Keep Focused on Where You Want To Go

Being February, cross country skiing is a favourite activity.  When I help people find their intuitive knowing through workshops, I often have asked people to go for a walk to find answers in nature.  It comes in various ways to people. 

Personally I find that often nature and the outdoors speak to me through metaphors.   Recently when skiing, I was finding myself on some trails that posed a bit of a challenge to me.  If I worried about landing off the trail and into a creek or trees, my body took me there and I would fall in advance to protect myself .  I watched myself and noticed how what I was doing resembled our travels on life’s path. 

Before long I realized that as long as I could be disciplined enough to keep my eyes focused on the trail ahead where I wanted to be, my body could brilliantly take me there.

Next time I faced a challenging hill, I made a point of looking at the trail where I wanted to go.  Oh I was so strongly tempted to let my eyes go to the object I feared and whenever I succumbed, my body took me to the very thing I feared. 

As long as I kept focused on the path I wanted to choose, I was able to competently follow my eyes.  I now use this metaphor when facing some challenges in life.  I acknowledge the things I fear but find that by focusing my attention on where I want to go, I get there.

If you have some examples of metaphors from nature and the outdoors, perhaps you will share them with me and I will post them on this site for others to read.

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Marie Knapp

marieknapp@rogers.com

A Nia Experience

This afternoon, I spent two hours engaged in a Nia workshop.  Nia is movement to music encorporating a combination of dance, martial arts and healing arts.  Those of you familiar with energy flow may notice how the movement opens up your chakras and moves the energy through the joints.  For me it is a form of self care. 

As with Yoga, many people attend without realizing the underlying connection to energy flow.  And it doesn’t matter.

I would like to point out that CHNA recognizes energy therapies supported by research.  I am telling you about Nia as a means of exercising and at the same time possibly becoming aware of energy shifts in yourself.  It is meant to be enjoyed.  Personally I love it. :0)

Healing and thought energy

I was sitting down in my living room this morning having decided to spend just a few minutes skimming through Bruce Lipton’s Biology of Belief again. The reading only lasted a couple of minutes because something in there triggered a thought.  It took me back to a conversation I had recently had with someone who was reading about the supplements prescribed by her naturopath.  The book described how the body works and what it is “supposed to do”.  She was amazed and commented “how does the body know to do these things and how to do it”?  Perfect question.  How does the body know?  Well, the body is brilliant. It just knows. 

Science and the mind have been life savers and have helped many people live a close to normal life that could not have otherwise done so.    When the body is in crisis, the work the mind has done to try and unravel the mysteries of the body is helpful in trying to get it back on track.  Using research to uncover what the well body does,  can lead to ways to interfere with the disease or trauma to get the body working again.   

Healing is different.  Healing is about allowing the body, in fact the whole self,  to do the work it does know how to do well.   Healing is about allowing our body, mind, emotions and spirit to be its best in the circumstances in which we find ourselves even when in crisis. 

 Healing through a grieving process, for example, allows us to grieve well.  Healing through a tough diagnosis allows us to be fully human with love for ourselves and others.  

 Healing with energy is a way to help create the right energetic environment in which healing can best take place.  Our thoughts are energy too.  Through our thoughts, we can allow ourselves  to submit to the wisdom of the body rather than fight it.   Healing is about being with the flow and being good to ourselves in the process, acknowledging the difficulties, feeling the emotional pains in our body and asking for guidance from that source greater than ourselves. 

 Thanks for listening.  Now I will get back to Bruce lipton’s book and see what other things are triggered.

Wishing you health, joy, healing and love

Marie Knapp

Intentionality article by Marie Knapp

Intentions Make a Difference in Your Life and in Your Prac…

Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario Conference in November

 

The TTNO have already distributed the dates for the 2010 conference in Toronto in November 6th and 7th, 2010.  Having attended the conference in 2009, I can highly recommend this conference as an opportunity to hear excellent key notes, and very interesting concurrent sessions from people practicing Therapeutic Touch.  You will also experience a wonderful market place of vendors with books and a variety of objects related to healing.  And of course it is such fun to meet with others of similar mind and have real conversations with people you may have only met by email or phone. 

While most participants are from Ontario, I was pleased to meet people from the Atlantic provinces, and from the provinces west of Ontario also.  

This year I had the honour of presenting one of the concurrent sessions.  Presenting one of my favorite topics, Intentionality, was delightful when the audience wasa group of like-minded people so receptive to the topic and so tuned in to the notion of the power of thought and thought as energy.  What a joy!

