Puzzle Project has Healing Touch: Canadian Author Word Searched Her Way Through Rheumatoid Arthritis
by Cindy O’Neil

Art, colour, and puzzles are increasingly used as part of healing and therapy.

People interested in alternative forms of healing and therapy can discover how Canadian author Cindy O’Neil used art, colour, and word search puzzles to buoy her health during a long-term, life-altering health change, and at the same time, potentially help themselves.

July, 1999, marked the on-set of a long-term and life-altering health change for Cindy that bulldozed her performance career as a singer/songwriter/performer to a halt. It took over two years of dealing with intense full-body pain, muscle atrophy, physical disability, and weight loss before being diagnosed with severe, systemic rheumatoid arthritis in October, 2001.

Later in the winter of 2001, after having just been released from a month-long stay in hospital, Cindy began creating a unique book called Healing Circle Puzzles. Confined to her home by disability, healing became Cindy’s full-time job. She didn’t want to create just any puzzles, so decided they would only be in circles while integrating concepts of healing, connection, and art. In the process her pain and fear evaporated and she began to heal.

“Art is a powerful healing tool,” says Dr. Sean Ceaser, ND, from Victoria, BC. He knows “that colour, form, and line create a powerful impression on the senses that can have a lasting effect on how we feel far beyond the time we are involved with the art. It transcends our understanding… and experiences that stimulate the senses, heal the body, and release a cascade of neurotransmitters and endorphins that can calm any uneasy mind.”

Scientific studies have documented that brain exercises which include puzzle solving have been known to slow down the effects of Alzheimer’s and aid in recovery after surgery. Much has also been written about healing powers of art and colour (chromo) therapy. Art, like laughter promotes well being.

Healing Circle Puzzles combines original paintings and photos with unusually crafted word searches. Full colour images by very talented, undiscovered artists are featured throughout. Puzzle themes encompass things that helped Cindy’s healing: positive thoughts, music, books, therapies, foods, and more.

Cindy O’Neil’s quote about the project:

“The people who buy my book are showing their trust in me, and supporting me as an independent writer. Every purchase is a big deal to me because of the sense of connection it builds. I want to extend that connection and share it on as large a scale as possible.”

You can learn more about Cindy O’Neil at www.cindyoneil.com and www.facebook.com/
AuthorandSongwriterCindyONeil. You can purchase her Healing Circle Puzzles book at www.passionatepuzzler.com, and you can also write to Cindy at PO Box 123, Naughton, Ontario P0M 2M0.