The Forgiveness Project

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Anna Bowness Park

How forgiveness can positively affect your health

By Anna Bowness-Park

“Anger, bitterness and resentment are natural human emotions. But holding a grudge against your sister for not having arthritis, or hanging onto jealousy over a coworker for snagging your well-deserved promotion may negatively affect your health,” states an article in Arthritis Today, a consumer health magazine published by the Arthritis Foundation.

Integrative medicine is just now exploring what our grandmothers have been telling us for centuries – how you feel emotionally, affects the way you feel physically. There is an entire field of study devoted to this aspect of healthcare called “psychoneuroimmunology,” which looks at how our neurological and immune functions are intrinsically linked. So how does forgiveness fit into our overall health? Does forgiveness improve our well-being?…….Read more HERE

Christian Science Practitioner, Anna Bowness-Park,  practices healing through prayer, and writes frequently on the link between spirituality and health. She is the media spokesperson for British Columbia.


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A Perception of the Placebo

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Wendy Margolese

A placebo is a substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient’s expectation to get well.  They can be a look-alike pill made of milk sugar or another inert substance.

A study at McGill University found that 20 percent of Canadian physicians hand out placebo pills to patients.  There is ongoing discussion about the role of placebos in medical treatment.

The Montreal Gazette recently commented on an article in the New Yorker entitled ‘The Power of Nothing’ – about new work on placebos.  The Gazette author wrote that ‘you don’t have to be a member of the alternative medicine movement to find yourself absorbed by the idea of placebos. Truth is, almost everyone – patients and doctors alike – is surprised by what new studies are teaching about these little bits of nothing and their role in healing’. Continue reading →

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First-Aid for Pain

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Joy Hinman

By Joy Hinman

Do you have a First-Aid kit?  Is it always handy, and is it reliable to deal with pain, illness or accidents?

The media regularly reports that pills and ointments are necessary – not only to provide us release from pain but also to bring peace of mind (by having them on hand). Continue reading →

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Prayer – effective medicine for fear

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Anna Bowness Park

By Anna Bowness-Park

A recent article in the Vancouver Sun regarding the link between asthma and antibiotics in children should be a thought provoking opportunity for us all.

The article does not deny that antibiotics are sometimes useful, but it does ask an important question. Why is our society so determined to persistently use these medications even when there is substantial documentation that overuse of antibiotics is a bad idea? I suggest the answer is the level of our fear of disease. Continue reading →

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Is your life plan on course?

Posted on March 14, 2012 by admin

By Bethany Boyer-Rechlin

Have you ever done any white-water kayaking?  My younger brother started to teach me this summer.   When going through rapids, a kayaker first plans his “line,” or route, around rocks and other hazards. But even if the line is well-planned, it is possible that something will catch the kayaker off-guard and he will find himself flipped over by the current.

Life can be like that too, can’t it?  One minute we can feel sure of the direction we’re going, and the next, something catches us off-guard and disrupts our plan.  As a student of Christian Science, I’ve learned that God is Love, and as Love, God has a loving plan for my life.  I may feel like I’ve hit some rocks along the way, but even if my route seems disrupted, Love’s remains intact. This higher “line” for my life, and everyone’s, is actually obstacle-free—which we see as we yield to Love in prayer … read more of this article on Time4Thinkers.

Bethany Boyer-Rechlin is a student studying International Affairs who attended Principia College.

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Choosing the Good and Losing the Bad

Posted on March 11, 2012 by admin

By John Park 

John Park was a Geophysicist with the federal government in the Earth Physics Branch and the Geological Survey for 30 years. A life-long Christian Scientist, he is now a Christian Science practitioner of spiritual healing.  He is also a chaplain at the University of Victoria.

Over the years I’ve “lost” many things – school notes to dampness and mold, running trophies to a gas explosion, a professional job to downsizing. But, looking back, did I really lose anything? After all, I still had the memories and the skills I’d developed. And though loss of the job prevented me from developing further in that direction, perhaps the job was preventing me from pursuing other, more productive, avenues.

