Granville Gorge During a Rain Storm

By Becky La Plante, L.Ac.
 www.elementaltransformation.com 

After 4 days of rain and during a holiday weekend on top of it, we are all cursing the rain and sick of the cold weather. But, when was the last time you slept in being soothed by the white noise of the rain outside, or spent a holiday at home rather than out and about shopping and active?

Rain is an opportunity to go with in and be quiet. In Chinese Medicine, rain is very yin and yin symbolizes the internal, the feminine, the unknown, the water element. 


After being back for a year from Southern California, I have notice that it is only the sunny clear days we appreciate, and the rest of the days that aren't sunny we complain about. Before I moved to Southern California many years ago, I loved nature, but I wasn't fully appreciative of different flavors of the seasons and the elements. It took 11 years of living in a city with only a few rain showers a year, a month of cloudy mornings and a regular forecast of SUNNY days to have me truly appreciating the rain. 

I have taken many classes for wilderness survival skills and the philosophy of living with the earth, and if it was raining for the whole week, there were no other options other than suck it up and get wet and dirty. At first it was hard, cold, uncomfortable, but after a while we got use to it and it turned out to be just like any day and a very bonding experience. 

There is something so freeing to be able to be comfortable in the elements like the animals and to realize that we as humans are tougher and more resistant than we give ourselves credit for, and we are missing out on a whole other side of life. 

So I challenge you to put on some warm clothes, a little rain gear at first, and take a walk in the rain. It is very healing and we all need to toughen up a little and appreciate all states of life even if they are uncomfortable at first. Explore what is beyond your comfort zone! And most important of all, it's the sunny crisp, clear days after the storm that are the most memorable, and as I always remind myself. "You can't experience the light without having experienced the darkness." 

Below is a link to how the negative ions created from the breaking of the water molecules actually causes well being and healing to our physical and mental bodies. Enjoy! 
http://www.iriswellbeing.com/negative_ions.html

By Becky La Plante, L.Ac., Granby CT

Feeling grumpy? Worried about your finances, the state of the world, your health? It is time for our society to start taking responsibility for our health in a free natural way! 

Research has found that making your self smile, by engaging the facial muscles, while and thinking about something that makes you happy will send a message to your brain that you are actually happy. The process of mimicking the facial expressions of an emotion can fool your self into feeling the actual emotion. This then eventually can improve your mood causing the many health benefits such as improved immune function and reduced blood pressure and more listed below.  

Another positive effect of smiling is that it will up lift the mood of the people around your through a process called emotional contagon. Emotional contagon is the tendency for humans and animals to mimic facial expressions, emotions, postures and movements of the people they are around.  That means feeling good and smiling is just as infectious as feeling grumpy and negative.  

Frowning and negative thinking causes actual physical responses such as the production ofcortisol (the stress hormone) and while smiling and laughing stimulates the production of serotonin (the "feel good" hormone.)

LAUGHING

Humor therapy or laugh therapy -the use of humor for the relief of physical or emotional pain and stress. It is used as a complementary method to promote health and cope with illness.  Humor therapy helps reduce the negative effects of feeling unhealthy, out of control, afraid, or helpless, which are common problems for those with cancer or chronic diseases.

Humor therapy is used regularly along with conventional medicine at hospitals and cancer treatment centers and involves methods such as movies, audio recordings, books, games, and puzzles to induce laughter and joy of which had many befefits of which are listed below.

BENEFITS OF SMILING AND LAUGHING

• Lowered production of stress hormones.
• Relaxation and reduction in muscle tension
• Improved immune system function.
• Reduction in blood pressure.
• Reduction of blood sugar
• Clearing the lungs by dislodging mucous plugs.
• Increasing the production of salivary immunoglobulin A, which defends against infectious organisms that enter through the respiratory tract.
• Aerobic effects that increased the body's ability to utilize oxygen.
• A rapid ability to disregard aches and pains or to perceive them as less severe, increasing pain tolerance by stimulating the release of endorphins.
• Makes you look and feel younger and more attractive causing others to respond to you in a positive way.

References:  

Diabetes Care May 2003;26:1651-1652

Anahad O'Conner, The Claim: A Fake Smile Can be Bad for Your Health

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/health/22really.html

Martin H Brutsche, Paul Grossman, Rebekka E Müller, Jan Wiegand, Pello, Florent Baty, and Willibald Ruch. "Impact of Laughter on Air Trapping in Severe Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease."2008

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528214/?tool=pmcentrez

Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, "Smile and Others Smile with You: Health Benefits, Emotional Contagion, and Mimicry," September 27, 2008.

http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/emiliya-zhivotovskaya/200809271036 

Joni Holderman, "A Geniune Found Smile Improve Health, Happiness," June 15, 2010.


http://mentalhealthnews.org/a-genuine-smile-found-to-improve-health-happiness/84834/ 

Paul E. McGhee, PhD. "Use Your Amuse System to Boost Your Immune System

Humor Your Tumor"

Paul E. McGhee, PhD. "Laughter Using Humor to Cope Part 1: Laughing in the Midst of Stress"

Paul E. McGhee, PhD. "Prescription for Pain Reduction"

Paul E. McGhee, PhD. "Using Humor to Cope Part 2: Humor in Concentration/POW Camps"

Paul E. McGhee, PhD. "Emotion: The Key to the Mind's Influence on Health"

Paul E. McGhee, PhD. "Impact of Negative Emotion on Survival"

www.LaughterRemedy.com

 

http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/MindBodyandSpirit/humor-therapy

Do you remember the last time you sat in your yard and noticed the flowers or the trees that you pass by everyday, or even the birds and animals busy with their day to day activities? It is easy to miss the beauty of nature around us when living in the city, driving in traffic, struggling to pay the bills, and then coming home to de-stress from the day with some form of media.

We spend more and more money every day on medications for insomnia, blood pressure, anxiety and depression and more, not aware of the possibility that just turning off the TV or computer and going outside can be the cure of many of our ailments.  The research suggests that this disconnect with nature and its elements may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and psychological imbalances.

Studies show that being out in nature contributes to relaxation and an increased sense of well-being, restoration of mental clarity, physical health and healing, decreased recovery time from surgery, and decreased A.D.D. and A.D.H.D. symptoms in children. They also show that walking barefoot or sitting on the earth has benefits too common disorders including sleep disorders, pain and inflammation, chronic stress, and cardiovascular disease.

There are many gems that nature has to offer us, including herbal medicine. Herbs have been used for thousands of years and most of the time the most beneficial herbs for us are usually growing in our own back yard.  

Go ahead and try the free and simple medicine experiencing nature has to offer and notice the difference in your health and well-being. Take 20 minutes a day, as many days a week, and just sit outside or walk barefoot on the grass, go to a local park and sit next to a tree, or even go for a hike in the mountains.  Notice the plants around you; you never know what medicinal qualities they may have to offer you. 

Becky La Plante, L.Ac. 


References:

Journal of Environmental and Public HealthVolume 2012 (2012), Article ID 291541, 8 pages doi:10.1155/2012/291541

Psychological Benefits of Nature Experiences: An Outline of Research and Theory

With Special Reference to Transpersonal Psychology John Davis, Ph.D. http://www.johnvdavis.com/ep/Psy%20benefits%20of%20n%207-04.pdf