Things Worth Considering

From childhood onward, we are subjected to multiple influences that seek to tell us who we are, how we are supposed to be, act, think. Slowly we disconnect from who we are trying without success to be what other people want us to be. We may begin to experience a disconnect between our body, emotions and spirit. If someone hurt us physically or sexually, the trauma disconnects us in powerful ways. We may withdraw socially, shut down our ability to feel, we become silent. The good news is we can learn to reconnect. Studies in the area of Human connections have identified a very simplistic practise that benefits us enormously, walking barefoot on the earth for a few minutes each day has big benefits on all levels. This practice - called earthing - can also be called grounding. A simple first step in reconnecting to our self and the benefits derived from being in our body and getting out of our head.

We have heard that opposites attract, the law of Attraction, now consider the law of similars and a return of health? How does taking an infinitesimal amount of a substance, which if the same were taken in a larger quantity, would cause the same physical symptoms you are experiencing now. Yet a refined nano-dose can alleviate the symptoms and helping us to return to a healthy state? Homeopathy is a whole person system of evaluating the body, mind and Spirit but not just for physical symptoms but what we believe about being sick, what we perceive is health and how we live within our lifestyle. Could this be the basis of future energy medicine, where the law of similars is a viable alternative to pharmacology in health care? Considering Homeopathy!

With the growing acceptance of energy healing, under such names as Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Laying on of Hands, come a number of beliefs that may not serve the healer nor a client. What happens when your client gets worse than when they arrived, this can be true with energy healing and with psychotherapy? Do Healers/Practitioners belief they are the actual Healers of people? In which case what responsibility do they hold when a client doesn’t improve? Does Healing equal a cure? Can death be an option in the healing process? Do we go into a healing state holding the belief that this will make them well or do we hold an intention that the energy work is directed only for the highest and the best for the client and directed by the client on many levels? Tune in and listen to ideas about healing that are well worth considering.

Do you have a loved one that needs end of life care? Are you a caregiver looking for more support? What does palliative care mean and how does one access more services like hospice or respite? How can our society engage in more openness around the topic of death? How are body, mind and spirit addressed when one has a terminal or life limiting illness? What is the role of the caregiver or substitute decision maker and when does their role start? Often our loved ones may or may not want to talk about their illness, what they are facing, choices for how they want to live and die and those conversations are difficult ones to have but important. How can we start the conversation and fulfill their wishes? There is a tendency to pull away from people when they are ill or from a friend after their spouse/partner has died. How can we continue to support people in their time of need? How do we embrace this great mystery?

Ever wondered what Holistic means when it comes to your health? What about Acute care like for an accident vs. Holistic approach for chronic aches and pains? My guest, Amanda , who is a practitioner and an instructor will sort out some of our questions as to what health care provider should we go to and when? Is this an either/or situation? The language such as alternative makes it sound like it is one or the other but the word complementary helps us to realize it can all work together. Your spiritual practise helps your body and mind stay healthy, your exercising and diet help your mind and spirit to be in balance with your body. We are also talking about the need for practitioners and our aging population. The Canadian Government predicts that there will be a shortage of practitioners throughout the decade. The Holistic Approach to health includes your body, mind and spirit and not just the absence of disease, it is about you connecting to your self and others.

What happens when we get used to pain and discomfort and as we disconnect from our self? We get used to the aches and pains they become our new norm. Even as we become more stressed, we keep establishing new norms until finally we have to see a doctor and find the stress has caused cardiac problems or stomach ulcers or even cancer. 90% of all visits to family doctors are for stress related illnesses. In other words they are lifestyle problems. Martez brings the knowledge that in order to heal, the 3 pillars of healing must be engaged, the body, the mind and the spirit. Martez comes from a place of personal experience, having been in a catastrophic car accident in which she had most of the right side of her body broken, she suffered through and rose above the experience to discover a career in health care and a deeply rooted spirituality. Join Martez and I as she has some very important things worth considering.

What is it like to leave your career, not be quite so available for your children and spouse and return to school full-time to purse your dreams. My guests, Cathy Eu and Stefanie Miljas, 2 dynamic and brave women, talk about all the things they went through to get back to school full-time. Now it is the Moms turn to be the student, with assignment deadlines, tests and exams. Through humourous stories and learning about their backgrounds (which are quite different), the influence of the own multi-cultural families past and how it was their inner voice that lead them, with or without the seal of approval from all levels of the family and social networks to make the leap. Today, as graduates, they are building careers as Psychotherapists, and Spiritual Directors. Tune in to the next episode of Things Worth Considering as we applaud Women Doing It for Themselves!

