http://www.optimyz.ca/mind/296
Neuroplasticity is the key to a creative and productive life.
By Dr. Dena Churchill, BSc biology and psychology; doctor of chiropractic
http://www.optimyz.ca/mind/259
Beyond the genes: Are your emotions making you sick?
How does emotion help us learn and grow, and act as a blueprint for finding our true purpose?
By Dr. Dena Churchill BSc.,DC
“Divinity In Divorce - The Power in Gratitude and Love”, is my recent book title, published with International Health publishing December 2009. A personal experience of thriving through divorce in a mind-body-spirit paradigm, turning obstacle and emotion into opportunity and growth. My purpose in writing this book is not only for my own inspiration, as a daily reminder to find the Divinity in any challenge, but also to share this message with the world.
The universe apparently thrusts complimentary opposites together and calls them the full quantum of love. In an attempt to have us love more of ourselves and our world we are given a mirror. As we move through our lessons of love there is more clarity with the profound truth that we are all one in spirit. That which we can not love we will attract until we do.
The ultimate goal is to love all the parts of yourself, including the ego, the liar, the aggressor as well as the other characteristics such as compassion, caring and kindness. People you meet (particularly spouses who love you the most will appear different to you, opposites in fact.) Opposites do attract. If two people were both the same, one would be redundant. Differences draw you together for the purpose of love, the full quantum of love.
The experience of being able to see different forms and understanding that they are all parts of a loving matrix surrounding us every minute of our lives grants us the faith, trust, confidence and security in a force at work outside ourselves.
The key to divinity is within the ability to expand perceptions to a higher level of understanding.
Book Contents:
Forward
Divinity And the Wax Maker
Thank God For My Divorce
Legal Lingo
Swim In Stress
The Kids will be Okay
Laugh It Out
Divorce Quotes
About the Author
“Whether you are growing together or growing apart this book will save you a heart ache.” Dr. John F. Demartini, Bestselling author of Heart of Love
“Divinity in Divorce has great advice, humorous moments and a realistic perspective, enabling the reader to step away from their emotions and find an effective solution.”
Dr. James Meschino, Bestselling author of Optimal Living
Books available in Halifax, NS at ; 2684 Oxford Street, Little Mysteries and The Bookmark Inc Bookstores or at Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Divinity-Divorce-Power-Gratitude-Love/dp/0981835341/ref
Facebook page titled Divinity in Divorce.
A virus is an infectious agent that replicates in the cells of a living susceptible host. This definition encompasses a plethora of pernicious agents from the HINI flu virus to the viruses in our technology that attack the unsuspecting target. I hope to create awareness and knowledge that may offer some defense from these invading parasites.
In this article I am sharing what I have learned, first hand, about internet computer scams as there maybe another that may benefit from my experience. It is perhaps not the philosophical rant that I am usually inspired to write but I have paid thousands for this wisdom…so it is mine to share.
Parasites and Viruses are such nasty words…wait! allow me to call them learning opportunities as they do challenge us to understand the world from a different angle. In any challenge we can choose to be a victim or valor, and it is not what happens to us but what we do with it that defines our perspective.
Internet fraud can come in many forms.
1. The investment fraud has been made popular recently with the latest Ponzi schemes of our newsworthy wealthy investors. I thought I was contributing to an off shore oil company, sending cash investments that promised great rewards but not only have there been no returns on the investment, but the initial investment capital had disappeared along with the companies contact numbers and e-mails.
2. Fraudulent representation of a person, service, product or charity. A ‘pastor’ ordering $5000 worth of service or product on a stolen credit card asking to send cash for a delivery service is one example, or another example is offering to sell a vehicle for $10,000 but requesting money be sent to a trust account. Even donations to an apparent church charity in which a receipt is never granted are within the scope of our infecting agents.
3. Dating sites are places to find a host with a weakened immune system. The “Love Bug’s” bite hurts. Men and women sharing love words, money, webcams, indecent photos and identities are the pillars for a large underground business.
