Emma's blog

 Dance and massages have many benefits for the human body. Massages are able to stimulate and relax the muscles, as well as helping the mind relax and wander. Dancing also has many benefits as I experienced firsthand when Elizabeth Robinson visited our class and encouraged us to dance for 2 minutes. The dancing allowed us to release energy and express ourselves; after which there was a noticeable endorphin rush and feeling of exhaustion once the dancing stopped. Dancing, as well as physical movement in general, allows the release of endorphins and energy, and is a method of self expression. 

 Dr. Dee is an evangelical prophet as ordained by ministers in her faith. She is similar with Sarah in their Christian beliefs, but Dr. Dee sees god as a much more personal being rather than a higher unknowable power. She perceives God as a personal guide, who provides advice and information about those she interacts with. Having witnessed this in person, while I am a skeptic when it comes to the true nature or existence of  God, I do not deny her abilities and I respect her faith and perception of a 'Higher power' as the Christian God that most people are familiar with. Her practices are different from the practices of female Ashkenazic Jewish specialists, who seek to revive traditions that have been partially lost or hidden by their respective cultures. The female specialists document and practice specific rituals from small Jewish communities in areas such as Eastern Europe, which have specific rituals pertaining to problems such as death and disease; asking ancestors and s...

 When the spirit catches you and you fall down is a book detailing the different views of the Hmong people towards medicinal care, and the American perspective of healthcare. The Hmong people believe that the origins of illness comes from spirits known as dab, while the Americans believe that illness comes from logical factors such as bacteria or genetic conditions. The book follows Lia, a young Hmong girl, and her immigrant family as they adapt to the American way of life while trying to preserve their cultural traditions, and dealing with Lia's medical diagnosis of epilepsy, and the Laos diagnosis of dab  possession. The family rejoices, seizures are a simultaneous sign of possession, but can also allow her to become a shaman, a traditional healer who can see into the spirit world and cure diseases. These two opposing ideas are a way to compare different perspectives of health from a unique viewpoint, allowing us to make our own conclusions on how we define health and spirit...

 As a creative person, I love to make art in my free time, and I am currently working towards potentially taking a career in the artistic field, but, due to being overwhelmed with work and feeling stressed about actions I need to take, I do not have as much time for myself as I used to, and I am unable to do as much art as I would like to. I am also a perfectionist, constantly trying to make sure that every detail is perfect, and that the piece I make is up to the standards I have of the vision in my mind. These factors make it hard for me to more casual art with no real thought-out idea or meaning, but when I was introduced to zentangles and the idea of doing something solely for the sake of doing it, I found myself able to relax and let go of having a preplanned meaning or vision of how the drawing should look. I simply drew lines and decided what to do with them later, filling up the circles and curves I drew within the zentangle with arbitrary patterns that I put no real though...

 I am someone who struggles with daily stress and anxiety, but thanks to our mindfulness exercises, I feel as though I am able to cope with this stress and anxiety in a healthy and manageable way. The ability to simply stop and ground yourself to be aware of the world around you as opposed to your internal world and current mindset, can be very therapeutic for me. My mind often races with different versions of the worse-case scenario, which can make it hard to focus on what I need to do and how I should go about performing tasks. When I am in this heightened state, I struggle with staying focused and on task. This is a condition that I have been dealing with for my whole life, but when I remember to practice mindfulness, and the beneficial techniques that I have learned, I am able to calm myself down and remind myself that it's not the end of the world and instead is a temporary problem that will improve, no matter how long it takes. Being able to notice and recognise when I am in ...

The ability to enjoy the natural world and experience the beauty of nature is something that can be lost on us in modern times. Due to my fast-paced and often stressful life, I don't have much time to sit back and live in the moment. The impact of spending an hour in nature was a positive one. It was therapeutic and relaxing to finally find a time to go out into nature and reconnect with the natural world in a way that I have not done in a long time. The feeling of the wind against my hair and the earth under my feet helped me to feel grounded and live in the moment taking in the world around me. The sounds and sights of nature, despite how far away they may seem, are still accessible via a short walk into the woods. It was a pleasant experience to not feel cooped up in my room or stuck in a classroom and instead simply appreciate the minuscule aspects of the world that we do not always notice, and revitalize myself within the woods.