This summer two female Jaspers traveled over 8,000 miles to uncover what a Lasallian identity meant to them as women.

The 2017 Lasallian Global Womens Symposium (LGWS) took place from July 16 to 19 in Auckland, New Zealand at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and was attended by approximately 120 people. Two of them, senior Alannah Boyle and graduate assistant Jacqueline Martin, were representatives of Manhattan College.

Martin became involved with the Lasallian mission during her time as an undergraduate at Saint Marys College of California. Once Martin later learned of the LGWS, she knew she wanted to attend. Her trip to Auckland was made possible through funding by other Lasallians from various institutions.

I was really surprised at how many different Lasallians whom I had never met before were willing to help sponsor me so I could be a part of this experience, she said.

Boyle, on the other hand, felt that the symposium was relevant to research she was conducting within the Lasallian network regarding womens issues and the Catholic Churchs response to sexual assault and violence. Like Martin, she received funding from numerous sources, including student life and academic offices.

These women from DEMA represent 56 percent of Lasallian membership.Alannah Boyle / Courtesy

Boyle and Martin were two of ten women from the Lasallian Region of North America (RELAN) who elected to attend the symposium, along with female students, faculty, and staff from other Lasallian institutions across America. Within the symposium, over one dozen countries were represented.

The symposium sought to address the evolving role of Lasallian women, largely due to their presence in the order. While Lasallian brothers account for just two percent of the orders entire membership, laywomen make up 56 percent, Martin stated.

Lasallian women are critical to the future of the mission, and it would not exist in the capacity that it does without us, Martin said.

Lois Harr, director of campus ministry and social action, believes that women may be able to offer a unique perspective within the mission itself.

I think, as in any realm, we are all better off if everyones gifts and talents are put in service of the world, she said. Everyones experience can help make organizations run well, bring good balance to decision making.

Despite their continued presence in the mission, laywomen are distinctly underrepresented in leadership roles within the Lasallian order. The LGWS seeked to address that issue, as well as provide its attendees with the necessary tools to become effective church leaders.

Boyle (second from right) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Auckland, New Zealad.Alannah Boyle / Courtesy

The LGWS had several goals, among them to recognize the distinct role and identity of women in the mission, especially as catalysts of change and empower Lasallian women to have a confident collective voice, according to the organizations website.

However, the central outcome of the symposium was to create an international Lasallian womens council to address the issues discussed during the meetings.

The priority was to ensure that women are equally represented and heard at every level of Lasallian leadership, said Martin. It was amazing to be a part of this symposium because we all had a hand in crafting what the future of our shared Lasallian mission can become.

The theme of the symposium was Lasallian women as changemakers. Due to their distinct presence in the ministry, laywomen are beginning to be viewed as powerful and unique voices within the realm of Lasallian leadership.

However, some critics of Catholicism might argue that women have traditionally had more subservient roles within the Church. Citing doctrines such as having only men serve in the priesthood and interpreting a pro-life stance as anti-woman, they may believe that women have no opportunities for self-betterment. To Martin, however, religious devotion and personal empowerment are not necessarily on opposite sides of the moral spectrum.

I dont think those two things are mutually exclusive, but it is very difficult territory to navigate because of the patriarchal structures of the Church, she said. I personally identify as both a Catholic and a feminist.

As a Catholic, I dont agree with all parts of the Catholic doctrine. My beliefs and actions are deeply rooted in Catholic Social Thought, which, in my interpretation does not align with some of the official Church positions on specific issues, said Boyle. If you love something, you hold it accountable.

A group picture of the cohort of DENA (District of North America) that was represented.Alannah Boyle / Courtesy

Personal empowerment remains a topic of discussion among Lasallian women. Similar to the beliefs of Boyle and Martin, the LGSW demonstrated that religious devotion and empowerment can go hand in hand, as opposed to representing the opposite sides of a coin.

I think that women have long been overlooked critical players of the faith. We are doing much of the work on the ground, and we should be represented in positions of leadership, Martin said.

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Jaspers Attend Lasallian Women's Symposium in New Zealand - The Quadrangle

And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if they have saved all of humanity.Quran 5:32

While the societal and individual problems of addiction can be universal there is a gigantic range of ways to treat these problems. They can be divided along political, societal, geographical, the personal ethics of individuals, and a host of other factors. World Religion News has focused on religion combined with treatment and the diversity of approaches based on divergent religious doctrines and the success rates of programs. Because the privacy protection of drug programs it can be difficult to exactly measure the effectiveness of support programs.

Use hashtag #FaithInRecovery to follow our multi-part series.

These are four distinct religious communities each having their unique struggles and successes with drug rehabilitation.

Muslim Population in the Middle East

In the Middle East, the conservative, traditional interpretation of Islam has made the penalties draconian. Several laws have the death penalty for drug use and there is a sizable minority of individuals who believe only harsh discipline is the solution. Drug use is considered haram and must not be used in any way. This has created a silencing effect for those afflicted and slowed government intervention for treatment programs.