It is about 44 hours since the clock struck midnight, the end of a decade and of course, the year 2019, Going forward into 2020, how many resolutions did you make? In the last 44 hours, assuming you made them on the stroke of midnight, how many did you break so far? Were you able to keep your resolve? Tune in to this episode to get some pointers about why we make resolutions, why most fail and how you can be successful in achieving positive outcomes for your resolutions. You will definitely feel better about yourself when you steer your resolutions to success. As this episode was recorded a few weeks ago and therefore make no mention in the recording, this is the last recording that Jan Hill and I will be making together. Jan has decided for personal reasons to leave the show. With sadness I thank Jan for her presence and the fun time we had making the show. I will continue with Things Worth Considering.

Events in our life can go against everything we knew or believed to be true, our anger ensued. Someone did or said something that outraged you and it keeps replaying in your mind. Unable to get rid of the angry thoughts, we develop a grudge. The grudge can grow and consume us. We think of ways to retaliate, to seek revenge. It is now our identity, the victim. ‘Do you know what they did to me?’ as we tell our tale of woe again. People may begin to distance themselves as our disposition becomes toxic from the anger surging in us. This level of distress is too big from a single event. Many times, from our childhood onward this sense of victimization has been experienced. The wrong person may even be targeted by your anger. Time to consider, forgiveness. It doesn’t mean you approve or accept their behaviour. You don’t have to become friends again or even talk to them. Forgiveness is a gift to our self. It says I am not carrying this around anymore.

Did you think the story of Christmas was just about the birth of Jesus in the middle east in a manager with Shepherds watching their sheep and star gazing with 3 Wise Men showing up at the manger with gifts? No that is only a starting point. Looking back from Christmas today it is an evolving story spanning 2000 years. It moves from the middle east to the Roman Empire where following Jesus teachings was against the law. That is until Emperor Constantine's wife became a christian and Yes, it was now the state religion and his wife gets to live. The very clever modelling of Christmas after a barbaric roman holiday which ended in someone's death to turning it around so it ended with Jesus birth. Bingo, we have converts and Christmas day is officially December 25th. It didn't matter when Jesus was really born. Bring in the Christmas tree from Germany. Amalgamate Father Christmas, St. Nick, and Santa Claus then have Coca-Cola paint him red and you have Christmas today. Oh, Credit Card!

The Holidays! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, said Dickens and I am sure he meant my family. My magical child running around in my head filling every thought with magical outcomes, tires squeal, reality check please. Some family bring out our best and some our worst. When the entire family is together we go back to what we know, the same games, same arguments, same names. We all fall back into the same roles we have always played out .Have you ever gone to your family for the holidays, leaving home you are say 30 years of age, driving to the old neighbourhood, now your old street, you feel 16, when pulling into the driveway, you are 12. Home at last, age 10, sitting on the sofa. What is happening? Join us for this episode as we look at ways to stay in our biological age and interact as adults. Boundaries Please. What a novel idea!

If our hearing is intact we have the ability to hear voices, music and of course, noise. But there is a difference between hearing and actually listening. How many times have you ever had someone say,Are you listening to me or You are not listening to what I am saying Listening is a skill, one we should be taught early on in life but usually that is not the case. Much of our disagreements stem from hearing what someone said, filtering it through our perceptions and responding according to what we think we heard. Listening is the intention act of wanting to understand another person's viewpoint or experience, genuinely understand. It requires first that we stop talking. This episode gives some skills to help you listen better. If we were made in the Creator's image, there is a good reason we have 2 ears and only one mouth, perhaps we should learn to use them proportionately. Join Jan and Gord for this weeks Episode of Things Worth Considering Are you listening to me?

Do you ever feel that people take more than give? Do you feel guilty or bad about yourself when you have to say NO? The idea of boundaries is difficult because you experience relationships as all or nothing. These are but a few of the many ways co-dependency can affect us on a personal and a professional level. It is most often experienced in our interactions with others which can leave us exhausted, confused about what we may be feeling, and lack awareness of our own needs. Asking for our own needs to be met is a concept that may not exist for many co-dependants. The good news is all the behaviours we have learned that do not serve us can be unlearned and replaced with behaviours and beliefs that support a stronger sense of our self, our needs and how we want to manifest our best in a healthier way than the past experiences we have known. Join us for this episode and discover some possibilities to enhance your life.

Most people's ultimate goal in life is to be happy. Seems simple enough. Happiness is something we can choose to have but we can also choose not to. One way we separate our self from being happy is we place so many conditions on when we can be happy. I will be happy when I get the new car, or when I get married. We keep pushing our happiness further into the future. We also keep changing the goals - as we get the new car just before our wedding, we change the happiness factor and now the goal is when you, perhaps land that ideal job. So there you are sitting in your new car with your new spouse and it's time to take a look at being happy, now! Happiness is embracing all that we have and are, right now. Happiness will never arrive so long as you focus on what you don't have!! Join us as happiness awaits in this moment.