4. Traditional computer spammers and hackers have evolved. The advice I used to receive was not to open an attachment from any one I did not know. But now these spammers can attach to an e-mail address, manipulate a message and infiltrate the contact list of an address you do recognize! Spammers typically offer any number of illegitimate websites where you can purchase products with amazing deals if ,of course, you send cash in a money order or wire.
5. Have you had a virus in your computer and magically a solution of anti-viral program arrives to your inbox or as a pop-up screen? It is not a coincidence…those that planted the virus are now trying to sell you the software to handle it.
6. There are a host of other miscellaneous items that include “work-at-home” schemes, lottery winners and inheritance granting that could fill up a few pages. The wikipedia- internet fraud site at the end of this article offers many other examples and FBI reporting links for your information.
My first thought, after catching a few of these flu bugs, was to understand how I could be so naive and trusting. My second thought is to try to understand what motivates a person to behave in a fraudulent way, to deliberately seek to take advantage of another? Are they alone or part of a larger conglomerate? Maybe it is an illusion of sharing the target’s wealth? In the case of third world country scammer, this may be a truth and scamming must be a good source of income. Perhaps the fraudster sees the host as obtuse and thinks, “well if they are stupid enough to believe me then I should take their money”? Is it greed or selfish desire for more money or is the motivation to feed a family or impress a boss? I call it motivation because I do feel it is a behaviour driven by a force or fear outside themselves. A virus needs a host in order to survive but a host needs a virus to gain strength and wisdom. If only fraudsters could be granted the tools to survive on their own and experience the inspiration and true power that is birthed from a womb of fair exchange, this would change the world.
If wisdom is as Confucius states experience and reflection, then I am growing wise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_fraud provides information and external reporting links.
It is the space between the extra and the ordinary that fulfills our existance, that shifts our perspective and allows for growth. I shall define a few other borders in a tale of extremes that may give you a greater perspective- the border between order and chaos, the border between the real and the imagined, the border between sane and insane. Life is the journey along the borders where inspiration is birthed between two destinations of here and there. The inspirational moments occur when the world is quiet for you to hear yourself think, your inner voice. The quieting that gives you the final push to expand maybe triggered by an event, a poem, an idea, a piece of music, a person or a crisis. The greater the message or inspiration the quieter the world must become. Expect the greatest insights paired with the greatest challenge. Look for them and embrace them for in these moments are the joys of life.
Our dreams, fantasies and desires are the extra from our ordinary. The media, movie stars and famous musicians all try to capture this extra from the average. The ordinary is common and then the extra becomes common so the place of growth and expansion is at the border.
What shall I find on the border? Behind you stands the guards laden with guilt and resentment of the past. This protective calvary of “what if” and “if only” statements. “What if it could have been different”; “if only they had not acted that way”. In this mindset, someone has made a mistake….you, another person or God has screwed up the plan. Then ahead of you lays your fears that guard the future. Fear statement ring loud- “I am scared to say this and follow my heart for fear of hurting myself or others. I can hardly admit this to myself, let alone tell someone else and move forward. I don’t deserve this.”
There are no mistakes and finding the courage to cross the guarded border is the liberation you seek. The turmoil and resistance in your mind is reflected in your body and your environment. This is the point at the edge of the cliff when you are about to jump, develop a incurable virus or cancer, or another life ‘crisis’ that forces one to move inward to find their spirit. Understanding of this journey melts victimization in the current event. A global health crisis, a country’s political unrest, destruction of a city, a death in the family, emotional upheaval in the individual are examples of these borders to which I refer.
After my seminar recently a man says to me, “If I accept this way of thinking, manipulating my mind to see the opportunity in the obstacle, then shit, I can no longer play victim in these circumstances. What kind of mind altering drug is this?” A friend replies, “yes, this happened to me too, next time take the blue pill it is easier on the head and keeps you away from the border.” 
It is just when you think your life is over that there is a major shift in awareness and a new level of thinking and behaving. In essence, life is over as you know it and allowing the extra to emerge is the joy de vie. A bird hatching, a snake shedding its skin, a baby birthing are borders of crossing, complete with the pains and shell breaking enthusiasm associated with the rites of passage.