This is evolving as the number of drug users in some Middle East countries has skyrocketed. In Iran, there are between 1.2 to 2 million addicts (this is a conservative estimate) and Afghanistan has similar numbers. This is due to the increased production of heroin in Afghanistan, the availability of cheap methamphetamine derivatives, and the inability to receive treatment.

Examples of treatment are steadily increasing. Iran has nearly 1,300 addiction treatment centers and the Iranian government has stated it has treated nearly 700,000 people by last March. Treatment is mostly run by non-governmental organizations that emphasize personal empowerment. This is especially true for programs for women, who make up 10% of the addict population in Iran.

Read the previous articles in this series: Faith in Recovery

Based on the principles of Sharia law, there is less emphasis on using prescription drugs to help individuals detox. Afghanistan has treatment centers which mostly subscribe to the cold turkey philosophy, which increases the likelihood of relapse. The fact that the Taliban supports local treatment centers shows the changing mindset around addiction with traditionalist Muslims.

Thai Buddhism

One of the most extreme treatment centers in the world is located in Thailand. The Wat Tham Krabok Monastery includes hard labor and the consumption of a herbal concoction that causes projectile vomiting, meant to rapidly promote detoxing, and is consumed on a daily basis.

Thai Buddhism is part of the Theravada school of Buddhism that focuses on personal liberation. Buddhists believe addiction is a form of attachment, which is the cause of suffering. Therefore addiction is an extreme version of what every Buddhist learns in the Four Noble Truths, the foundation of their religious belief.

Most of the monks at the monastery are former addicts and people come from around the world to be treated for their addictive tendencies. The program begins with incoming patients taking a sacred vow called Sajia that has supposed mystic properties. The Sajia is taken very seriously. There are no repeat visits to the monastery and breaking the Sajia is considered a grave offense. The Sajia represents a lifelong commitment to sobriety.

Patients stay from a week to a month. Treatment includes daily use of the herbal drink, a single meal, and chores beginning at 4:30 AM. Patients pay nothing beyond food costs during their stay.

Does the program work? Although there is little scientific evidence to support the success of the program, patients declare it changed my life. Many people who stay at Wat Tham Krabok are serious drug and alcohol addicts who believe this is their last chance to get clean.

Wat Tham Krabok has treated 110,000 people since 1959. A review of 65 individuals who attended the program found 90 percent complete the program and 60 percent remained sober after 1 year. WRN reported previously in our series that the one-year mark is a significant indicator of long-term sobriety.

Mormons in Utah

Latter-day Saints represent just over half the population in the state of Utah. Historically Utah was settled by Mormons to escape religious persecution and even engaged in an armed conflict with the United States Federal Government for the ability to have substantial self-governance.

Utah is going through another historic period with the rate of opioid addiction and suffering caused by it. From 2000 to 2014 there was a 400 percent increase in opioid overdoses. One person dies each day from opioid overdose. For most users in Utah, the gateway drug toward addiction is prescription painkillers, not recreational drugs. Because Utah leads the nation in per capita use of prescription drugs, the proliferation has created a huge potential for addiction.

Mormon women might have unique difficulty in overcoming addiction. Some interpret Mormonism to mean women should be in charge of the household based on traditional gender roles. This creates two issues. First, the cultural notion of being constantly cheerful as the foundation of the family unit might mask an addiction problem and lead to self-denial. Second, some Mormon women have used stimulants in order to juggle the hectic schedule of a wife and mother. While this is not a universal target, there are been the criticism that treatment centers do not tailor their programs to the issues dealt with by female Mormon addicts.

Some have argued the Mormon church has been slow to act based on denial of the problem. It is unclear if this is linked to the teaching of the Mormon church, referred to as the Words of Wisdom. The Words of Wisdom teach that many adulterants should abstained from including alcohol, drugs, and caffeine. Being addicted to drugs is seen as both an individual struggle and a tactic by Satan for control of the soul.

Mormons have developed a version of the Alcoholics Anonymous program as a specific treatment program. As WRN has reported AA allows individuals autonomy in surrendering to a Higher Power. For Mormons, this Higher Power has to be God as described in their teachings.

As WRN wrote in our article on popular Christian programs, there is a diversity of treatment programs beyond the Mormon version of AA. Most of the popular facilities in Utah that use religious principles combine spiritual guidance with therapeutic and medicinal techniques. A unique advantage Mormons have is that the strong ties of Mormons in Utah create a support group that can be greatly effective in people remaining clean after attending a facility. The fact that the group has an easy self-identification based on religion makes it easier for individuals to both initially and continuously attend support events.

Hasidic Jews

The Hasidic Orthodox Jewish community is considered to be insular. With a very conservative interpretation of Judaism, there are strict rules governing practitioners behavior. Yet this community has not been able to escape the ravages of addiction. There have been noted cases of Hasidic Jews dying of opioid addiction and religious leaders commenting were definitely losing more people to drugs.

