Tag Archives: prayer

Daylight Savings Time and spirituality

By Health, Notes from Bob Cummings, , , , , , , ,

(Photo courtesy of Flickr.com user ckaiserca)

A recent study found that sleep problems were noted after three-day weekends and Spring and Fall Daylight Savings time changes. Research has found that spirituality can help.

Daylight savings time (DST) was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin. Germany and England were the first countries to formally adopt DST. It was first enacted in the U.S. in March 19, 1918 with a law entitled, “An Act To save daylight and to provide standard time, for the United States.”

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Anatomy and mysterious Italian diseases?

By 4 commentsHealth, Notes from Bob Cummings, , , , , ,

DaVinci’s VITRUVIAN MAN (photo courtesy of Flickr.com user I BE GINZ)

“The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone…” That’s how the song goes.

Are you well versed in anatomy? I am most definitely not. My biology class in school covered the subject, but to this day, with a few exceptions, I just couldn’t tell you what bone is where. Most of them, I seem to never even have heard of. This handicaps me a bit when doing crossword puzzles and other word-based puzzles that use these words.

But recently I read an article online that suggests that this might actually be good for my health. Sound a little strange? Perhaps.

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Thinking and effective exercise

By Health, Notes from Bob Cummings, , , , , ,

Picture courtesy of Flickr user Jacobunny

When thought meets exercise, exercise is more beneficial.

“A particular mind-set or belief about one’s body or health may lead to improvements in disease symptoms as well as changes in appetite, brain chemicals and even vision, several recent studies have found, highlighting how fundamentally the mind and body are connected” writes Shirley S. Wang in an article in the Wall Street Journal today.

A 1999 study conducted by James A. Blumenthal, PhD at the Duke University Medical Center found that older patients with major depression experienced therapeutic benefits from an exercise program equal to what others received from antidepressant medication.

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Spirituality can relieve stress

By 4 commentsHealth, Notes from Bob Cummings, , , ,

Picture courtesy of flickr user Samael Kreutz

A 2010 Mayo Clinic article says that spirituality can help relieve stress.

And some ways it does this is by helping us feel a sense of purpose, connect to the world, release control and burden, expand our support network and lead a healthier life.

Spirituality means different things to different people. This article states, “spirituality takes the form of religious observance, prayer, meditation or a belief in a higher power. For others, it can be found in nature, music, art or a secular community. ”

Stress is mental and emotional strain resulting from excessive demands on our strength, abilities and resources. Doesn’t it follow then that what would help is a mental and emotional change for the better?

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A spiritual solution for holiday blues

By 3 commentsHealth, Notes from Bob Cummings, , , , , , , , ,

Another holiday season is upon us.  It’s supposed to be a joyous and festive time. But unfortunately for many, this season may come with feelings of loneliness or depression. There is, however, a spiritual solution for this.

A recent study¹ by the University of Michigan Health System published in Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing found that a nondenominational spiritual retreat could increase hope and reduce depression.

This got me to thinking of how beneficial it would be to have a “mini” spiritual retreat of sorts each day – a time to be calm and to think – to think of something good in our lives, to feel love for family and friends, to look beyond ourselves, focus on the connections we do have and to kindly consider others – a time to be quiet and to listen for inspiration.

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Cyber Health Day?

By Health, Notes from Bob Cummings, , , , , ,

Cyber Monday courtesy of Flickr user Geektonic

The Monday after Thanksgiving is known as Cyber Monday, which shoppers look forward to. But is there a Cyber Health Day?

I never used to be very interested in shopping on “Black Friday” (the day after Thanksgiving). But a few years ago my wife and I wanted to get a printer for a relative and we saw a good choice at a great price advertised for Black Friday so we got out to the store at 6:00 a.m.  We purchased the printer at the much-reduced price. And we purchased a number of other items, also at significant savings. As long as we were out-and-about we went to a couple of other stores nearby. Then we went out for breakfast. We were back home around 9:00 a.m. And we actually had fun doing all this.

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Taming impossibility

By Health, Notes from Bob Cummings, , , , , , , , ,

“What is now proved, was once only imagined.” – William Blake

Earlier this month Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of a new chemical structure called quasicrystals that researchers considered to be impossible. Initially the scientific community was reluctant to accept his discovery, to the point where he endured mockery and even expulsion from his research team. The Academy said that his discovery “fundamentally altered how chemists conceive of solid matter”. This recognition came with a $1.5 million award.

This news item got me to thinking about “possible” and “impossible”. It seems that we deem things to be impossible until we have evidence to the contrary. Man couldn’t fly, until of course, the Wright brothers proved that we could. It is impossible to run a mile in under 4 minutes – or so we thought, until Roger Bannister did this.

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Distant Healing and The Love Study

By Health, Notes from Bob Cummings, , ,

Can prayer improve the health of a distant person?

A study by the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that “prayer for others” was the second most widely used alternative therapy in 2002.

Have you heard of the “Love Study” conducted by The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)? This study was conducted to see if an effect from thought at a distance could be confirmed. It focused on finding measurable physical effects rather than on healing results.

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Health, groupthink & surprising news about lemmings

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Lemmings courtesy of Flickr user quikelopez

Did you know that the reputation lemmings have for committing mass suicide, mindlessly jumping off a cliff, is actually a misconception? I didn’t know that. More about this in a minute.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about destructive flash mob type activity: rioting and looting in England and more recently a flash mob robbery in Maryland in the U.S. This activity appears to be orchestrated through the use of social media.  

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