As a birthing mother I remember thinking at a point I was about to die in childbirth but in this same moment a baby is born. As I am preparing to cancel my teaching seminar, the most inspirational person arrives. At times when I have felt life is not worth living, I am granted the most profound insights. Thank you God for the borders for in these moments I am alive.
Our words are the connection between our imagined thoughts and our actions of reality. They reflect our thoughts, allow us to communicate with our environment and seed the earth to grow our destiny. Thus, transforming our language is the most efficient blueprint to creating our dreams and desires.
The written word of ancient texts, great leaders, authors and poets are celebrated for the impact on individuals and nations. Words that relay knowledge, spark inspiration and awaken truths survive centuries. An idea represented in a sentence with a subject, a verb and a noun sets the stage for designing to whom the idea is directed, the action accomplished and a description of that action. When woven together in this way an affirmation is birthed. An affirmation is the assertion that the idea or thought exists. As it exists then it is real.
Google has millions of articles tagged for the word affirmation, the multitude law of attraction writers and others in the self help industry have books and manuals of affirmations to greatness, suggesting the boundless sea of possibilities. Programming and reprogramming the words and sentences you use brings shape to the shapeless, hope to the hopeless and power to the powerless.
Affirmation Appetizers:
“I love and approve of myself. I am at peace. I am calm. All is well.” Louise Hay
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour.” Sir Winston Churchill
The intention of these affirmations, whether for an individual or a country, source the power to change beliefs and thoughts and create new realities. There are a few commonalities among the most powerful affirmations:
1. Let it be in the present tense as if it is happening now. It is in this moment that choices are made that erase the past and designs a destiny for the future.
2. Use words and thoughts that you love without drawing energy to that which you do not. “I have divine health” vs. “I do not want to be sick.”
3. Short, clear, detailed affirmations makes it easier to focus, encode and manifest.
The world is an abundance of endless possibilities. Choose all that you love and dream big! Donald Trump says too many people are caught up in the current situation or perceived problem that they lose the ability to envision a solution….dream up scenarios, take the best ideas, write them down and act on them.
“All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusky recesses of thier minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.” T.E. Lawrence.
Affirm then act to abundance.
Respectfully submitted
Dr. Dena Churchill
Wisdom as an academic accomplishment or a stage in development?
Wisdom as in a sage with special knowledge?
Wisdom as a biblical biography or philosophical principle?
What is wisdom and where do we find it?
To explore the literature, entertain the declared “wise” and to seek my own heart I have came to a few conclusions.
Literature
Psychologists label wisdom as a stage in development. Erik Erikson defines wisdom as the last stage of human development at approximately sixty five years old to death in which individuals solve a conflict between integrity and despair. Although this age specification is limiting, I do like the identity crisis mantra… “I am what survives me”. My interpretation of this is that we are our own worst enemy. This sounds wise.
Christianity and Islam doctrines maintain that “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”(proverb 1:7) Even though I grew up in a Christian family, I am having trouble understanding how fear and wisdom go together but perhaps I may extrapolate that the fear of the unknown is admitting that there is always more to learn and it is connecting with this emotion of fear that stimulates further growth. This too sounds wise.
Eastern philosophies and religions use the terms of knowledge, learning and consciousness in defining wisdom:
Aristotle says wisdom is the knowledge of causes, why things exist as they do.
Plato defines wisdom as the knowledge of good and courage to act accordingly.
Nicholas Maxwell a modern philosopher says “anyone who discusses wisdom without having a clear philosophical understanding is the blind leading the blind”.
Aristotle’s definition is too academic, Maxwell deems only a certain select few to possess this gift of wisdom and Plato suggests that only knowledge of good is wise assuming perhaps good as a relative reference point to his own values.