A connecting theme to the previous commitments is the lack of openness about addiction. Because of religious teachings that describe addiction as a moral failing, members of communities are less likely to talk about their personal issues. This can influence the lack of quick and appropriate action by community leaders. The increased personal destruction, no longer able to obfuscate itself, has caused Rabbis to begin to learn more about drug treatment and encourage members to speak out about their problems.

Treatment facilities operate the same way as most other religious programs. A mix of religious and secular practices are used as a way to give the most effective treatment. A major difference of a Jewish treatment program is the inclusion of a kosher diet. It is unclear if the diet helps assist in the healing process.

None of these communities rely solely on religion for rehabilitation. Even though each strongly ties addiction, in general, to a religious problem, the intersection of emotional, mental, and physical recovery needed to overcome the dependence on narcotics or alcohol changes the nature of the programs. Interestingly, the program that is most deeply tied to religious teachings, the Tham Krabok Monastery, is also the sole program that includes outsiders and individuals that may not be Buddhist. The fluid dynamism of both Eastern thought and Buddhism in general as a philosophical position, as much as a practiced religion, may be directly responsible for it.

Those who are interested in a program that tied to a specific religion can look at our previous articles in the series that give a list of programs and tips on how to choose the program right for you.

Read the previous articles in this series: Faith in Recovery

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The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not necessarily those of World Religion News.

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Faith In Recovery 7: How Religious Communities Combat Addiction - World Religion News

If the NBAs summer of 2017 doesnt underscore that loyalty in sports is pure fiction, then what will? Chris Paul left Los Angeles. Paul George forced his way out of Indiana. The Bulls stunned Jimmy Butler. Gordon Hayward dumped Utah. Kyrie Irving abandoned King LeBron James. The Celtics blindsided Isaiah Thomas. But with players increasingly influential when it comes to their brands, short-term deals, constant speculation, and long-term planning by savvy executives, our ideas about player-to-team loyalty and team-to-player loyalty have been thrown out the window. Everything we think we know about sports tells us that Irving should want to stay in Cleveland, and Boston should want to keep Thomasbut the opposite is true.

Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose and commit myself towhat is best for me, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho wrote in his 2005 novel, The Zahir. That concept of freedom is the operating principle for organizations. But in the rare instances where players are free agents (like Hayward or Durant) or have enough status to control their destiny (like George or Irving), fans often admonish their decisions when they exercise their right to leave. After Thomas was traded, Caron Butler and Ray Allen took to Instagram to call out perceived hypocrisy: When players arent loyal to their teams theres outrage, but theres no similar reaction when, say, a team trades a player who played in a game two days after his sister passed away while recovering from dental surgeries and battling a painful hip injury. Allen would know: He left the Celtics for the Heat in 2012, one month after Miami beat Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, which earned him a Judas Shuttlesworth nickname. He wrote on Instagram, It is just a business so when the teams do it there should be no difference when the players do it!

The executives and agents Ive chatted with agree; they dont think anything of the choices made by the players and teams this summer. Every team operates pretty much the same way, which is virtually the same way nearly every business on earth operates, said an NBA agent, who requested to be anonymous. Kevin Durants choice to leave the Thunder for the 73-win Warriors birthed the the My Next Chapter meme and a perception that he took the easy way out. Durant went on The Bill Simmons Podcast at the end of August, and had this to say: Guys have been getting traded in their sleep for years. Guys have been getting the shitty end of the stick for years. I mean, some guys have been fucking over organizations, too. Its no loyalty. Its business. Theres money involved.

You can feel however you want to feel if your favorite player gets traded or signs somewhere else. The range of emotions we all feel while watching, rooting, talking, and thinking about our favorite teams is what fuels our love for the game. But as the NBA evolves and grows, there are ways to alter what we expect from teams and players and how we respond to their choices.

One of the common responses to Irvings decision to request a trade from the Cavaliers was, Why would he want to leave LeBron, one of the greatest players ever? Does he not care about winning? Ive read it on Redditand NBA executives Ive texted with have expressed the same sentiment. Irving said during his introductory press conference that his decision was simply about doing what was best for him: going for something bigger than myself and honestly being in an environment thats conducive for my potential. The only way to grow was to escape from LeBron Jamess towering shadow. But LeBron is the one who lay the path for Irving, as well as for the other players who chose their own destinies this summer.

Irving and James were guests on Episode 12 of Richard Jefferson and Channing Fryes Road Trippin With RJ & Channing. On that episode, Irving said, Have you read The Alchemist?Coelhos most famous novelthen asked LeBron to share his takeaways from the book. (Paulo Coelho didnt respond to a request for comment for this story.) LeBron spoke about empowerment, having a vision, and chasing it. Kyrie has effectively done just that, saying in a video message to Cavaliers fans that the moment came and he wanted to take full advantage of it so he could accomplish things that I have dreamt of as a kid.

