Greetings.   I hope you are well and have enjoyed a wonderful summer.  I most certainly did.

It’s been awhile since my last letter.  I retired fully from my medical practice in mid June and I felt the need to relax, play and restore myself.  The summer here on the west coast was perfect for that with weeks of hot, sunny weather.  I played golf, hiked and biked.

And I went off to the Rockies in the second week of August to hike and climb in the Tonquin Valley – a spectacular region that runs along the divide between Alberta and BC, west of Jasper.  There is a range of peaks over 10,000 feet that are like a huge wall of rock running along the divide and are collectively and appropriately named the Ramparts..

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Greetings.  Hope you enjoyed a wonderful May long weekend.  We had splendid weather here on the west coast.  I just came in from a late afternoon bike ride (May 18th).  Earlier on the weekend I did a brisk, 2-hour hike.

You guessed it – I am in training again for a week of mountaineering and hiking in the Rockies this summer.   What plans do you have for holidays this year?

Letting you know of my activities in the next month.  I am an exhibitor at the Health Action Network Society’s annual conference on cancer prevention and healing, Saturday, June 6th.  The speaker is a young man that was one of the invited speakers at May 1st Forum 2010 – It’s Time to Heal – that I set up and co-presented at myself.  (www.itstimetoheal.ca)

Here’s a link with details on the HANS event -  http://hans.org/events/public/post/52 .  Look forward to seeing you there.

I have been very much involved with getting my message of healing out there.  I have been working with several new clients and they are getting great insights and breakthrough results.   I have also updated my one-day workshop into a 2-day weekend healing experience.  (No date yet for the next event but keep in touch and let me know of your interest.)

The article this month is drawn from experiences I have had with several clients.  The case study is a composite of a few these experiences.

Again thank you for your interest and your support.   Please share this information with others.   I welcome your comments  on Facebook.

“ When you feel helpless, you’re far more afraid than you would be if you knew the facts.  If you’re not sure what to be alarmed about, everything is alarming. ”

 Quote from Chris Hadfield’s book – “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life” 

The key to getting a handle on fear is get knowledge, get the facts.  However, not only the medical ‘facts’ (to be explored in a future post) but far more importantly the facts about your inner life experience that will reveal to you the thoughts, emotions and beliefs linked to the illness or disease. [Read more...]

 “ … fear comes from not knowing what to expect and not feeling you have any control over what’s about to happen (or what is imagined could happen – my words) ”

Quote from Chris Hadfield’s book – “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life”  

This is a brilliant exposure of the nature of fear.  The key elements are 1) not knowing, and thereby 2) not feeling in control over what could happen and 3) imagining.  With people I meet who have received a diagnosis of cancer or other serious condition, there are all these elements.  [Read more...]

I hope you are enjoying a great start to 2015 and your year is progressing in ways that are fulfilling and happy for you.

I think of February as time to appreciate the love of family and friends and of partners and companions.   In this month’s article I highlight the influence of family and the powerful healing that can occur with understanding of ourselves in relationship.

In the last month I have been active giving talks – “How to Develop a Healing Mindset to Meet Your Health and Life Challenges” .  If you missed the live talks in January,  I am giving the same talk as a tele-seminar on Monday, February 16th at 7 PM -  click here for details and registration. [Read more...]

Do you realize that given the chance, your body favours healing?

We tend to take this for granted.  We don’t fret about getting a minor cut or graze.  We expect the wound to dry up, scab over and heal within a week or two.  If we fracture a bone, we trust that it will heal provided the broken ends of bone are held together with either a cast or a surgical procedure.

Why then if the body is so good at healing does it not occur more often?  What gets in the way of the body’s natural tendency to heal?

Simple as it may seem, the chief obstacle that prevents healing is stress.   When we are in ongoing states of frustration, worry, overwhelm, anger and other ‘not feel good’ emotions, the body produces cortisol, adrenalin and other hormones that retard or prevent the healing response.

However, there are also hidden stresses of which we we are not aware that contribute to illness, disease and unhappiness.  (watch for more tips coming up)

Yes, Medicine provides life-saving emergency care and medical treatments to sustain your survival and improve physical health.  However, despite its many strengths in diagnosis and urgent interventions, Medicine can’t do it all.  The quality of your health and life largely depends on you.

If you put all your reliance on Medicine to fix and support you, you will not only expose yourself to risks of these treatments and interventions – side effects and allergic reactions being the most common risks – you will deny yourself the benefits of your own participation in taking care of yourself.

If you truly want the best health possible – that is energy, vitality, joy and happiness – you have to contribute to create it.  Sorry, there is no sure fire pill for it.  Ultimately your health depends on the choices you make – not only lifestyle choices but even more importantly choices of your thoughts, beliefs and how you want to feel.

The good news is that we all have the ability to become the power in our life for health and joy.  It begins with desire and belief that it is possible and some basic knowledge and self-healing tools.  (Stay tuned.)

If you want to hear more, please attend one of my complimentary talks later this month called – “How to Develop a Healing Mindset to Meet Your Health Challenges”.   Please sign up online for one of these sessions Jan 27 in Vancouver & Jan 29 in Langley.

I am delighted to send you my first newsletter of 2015.  I trust you have had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends.  We didn’t have a white Christmas here on the west coast but we did have some brilliant sunny days for walks and outings.

I hope you are excited and looking forward to the New Year with promise of good health, the fulfillment of dreams, and happy times.  The article this month is based on a Ted talk I watched on New Year’s Day and is a wonderful invitation to reflect on happiness.   I hope you will feel as inspired by this young man’s talk as I have been.

I am excited about the forward direction that I am taking this year with sharing my message of healing.  As mentioned in the November newsletter I am giving complimentary talks later this month – “How to Develop a Healing Mindset to Meet Your Health Challenges”.   Please sign up online for one of these sessions Jan 27 & Jan 29 and pass along the info to others you know may benefit.  Be sure to ask them to register online as well. [Read more...]