The problem is that we often confuse what is truly important and progressive with what may prove to be useless and even baneful. Not that the things I lost were intrinsically bad, but perhaps my way of seeing them needed to change. We naturally want to get rid of what is painful or bad, but are not so willing to give up the vices or modes of thinking that are pleasurable. The problem with so-called pleasurable things is that they often have an inextricably associated downside, which we unintentionally hold onto. In my case, the downsides could have included sentimentality, pride, selfishness, rigidity, and staleness. All these things, as well as the mere stuff we acquire, take up space, provide clutter, occupy thought, waste time, and hide from us what may be truly useful and productive. We like to hold onto what is comfortable; but as our thought changes, the uncomfortable downsides may become more apparent. Continue reading →

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IWD 2012 – an Inspiring Story of Connecting to a True Sense of Beauty

Posted on March 8, 2012 by admin

By guest writer, Tony Lobl

Every March 8 the world celebrates International Women’s Day. The 2012 theme is: “Connecting girls, inspiring futures”.

One thing that can seem to disconnect us from recognising our full potential for a future of accomplishment is a burdened sense of needing to conform to physical stereotypes of what it means to be beautiful………Read more of this article on Tony’s blog.

Tony is a Christian Science practitioner and a blogger on the relationship between consciousness and health, and how spirituality plays a role in bringing out more harmony in people’s lives. His blog is The Connection.  He is also a media and legislative liaison for Christian Science in the UK and Ireland.

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Mirror, Mirror on the wall……

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Anna Bowness Park

By Anna Bowness-Park

“I am not what I think I am and I am not what you think I am; I am what I think that you think I am,” wrote Charles Cooley, a prominent American sociologist and author of “Human Nature and the Social Order” in 1902. Cooley coined the term “Looking Glass Self.” But this hypothesis, that we see ourselves through others’ eyes, has increasingly serious ramifications for the way we think about our identity and our self-worth.

So is what we see, the same as what others see? Is what we see a reliable portrait of who we really are? Or is it a mirage — a superimposed image of conjectures and hypotheses from society, our friends, or family? How many of us look in the mirror and criticize some part of our bodies? “My nose is too big!” “My hair too frizzy!” . . . . Our beauty parlors, hairdressing salons, as well as the controversial tanning salons are experts in the artistry of creating a “look.” Now we have added medical procedures and pharmaceuticals to the mix, with plastic surgery, liposuction and diet pills to name but a few. But what is this look based on – love or fear, acceptance or rejection? What are we actually looking at? Continue reading →

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The Gentle Art of Listening

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Wendy Margolese

I really enjoyed this article from the Vancouver Sun on listening closely to hear what you might be missing.

The author quotes Steven Spielberg:

“When you listen, you absorb like a sponge,” said director Steven Spielberg, “and your life becomes so much better than when you are just trying to be listened to all the time.” Continue reading →

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Could healthy living be a spiritual discipline? Lessons from Lent

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Anna Bowness Park

By Anna Bowness-Park, British Columbia

Growing up in an Anglican tradition, this was the month, coming right after my New Year’s resolution, when I would promise to give up a vice, like chocolate or ice cream. The problem was, that if I broke this promise, I would feel horribly guilty for doing so. Having already failed at my New Year’s resolution by now, this was hardly an auspicious start to the year. Two failures, and it is not even the end of February! The traditional purpose of Lent, the preparation period before Easter, is prayer, repentance, and self-denial. Not very popular words these days, yet they offer valuable lessons on spiritual discipline that I missed as a child, but now am learning as being part of a healthy way to manage my thoughts and life. Now, as a Christian Scientist, I don’t follow Lent as a religious discipline on my calendar. But part of my daily spiritual practice of prayer is the discipline of thinking through, and being willing to give up, negative thoughts. These damaging thoughts aren’t being willfully stifled, but rather, through prayer, they are resolved and replaced with more productive ideas. I call these times my “Lenten moments”, and they come without the childhood feelings of guilt. The meaning of the word “repent” is to “rethink.” A really good start in a “Lenten moment.”
In our busy lives, thoughts build up, item-by-item. While we scrutinize food labels for trans-fats and chemicals, we never think to check our thoughts as closely – whether they are healthy. Sometimes we don’t even notice the toxic thoughts we are sharing and absorbing. Negativity is bad for our health, as endless studies tell us, yet we feel helpless to combat those feelings. And submerging or hiding those feelings, leaving them to fester, is equally destructive to our health and happiness. From petty irritations to tragic and difficult events, human life seems destined to be ever at the mercy of how we “feel.” So how do those cleansing “Lenten moments” work in my practice as a Christian Scientist?…...Read more

 

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