CP3 also opted for personal empowerment. So did George. So did Hayward. Disloyalty should be the expectation, not the exception. Loyalty is a two-way street where both teams and players are licensed to drive. Ultimately, this is where my mind has changed over the last 10 years or so. Teams stab players in the back all the time. Players do the same. Its reality: The frequency at which it occurs doesn't make it any easier to deal with, but it does mean that there's a level of shock that should be removed from these situations. LeBron could have handled leaving Cleveland for Miami better, but maybe it had to be that way to empower players to make decisions that benefit their lives. Durant mentioned on The Bill Simmons Podcast that its the relationships with the people in the organization that hes still loyal to, not the organization itself. Its hard to be loyal to something that, by its very nature, is ever-changing.

Teams foster the same emotional rhythms in fans that we deal with in life: happiness, angst, disillusionment. But there's a reason why allegiance doesn't usually end when a player is traded or retires: It's all cyclical. Wins and losses, additions and subtractions, all create new opportunities. For sports fans, it might be best to enter into a new relationship with a player knowing the odds are it wont lasteither by the players personal choice or the teams decision.

Front office work requires a certain level of callousness. The Bulls, Celtics, and Rockets reshaped their rosters this offseason with surprising trades. While I dont like the return Chicago got for Butler, it was the right decision to move on. Houston and Boston got considerably better, on paper. You could make the argument that Daryl Morey and Danny Ainge would be lesser general managers had they considered loyalty a good business model.

It was only four short years ago, in the summer of 2013, when Ainge traded two Celtics legends, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, for a bunch of Nets draft picks and replacement-level players. My fiercely loyal Celtics-fan boss didnt like the trade, and neither did a lot of other fans. It wouldve been easy to keep Pierce and let him fade off into the sunset after a year-long farewell tour in a Celtics uniform. Boston took a gamble on the future. No one couldve expected the deal to work out at the level it did. The Nets died. The Celtics ascended. Here we are today.

Bostons long web of trades and signings that started in 2013 culminated last week when Ainge acquired Irving for the 2018 Nets pick, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and, of course, Thomas, who won the hearts of an entire fanbase this past season. Boston fell head over heels for Thomas after he dropped 53 points in the playoffs. I always dream of moments like this, Thomas said after the game. Those are where legends are born. And one day I want to be one of those guys. Thomas meant it, and his love for the fans was not unrequited. But to reach their ultimate goal of winning a championship, the organization had to ignore those fuzzy feelings. The way I imagine it is like this: We were all watching Thomas on one knee, wearing his Brinks truck sandals, ready to propose for a long-term commitment to the team and the city. But Ainge stopped him before he could reach for the ring. It was just a fling all along, nothing more. Ainge dealt Marcus Thornton for Isaiah Thomas, then Thomas for Kyrie Irving. To systematically upgrade assets, you cannot let attachment be an overriding decision-maker.

Ill leave it to your own imaginations to realize how difficult that conversation might have beenfor me and Isaiah, Ainge said after the trade. Isaiah had just an amazing season this year and entertained us allthe whole city of Boston, and everybody fell in love with him. You know, hes such an underdog because of his size and his heart and his spirit in which he plays. It was very challenging to make this decision.

An agent texted me that Danny would trade his son Austin if he had to. I believe it. The Celtics had just won 53 games, earning them the no. 1 seed, and went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Now they have only four returning players: Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier. How many organizations in sports would seriously return only one-quarter of their roster after the season they had? Its so easy to accept the status quo when things are going well. Some owners would love for a nice jog on the playoff treadmill as a six-seed every year. But it was the right choice for Ainge and the Celtics. The team was good and full of overachievers, but it wasnt great like it needed to be for them to achieve their ultimate goal.

Any backlash Boston receives for the choices they made or grief Houston gets for trading away a fan favorite in Patrick Beverley will quickly fade as their reloaded teams surpass the good-but-not-great edition fans fell in love with. Sure, its no guarantee. The failed Lakers superteam still looms. So do the Nets, the spark that put Boston in this position in the first place. But usually when great players join forces, great moments follow.

Still, it can be hard as a fan to fall in love with a team with the realization that no matter how deep that love is, the players who define the team can be cut loose at any moment. But remember what got you here doesnt work against a dominant, paradigm-shifting team like the Warriors. To paraphrase what Morey told ESPN in June, when the juggernaut Warriors present long odds for the rest of the league, you need to up your risk profile and get more aggressive. Drastic measures must be taken. The teams with owners and front offices who allow for that freedom will be the organizations that flourish in this new era of basketball.

Its not easy for players and general managers to make these difficult choices. Oftentimes, they need to cut out the noise. In todays NBA, it seems like no matter how much better a team gets, theres someone who says, They still wont beat the Warriors. Maybe thats true. But teams wont back down. Morey also has expressed that he doesnt believe the Warriors are unbeatable. Other executives Ive chatted with this summer still think the Spurs wouldve made life a living hell for Golden State had Kawhi Leonard stayed healthy for the series.

