Doodles
Child Wisdom
“When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
Up and Down
Source: Buddha Doodles
Alfred & Shadow – A Short Story About Emotions
Below is a seven minute video by the Norwegian Institute for Emotion Focused Therapy and the Institute for Psychological Counseling was shared with us by Adele, one of the facilitators of the Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) Workshop coming up in May (details are below the film).
Emotion-Focused Family Therapy: Supporting Your Loved One Across The Lifespan Including Support For Mental Health With Dr. Joanne Dolhanty PhD, C. Psych And Dr. Adèle Lafrance Robinson PhD, C. Psych
Cost: $400.00
*An official receipt in the minimum amount of $300 for psychological services will be provided by Dr. Dolhanty and Dr. Robinson for extended health benefit coverage with your provider, if applicable.
*An official receipt in the minimum amount of $300 for psychological services will be provided by Dr. Dolhanty and Dr. Robinson for extended health benefit coverage with your provider, if applicable.
DATE & TIME: Thursday and Friday, May 21st and 22nd, 2015, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Richvale Library
40 Pearson Avenue, Richmond Hill, L4C 6T7
(West of Yonge Street, South of Carville Road)
Spaces are limited – register early to avoid disappointment!
Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT): a new and innovative treatment model for the caregivers of individuals struggling with:
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Substance use, etc.
Different from many of the mainstream treatment models, EFFT is rooted in the deep belief in the healing power of families across the lifespan.
EFFT is a very powerful mode of therapy – parents and caregivers are taught practical skills and techniques that can be used to support their loved one’s recovery regardless of his or her age and/or motivation for change. Parents and caregivers are also supported to work through their own fears and emotional reactions that will no doubt arise throughout the challenging road toward recovery and wellness.
Visit http://www.edoyr.com/emotion-coaching/ for more information and to register online
Visit the official EFFT web site for more information: https://emotionfocusedfamilytherapy.org/About_Us.php
Your Brain on Nature: Forest Bathing and Reduced Stress
By Eva Selhub and Alan Logan
January 8, 2013
Source: Mother Earth News
Photo Courtesy Fotolia/Inga Nielsen
Studies show shinrin-yoku, also known as forest bathing or time spent in green spaces, can reduce the stress hormone cortisol and increase your immune defense system.
It’s no surprise that fresh air is good for your health, but that doesn’t always make it easier to find a balance in today’s life. “Your Brain on Nature” makes a case for better, healthier, greener thinking and improved mental health through exposure to greenspace.
It’s no surprise that fresh air is good for your health, but that doesn’t always make it easier to get a balance of healthy immersion in nature. Your Brain on Nature (Wiley, 2012) makes a case for better, healthier, greener thinking and improved mental health through exposure to greenspaces and provides tips for how to apply the science of optimial brain health to everyday life. In this excerpt, authors Eva Selhub and Alan Logan discuss research linking shinrin-yoku (Japanese “forest bathing” or “forest therapy”) to increased cerebral blood flow, immune defense and improved mental health.
Shinrin-Yoku—Forest Bathing
It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. —Robert Louis Stevenson
Among the many reasons to preserve what is left of our ancient forests, the mental aspects stand tall. The notion that forests have a special place in the realm of public health, including an ability to refresh the weary, is not a new one. Medical doctors, including Franklin B. Hough, reported in early U.S. medical journals that forests have a “cheerful and tranquilizing influence which they exert upon the mind, more especially when worn down by mental labor.” Individuals report that forests are the perfect landscape to cultivate what are called transcendent experiences—these are unforgettable moments of extreme happiness, of attunement to that outside the self, and moments that are ultimately perceived as very important to the individual.
In 1982, the Forest Agency of the Japanese government premiered its shinrin-yoku plan. In Japanese shinrin means forest, and yoku, although it has several meanings, refers here to a “bathing, showering or basking in.” More broadly, it is defined as “taking in, in all of our senses, the forest atmosphere.” The program was established to encourage the populace to get out into nature, to literally bathe the mind and body in greenspace, and take advantage of public owned forest networks as a means of promoting health. Some 64 percent of Japan is occupied by forest, so there is ample opportunity to escape the megacities that dot its landscape.