I will soon be placing my article related to Intentionality on this site.  Keep checking.    Go to our links page for the TTNO web site and more information about the organization and the conference.

Marie Knapp

BC Energy Nurses Meet Nov 30th

Calling all nurses!

Would you like to see energy based healing in our hospitals and health care system more visible?

Are you interested in meeting with like minded nurses to help bring this about in dynamic and inspiring gatherings?

Then please contact me!  778 988 4304

Our first meeting will be Monday the 30th of November here at my place in Kerrisdale, Vancouver at 7 in the evening. 

If you don’t live in Vancouver don’t worry, you can join us on Skype. Just let me know.

I will send you my address when you contact me either by phone or by email catherine@optimalhealing.ca

Please join me in this adventure. 

Catherine

Catherine Ralphs RN

Complementing Healthcare With Energy-Based Healing

www.optimalhealing.ca

Meet me at TTNO conference this weekend

I will be at the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario Conference this weekend and presenting about Intentionality on Saturday morning (11:15 to 12:30).  If you are there and interested in talking to me about CHNA, I would love to meet you after my session just outside the room.  Or if this is not feasible, please stop me when you see me.  I would love to meet you.

Marie Knapp  marieknapp@rogers.com

Past President

PS  If you haven’t registered, you can still register by phone by calling the TTNO office at 416-231-6824.  (VISA or MasterCard). If you get the answering machine, please leave a message and they’ll call back.  (People may also register at the door – but arrive early.)  

If you need more details you may go to www.therapeutictouchontario.org and look under Events.    

Submit articles for February Edtion of Newsletter by January 15, 2010

Members:    The theme for the February 2010 Edition of our Newsletter Insight will be :

The ways in which Holistic Nursing can complement the medical care that client’s are receiving.

 The deadline for submission of your articles to  our Newsletter Chair, Laurie Marshall, is January 15, 2010. However the earlier the submissions are sent to Laurie the better.

Please send your articles to Laurie Marshall at  lauriestouch@gmail.com

We ask that all articles be original work sent in Word format.  Please remember that all work submitted will be edited and some may be returned with suggestions for reworking.

Laurie is looking forward to receiving your submissions to the Newsletter.

Clinical Fellowship Proposal

The Long, Healthy Life Conference: Ontario

Nancy Crawford, CHNA Ontario Rep, recommends the following conference:

 

The Holistic Health Research Foundation of Canada is proud to present 

In association with the Ontario Society of Physicians for Complementary Medicine and

the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine

THE LONG, HEALTHY LIFE

Exploring Natural Strategies for Increased Longevity and Chronic Disease Prevention

An educational event for the public and health professionals

Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2009

Ontario Science Centre, Toronto

Tickets available for one or both days:  $65 – $199;

discounts for students/seniors.

Early Bird discount by September 18th.

Full event and ticket ordering details: www.HolisticHealthResearch.ca or 416-778-4443

Proceeds from the event will support further educational and research initiatives of the Holistic Health Research Foundation of Canada.

CHNA Poster needs members’ pictures

Wendy has sent the following request to members:

I have recently joined the CHNA and am super excited to get involved. At the last Alberta meeting I volunteered to recreate a new improved CHNA poster for advertising CHNA.  I need some help. 

I am asking CHNA members to share some pictures with me.   I am looking for some pictures of our members, and maybe their treatment rooms, or some of their treatments in progress (with permission from the client) would be very helpful. They can forward pictures to me at   wendy@malejko.com    Thanks!

Wendy Malejko

Enlist a new RN member for 2009-10 — receive a $10 coupon for your 2010-11 membership

You will want to take advantage of this opportunity.   CHNA wants to attract more members and demonstrate the interest of Canadian nurses in Holistic Energy-based nursing.   You get to benefit.

Do you know one, two, three nurses who are interested in energy-based nursing?   Why not lead them to this site and encourage them to join!  When they sign up, they will be asked to name the person who influenced their joining.  When they name you, you will be sent a $10 coupon that you can send in with your 2010-11 membership renewal form.  You could reduce your membership fee that year by as much as $30 if you find 3 new members.

The three new members you enlist have the same opportunity if they enlist more members.  Everyone stands to gain from this!  More people learn what CHNA offers.   Canada’s leaders in health and nursing see the growing interest of nurses in this area of practice.   You can make a difference!

A member asks: What Complementary Therapies are considered “legal”?

I received an email asking the following: ” are therapeutic touch and reiki the only holistic modalities that RNs can specialize in legally for alternative therapies!” There are many aspects to the response to this question. I am sure others are also interested soI am answering it on our blog. I am going to treat each aspect separately so I am numbering them for easier reading.