Ainge expressed similar thoughts in July 2016, days after Durant signed with the Warriors. Listen, they are an outstanding team. And nobody can deny the great talent that they have, Ainge said. But were not going to just lay down and die, Ill tell you that. The Celtics and Rockets have stood their ground. Theyve moved forward as an attempt to transform their teams into worthy nemeses of the juggernaut Warriors. Irving, George, Hayward, and Paul all did the sameLeBron will next summer. Those parties arent worried about what others are saying or how their decisions are perceived; ultimately, its all babble.

After worrying about how the Irving trade with Boston might be judged considering Thomass hip injury, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert might have taken a page out of the Celtics book after moving forward with the decision to accept the trade for Irving. As the Cavs enter a likely post-LeBron era, they need to stick to their forward-thinking plan. Even if it means burning a big LeBron bridge, it could lead to something special down the line. Eventually, maybe the next generation of players will recognize and appreciate it.

Basketball is constantly shifting, and that reality can sometimes be cruel. Jazz fans would find it hard to lose Hayward, as Bulls fans would with Butler. But there are always new fan favorites waiting in the wings. And they, too, will eventually either abandon the team or get forced out. Thats business; thats life.

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Does Loyalty in the NBA Still Exist? - The Ringer (blog)

The use of VR is a novel experience for many of the patients at Packard Childrens, said Veronica Tuss, a child life specialist with the hospitals Child Life and Creative Arts Department. The departments members engage patients in age-appropriate activities to help normalize their time in the hospital. Through providing education and procedural support, they play a key role in helping to decrease patients stress levels prior to procedures. VR is often so unfamiliar that it is instantly engaging and incredibly distracting, Tuss says. If Im preparing a child for their very first IV, and they share with me that they dont want to see whats happening procedurally, I know I need a distraction that is visually engaging. With VR, an often-intimidating setting suddenly becomes this really cool thing or place that they get to explore. It can minimize the experience of getting the IV to the point that we may actually turn a negative experience into a positive one.

The hospitalwide VR rollout is the latest evolution in distraction-therapy techniques pioneered by Rodriguez and fellow anesthesiologist Thomas Caruso, MD, who co-founded CHARIOT with Rodriguez. In 2015, the duo introduced the Bedside Entertainment and Relaxation Theater, which uses video projection to allow patients undergoing surgery to watch movies, music videos and other entertainment on a large screen attached directly to their gurney up to the moment they enter the operating room.

Earlier this year, CHARIOT launched Sevo the Dragon, an interactive video game projected on the BERT screen that takes a necessary part of anesthesia breathing anesthesia medicine through a mask and transforms it into a game. While BERT is great for younger children, the VR experience is becoming a useful tool, especially for older children, said Rodriguez and Caruso, both of whom are clinical assistant professors of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at the School of Medicine. The VR goggles escalate the immersive entertainment experience to a 360-degree view of relaxing scenery and engaging games.

For patients as young as 6, VR distraction therapy is being used in Packard Childrens Bass Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, short stay unit and emergency department; the vascular access, imaging, ambulatory orthopedics and general surgery clinics; and the perioperative unit. It will be rolled out by the end of the year to the hospitals acute care floor units, Stanford Childrens Healths ambulatory surgery clinics and even the labor and delivery unit. The goal is for all of the hospitals 29 child life specialists to be trained on the use of VR goggles by that time. In addition, pediatricians at the Stanford Childrens Health Bayside Medical Group-Berkeley clinic will be implementing VR technology during immunizations for patients who are fearful of needles.

Children shouldnt grow up being afraid to go to the doctor to have a shot, but certain experiences can cause phobias that last into adulthood. Needle phobia is a common example of that, and its the primary reason adults avoid important immunizations like flu shots, Caruso said. Now, when patients get a shot while they are wearing VR goggles, they are reporting only limited levels of pain, if any.

The CHARIOT team has medically customized the VR headsets to better fit kid-sized heads with an easy-to-clean strap and a disposable screen liner for immunocompromised patients. Sound capabilities allow the volume to be adjusted so the care team can communicate with patients during procedures, and each headset is accompanied by a smartphone preloaded with customized content specific to children in the hospital.

The CHARIOT team works carefully to select games that require limited head and arm movement so kids seated in bed can play without turning their bodies or getting tangled in IV lines and other wires, and so patients with arm bandages or casts can still participate. CHARIOT also works with companies to adapt commercially available games for the health care setting, removing themes of injury or death and eliminating game over termination so that the distraction of the game doesnt go away at the moment patients need it the most.