Undoubtedly, the Japanese have had a centuries-old appreciation of the therapeutic value of nature—including its old-growth forests; however, the term shinrin-yoku is far from ancient. It began really as a marketing term, coined by Mr. Tomohide Akiyama in 1982 during his brief stint as director of the Japanese Forestry Agency. The initial shinrin-yoku plan of 30 years ago was based solely on the ingrained perception that spending time in nature, particularly on lush Japanese forest trails, would do the mind and body good. That changed in 1990 when Dr. Yoshifumi Miyazaki of Chiba University was trailed by film crew from the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) as he conducted a small study in the beautiful forests of Yakushima. It was a test of shinrin-yoku, and NHK wanted to be there. Yakushima was chosen because it is home to Japan’s most heralded forests. The area contains some of Japan’s most pristine forests, including those of select cedar trees that are over 1,000 years old. Miyazaki reported that a level of physical activity (40 minutes of walking) in the cedar forest equivalent to that done indoors in a laboratory was associated with improved mood and feelings of vigor. This in itself is hardly a revelation, but he backed up the subjective reports by the findings of lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in subjects after forest walks compared with those who took laboratory walks. It was the first hint that a walk in a forest might not be the same as a walk in a different environmental setting.
ince then, university and government researchers have collaborated on detailed investigations, including projects to evaluate physiological markers while subjects spend time in the forest. The research team from Chiba University, Center for Environment, Health and Field Services, has collected psychological and physiological data on some 500 adults who have engaged in shinrin-yoku, and a separate group from Kyoto has published research involving another 500 adults. These studies have confirmed that spending time within a forest setting can reduce psychological stress, depressive symptoms, and hostility, while at the same time improving sleep and increasing both vigor and a feeling of liveliness. These subjective changes match up nicely with objective results reported in nearly a dozen studies involving 24 forests—lower levels of cortisol and lower blood pressure and pulse rate. In addition, studies showed increased heart rate variability, which is a good thing because it means the circulatory system can to respond well to stress and can detect a dominance of the “calming” branch of the nervous system (the parasympathetic nervous system).
Forest Therapy, Tree Density and Cerebral Blood Flow
Research has certainly shown that the emotions of pleasure and happiness are elevated with an increase in tree density within specific settings, even in urban settings. The bigger and denser the trees, the higher the scenic beauty scores—up to a point. If trees are too tightly packed—if a trail is too narrow or obscured—the scene becomes foreboding and fear will be increased.
Similarly, lining one’s walls with wood might be too much of a good thing. Japanese researchers have found the sweet spot for just the right amount of wood on the floor and walls in an interior environment—somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of surface area. This percentage has the highest rating of relaxation and is linked to lower physiological stress markers (blood pressure and pulse rate). If you go all out and wood panel the entire room, like many a North American split-level ranch basement circa 1970, the stress markers can increase!
Adding to the strength of the research, in many of the studies, the objective measurements were also recorded in urban environments as a means of comparison. Here, the researchers controlled for physical activity, time of day, temperature, average hours of sunlight, and other factors. In other words, they weren’t stacking the deck by recording the objective measurements in rainy and cold urban settings compared with sunny and warm forest environments. In one study, the researchers went so far as to bring an instrument capable of measuring brain activity out into the urban and forest settings. The time-resolved spectroscopy system (TRSS) device allows for a reading of oxygen use in the brain via the reflection of near–infrared light off red blood cells. The Japanese researchers found that 20 minutes of shinrin-yoku (compared with 20 minutes in an urban setting) altered cerebral blood flow in a manner that indicated a state of relaxation. More specifically, the total hemoglobin (as found in red blood cells) was decreased in the area of the prefrontal cortex while in the forest setting. Hemoglobin levels are jacked up in this area during anticipation of a threat (stress) and after periods of intense mental and physical work—complex equations, computer testing, video game playing, exercise to exhaustion. So essentially, a decrease in levels means the brain is taking a time-out while in the forest. Although sedatives are also known to reduce activity in this area of the brain, they can have detrimental influences in cognition. (We discuss in the next chapter how the restorative influences of nature actually increase cognitive abilities.)
Stress hormones can compromise immune defense; in particular, the activities of frontline defenders, such as antiviral natural killer cells, are suppressed by stress hormones. Since forest bathing can lower stress hormone production and elevate mood states, it’s not surprising that it also influences markers of immune system strength. Qing Li and colleagues from the Nippon Medical School showed that forest bathing (either a day trip or a couple of hours daily over three days) can have a long-lasting influence on immune markers relative to city trips. Specifically, there were marked increases in the number of natural killer cells, increases in the functional activity of these antiviral cells, and increases in the amount of intracellular anticancer proteins. The changes were noted at a significant level for a full week after the trip. The improvements in immune functioning were associated with lower urinary stress hormones while in nature. None of this was observed during or after the comparison city trips. As mentioned, the reduction in stress is almost certainly at play in the improvement of immune defenses. However, the natural chemicals secreted by evergreen trees, collectively known as phytoncide, have also been associated with improvements in the activity of our frontline immune defenders. Li has measured the amount of phytoncide in the air during the studies and correlated the content to improvements in immune functioning.
