Tag Archives: thought

Put a “Be” before Healthy

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So often the emphasis is on the “doing” not the “being” when it comes to caring for one’s health. People do all sorts of things, from taking daily medications to undergoing treatments and procedures to find out if they are healthy or not. Yet despite all these efforts, health can still be illusive.

All this emphasis on the doing is adding up to a high-cost health care system in the U.S. According to a recent New York Times article, “When it comes to medical care, many patients and doctors believe more is better. But an epidemic of overtreatment — too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures — is costing the nation’s health care system at least $210 billion a year, according to the Institute of Medicine, and taking a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and even death.”

I know a woman who juggles a busy family life and active career, while staying physically fit and involved in her community. She recently went through several routine cancer screenings that resulted in a very stressful few weeks. She had a hard time sleeping and Continue reading →

Life Lessons from Near Death Experiences

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The following guest blog is written by my friend Steve Graham. Much of his career as an editor has been centered on spiritual reporting. He writes from his home in Natick, MA.

For a long time, I’ve been interested in so-called near death experiences (NDEs). I’ve read Dr. Raymond Moody’s well-known book “Life After Life,” which reports the results of over 100 case studies on people who were revived after having been pronounced clinically dead.

The amazing consistency in what those people have told about their experiences–including a recognition of disembodiment, of

traveling through some sort of interim passage, of perceiving increasingly bright light, of emerging into a realm of unspeakable beauty, of meeting loved family and friends who had already died–has seemed to me quite remarkable.

The way in which these NDEs corroborate the existence of an omnipotent and eternal Supreme Being has only served to increase my faith that the teachings of the Bible and so many other sacred texts, and specifically my own Christian Science faith, are not contradicted but validated, not at odds but speaking in unison. Continue reading →

9/11 and Mental Resilience

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Most of us remember exactly where we were standing and what we were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001.

I had just put my 3-month-old down for his morning nap when a friend called and told me to turn on the television. My five-year-old was by my side when those horrible images flashed across the screen.

The next day in his kindergarten class he drew pictures of the planes and the buildings. He, like many other children across our nation, drew pictures that told an unspeakable story. A story of blue sky and smoke.

Until that day his life was all about the blue sky moments. I wondered how watching those events would affect my son, not to mention the many children and adults whose lives were directly impacted by the events of 9/11.

So as I always do when something isn’t right in my life, I prayed. Continue reading →

Healing from the Inside Out

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Today’s News & Culture update: A regular feature of this blog that follows current conversations on health care pointing to the powerful impact of thought and spirituality on physical health, as well as ways in which people are finding results outside of a traditional bio-medical approach to health care. Join the conversation and share your comments on these ideas.

6 Ways to Heal Your Inner Self

Julie Silver, MD, writes:

“One of the most important components of healing is recognizing the powerful connection between your mind and your body. I know this from what I’ve seen in my medical practice and in the research. Studies show that stress and negative emotions can cause a physical reaction (ever get a headache when you’re arguing with a friend?) that can slow your body’s ability to heal. On the flip side, positive thinking and feelings can help you recover, whether it’s from a sprained ankle, arthritis or cancer.” Read more: Ways to Manage Stress – How to Heal Yourself – Woman’s Day Continue reading →

Spiritual Healing: Alive and Well in the World

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Today’s guest blog is written by Kim Shippey, avid reader of books and articles on spirituality, and Boston-based writer and editor. You can also read his columns in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly print and online publication.

Note to readers: A complete review of this book will appear in the September 24 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.

A recent book by Frederick Gaiser, Healing in the Bible (Baker Academic, paperback), opens up many of the areas discussed in these blogs, including the relationship between modern medicine and healing through one’s faith.

Gaiser is professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in Minnesota, where he has taught for more than 30 years. He offers expositions of nine texts from the Old Testament and six from the New, as he strives to put into perspective the contemporary church’s understanding and exercise of healing, touching at one point on the work of Dr. Herbert Benson, a pioneer in mind/body medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Not for one moment does Gaiser discount the role played by physicians in daily life, but having traveled and taught in Southern and East Africa, he has come to  appreciate that Western medicine has no monopoly on truth. Continue reading →

Putting the Brakes on Anger

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Today’s guest blog is by Benjamin Gladden, a busy father of three who lives and writes from his home in Framingham, MA.