Working with Silicon Valley-based software engineers, Rodriguez and Caruso are also developing original VR content specifically created for the pediatric patient population. Their first game, Spaceburgers, was developed with Juno VR and is specifically designed for children in a hospital setting. It transports patients to outer space and immerses them in relaxing music as they zap space objects including spaceburgers that fly toward them. It allows health care providers to adjust the cognitive load according to the patients needs, meaning they can use a controller to increase the level of distraction during the most stressful parts of a procedure, like right before a needle poke.

Research is underway to further quantify the impact VR has on the levels of pain and anxiety that patients experience during vascular access procedures, including blood draws and port access, by comparing the experiences of patients who have used VR with those who have not. Preliminary results have shown that kids tend to be more cooperative when they are engaged in VR, with less movement, less fear and sometimes even lower pain scores, which can make the experience more positive for the provider and the child, Rodriguez said.

The impact of VR can last beyond the immediacy of a procedure, Caruso added. Having a less terrifying experience when you go to the hospital can change your behavior for weeks after a procedure, he said. Things like sleep regression or acting out during the recovery period are associated with distressing perioperative experiences, but by using VR and reducing the fear and anxiety that kids experience before a procedure, we hope to positively impact their behaviors after the procedure.

Now, the CHARIOT team is researching the impact of passive VR experiences, such as watching fish float by, compared with the impact of active games, such as zapping spaceburgers, to understand whether the content itself impacts patients reported pain and anxiety levels in the clinical setting. Packard Childrens is one of the first hospitals to integrate the use of VR as a potential method of anxiety reduction into patients electronic medical records, which is helping care teams determine which content is most effective for certain populations, according to patient age, procedure and content type.

Among our patients, there is a subgroup who do well during a procedure with or without VR, a subgroup with minor anxiety where VR helps slightly and they enjoy it, and a subgroup where it makes a profound difference, Rodriguez said. These patients sometimes come in for a procedure with a 10-out-of-10 level of anxiety and fear, but when we implement VR during a procedure, they report stress levels of 2-, 1- and in some cases 0-out-of-10. Those are the patients we are really targeting with these VR interventions.

CHARIOTs hospitalwide VR rollout is on track to be fully realized in the new Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford, which is set to open in December, and will continue to expand with additional technologies.

Our ultimate goal is to take a personalized approach to care by adapting and developing technological interventions for each childs needs, Rodriguez said. New content and more VR headsets will be available in the new hospital, including additional headsets specifically for patients with chronic conditions who are using VR as a relaxation technique to escape the hospital environment. For patients who are interested in watching their IV placements and minor procedures as they happen, CHARIOT has recently introduced augmented reality headsets a technology that layers visual enhancements atop existing reality. Their first AR experience shows two avatars demonstrating the process of peripheral IV placement. The goal is to expand the availability of AR programming in the new hospital. A new volunteer program intended to support child life specialists with patient distraction and VR headset setup is being implemented within perioperative services and will expand in the new building to support the broader deployment of distraction-based technologies.

In addition, Rodriguez and Caruso are in discussions with local technology companies about how to share these technologies beyond Packard Childrens. Our overarching mission is to help as many children as we can and make our discoveries available to other people and other hospitals, Caruso said. Having the hardware and software tools at the ready would make this a reality.

Rodriguez hopes that the program will continue to improve patients experiences as it evolves. If you can take someone and alleviate their fear, it makes everything were doing worthwhile, he said.

Juno VR LLC worked with CHARIOT to develop Spaceburgers. GameHearts LLC worked with CHARIOT to develop Sevo the Dragon. MineyMoe worked with CHARIOT to develop the augmented reality IV insertion instructional experience. Headsets, smartphones and funding have been provided by Starlight Childrens Foundation, thanks to support from Star Wars: Force for Change, Google and Niagara Cares. Additional funding came from the Auxiliaries Endowment at Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford, Bank of America and The Traverse Foundation.

Link:

Virtual reality alleviates pain, anxiety for pediatric patients - Stanford Medical Center Report

Henry Ehlebracht September 6th, 2017 - 5:29 PM

This new four track EP Unusable Love from El Ten Eleven and Emile Mosseri is a crisp and focused effort full of laid back organic tracks that fit very well together. El Ten Eleven have released a number of well-received projects over the past 10 years with six full length albums and a couple EPs under their belt. This is only a small taste compared to an album, but El Ten Eleven still have the ability to deliver something fresh and exciting despite the short length. Something that immediately sets this apart from their other projects is the addition of Emile Mosseri from The Dig. If youre a fan of either El Ten Eleven or Emile Mosseri, definitely check this out.

Unusable Love is the first track on the EP and it sets the mood for whats to come throughout the project. Organic guitar strings mix with a slow, brooding electronic beat and grumbling synths to create a reflective and melancholy feeling. While the lyrics convey these feelings clearly, the instrumentals also make this a very relaxing song. In contrast to the melancholy lyrics of Unusable Love, Im Right Here has a tender touch to its lyrics. More acoustic strings blend together wonderfully with the spacey effects on the singers voice and the great bass line. With great singing, lyrics and production this is definitely one of the standout tracks from this album.