This is an interesting finding in the context of the century-old reports on the success of the so-called forest cure in tuberculosis treatment. In the mid- to late 1800s, physicians Peter Detweiler and Hermann Brehmer set up sanatoriums in Germany’s pine forests, as did Edward Trudeau in the Adirondack forests of New York. All reported the benefit of the forest air; indeed, contrary to expectations, the results seemed to be magnified when the forest air trapped moisture. There was speculation among the physicians of the time that pine trees secreted a healing balm into the air, and in yet another twist of the shinrin-yoku studies, the existence of an unseen airborne healer is being revealed.
Shinrin-yoku is alive and well today; the word has entered the Japanese lexicon. At present there are 44 locations approved as “forest therapy bases.” These are sites that have been not only the subject of human research indicating benefits to stress physiology; a team of experts from the Japanese Forest Therapy Executive Committee ensures other criteria are met before designation, including accessibility, accommodation (if remote) cultural landmarks, historical sites,, variety of food choices, and comfort stations. Chiba University’s Miyazaki, who played a massive role in taking shinrin-yoku from a throwback marketing concept to credible preventive medicine intervention, continues to perform research and is now looking at the physiological effects of time spent in Tokyo’s major urban parks.
Using Plants to Reduce Pankiller Use
In the midst of performing his physiology studies, Ulrich published in 1984 a landmark study in the prestigious journalScience. He collected records from a single suburban Pennsylvania hospital from 1972 to 1981. He was very specific in what he examined—adults who had undergone identical surgery to remove the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) during this time frame—and the only major distinction among the patients was the room into which they were wheeled for recovery. Rooms on one side of the hospital had windows with a view to a mini-forest, while rooms on the other side offered a dramatically different vista in the form of bricks du rouge. The results were quite dramatic: those who had an outdoor view to trees had significantly shorter hospital stays and fewer postsurgical complaints. They also used less-potent analgesic medications (aspirin instead of narcotics). And to top it off, their nurses made fewer negative comments in their charts—and isn’t it the dream of every patient to get out of a medical setting without the words “difficult patient” inscribed into a permanent medical record?
Ulrich, now retired from Texas A&M University and living in Sweden, has recently disclosed that his own experiences helped motivate him to examine the view from the hospital windows. Bedridden for extended periods as a teen with kidney disease, Ulrich recalls that his own view to evergreen was a factor that helped his emotional state. His original scientific observations have been replicated. For example, a recent study of cardio-pulmonary patients (published in Clinical Rehabilitation in 2011) showed that patients who had an unobstructed view of nature self-reported higher levels of health.
Since Ulrich’s original observation, there have been additional studies confirming that the mere presence of flowering and foliage plants inside a hospital room can make a difference. Specifically, in those recovering an appendectomy and randomly assigned to a room with a dozen small potted plants, the use of pain medications was significantly lower than that of their counterparts in rooms with no potted plants; they also had lower blood pressure and heart rate, and rated their pain to be much lower. As well, those who had plants in their rooms had comparatively higher energy levels, more positive thoughts, and lower levels of anxiety.
Since a view of nature or a few potted plants can influence subjective and objective measures of stress, and maybe get us out of the hospital faster, it seems likely that nature can keep us out of the infirmary to begin with. The first indication that this might be the case was in the reporting of architect Ernest Moore in 1981. In examining the annual sick records of the State Prison of Southern Michigan, he noticed there was a glaring difference in health-care utilization based on cell location. Specifically, those inmates housed in the cells facing outside to a view of green farmlands and forests had far fewer visits to the medical division than did those inmates housed in the inner half, with a view of an internal concrete yard. In addition:
• Norwegian research shows that having a plant at or within view of an office workstation significantly decreases the risk of sick leave. A 2010 study from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, reported that levels of anger, anxiety, depressive thoughts, and fatigue all reduced over a three-month period, and not just by a little bit—these parameters were reduced by about 40 percent, while reported stress was down by 50 percent. On the other hand, those without the stress buffer of a visible plant indicated that stress levels rose over 20 percent during the study.
• Installing plants within a radiology department of a hospital reduced short-term sick leave by 60 percent.
• Research published in 2008 in the Journal of the Japanese Society for Horticultural Science showed that greening select high school classrooms with potted plants for a four-month trial period significantly reduced visits to the infirmary compared with age-matched students attending classes without the visible plants.
This excerpt is from Your Brain on Nature by Eva Selhub and Alan Logan and published by Wiley, 2012. Buy this book in the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: Your Brain on Nature.
Free Your Mind
FREE YOUR MIND:
A HIP HOP Education STEMposium
March 27th and 28th, 2015
400+ students, 80+ educators, hip hop academics, and the GTA’s finest hip hop education workshop facilitators.
Yes, we are inviting you and other Hip Hop educators you might know to submit a workshop proposal for the 2015 FREE YOUR MIND Hip Hop Education STEMposium at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Life in Balance 