In this fast- paced world, it can feel as though there are more demands on our time that ever before.  Juggling career, family, and home responsibilities and the day-to-day challenges that go along with them, seems to take all of our energy, leaving none for ourselves.  However, if we empty our own reserves, we are less able to take care of ourselves let alone others in our lives.

There are times in life when we need a helping hand – someone or something to help us get back up and continue forward. Natural Spiritual Healing is a highly effective way of helping to restore balance on all levels and give our overall energy system a boost.  Individuals suffering from disease or illness benefit from healing as it strengthens the immune system and helps speed recovery as the body’s own healing mechanisms are enhanced.  Those struggling with stress find that they feel more settled within and are more balanced emotionally.  

At other times, it may help to talk to a professionally trained counselor to help us better understand ourselves and explore issues at a greater depth.  We often have a sense of what to do or where the problem lies; it is learning to access our own inner wisdom that will assist us in moving forward to live the life we want.

Life does not have to be a struggle – we can reach out for help when needed and learn tools that will help us lead a more balanced and happier life.

Antony Fentiman

Qi Integrated Health

There seems to be a lot of confusion and controversy surrounding the topic of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.  Here is my opinion:  don’t get vaccinated.  I’m not.  This is a flu virus.  The human immune system is set up to adapt to new strains of viruses all of the time.  This is how it learns.  Statistics show no increase in yearly deaths related to the influenza virus worldwide; we are at the normal average calculated over the last 20 years.  Other studies show that flu vaccines don’t even work.  Media has blown the death toll numbers out of proportion.  Of the 3,600 deaths being reported, only 257 are listed on the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s website as having tested positive for the virus whereas the rest were deaths related to pneumonia, a bacterial complication.

To me, the risks involved in getting the flu shot far outweigh any potential (not even proven) benefit.

New studies out of China have found that the Indigo plant, from which 3 Chinese herbs (Qing Dai, Da Qing Ye and Ban Lan Gen) are derived, has been effective in treating the swine flu.  These herbs have been known for some time in Chinese Medicine to be antiviral agents.

Here is a website with a good summary of reasons not to get vaccinated: http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2009/11/Whole+Living/What-the-F?page=1

I was sent the links to the following series of youtube videos.  I imagine being Dr. Null, knowing all that information, would be somewhat frustrating.

Part 1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3XlJB7J5-o&NR=1Part 2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch5OuzB9L48Part 3.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAgWO2yq1k8&NR=1

I would like to dispel some misconceptions about counselling and psychotherapy (words that will be used interchangeably here):

1) Going to psychotherapy doesn’t mean that you are psychotic or that you will be diagnosed as a psychopath. “Normal” people go for counselling and psychotherapy to feel supported and get help with their lives.

2) Going for counselling or psychotherapy doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you. Sometimes there are obstacles between how your life is now and how brilliantly sane you really are. Then we work to remove those obstacles. Whether or not there are obstacles it also helps, categorically, to have someone to see your brilliant sanity and reflect it back to you.

3) I am not, as a Registered Clinical Counsellor, going to prescribe medications. Although medications are helpful for some peoples’ mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing, you will need to speak to your doctor or psychiatrist if you are seeking pharmacological or medical support. If you feel it would be particularly supportive to see additional healthcare professionals (i.e., acupuncturists, herbalists, massage therapists, chiropractors, naturopaths, etc.), with your written consent I am happy to consult with them and work as part of a team on behalf of your wellbeing. In psychotherapy, the therapeutic relationship is the medicine.

4) Psychotherapy does not have to be about finding what’s wrong with you or your life. Psychopathology is what we, as psychotherapists, call “what’s awry” in peoples’ personalities and moods. Psyche means, “the vital principle or animating force within living beings, and pathology means, “a departure or deviation from a normal condition.” (Normal is more accurately described as “commonly accepted” here). Sometimes there are things awry and we can work to improve those conditions. That doesn’t change the fact that you are fundamentally and brilliantly sane, and that that sanity can justifiably be the focus of psychotherapy.

5) Psychotherapy is most accurately translated as “healing of the mind, spirit, and animating principle.”  

Everyone needs support sometimes. It can help to talk to someone who is going to listen and be there just for you. A counselling or psychotherapy session is just that - a time just for you. 

It can be equally helpful for you to have a therapist who can be a reliable source of comfort not because then you will have to depend on them, but because then you can depend on them. When you have a counsellor, you can count on having a stable, warm and kind force in your life. You don’t need to do it alone. 

What you find has been wounded in relationship can be, and some would say needs to be, healed through relationship. A psychotherapeutic relationship is a healing relationship.

You can use the counselling session to explore your thoughts, feelings, sensations and emotions. This is a time when you can feel your way through your whole life, whether your experiences seem to be positive, negative or neutral. You may just begin to feel as though you are living more fully!

Marlise Meilan, M.A., R.C.C., Contemplative Psychotherapist (Buddhist Mental Health Therapist). 

By Dr. Robin Armstrong, Vancouver Chiropractor at Qi

It is an epidemic keeping workers off the job, increasing the strain on the medical system, and a contributing factor to depression.  It’s low back pain.  This might sound like the beginning of a ‘downer’ article but the good news is spinal manipulation, conventionally known as chiropractic, has been shown to be extremely effective in the management of acute (new)  and chronic (old) low back pain.

Last year, the American College of Physicians published their clinical guidelines in the Annals of Internal Medicine regarding treatment of low back pain.  They recommended the use of non-pharmacologic (without drugs) therapy with proven benefits.  Top of the list for both acute and chronic low back pain, was spinal manipulation, or chiropractic adjustments.

Chiropractic has been studied time and time again and shown to be extremely effective at managing and treating the pain and dysfunction associated with low back pain.

Do you have questions about how you might benefit from chiropractic?  Call our Vancouver office to ask.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Robin Armstrong - Chiropractic ~ Active Release Technique ~ Custom Foot Orthotics ~ Rehabilitative Exercise