Jour 1189 Blog # 5: Holistic Health Community Heats Up

On February 27, 2009 --- a bitterly cold day --- Anoka Ramsey Community College, offered members of the integrative health community an opportunity to shake off the winter doldrums through its second annual Holistic Therapies: Energizing Body, Mind and Spirit conference.

Chunyi Lin, creator of Spring Forest Qi Gong, delivered the morning keynote speech and led attendees through an afternoon meditation. Attendee Sarah Kirchner had this to say about Mr. Lin and the meditation: “He gave such a good message and was very informative, and the meditation he helped with was awesome.”

Breakout sessions followed the morning keynote speech. Participants could choose four from among eight breakout sessions to attend. I’ve summarized the four I’d chosen.


Annie Heiderscheit Ph. D. MT-BC, FAMI, MFT presented “Music Therapy: Music for Health.” Heiderscheit described some of the techniques and music used when treating people with eating disorders. She played a song chosen by a patient as a part of her therapy that warmed my heart, Superchicks “Stand in the Rain.” I’d always thought of music therapy as just listening to specific types of music; I hadn’t realized the level of involvement a music therapist can have in treating patients.


During the “The Role of the Labyrinth” session, Ellen Schultz discussed various common labyrinth patterns, origins and the use of the labyrinth as a resource for healing. Labyrinths can be used for healing individuals, relationships and communities. According to Schultz, there is no one way or right way to walk a labyrinth. Begin with a question, prayer or intention, and as you walk toward the center, you may receive an answer. To my surprise, my geographic community of Plymouth has a labyrinth, which I hope to visit when it warms up. I already know the question I’ll ask: “How do I become a super-hot blogstar?” Use the Worldwide Labyrinth Locater to find a labyrinth near you.
(Photo by celesteh)


The conference boasted a special guest, Sasha. Sasha is a Samoyed and a therapy dog. During the “Shedding Angels Can be Therapeutic” breakout, her teammate, Dave Kettering, presented the topic of animal assisted therapy (AAT) and how it can be used in the healing process. For example, Kettering and Sasha visit children who are hospitalized. There are a number of different organizations and certification levels for AAT. Kettering and Sasha are Delta Society registered at a Complex level with no restrictions. Because of this team’s special designation, they were able to serve families affected by the 2007 35W bridge collapse. It was heart-warming to hear the difference Kettering and Sasha have made in people’s lives. Some day, I hope to take therapy dog training with Zoey, but I don’t expect we’ll make it to Sasha and Kettering’s level. (Photo of Samoyed by tanakawho)


Colin Snow, founder of Natural Step School of Tai Chi and Qigong, presented “Tai Chi Chuan.” Snow described Tai Chi as “meditation in movement”, stated it has its roots in Daoism, and may have arisen from the need for a non-violent martial arts. As a part of his session, he led participants through some simple Tai Chi movements. This was my last breakout of the day, and a great way to warm up after spending hours mostly chair bound. (Photo by networker)

Though cold and dreary outside, the conference attendees were warmed and energized by a day of learning about holistic therapies. Kirchner summed up her reaction: “I thought that the health conference was very enlightening and insightful. I felt that I obtained more knowledge in different areas.” I hope I’m able to attend next year, though I do hope it’s not so cold!

Jour 1189 Blog # 3: Community Concerns

The sky was overcast, and a cold wind iced the air at Parkers Lake in Plymouth. People of all ages, with friends and family, watched a carver create a Fire and Ice logo out of a huge block of ice. Sled dogs streaked across the frozen lake, while ice skaters glided over its groomed surface. I stepped inside the brick warming house, and felt enveloped in warmth. Families were putting on or removing their skates. A few picnickers enjoyed sandwiches. I spied a table with a Music in Plymouth poster sitting on it, and headed over see what it’s about. A well-dressed, auburn haired woman was manning the table. She’s with the Music in Plymouth organization. We struck up a conversation about her organization. Barb noted that it accepts donations. She mentioned she understands how the economy is these days, and I can tell she didn’t like to ask for donations. Barb is a real estate agent, and she had never seen such slow home sales. She expressed amazement---she remembers some of the home sale closings she attended, and the mortgages! The buyers had no idea what they were getting into, the finance terms were so complex, and it was unlikely the buyers would be able to repay their mortgage. We commiserated for a few minutes. Barb handed me some literature, and I headed out to the cold once again.

The following week, on a crisp winter evening, I drove to Plymouth City Hall, a modern red brick and glass building, and located the City Chamber. The Chamber itself has a glass wall; proceedings are visible from the hallway, imparting the proverbial fishbowl effect. I attended a council meeting for the Plymouth Parks and Recreation Committee. The staff and council members appeared to be typical suburban men and women. City staff and council members reported on various topics. A couple of reports alluded to the state of the economy. Not all the news is bad; Eric mentioned there had been a “resurgence” in open ice skating sessions. Field house rentals have been picking up steam, surprising in this economy.

A couple of weeks ago, I went for a hair cut. The salon, housed in a small, boxy strip mall, was still chilly at 9:00 a.m. However, it was blessedly free from talk of the bad economy. The stylist, a vivacious red-head named Jaime, and I just chatted about what’s going on is our lives. She has a couple of good friends getting married. Jaime’s looking forward to their weddings. It was a nice change from talk of the bad economy!

People in the community seemed concerned for the future and for others. They’ve experienced downturns because of the recession, but overall, they seem to be getting by OK. There’s a sense of “hunkering down” and riding out these coldly uncertain times.

Journalism 1189 Blog #1

Now, just a bit about blogs. The term blog comes from “web log.” At its essence, a blog is an online journal, or log. A blog may be maintained by professional journalists, citizen journalists or ordinary people who have something they’d like to share. Ideally, the writer updates the blog frequently. Blog entries tend to be informal and conversational. The quality of thought and research going into the writing varies widely from blog to blog. There are well-written blogs representing the entire political spectrum; the opposite is also true.

Often readers respond to the writer’s blog entry through a comments section. The interaction allows readers to feel a part of the blog, and allows the writer to gain information and ideas from the readers, which can help create a conversational, interactive feel to the blog. A skillful blogger can create a sense of ownership and community for the readers through the effective use of comments.

Blogs often go beyond merely displaying text. Graphics and video enrich the readers’ experience. Links to other information such as relevant news stories and other writers’ blogs are common.

Compared to setting up and maintaining a web site, blogging is an easy and inexpensive way to share thoughts, opinions and media via the Internet. That’s one of my favorite things about blogging. It’s just so quick and easy to visit the blog site and add an entry, along with photos.

Though easy technically, blogging has its challenges. The major challenge I see is finding topics of general interest I might have some knowledge about, so I’ll know where to begin. I’ll struggle with writing style also. I’m more experienced in “technical” writing, where using passive voice, big words and long sentences is desired. It’s a bad habit I’ll need to break.

Writing for blogs is a helpful skill for anyone who wants to communicate effectively online --- I’m looking forward to learning more.