Archives

The Medicine of Laughter: Laughing For the Health of It!
by Logan LeBlanc

Did you know that you can laugh without relying on jokes, memes, or comedy? Did you know that you can laugh even if you’re not feeling happy? Did you know that you can laugh even if you don’t have a sense of humour? You sure can! Laughter is a preventive and therapeutic medicine. Studies show that your body doesn’t know the difference between simulated laughter or stimulated laughter. Physiologically you are still benefitting even if you initiate laughter without any reason, other than to laugh as an exercise for the health of it. The motion creates the emotion. When you are actively laughing, your body begins to produce the feelings associated with laughter – joy, ease, connection, relaxation, and celebration. When we laugh as an exercise, we stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system and flood our body with happy brain chemicals, like dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins, while eliminating stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine. There is nothing that compares to laughter in how it opens the floodgates for these chemicals to flow through your body. It’s not about comedy. It’s all about chemistry.

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Prairie Herbal Walks: Discovering the Ethnobotany of Saskatchewan
by Sussanna Czeranko, ND

“The starry heaven of night, the starry heaven of night, with its immutable order of things eternal, tells us that worlds and atoms rest within God’s hand; it shows us how infinitely small we are in comparison with the universe; it tells us how large we are if we may comprehend and admire the immensity of creation. It gives us an idea of eternity for which we feel ourselves created with good deeds.”—N. Atur, 1904. This Atur quote articulates the awe and reverence for the enormity of the living environment of people living over a century ago who understood that we are merely specks in contrast with the immensity of the universe.

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Social Work: Mediating Conflicts Holistically
by Angie Howlett

Mental health issues and interpersonal conflicts have been on the rise in the post-COVID era. Pandemic stressors have caused greater incidences of anxiety, depression, codependency, and interpersonal conflict. COVID taught the world how deeply connected our mental health is with our physical, emotional, and social health systems, especially when it comes to relationships with employers, coworkers, family, and friends. A disruption in equilibrium of any one of these systems can negatively impact interpersonal relationships, leading to depletion of resources needed to resolve conflicts (including with oneself!). These stressors have generated demand for counsellors and highly trained professionals in de-escalating interpersonal conflicts to bring awareness to how each system is connected. This is where social workers come in.

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Navigating the Challenges Facing Natural Health Products in Canada
by Veronica Jean, National Campaign Director (NHPPA)

You may have heard that the landscape for natural health products (NHPs) in Canada is facing significant challenges due to regulatory changes. For many Canadians who rely on NHPs as part of their wellness regimen, recent legislative developments have sparked concern. Understanding the intricacies of these changes, and the ongoing threats posed by new legislation, is crucial for consumers and advocates alike.

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The Hibaku Trees: Giving Us Peace and Hope in the Second Nuclear Age (Part 1)
by Nancy Tam

The biopic Oppenheimer swept the Oscars this past year and brought to the cinema, the Father of the atomic bomb who is mythologized as the American Prometheus. (In brief, Prometheus stole a lightning bolt from Zeus and secretly gave it to mankind after Zeus had forbid him from doing so. Zeus is outraged when he sees that man has fire, and orders Prometheus to be chained to a rock as a cruel punishment where his liver is eaten away daily by vultures, and his liver grows back each morning, so that he can endure this suffering for eternity.) The world now has fire, and the moral of this myth is that human beings do not know how to responsibly manage fire, and that humankind will use it in dangerous ways, and will eventually put at risk humankind’s very existence as well as the planet Earth, by turning fire into a weapon of mass destruction… this all came to be so, when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan to end World War II.

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Embarking On A Gluten Free/Dairy Free Elimination Diet
by Dr. Louise Gagné

An elimination diet is considered the best way to explore food intolerances that may be negatively affecting your health. Two of the most frequently experienced intolerances are to gluten and dairy. If you decide to start an elimination diet for gluten and dairy, do so at a time when you can prepare most of your meals from scratch, and bring a lunch with you to work, or school. Avoid doing an elimination diet at Christmas, during other holidays, or while travelling. Be sure to work with a qualified health care practitioner.

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Editorial
by Melva Armstrong

Welcome to the summer issue! Once again, it’s been a great pleasure to work with everyone who has been part of it. I love the fact that I get to share with so many wonderful, kind, and generous people, who care about and support WHOLifE! For all of you, I am truly grateful! It’s been another fun issue to put together, along with Cheryl McDougall and her amazing design expertise, who makes each issue look so stunningly and beautifully attractive. Thank you Cheryl for all the terrific work you do.

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Plus:

The Sustainability of Grassfed Beef
TOTALITY: The Solar Eclipse 2024
Haywire Farm Festival July 26 to 28, 2024
News of Note