In contrast to the stellar second track, Shes a Live One falls a bit flat. The uninspired vocals at the beginning of the track really drag the energy of the song down. The dull voice of the vocalist at the beginning of the track just doesnt match the image that the lyrics paint. On the other hand, something that this song does well is how its intensity builds on itself naturally. El Ten Elevens choice of instruments and production techniques really shine here. Finally Delicate Friend is a return to form because of its strong lead guitar melody and the great vocals brought to the table. You can really hear the strain and emotion in the singers voice which elevates this song above Shes a Live One.

All in all this is a successful collaboration, but there are some caveats. One annoying thing on the album is the mix on a couple of the songs. There is a grainy texture in the background that sticks out when you play certain songs loudly like in the car stereo. One other problem is that for a short project like an EP these songs are a bit too similar sounding with a vibe that doesnt change for most of the tracks on here. It would have been great to hear more versatility from this group of artists. That being said, this is definitely a project worth checking out if you like chill, relaxing electronic music with an acoustic touch.

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El Ten Eleven Unusable Love (feat. Emile Mosseri) - mxdwn.com

Nancy Hastings nhastings@hillsdale.net nhastingsHDN

Nearly all Americans understand that relaxation time is essential to good health, yet most of us dont spend nearly enough time unwinding.

After just observing a relaxing Labor Day weekend in southern Indiana, I pondered the origins of work. Being able to do some work remotely was still an option.

Work has, after all, been around since the creation of heaven and earth. Quite simply, God worked and created man to work. In the fall of man, work was not a punishment. God cursed the land to produce thorns and weeds, but didnt curse the work. Unfortunately, most Americans do.

Many Americans work continuously in jobs they dont enjoy. Often our work can be full of thorns, but we wouldnt grow if we didnt have adversity to overcome. When we like our work, it's rewarding, but breaks are important.

So yes, taking time to relax is paramount. After all, God rested on the seventh day after creating the universe. A Sunday sermon topic out of Ecclesiastes covered how the sleep of the laborer is sweet work in harmony with God and work is a blessing, but it requires rest.

While our society acknowledges that kicking back is indispensable, we dont seem to be practicing what we preach. Indeed, 99 percent of Americans think relaxation is important, yet they actually spend less than five percent of their day relaxing, according to an independent research study.

The goal of the research was to better understand the latest trends about how many of us actually relax and how we go about doing it.

Nearly half of Americans report theyre more stressed than their significant other, with a whopping 82 percent of men indicating that their partner is the stressed out one. Finding ways to de-stress is the key.

Music topped the list of relaxation techniques for those surveyed, with 48 percent reporting music helps them take it easy. Interestingly, only 18 percent find exercise is a good relaxation tool.

For me, yoga works wonders when its time to decompress. Stretching out the trapezius (extrinsic back muscle) or the latissimus dorsi (another extrinsic back muscle) also brings me rejuvenation.

Overall, laughter is really my way to decompress. When Im feeling the walls close in, I find humor in the situation and suddenly its not as important or as earth shattering as what I initially thought. Ive found it prevents burnout, irritability, back pain and the desire to overeat.

After hanging out with extended family and friends over the Labor Day weekend, laughter was my medicinal tonic. It can also help when giving advice to a friend dealing with caregiver stress for whose aging parents are facing the autumn season of their lives. Many baby boomers face stress because they are dealing with caregiver overload from taking care of parents and then are parents themselves.

Even so, the studys most surprising findings were that relaxation causes 62 percent of parents to feel guilty and that nearly one third of Americans surveyed reported being stressed out simply by the thought of relaxing!

Many of us suffer with the inability to take the time and just be. There is a such a strong temptation to fill our lives, (and our kids lives) with activities, so that no time is wasted. Weve become very efficient at being efficient.

When it all feels like too much, it usually means it is. That is when surrender is the best answer, and that is when it's time to just be.

When writers experience writers block, when a pregnant woman is put on bed-rest, when an athlete tears a muscle, when creativity juices stop flowing, its ones body telling them its just all too much at that given moment. When this happens, just stop. Theres always tomorrow.

There is nothing wrong with a little down time every now and then for anyone.

Nancy Hastings is a Daily News staff writer and can be reached at nhastings@hillsdale.net Follow her on Twitter: @nhastingsHDN

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Labor needs relaxation - Opinion - The Daily Reporter - Coldwater ... - Coldwater Daily Reporter

By Peter Molenaar

Visits to the Lake Street YWCA have become familiar to me, in the aftermath of thirty-five years hard labor at Smith Foundry. However, when worn ankles dictate, treadmills and elipticals wont do. It is from the vantage of a stationary bike that I am allowed to discreetly observe.

