Sunday, February 27, 2011

Drumming for Life





I recently had the interesting and rejuvenating experience of participating in a drumming circle.  The lady who conducted our drumming circle told of the calming effects on Palliative Care patients. Since I am a retired Palliative Care nurse, I became curious about the history and documented effects of drumming.....hence this blog.

Drumming
The use of the hand drum in relationship to healing is certainly not new. According to anecdotal reports and current research, the hand drum and its rhythms have been instrumental in improving illnesses when medical science had few answers.

The Power of the Drum 
The pounding of the drum can relax the tense, energize the tired, and heal the emotionally wounded. The hand drum has the extraordinary and consistent ability to create states of euphoria, induce trance, promote play, release anger and promote feelings of community, unity and promote well being.

Psychological Benefits
There are numerous psychological benefits in drumming. First, is a sense of personal power. Second, the drum places one squarely in the here and now. When Hitting the drum, there is no time to think about tomorrow’s fears, yesterday’s regrets or what’s for dinner. The drum becomes an opportunity for those who repress their emotions to release them.
The pounding of a drum can help us to take notice of our own heartbeat. It is our heartbeats that keep us alive and vital. Drumming can also be very therapeutic in getting in touch with our inner selves. A low, steady beat can create a calmness whereas a stronger upbeat can stir us into action or a frenzy.
Since this was a new experience for me, I was curious about anyone else’s opportunities with drumming.
More information on drumming can be found in the following articles. I found them most helpful in my research and with today’s blog.

Kathy

Disclaimer  -  The material provided on this site is designed for information and educational purposes only. The materials are not intended to be a self diagnostic and/or self treatment tool. I encourage you to use this information as a tool for discussing your condition with your health practitioner.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Prevent user hacking while on your laptop

A Good Wednesday Morning all you fellow bloggers!!
I just caught a bit of Canada AM, as they were talking abut protecting  your information while your out there in the airports, train stations, bus stations, subway stations or just sitting at your local coffee shop.
They mentioned that it's important while accessing 'sensitive' information that you look for the secure  https at the beginning of the URL.
I wouldn't want anyone to get their sensitive information stolen by a hacker who happened to be near them. Anyway for what it's worth, here is the web site to today's show. The topic is near the top of the subject lists, in case you're interested.
Hope this information is helpful.
http://www.ctv.ca/todayinfo/index.html

Kathy

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Working on a New Family Tree

Did I happen to mention that genealogy is another  interest of mine. I've recently bought a new Family Tree Maker. I'm having a great time adding relatives, from ancestry.com, that I didn't know I had.

I love it when a leaf pops up!!! Our family has a lot of extended ancestral names in it...some are Kelly, White, Ketchum, Sharkey, McLaughlin, Price, Wallace, just to name a few. Most of them hail from either England or Ireland.

I guess knowing about your ancestors, tells a little about who we are, too. It's interesting to see the repeated names and dates within the families.

There are a lot of genealogy sites out there, but  for now I'm using the ancestry.com that came with the program. The free access runs out the end of April, so I've been scrambling to add as many ancestors as I can, until then.

Hope there are also some genealogy buffs out there, too

Kathy

Saturday, February 19, 2011

First Post...hopefully not....Last Post!

February 19, 2011
First thing's first..A BIG WELCOME to my blog!!

Since gardening is one of my passions, this is certainly a 'down' time for me. So, that leaves me time to pour over vegetable seed catalogues, consider what plants, already in the gardens, that might need to be relocated and think about buying some seed starting kits for later this Spring.
For now I like to browse through Winter gardening sites, and  gardening suggestion and sites for next Spring.
These are a couple I liked and thought might be of interest to some.
http://www.travel-new-brunswick-canada.com/winter-gardening.html
http://www.hbb2obm.com/

Kathy