Confucius states that wisdom is the love of learning through “reflection(the nobelest), imitation (the easiest) and experience (the bitterest). In this example the love of learning is akin to wisdom so it is a resource open for all without any limitation. Abiding by the highest good with a clear conscience and a clear character is a gem of wisdom.
“Wise Men”
Solomon was proclaimed a wise man as he worked well within others ideas and values. Einstein was also given this title of wise working outside the box with new ideas and formulas. But wise here seems to suggest it is done, elevating this persons knowledge and learning above our own. These men I honor as having sought and shared tremendous amounts of information, transforming thoughts and beliefs within their fields of expertise. However, in a flash, Solomon lost his entire Kingdom and Einstein could not tie his own shoes so that even the proclaimed wise have more to learn.
My thoughts
If I were writing a wisdom book I would say wisdom is a resource- recyclable, reusable and renewable available to anyone that takes the time to seek…..a lake of knowledge and information. The “hurray I am wise at sixty-five” boundries are entertaining but as consciousness is expanding, I’m calling for a revision. Socrates wise comment is one of humble confidence in claiming to know that he did not know. In this path you are always a seeker, no more or less wise than any other. Learning and discovering the world at your own pace. It has been said that understanding is to “stand under” in this place of humility and grace, knowledge flows to us. It is a pre-occupation with self awareness (the ego) that takes us on a different journey but when you are focused on learning, seeking and teaching for a greater purpose outside yourself then too shall your wisdom expand accordingly.
A friend once sent me a poem that caressed the words of Confucius, captured the heart of Socrates and could have been a verse in the tao….one day, I hope she will share it with the world. “The truely wise make little of their own wisdom for the more they know the more they realize how little they know”. Tao Te Ching.
Respectfully Submitted
Dr. Dena Churchill
Workshop
In this one day seminar you will delve into the ancient philosophies of the duality in life. Discover the keys and locks from stress to success. Design your miracle in health, family, finances or career. Exploring universal concepts and natural laws is knowledge but finding the personal application is wisdom. Are you living your dreams? www.optimyz.ca/mind/139
This 14 hour workshop will include an introduction to the Demartini Method. more info at www.drdemartini.com
Seating is limited. To register please call 902-455-9233 or email dr.dena@ns.aliantzinc.ca
Agenda
Saturday morning we will be observing life through the nervous system and metaphoring wave principles of light and thermodynamics; factors that influence our perception; why thoughts affect your reality and how to hear your purpose.
Morning break 10am, Lunch break 1:00-2:30
Late afternoon into the evening each attendee will be completing a workbook, detailing your own miracle. Through the tool of the Demartini Method you will learn the questions to ask yourself to disolve any obstacle that stands in the way of you creating the life you love.
Take home your power with instruments to help you moblize energy from your body and mind.
There will be no official planned supper break as it often slows the momentum of the work, but you are encouraged to bring quiet energy foods into the evening portion.
Thank you for your interest. This will be a seminar like no other that will change your life. To register, please call Betty Lou 902-455-9233 to secure your seat.
As I am collecting data for a mind-body research project, attendees may choose to have a complimentary spinal thermography scan (using NASA certified space technology) to evaluate autonomic nervous system function before and after the seminar.
Any further questions or comments, please e-mail me directly at dr.dena@ns.aliantzinc.ca
Next Seminar to be announced 8am-10pm, $250
Love you to attend!
“With just breath, soul and courage, the man achieved a life to be admired.” Upanishads
Breathing is the essence of life. Athletes and yogis know how to work with their breath, but many adults have forgotten the powerful, natural breathing we all understood at birth. A few insights:
Breath is energy. Inhalation is the transport of oxygen to the cells where it reacts with glucose to give water, carbon dioxide and an energy molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Breath optimizes performance. During an endurance event, the body requires an efficient ATP (energy) supply derived from oxygen intake. The inhaled oxygen enhances performance while exhaling carbon dioxide and nitric oxide improve flexibility and recovery times.
Breath is healing. Many illnesses are associated with inefficient breathing which has a negative effect on many physiological functions. Acid reflux, anxiety, depression, weight gain and cardiovascular and kidney disease are a few conditions that may improve with more efficient breathing.
