moritherapy/health

Of course most of us have heard about and maybe read Joan Borysenko's books. This is the first time I've seen her on video. I like her eyes. They are open and vulnerable. And I like how she doesn't use the language of certainty.

A cancer doctor talks about helping versus serving: "I thought I needed �oehelp” but after reading this article again and again, and then again year after year, I learn Help is not what heals. �oeHelping incurs debt. When you help someone they owe you one. But serving, like healing is mutual. There is no debt.” That lesson remains the core life lesson of my life. I have experienced many losses in my life, and sought teachers, physicians, counselors and friends to aid me. Time and time again throughout my more than 60 years, I live the lesson that fixing and helping are different than serving. �oeFundamentally, helping, fixing, and service are ways of seeing life. When you help you see life as weak, when you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole.”"

India has the highest maternal death rate in the world (i.e. women who die in pregnancy or childbirth)

A fascinating study which was carried out on hotel attendants who were informed how much exercise they were already doing as a regular part of their job. Despite no change in actual exercise levels, in the intervention group, simply being told about the value of what they were already doing caused a significant change for the better on every single one of the objective health measures recorded: weight, body fat, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio and blood pressure.

This organization has been incredibly helpful for people with chronic diseases of any kind, from diabetes to arthritis to chronic pain. If you live in British Columbia and suffer from any of these or know anyone who does, please please check them out.

A great new blog that looks at wellness from viewpoint of curiosity. From the page: "This person is a man in his twenties. His heart rate is elevated,
so is his blood pressure. He is breathing heavily. He is sweating
and swaying from side to side.

What's going on with him?

`I don't know but it sounds serious. I think we should
call a Doctor for him.'

You're sure he's sick.

`I'm no expert but from what you describe he sounds quite ill.'

Oh yes, there's one other thing I forgot to mention.
He is snowboarding.

`Snowboarding! You mean the going-down-a-slope-on-a-board,
snowboarding?'

The very same.

`Should he be doing that in his condition?'

And what condition is that?

`Well the sweating and swaying and all.'

He is breathing heavily because he is exerting himself
and he needs more oxygen. His heart rate is up because
his body is pumping the blood around his body faster to
deliver the oxygen to his muscles.

The increase in his heart rate causes his blood pressure
to rise also.

Because of all this activity his body is starting to heat up
and sweating is his body's way of cooling down.

`Yeah. . .well. . . What about the swaying?'

He's snowboarding! You generally sway from side to
side when you are snowboarding.

`Oh Right.'

So do you still think he is sick?

`No.'

Why not?

`Well you told me he wasn't sick.'

I didn't actually. I just told you he was snowboarding
and I explained his symptoms.

`Well they're not symptoms are they.'

What would you call them?

`Well they're just what happens when you exercise.'"

The elusive exercise pill just took a step closer to becoming a reality. Scientists have found that two compounds can boost endurance in mice by changing the metabolic properties of the animals' muscle. One of the drugs appears to mimic some of the benefits of exercise even in sedentary mice. But the most dramatic benefit comes from combining one of the drugs with exercise, enabling mice to run 60 to 75 percent longer.