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PRACTICE - EDUCATION - SCIENCE
[KJW #102] The Leonardo Da Vinci Of Our Own Lives...
Co-Creating Better Opportunities With and For Our Elders.
 1. Your letters to Kathy J. Ward
| Hello Kathy:
I so appreciate what you have done for me and my betterment of life. It is a slow process and one I give much thought to. I journal my thoughts and feelings, not every day but most of them. The last year tells of the journey I have taken and the progress I have made.
Coming from a 40 year abusive marriage, I have learned to face my fears and invite them in (as you suggest) and find they were not worthy of fearing in the first place.... an amazing discovery. I practice meditation, your CD is wonderful, and I am also taking Yoga lessons now. I have plans to get more into meditation and good energy.
I am much more at peace with myself, grateful for small things as well as meaningful things. Sometimes, when I am down, I have those "dark feelings" that you mentioned in the class. I recognize them, acknowledge that they are there but do not allow them to have life (as you suggest). I invite a stillness to give me calm.
I am on a journey of discovering who I am; something I did not know and it is a tragic situation at age 67. Just 2 years ago, I wanted to die as I felt so unworthy of life. Oh my, now I want to live and love and give and do all I can do to make this world a better place. Thank you for touching my life.
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Response:
My dear elder and student, I am glad you have decided not to let anyone take your happiness away from you. One of the most difficult things in life is to INSPIRE others to actually co-create their own betterment investing the many gifts within. Thank you for sharing your progress!
We can transform and evolve into more peaceful, harmonious and healthier spiritual human beings. Continue learning with all your heart and soul from the treasures of your own experiences. Listen to your mind, which is not the brain... We are the masters of our own life, not its slaves. It takes a second and a YES to become a better person, to better your emotions, your health, your thoughts, your relationships, to love yourself. Invest the good energy in you into what the universe and you are seeking to co-create... something spectacular, another miracle. Avoid using negative words to describe yourself or your behaviors and remember that words are energy.
To achieve alignment with our source of love we first need to "disarm our minds." Fear is not an obstacle, is a distraction. Keep going, stay in focus...
Peace be with you!
KJW
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Dear Kathy,
I am so grateful for your help with my mother while she was at a nursing home in Hospice. You helped my mother so patiently find creative ways to write her thoughts. I found her poems relate to her relationship with me and her purpose in life. The message says so much about her inner pain and how she finally found a way of healing. My mother has never been able to make combinations of words or ideas like the poems she wrote with you in her last two weeks.
I need to tell you that Hospice was a positive experience for me because of your vision, "HOSPICE IS NOT ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE TO DIE. IT IS ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE TO CELEBRATE LIFE BEFORE GRADUATION DAY."
Before my mother took her last breath she asked me not to ask for a "death certificate"... because she will always live in every person who reads her poems.
In loving memory of Doris, 91.
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From J. Willard Marriott, Jr.
(Chairman & CEO Marriott International)
Dear Kathy, Feb 2008
I am honored and flattered that your Marriott HC experience has made a difference in your career. Congratulations on your good work with the elderly and as Peace Ambassador.
With warm regards, Bill.
HAPPINESS IS HEALTH !
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2. KJW, Universal Peace Ambassador and a strong advocate for the rights of our elders all over the world, was invited to attend this meaningful Cartooning For Peace Exhibit at the United Nations. | | The illustrations by 17 artists from Algeria, Belgium, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, France, Iran, Israel, Japan, Palestine, Russia and the United States were exhibited in Rome on 10 December 2007. Brussels led this Human Rights Day special edition and spin-off of the Cartooning for Peace Project.
Meditation has tangible psychological and physiological benefits (mind-body interrelation). The psychological effects of meditation reinforce how mind and body affect each other. Glands in the body respond to stress, for example, there is a relationship between the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal glands, and stress. The brain literally ‘talks” to the cells of the body’s immune system. It tells the immune system about the person’s emotions. Current studies show that our emotions work to help or hurt our immune defense response. The brain is the cognitive center of the body. This is where ideas are generated, memory stored, and emotions are experienced. Emotions that affect the body originate in the brain which has a powerful influence over the body and serves as a link to the emotions and the immune system. The body manufactures natural morphine-like substances called endorphins. Endorphins work as natural pain-killers and sometimes their analgesic effects are more powerful than narcotic drugs themselves! Endorphins can produce a sense of calm and well-being. Now, let’s look at the limbic system of the brain and in particular, the amygdala. Emotions produced by the limbic system are a mixture of feelings and physical responses. Every time the brain manufactures an emotion in the limbic system, the physical body offers a response to accompany the emotion. The amygdala is the heart and soul of the emotional network of the brain. The amygdala and the limbic system, connect our internal representations with our emotional and physiological responses.
