O'Connor Therapeutics

10/12/2022

Just a little support for our students. If you know anyone struggling with taking notes in class, I hope this will help.

Taking notes in a lecture should be easy, right? Just write down what the instructor says. But who can write that fast? And should you write by hand, or take

09/19/2022

Getting back into our old routines will feel very new this year. Here are some tips to keep you comfortable.

Many adults know what it is like to fold themselves into desks and work for hours at a time in the same position. For kids (anyone under 25, lol), learning to

08/20/2022

Questions for summer. :)
https://oconnortherapeutics.ca/2022/08/12/what-good-will-a-massage-do/

If you’re asking this question, you’re not completely sold on the benefits of massage therapy. You might assume that it is relaxing and good for the

07/14/2022

04/10/2020

03/16/2020

Any woman who can understand and limit cross-contamination in her kitchen is well positioned to resist an epidemic by following her own practices from her own domain.⁠
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After washing your hands, be aware of what other surfaces are carrying and how a germ can be transferred from one place to another. ⁠
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Don't go mad with harsh chemicals or disinfectants, which can be very hard on the skin and lungs, and must not be ingested by infants or pets.⁠
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Though viruses can wreak havoc on our systems, they are actually quite fragile outside of the body and can be destroyed without poisoning ourselves. ⁠
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Vinegar is likely sufficient as a preventative measure, as it kills a host of germs, bacteria and mold efficiently. If you are in the middle of an active infection, a stronger alcohol based cleaner is better.⁠
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Be safe. Keep the fear at bay.⁠
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Live with lightness⁠
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10/29/2019

Shelter. It's one of our primal instincts. We find it in various ways.

Aside from housing, we find shelter in relationships, in a quiet corner with our thoughts, in the security of our family.

When this basic need is unmet we cannot rise to higher states where the mind is free to explore, invent, create. The body and spirit are bogged down with stress, limiting our ability even to love or give of ourselves to others.

We are reduced to surviving.

Find your shelter. Think creatively about your housing, your relationships and how to find your security.

Free your spirit to raise you up to your immense potential. Let the brilliance of your light shine out.

Live with Lightness.

Photo: j-w-675134-unsplash

10/18/2019

Registered Massage Therapy for your aches and pains. Bowen Therapy, Reiki, Reflexology for additional magic.

10/15/2019

"To be held in the heart of a friend is to be a king."
- Bruce Cockburn

Friendships feed our souls and anchor us.

This applies not only to strangers who become close to us, but to our family members too. The bonds we create from shared experience can tie us for life to others and teach us about love and forgiveness, kindness and gentleness for those times when the fun runs out.

These are often the times that deepen our bonds to each other, though they are sad or frustrating in the moment.

Gather your friends and cherish them. Let yourself be cherished and helped when the time comes.

Live with Lightness.

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10/11/2019

"Stop and smell the roses", people tell us. How easy it is to ignore the small pleasures in life and all around us.

Food is one of the pleasures that we are almost being encouraged to ignore. Everything is now about carbs, fat and protein. Gluten free, sugar as poison, dairy almost as evil as eating meat. All of the joy in preparing and sharing meals seems to be eroding while we worry ourselves to death about what we are putting in our mouths.

Relax. Eat healthy food with friends and worry less about the micro-nutrient content, unless you are ill.

Seeing the beauty in nature is also important. These small joys feed the soul. See the rainbows, drink in the sound of the rain. Feast your eyes on the tiny raindrops on these delicate flowers. If you love the built environment, appreciate the details in the architecture and the people who designed them.

Beauty is all around us.

Live with Lightness.

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10/04/2019

Sometimes we are stewards of sadness. We have inherited some, as our parents and grandparents genetically pass down the sorrows they experienced. Some is picked up as we go through life and experience disappointment, loss and trauma.

It may be important to learn about our grandparents' lives and then consciously lay down the sorrow that has come from them through our DNA. For our current problems, we may need counselling to help us put things behind us, especially if we are in the period of having our own children.

Our DNA sets us up with eye colour, hair and skin colour and the things we learned about in school. But this is about 2% of the DNA's work. The other 98% is "noncoding" DNA, which has to do with our emotional, behavioural and personality traits.

Rachel Yehuda, Professor of psychiatry and neuroscience, notes that these traits are passed down to us to help us cope with our parents' trauma. This is because we are entering their world, so their experiences help to shape our defenses.

As we grow, especially in this fast changing world, we may no longer need some of these inherent feelings, and our parents' sadness and trauma.

Lay it down. Let it go.

Live with Lightness.

09/30/2019

A dusty old library can fill some people with horrible memories, while others would curl up here until they began to starve.

Never be embarrassed by your education. In these days of decrying university education for being impractical, or not getting you a "job", or being too expensive, you might feel as though you have wasted time, effort and money.

But this is a problem with policy and government, not with education. There have been times in history when the intellectuals have been punished for all of society's ills, instead of the policy makers, bankers and those who would seek to control society, rather than allow for educated, free thought to thrive.

Keep your mind free. Train it to think, but retain your freedom.

Live with Lightness.

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09/25/2019

Live with Lightness.

09/23/2019

Imagine starting each day feeling like this. Can you do it, even sometimes?

When life become such a chore that there are no days like this, we need to shake things up. Not run away, because wherever you go, as they say, there you are in front of yourself. But changing what it is that is dragging our spirit down. Finding a way to make it lighter.

This is the update we are longing for.

Live with Lightness

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09/19/2019

This is, of course, an ad for Le Creuset, but this photo catches at me. I see in this girl a woman who is about to take charge of her life.

The simple act of preparing a meal can be both soul-destroying drudgery and the height of creative self care.

I haven't been excited about making a meal in a long time, but it's because I am not creating the opportunities to cook dinner for friends or have gatherings, small and large, that allow for the sharing of food and the talent of those gathering.

In some cultures, the gift of food is the highest form of regard for another. In our modern Western culture it is thought that the "kids" have no idea how to cook and no desire to learn. What a loss to their social and love lives!

When my kids were teenagers, they would gather at one of their parents' places and cook a feast (it took much planning and the whole day to prepare). They would all wear their formal prom gear to this gathering and live a grown up high life for the night.

What a blast! We should all do this from time to time, and honour each other with food and joy.

Off to plan the menu!

Live with Lightness.

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09/18/2019

We care for this precious body as a matter of course, and try to incorporate (no pun!) the best, and sometimes the wackiest, ideas from the food, fitness and beauty industries.

If this is for our health and well being so that we can look outward into life, we're doing well.

If it becomes an obsession that has only to do with our own presentation, we can miss life as it goes by.

Be beautiful. Be healthy and fit. And remember what it's all for.

Live with Lightness.