1. There is a fundamental philosophical difference between the terms “complementary” and “alternative”.  Many people get these confused.  CHNA only focuses on complementary therapies.  Remember that alternative does mean “instead of”.   As nurses, we only advocate and use Complementary Therapies that would be considered to augment any treatments or therapies already prescribed by the Physician or Nurse Practitioner. 
2. Complementry Therapies are tools or techniques that can be used in the holistic care of an individual.  I suggest rereading the Standards of Practice of holistic nursing to get a better understanding of how the energy modalities would be incorporated into the holistic care of a client.  The modalities used are only a part of the healing process.
3. What is considered “legal” is what is included within the nursing scope of practice for Registered Nurses as set out by the College of Nurses of each province or territory.   Unfortunately, each jurisdiction regards Complementary Therapies in different ways.  To find out what is allowed within the scope of practice for nurses where you live, I suggest that you contact the College of Nurses where you reside and practice.
4. Currently the following are used within the Specialization Program.  CHNA asks ony for a beginning level and respects the practice requirements set by each therapy organization.  Within the program we use: Therapeutic Touch, Meditation, Progressive Relaxation, Reiki, Healing Touch, Sound & Music, Colour & Light.   It is expected that the holistic nurse will use whatever energy modality is best for the particular situation and makes the decision in collaboration with the client.

Thank you for this question.  I know that when one person asks a question, likely at least 10 others have the question but did not ask.  I appreciate the opportunity to respond in this way.

Marie Knapp

CHNA outgoing president

Your Body Speaks Your Mind: Book Review

Your Body Speaks Your Mind- Decoding the Emotional, Psychological, and Spiritual Messages that Underlie Illness.   Deb Shapiro (2006) Boulder CO, Sounds True Inc.  

What do our symptoms and physical problems tell us about ourselves?  In this book you will learn how the body speaks to us.  Deb Shapiro helps us learn the language that the body speaks.  She provides a thorough discussion about some common physical symptoms and illnesses and suggests general and specific underlying psyco-emotional and spiritual issues. She explains how knowing the body’s language can help increase our potential for healing.  ” By learning the body’s language of symptoms you will soon discover that there is an extraordinarily intimate two-way communication going on that affects both your physical state and your mental and emotional health.”  Deb Shapiro. 

In this book, Deb Shapiro helps us initiate this communication, decode and understand the information the body is constantly sending out.  The book is well organized and easy to read with straight forward explanations about the etiology of the illness and brief reviews of the anatomy and physiology of the physical body systems involved.  A CD with guided visualization practices is also included.  I highly recommend this book particularly if you work with clients who suffer from chronic illnesses.   

Michele Bourgeois R.N. M.Ed. BHSP

CHNA Secretary

Submit articles for newsletter by June 30th

Members:  The deadline for submission of your articles to Wendy is June 30th.  The theme for this issue will be Reaching Out:  connecting holistic nurses across Canada.  

Please send your articles to Wendy Snefjella at wsnefjella@yahoo.ca

We ask that all articles be original work sent in Word format.  Wendy is  generally pleased with the articles she receives and we all want to thank those members who sent in articles for the last issue.

Just a reminder that all works will be edited.  Some may be returned with suggestions for reworking.     

Wendy looks forward to hearing from you.

AGM Teleconference June 9, 2009

All members are welcome to join this teleconference.  For details on how and when to connect, please contact our Secretary Michele Bourgeois at michelebo@shaw.ca.  

Marie Knapp, President

Join CHNA now for membership till August 2010

CHNA is encouraging Nurses to join CHNA now and at no added cost your membership will last until Aug 2010. 

We would like to encourage all Nurses interested in Holistic (Energy) Nursing to join CHNA as a way to express your active interest in the recognition of Holistic Nursing as a legitimate and credible Nursing Specialty.   While some provinces such as Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia recognize energy-based nursing and include it in a Registered Nurse’s Scope of Practice,  this is not so across the nation.

There are several ways to increase awareness of the legitimacy of this aspect of Nursing.  One way you can help is to encourage nurses you know are interested in energy nursing to join CHNA.

The executive will be planning some strategies to encourage membership in other ways also.  Keep watching the blog for more information on this subject.   

Marie Knapp

CHNA President

The Whole You — by Tanis Day (book review)

The book reviews exressed in this site are solely those of the writer of the review and do not necessarily reflect the views of CHNA.  You, the reader, are responsible for determining its value for you and your practice.