The amygdala cannot tell whether it is receiving information from something that we are actually experiencing or something we are imagining. Therefore, when we meditate and visualize something peaceful, better relationships, better health and happiness it does creates the same response/effect in our body as if we are living the experience. By changing for the better our representations, we can influence the emotional, physiological, and cognitive levels of experience. In addition, negative or toxic thoughts and emotions that flood the amygdala and limbic system can and do alter a healthy immune response. The good news is that we can rid ourselves of negativity and consciously enhance our immune response by creating positive thoughts and pictures that become our new beliefs. (1)  (2) 
(1) Kathy J. Ward guiding a two-hour workshop with elders and caregivers about how to incorporate visualization and meditation into the practice of our daily whole-person-centered wellness. (2) KJW guides a meditation and
relaxation session and explains its benefits and relationship as a
Cognitive Therapy Approach. - Find a place where you will not be disturbed, i.e. a room where no one will come in, where the phone does not ring, where little or no noise can get in, etc. Or find a place near nature.
- It is very important that you are physically comfortable when practicing meditation.
- Turn your attention inward, away from the outside world. Close your eyes and mouth, breathing deeply through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth.
- Release to relax!
- Keep your attention on your breathing. Feel the inhale and exhale. Withdraw your attention from thoughts about the past or thoughts about the future. Using your Will, hold your attention and just be with your breath.
- Focus and visualize healthy and peaceful thoughts and emotions. Enjoy the minutes of this beautiful connection with your self and with love. Listen to "the silence of your mind and around you."
- Don't worry if you find yourself thinking a lot. This is normal. Over time, you will gain the ability to quiet yourself more and more. Like anything else, it just takes practice.
Practice gratefulness.
Practice love. Activate peace.
Reference:
Recent advances in medical imaging, such as CBF (regional Cerebral Blood Flow), real time MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), MEG (magnetoencephalography), and improved EEG (electoencephalography) allow detailed studies that are reshaping our understanding of the effects of meditation on neural behavior.
The front part of the brain, which is usually involved in focusing attention and concentration, is more active during meditation, but there was greatly decreased activity in the parietal lobe. The parietal area of the brain, among other important functions, is responsible for giving us a sense of our orientation in space and time.
Early scientific studies on the neurophysiology of meditation focused on changes in brain wave (EEG) patterns, and differences in brain wave patterns between meditators and non-meditators. In summary, mediation was shown to - increase Alpha (8-13 Hz or cycles per second) production
- increase Theta (4-7 Hz) production
- increase high Beta (20-40 Hz) activity (with experienced meditators)
The figure was obtained during an ongoing study of the neurophysiological correlates of meditation. Briefly, we have been studying highly experienced Tibetan Buddhist meditators using a brain imaging technology called single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). SPECT imaging allows us to image the brain and determine which areas are active by measuring blood flow. The more blood flow an area has, the more active it is. The image below shows the results from a baseline scan on the left (i.e. at rest) and during a "peak" of meditation shown on the right. (work by Andrew Newberg, MD) Neurochemical Effects Of Meditation
Alpha patterns are associated with calm and focused attention; Theta patterns are associated with reverie, imagery, and creativity; high Beta activity is associated with highly focused concentration. It was therefore argued that meditation contributed to a calm, creative, and focused pattern of brain activity which resulted in a person with these same qualities. Other early research indicated that meditation produced an increased hemispheric synchrony, which was correlated with creativity, and decreased habituation, which was claimed to indicate a "freshness of perception," although studies on these last two areas provided mixed results.
Also, meditation has been shown to increase serotonin production. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter and neuropeptide that influences mood and behavior in many ways.
Meditation has also been associated with increased melatonin availability. Melatonin is also an important neurotransmitter and neuropeptide that influences mood and behavior. Melatonin has been linked to regulation of sleep, and early research indicates it may have anti-carcinogen and immune system enhancing effects.
Some benefits of meditation:
- Decreased metabolic rate, lower heart rate, and reduced work load of the heart.
- Better concentration.
- Reduction of free radicals - unstable oxygen molecules that can cause tissue damage.
- Drop in cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease.
- Better digestion.
- Better sleep patterns.