Have you ever had this horrible feeling that you are a fraud and you are going to be found out about very soon? People will soon discover that you don’t know what you say you know. Have you ever heard of the Imposter Syndrome? It is very common. Imposter syndrome (also known as imposter phenomenon, impostorism,or fraud syndrome) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. People with imposter syndrome are convinced that they don’t deserve their success. It occurs in men and women equally. Despite evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds. Individuals with impostorism attribute their success to luck,or of deceiving others that they are more intelligent than they perceive themselves to be. It is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments.” Join us we are looking for imposters!

Do you like horror movies? Haunted Houses? Are you fascinated by stories of werewolves, vampires and aliens? This is our Halloween episode and what better time to look at what fear is, its purpose and manifestation. What motivates some people to find ways that leave them terrified, exhilarated and looking for their next fear-inducing activity? We will look at the difference between those that love to get scared and those that have taken fear further getting an adrenaline charge each time they glide off the side of a cliff or jump out of an airplane. While being scared is one thing, why do people love to be scared? The English speaking world takes part on the evening before All Saints Day: when the veil between the living and the dead is very thin and you can communicate it is said, with your ancestors. From angel costumes, spiritual celebrations, door to door trick or treating, and on to the macabre, this is the day when fear entices so many to take part. Join us on Halloween.

We all think about making changes in our life, we plan it, we talk to other people, maybe we even commit publicly to things we are sure we will do … and then we never do them! Do you WANT to change? Today we share some useful ideas that researchers have discovered about the stages of change. Yes, there are actual stages we all go through to move to actual change. We look at the stages and even provide you with what the resistance behaviours and feelings are so you can perhaps identify which stage you are at. Research evidence suggests that individuals following these stages achieve higher degrees of success in change. Things from the 1st stage, called the Pre-Contemplation Stage, when someone suggests you quit smoking, resistance can include denial, shame about smoking, blame smoking etc.. Ready for change? Not at #1. Next at stage 2 is Contemplation-look for the right time, magical thinking. And that is just the beginning! Join us for Things Worth Considering and stages of change.

iRest Yoga Nidra is a modernized form of an ancient practice of healing and relaxation from the tradition of yoga and is now an evidence-based form of mind-body training which promotes deep healing, health and well-being. iRest Yoga Nidra is the result of many years of observation, research and hands-on development by Dr. Richard Miller and associates. Research trends indicate that iRest effectively alleviates PTSD, insomnia, anxiety, chronic pain, depression and chemical dependency. IRI trained teachers have successfully delivered the iRest Protocol to active duty military and combat veterans, chronic pain sufferers, the homeless, the incarcerated, health care givers and other special interest groups. Andrew is working with combining iRest Nidra Yoga with elements of the Internal Family Systems - IFS. Think of the component parts of your biological family, now imagine that those same components form an internal family system. Powerful healing can take place with this combination.

Do you remember one of the very first words you were taught or you taught your children, not Mom or Dad? It was probably please and thank you. Whenever you were given something - you also heard 'can you say Thank-you?' Today we prepare for Canadian Thanksgiving in October and the American Thanksgiving in November. This is no longer about manners , it is thanking the Universal Consciousness and the Earth for giving to us so abundantly as we see the harvest filling our tables. We still need to be asked I guess, 'Are you going to say thank-you?' We take much for granted so don't think of saying thanks or we are focused on how we can get what we don't have. We are not even present to experience gratitude - that felt sense when we embrace all that we already have. here, today. The Attitude of Gratitude fills your sentient body and opens a space for you to attract even more of the good stuff. Join us as we give you attitude with gratitude and Things Worth Considering. Happy Thanksgiving!

Following up on our previous show - It's your Fault! This episode looks at taking responsibility for our thoughts, our feelings and our behaviour. If we stop implicating and blaming others, what happens then? Importantly, how do we do stop blaming and start owning and taking responsibility for our self. We have all encountered people who blame who they are and their circumstances in life on their parents, the whole family, their education, their exes and who ever else gets caught in the crossbow of blame. Here is something we need to know - as long as we blame others, then we are powerless to change anything. The person, people or event that we blame is the place that holds all the power. Being an adult is not easy, it means responsibilities , and it means owning our story, our real story and not the lies we deceive our self with. This is worth considering, moving into being a Grown-up takes work and awareness but not doing it leaves us as an angry and unhealthy Groan-up.