The Whole You — Healing and Transformation Through Energy Awareness   by Tanis Day PhD

A step-by-step guide to exploring your subtle energy fields.  iUniverse, Inc.  New York.   2008

I met Tanis Day 2 years ago when I began taking classes in the Mentoring Program with her.  Her energy work and experience is extensive and her knowledge is deep.  I looked forward to the publishing of this, her first book so that I could have access to its messages over time and as I am ready to understand it.

I have finished reading the book and it more than met my expectations.  Her language is easily readible, her examples and explanations are very helpful, and her work with the higher energies is particularly meaningful to me.

I am not sure that this book is meant for the beginner.  For someone who has already learned about energy healing and practiced healing even if only on  yourself, you will likely find this book helps pull many things together.  I found it is an excelent guide to the higher self.

You may wish to browse Tanis’ website at www.tanisday.com.     I look forward to hearing your reponse to her book when you read it.

by Marie Knapp RN EdD

Get Involved With CHNA: some opportunities

 

 There are several ways that members can be part of the Canadian Holistic Nurses Association:

1. We have some opportunities for Executive and Board positions available. This is an exciting time to be a Board member with CHNA as we are currently working on our proposal to be officially recognized as a Specialty with CNA.  We are also working on becoming more visible through our newsletters and web site.  If you are interested at all in holistic energy nursing, this may be just right time for you to get involved.

a. Chair of the Specialization Committee (must have completed Level 2 of the program) Interested? Please contact Debbie Freeman at dlfreem@shaw.ca

b. Chair of Membership. Want to learn more about the role? Please contact Susan Morris at sbmorrisis@shaw.ca

2. We are looking for ways to increase involvement of holistic nurses in the provinces and territories.  Some are without reps.  If this is something that interests you, please contact Marie Knapp at marieknapp@rogers.com . If you are a member who wants to connect with more like minded people, this is an opportunity to get some clusters forming and learn more from each other.

3. We have someone managing the Newsletter and the Web site and would like to form committees for them. If you are interested please contact Marie Knapp at marieknapp@rogers.com .

a. Newsletter Committee: If you are interested in helping with things like review and editing, or mail outs, or gathering content, or other types of work necessary to publish and distribute the newsletter twice a year, we would love to have you join us. Communication will be mostly by phone and email.

b. Web Site Committee: If you are interested in learning more about using word press to edit and add to the web site, or monitoring parts of the web site, or helping with editing of articles, I would love to have you join us. Communication will mostly be by phone and email.

4. Are you interested in developing a cluster of holistic like-minded nurses in your area? Contact Marie Knapp at marieknapp@rogers.com and see how CHNA can help you.

 We look forward to hearing from you.

Specialization Committee looking to expand

 

The Specialization Committee is preparing for its future needs.  We have worked extremely hard over the past few years and would like to expand our Committee by inviting enthusiastic members who have completed Level II of the Specialization Program to come on board. 

Opportunities are available for those interested in Teaching, Mentoring, or expanding your professional knowledge serving in the Role of Chair.   

Those interested please contact Debbie Freeman 403-266-2362 or dlfreem@shaw.ca 

 

The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci (book review)

Power of Kindness: the unexpected benefits of leading a compassionate life by Piero Ferrucci. 2006.

Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. New York

Foreword by the Dalai Lama

I was first introduced to Ferrucci when studying Psychosynthesis in Graduate school . Now twenty years later his newer book has crossed my path. The message was so important I have used it as the basis of 2 retreats I have led.

The author’s words, “Kindness derives its purpose from itself, not from other motives” p 3 clearly remind me of the variety of benefits we receive by being kind when these benefits were furthest from our minds in the act of kindness itself.

Many times in my nursing career I have witnessed, in myself and in others, the attempts to fix, solve problems and take over to make better the challenges being faced by another. Ferrucci teaches us true kindness as warmth, tenderness, and compassion. Beyond the introductory chapters he guides the reader to an understanding of the many faces of kindness in ways that make kindness more nourishing and less depleting for the one being kind. Each chapter is titled by the quality of which it speaks. Titles such as trust, honesty, forgiveness, respect, flexibility, service, all as means to kindness.

I highly recommend this book as part of a practitioner’s reflective learning. It may serve as a guide for self care or client care. Ferrucci ends his book with the following words:
“Ultimately, it is all very simple. There is not choice between kind to others and being kind to ourselves. It is the same thing.”

Specialization



Recent Posts
• Keep Focused on Where You Want To Go
• A Nia Experience
• Healing and thought energy
• Intentionality article by Marie Knapp
• Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario Conference in November

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