Monthly Archives: May 2013

This is really something – The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra, with instruments put together from recycled materials by kids who can’t afford to play any other way.  And what music they make!  Check it out. 

Hello again.

Well, imagine our surprise when perusing the data bases of Pubmed for the latest guided imagery research, we found a U of Michigan pilot study assessing the effects of our Healthful Sleep imagery on sleep disruption and systemic inflammation in the ICU and step-down unit, following cardiac surgery (the CABG and valve replacement variety).

Even though it was a small RCT – only 20 patients in the experimental group and 20 controls – it was impeccably analyzed and written up, showing positive effects of the imagery over time, falling just short of significance.  The investigators recommend guided imagery as an adjunctive resource to remediate sleep troubles and inflammation in this post-op population, and make the case for a larger study.

You can see the full write-up on this week’s research page, here.

I’m completely nuts about Ellen Bass’ poetry. No matter how many times I read one of her poems, it pierces me freshly each time.  Just stunning.  Wow! 

So I just had to post this power-packed little gem again.  It’s from The Human Line, a book I’ve given as a gift more times than I can count.
 
Is it just me?  Can’t be…

If You Knew

What if you knew you'd be the last
to touch someone?
If you were taking tickets, for example,
at the theater, tearing them,
giving back the ragged stubs,
you might take care to touch that palm,
brush your fingertips
along the life line's crease.

When a man pulls his wheeled suitcase
too slowly through the airport, when
the car in front of me doesn't signal,
when the clerk at the pharmacy
won't say Thank you, I don't remember
they're going to die.

A friend told me she'd been with her aunt.
They'd just had lunch and the waiter,
a young gay man with plum black eyes,
joked as he served the coffee, kissed
her aunt's powdered cheek when they left.
Then they walked a half a block and her aunt
dropped dead on the sidewalk.

How close does the dragon's spume
have to come? How wide does the crack
in heaven have to split?
What would people look like
if we could see them as they are,
soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
reckless, pinned against time?

"If You Knew" by Ellen Bass, from The Human Line. © Copper Canyon Press, 2007.

Belleruth,

First off, thank you for your Successful Surgery series.  I downloaded the files and immediately started listening a week before surgery.  My prostate surgery was very successful (my progressive surgeon allowed my iPod in the operating room where I was able to listen and relax!) and my recovery is moving along very nicely. As far as I'm concerned, the guided imagery made all the difference!  

I’m writing because after 6 months, my 87 yr old mother-in-law is just coming to terms with the loss of her husband and best friend after almost 65 yrs of marriage.  She suffers with anxiety, nausea, and loss of appetite. 

Do you have a recommendation for which CD would be appropriate, to help her through this time of transition and realization of the profoundness of her loss?

Thank you and God bless you!

Matt

Investigators from Tianjin Medical University’s School of Nursing in Tianjin, China, conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of yoga on psychological health and quality of life (QoL) in women with breast cancer.

A systematic search was done using PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and the Chinese Digital Journals Full-text Database. Analysts used randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the effects of yoga as compared to a control group (treatment as usual or TAU), on psychological functioning and QoL in women with breast cancer.

Six studies involving 382 patients were included for review. The meta-analysis revealed that yoga improves quality of life for women with breast cancer, yielding a statistically significant effect (p=0.03, standard mean difference = 0.27, 95% confidence interval [0.02, 0.52]).

Well, our new catalog is out, and has probably reached most of you who are on our snail mail list.  Let us know if you want a hard copy and didn’t get one.  And of course, you can always download a pdf file here.

I’m really happy with the new titles the staff picked out.  The impeccable Dr. Carol Ginandes has a terrific, new, double CD set for hypertension, Perfect Pressure, Healthy Heart: A Systematic Hypnotic Approach for High Blood Pressure which is simply first rate.

We’ve got Dr. Rubin Naiman’s extraordinary The Yoga of Sleep – another double CD set - that offers insights and meditations from both the science of sleep and the sacred meaning of sleep. Wow. I’ve never heard anything quite like it.

We also have 3 marvelous, new offerings for kids by Mellisa Dormoy, for building up inner resources and empowerment for dealing with grief (Healing the Hurt), anger and impulse management (Relaxed and In Control) and difficulties with concentration and focus (Calm and Clarity).

As Director of Operations, “Health Journeys, Can I help you?” has rolled off my tongue for over 17 years.  Frankly, I wouldn’t want it any other way.   After graduating from Kent State University, I was working in a restaurant when I received notice it would be closing.  As many of you can easily imagine, the stress of that impending blow weighed heavily – and to help, my sister loaned me her copy of Health Journeys’ Relieve Stress CD.  After listening to it a few times, I knew what I needed to do – I told my sister that I NEEDED to work for Belleruth.  (Fortunately for me, it was a locally-based company. Though sure, a more warm and sunny location might have been nice!)   So to make a long story short, we put my resume together and mailed it in.  Three weeks later I was sitting in the office for an interview, and as they say, the rest is history.

I have a Degree in Psychology so the mind-body connection has always been fascinating to me.  The connections I’ve made and stories people have shared with me over the years just affirms that this is what I was supposed to do and where I’m supposed to be. 

I snatched this exuberant, Dr. Seuss-like poem by Lynne Newman from our new Health Journeys blog.  

I’ve known Lynne for decades now.  She’s a gifted practitioner and a very special dame.  It’s been a pleasure to share her work with so many of you.

And speaking of her work, all of you Lynne Newman fans – you know who you are and you are legion - will be delighted to hear that she’s got a new audio on forgiveness coming out soon, and we’ll be offering it here shortly.  So stay tuned.

But for now, here’s Lynne’s poem:

NO BOX FOR ME!

Within the box I cannot breathe,
I cannot feel, I cannot see!
Within the box I cease to be
I am not whole, I am not me!

I take a risk,
remove the lid
and when I peek,
 I'm glad I did!

Born again,
to a whole new world…
I'm an out of the box
kind of girl!    

As the lid comes off, a world appears
I fly free with no more fears!
No longer bound to others' ways,
I can just be myself today!

I AM A GIFT TO THE WORLD!

Lynne Newman

Dutch researchers from Emma Children’s Hospital in Amsterdam reviewed the literature to see if gut-directed hypnotherapy was as effective for children as it is for adults suffering from functional abdominal pain (FAP) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Investigators searched Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for randomized controlled trials (RCT) with child subjects with FAP or IBS. They looked at the efficacy of hypnotherapy on abdominal pain, quality of life, treatment costs and school absenteeism.

Dear Belleruth,

I am looking for a recommendation for my 8 year old daughter.  Since the Boston Marathon bombings (we weren't there), she has had a terrible fear of bad people.  She can't sleep at night and is in our bedroom every night.  Guided imagery has helped me in the past, so I thought I would try it with her.  Can you recommend a CD (preferably downloadable so we can start it immediately)?

Thank you for your help.

Karla