Ever seen someone who could use some help or encouragement, but you weren’t sure what to do? As many sectors of our economy continue to struggle, supporting and encouraging one another has taken on new import. A simple smile at the register or gentle encouragement can mean a lot to someone struggling. But how do we know how–or even when–to help out?

I had a brief experience with a man a couple summers ago that taught me a lot about listening for ways to help others, even when I don’t want to help! Continue reading →

Online MD, Honesty, and Early-Risers

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Today’s News & Culture update:

CNN.com: Be Careful When Diagnosing Your Ailments Online

According to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, 80% of Internet users have looked up health information online. The study points out that the social life of health information is alive and kicking, motivated by two driving forces: 1) the availability of social tools and 2) the motivation, especially among people living with chronic conditions, to connect with each other.

The problem is, online diagnosing can lead to fear and misdiagnosing, causing more anxiety and perhaps leading to the very symptoms you didn’t want. Research into the “nocebo effect” shows that merely the power of suggestion can be enough to “bring on real-life symptoms.”

One thing is for sure, the more the conversation turns to self-managed, personalized care through a spiritual approach to health–as I discussed in last week’s blog–the more answers to our questions won’t seem so illusive or fear-inducing. So add your voice to the conversation!

Study Finds that Avoiding Lies Can Improve Your Health

A recent study on honesty has been buzzing on internet health sites. Did you ever think that your honesty index is directly related to your health and well-being? According to this study, telling fewer lies positively affects your physical and mental state.

“Over the study period, the link between less lying and improved health was significantly stronger for participants in the no-lie group.”

Morning is Prime-Time for Self-Improvement

If you’re anything like the average person, just getting out the door dressed and ready for work (not to mention getting the kids out before you) is enough to feel satisfied (or frazzled!) about your morning. Continue reading →

Winds of Change with Health Care

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The following guest blog is written by my friend Steve Graham. Much of his career as an editor has been centered on spiritual reporting. He writes from his home in Natick, MA.

It’s long been said that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That old adage holds a lot of modern-day significance when it comes to health care—and health maintenance in particular.

In his book “Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health,” Dr. H. Gilbert Welch notes a profound shift that has taken place in the medical world. Whereas for most of history doctors have treated people primarily after they began to manifest symptoms of disease, today it is the norm to be treated and examined in the absence of symptoms.

I have a friend who went to a doctor to get a basic checkup, in order to participate in a dance class. The results indicated a clean bill of health. But then the doctor strongly recommended visits to no fewer than five specialists in that health network, for further testing. My friend was surprised and asked why these were needed, seeing as no health problems were evident. The doctor explained that preventive care is now the normal practice in the U.S.

Still, the wind isn’t entirely filling the sail of an increasingly test-based approach to health care. From his background as a physician and researcher, Welch explores in his book the Continue reading →

Reaching a Younger Generation of Spirit-Goers

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Today’s news & culture update:

A pew survey discussed in a USA Today article found that young people today are significantly more likely than those in earlier generations to say they don’t identify with any religious group. 72% of millennials say they’re “more spiritual than religious.”

What does “spiritual” mean to you? Perhaps you can try the following exercise. Think of the first word that comes to you when you hear:

  • spirituality . . .
  • love . . .
  • gratitude . . .

Deepak Chopra played this same word game with one of his young guests on his newly launched YouTube channel, “Chopra Well.” There’s a lot of content to choose from, including programs like, “Have you ever watched your health?” His goal is to “enlighten and inspire 100 million people to change the world.” Continue reading →

Fresh starts

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Today’s guest blog is written by Kim Shippey, avid reader of books and articles on spirituality, and Boston-based writer and editor. You can also read his columns in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly print and online publication.

Many of you will know the story about one of the America’s top violinists, Joshua Bell, who on a cold morning in January 2007 played some intricate Bach variations on his 3.5 million Stradivarius on a railway station platform in Washington, DC. In 45 minutes, only six people stopped long enough to drop a total of $32 into his violin case. Two nights before, Bell had filled a Boston concert hall, with seats averaging $100.

Even more remarkable–and helpful to me–were Bell’s remarks in a January 2012 issue of Newsweek magazine in which he described his performance as a 12-year-old in his first violin competition. He messed up worse than he could even have imagined. Not knowing the etiquette, he stopped completely, turned to the audience and said, “I’d really like to start over.” He just wanted to redeem himself. Continue reading →