Breath is divine. The yoga literature on breath unites these scientific truths from the microcosmic cell to the macrocosmic universe. When we breath, we share the same atoms that were created in the stars and now circulate in our own atmosphere. Metaphysically, this sharing of energy connects each of us to a greater cosmic commodity.
Breathing consciously generates vital ATP energy. Through inhalation you experience your full potential. Exhalation is the act of surrending or realeasing all you are to the universe. With practise, you can control your physiology through your breath, calming mental chatter, lowering blood pressure and heart rate, releasing lactic acid from your tissues and increasing your metabolism.
Take time for a performance breath:
1. Lie on your back or sit in a comfortable position with your natural spinal curves maintained or supported, with hands palms up on the floor beside you or on your lap.
2. Inhale slowly through your nose for a full four to five seconds. Stay aware of the feel of your breath as it passes through your nostrils, slowly expands your rib cage filling your lungs and finally pushes into your abdomen so you can see and feel your belly rise with air. Then hold this full inhale for a few seconds.
3. Gently release your breath through the nose, slowly bringing awareness and focus then following it with your mind in the reverse order- from belly depressing to the lungs relaxing. Notice the quality and quantity of air as you exhale. Hold the exhale for a few seconds at the very end until your body again calls for air. The pause at the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale creates a quieting of the mind into a present meditative moment.
4. With your eyes closed, gently imagine each cell relaxing as it is massaged by the breath as it sweeps through you.
5. Repeat this three times for energy, five times for relaxation and eight times for great love-making.
Dr. Dena Churchill (published in Optimyz 2008)
Accessing the mind-body connection is one of the most powerful ways to encourage healing
The very first healers-the medicine men and women of the community-were also the spiritual leaders. Even the fathers of modern medicine such as Hippocrates (1540’s) and William Falconer(1744-1824) incorporated emotions into their understanding of ill health and disease. It was only in the Scientific revolution in the 19th century that divided emotional and physical health. The advent of the microscope and the stethoscope fragmented a whole organism into its cellular parts.
Today, the pendulum is swinging back the other way. Through advanced technologies, we can now measure emotions and their effect on cellular tissue. We are once again uniting emotional and physical well-being in many disciplines: and although we are just beginning to understand the powerful links between the mind and the body, I am continuously in awe of this process. I am no longer surprised when tears of emotional healing well up during my clinical practise, as I participate in my patients’ journey of transformation.
Grateful tears contain chemicals and hormones such as manganese and prolactin that decrease depression and help return the body to a balanced more stable state. An emotional response stimulates the nervous system to cause the lacrimal glands to release these healing tears.
The nervous system through a series of neuron depolarizations and neurotransmitter cascades, is the physiological connection between emotion and disease. Measuring changes in nervous system function can provide quantifiable data about the healing process. (For instance, Drs. Patrick Gentempo and Christopher Kent, founders of the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance, developed a technology which provides measurements of the autonomic and motor nervous system before and after a series of healing sessions.)
I have noticed within my chiropractic practise that a spinal adjustment will sometimes trigger an emotional response. This observation has been the impetus to work with clients, collect data and use the tools of chiropractic mentors, like Dr. John Demartini. The Demartini Method is an efficient process in which the client answers a series of predetermined questions that helps alter their perception of a given person or event. The rational is that if we assume emotional stress to be our perception of a given event then altering our perception has the potential to dissolve this stressor. The final step- embracing gratitude for the stressor- is the place where the mind and body reach equilibrium. Breathing regulates, hormones are balanced, the nervous system calms down and true healing happens from the inside out in this moment of homeostasis.
Many of you will have experienced this channel of information when your heart is open and you lay your hands upon another. It is this intuitive sense-this communion of mind and body-that allows our spirit to heal, transform and evolve. A healer who approaches a patient with a loving heart, an open non-judgemental spirit and a respect for the ability of the mind and body to heal itself, will witness miracles in tears of healing.