- Improve flow of air to the lungs.
3. "Clinical Therapeutic Recreation For Elders" ©: Workshop With Elders And Caregivers - USA
In 1999 Kathy J. Ward wrote a curriculum on the clinical practice (design, implementation and evaluation) of therapeutic recreation interventions aimed at nurturing and stimulating better brain functioning, neuroplasticity (the capacity of the brain to generate new brain cells), cognitive performance and wholistic whole-person-centered wellness... This work was designed, implemented and evaluated among elder communities; Assisted Living, Long-Term Care, Independent Living and Community Centers.
The program also acknowledges the importance of the "environment as our extended body", meaningful social support networks and a interdisciplinary team approach for the betterment of the patients and their care-givers. KJW titled this program ERT, Elder Recreation Therapy.
ERT is about incorporating healthier life style choices by finding purposeful, meaningful and fun programs and activities, technically called "interventions" specifically designed to help elders (55+), not necessary during an illness, disability or impairment, to nurture their needs and preferences embracing and integrating all aspects of whole-person; psychosocial, physical, spiritual, mental, vocational, intellectual, emotional and the interrelations with all living beings; people, animals and nature.
The term "clinical" is used in all programs and services that ERT provides because each intervention can be measured, evaluated and purposefully chosen to INFLUENCE and STIMULATE healing of the individual and community.
Clinical Therapeutic Recreation For Elders, ERT, did not exist pirot to the work of Kathy J. Ward. ERT also helps nurture community integration; it takes a community to better a community." Everyone is invited to co-create a better quality of life for all community members.
More information about ERT can be found in KJW books
1. Poems and Reflections For A Better Life. Published in 2006.
2. ERT, Happy, Meaningful and Integrated Life-Style
For Elders and Their Caregivers. Published in 2004
Co-creating meaningful social support networks.
Staff, volunteers and family members celebrating life!
The 87 birthday party of one of our elders, bed bounded,
at Hospice House. Everyone is invited!
What is cognitive performance?
The brain mechanisms of mental processes like memory, attention and concentration, planning, problem solving, cognitive flexibility, language, perception, and others. Most people operate below their peak cognitive capacity level because of lack of brain stimulation, poor nutrition, etc. These skills can be improved through carefully designed cognitive exercise programs individually tailored to their needs and capacities.
The most important thing is to keep in mind that brain functions can be influenced, stimulated and rehabilitated.
Our life-style choices, habits and activities influence our brain and can promote independence as we age.
  The brain has an extraordinary potential to develop new brain cells when it is stimulated and nurtured as we do the same with our whole-person-centered wellness. Nutrition and brain function: - Researchers have proved that sugar, especially when it's mixed with other carbohydrates, affects the ability to focus and overall concentration.
- Studies have shown that high intake of saturated fat and cholesterol clogs the arteries and is associated with higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease. However, HDL (or “good”) cholesterol may help protect brain cells. Use mono- and polyunsaturated fats, such as olive oil, for example. Try baking or grilling food instead of frying.
- In general, dark-skinned fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of naturally occurring antioxidant levels. Such vegetables include: kale, spinach, brussels sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, beets, red bell pepper, onion, corn and eggplant. Fruits with high antioxidant levels include prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, oranges, red grapes and cherries.
 Breaking down tasks into manageable portions is important so not to overwhelm the person. Also, we are careful to considered environmental factors that can influence her attention, cause agitation or over-stimulation. It is quiet, the radio or television are not on. Silence promotes concentration and balance.
Please take into consideration that what matters for better brain health is "the process of getting things done but not the final product."
  One-on-one with our elders... a series of activities to stimulate frontal lobe,
visual cortex, left side of the brain and more...
The person with dementia can not "adapt" to us and our expectations. We then need to be mindful of it and use our senses and sensibility by "adapting" our expectations, environment and understanding to what our elders can do. However, we can make tremendous improvements by continue engaging, empowering and stimulating small step-by-step chores and familiar hobbies and habits.
Co-create a friendly, "mistake-free" and light environment by laughing and playing while accomplishing small tasks.
It is important to conduct neuropsychological assessments for better clinical treatment designed interventions.
 Dearest source of love, help me become an instrument of peace!
Please send inquiries, requests for programs, speaker and consulting services with WEL, World Elder Land or Kathy J. Ward to connection@kathyjward.com
Reflections...
Who am I? What do I want to make out of this life?
How can I nurture my whole-person?
What in the universe is better because of me?
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