As for aerobics, evidently there are many women who have surpassed what I once was. One wonders why a world-wide movement of women has not been mobilized to fight ISIS. Sending our young men to war tends to make matters worse.

Recently, en route to burning 100 calories at 95rpm, the caption line on the big screen flashed BREAKING NEWS: NORTH KOREA THREATENS GUAM WITH MISSILE ATTACK. Amazingly, the elipticals and treadmills kept churning.

I happen to garden with the Koreans who founded the Community Peace Garden, at the junction of Highway 94 and Cedar Avenue. From them I received a copy of the spring issue of the Korean Quarterly with the front page caption: WAR PROVOCATION. The sum of Christine Hongs The Long, Dirty History was most impressive.

Unsurprisingly, few media outlets have reported on North Koreas overtures to the U.S., even as these, if pursued, might result in meaningful de-escalation on both sides. To be clear: peaceful alternatives are at hand. Far from being an intractable foe, North Korea has repeatedly asked the U.S. to sign a peace treaty that would bring the unresolved Korean War to a long-overdue end

Clearly, it is we who threaten them not they who threaten us. JUST SAY NO TO NUCLEAR WAR. Please. Yet, even I will return to the marvelous machines of the YWCA, as I intend to breathe for another thirty years.

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The Aerobics Beyond the Y - Alleynews

Sara MyersFaith Editor

Submitted Photo: Victoria Gazzillo

Seniors Victoria Gazzillo (left) and Mary Kate Halligan (right) co-founded prayer workouts as first-year students.

Seniors Mary Kate Halligan and Victoria Gazzillo began hosting Prayer Workouts two and a half years ago, during the Spring 2015 semester. Today the workout class has morphed into something Halligan said is much different than what they expected.

Prayer workouts are like many other workout classes, but also have a prayer component. Halligan this component said makes it unique from anything she had experienced before. She explained that during each class, they offer up the workout for a special intention.

The burn that you get from the workout the out of breathness, the feeling of wanting to give up thats something that we can offer up, so you can see the positive in the pain and use it as a prayer, Halligan said.

She stressed that aside from the prayer aspect, they are typical high intensity interval training workouts using body weight. They involve exercise such as push-ups, squats and burpees. The instructor counts of their set of repetitions, while the participants do whatever they can in that same amount of time. She said completing the intervals for time rather than repetitions makes the class more accessible to different fitness levels.

Thats why its good for any fitness level you could do 2 push-ups or you could do 25, and no matter what, everyones getting to a point where they are pushing themselves and its giving them something to offer up throughout, Halligan said.

Prayer workouts began after Gazzillo approached Halligan with an idea inspired by Hard As Nails Ministry, whose primary way to minister to people is through this type of workout. Having met in a faith context and knowing that Halligan was interested in fitness, Gazzillo reached out and the prayer workout classes began.

When the class first started, Halligan said it was primarily the two leaders and their friends. After printing posters and quarter sheets to reach out to a larger base, they have had people from faculty members to first year students participate in the workouts. She said the diversity contributes to a different dynamic each time.

As different offices around campus became more interested in the Prayer Workouts, they began to offer sponsorships and donations. Since the classes require no equipment and have no expenses, Halligan and Gazzillo have taken to using the sponsor money to provide fresh produce for local food pantries.

The produce is donated to the St. Francis of Assisi Food Pantry in downtown Scranton and the Leahy Clinic in Leahy Hall. The reasoning behind this unconventional use of donations, Halligan said, came from the very nature of the classes.

Because it is a class focused on thinking outside yourself, not focusing on what you want to do but looking outward, thats kind of what we did, she explained. We looked outward, and we thought we might as well see if theyll still be willing to give money to do something like that.

Prayer Workouts are held every Monday at 7 p.m. and every Friday at 6 p.m. in the Byron Center Aerobics Room.

Meet Mary Kate Halligan

Mary Kate Halligan will begin the Doctoral of Physical Therapy program at The University next fall. Unlike most students who will enter that program and are currently exercise science majors, Halligan is a biology major. Growing up playing sports and greatly enjoying science, Halligan said she chose Physical Therapy because it marries those two field. She said she is particularly excited for the opportunity to get to know her patients, whom she will see three times a week for a couple of months, an opportunity which she explained not many other fields in the health care profession have.

Outside of academics and prayer workouts, Halligan enjoys participating in intramural club sports including volleyball, field hockey, softball, and baseball. She also particularly enjoys the retreats which are held at the Chapman Lake Retreat Center. Halligan said that her trip to the Mexico border with the International Service Program was probably the coolest thing she had done at The University thus far. She also is starting to interpret at the Leahy Clinic this semester.

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Prayer Workouts go beyond aerobics room - The Aquinas

Manchester United have announced plans to beef up security at their training ground.

The club are proposing a range of new security measures at their 44 hectare Carrington base in Trafford including 11ft high gates, new automatic lift barriers, bollards and modifying existing fencing.

The club say these are necessary to manage those coming in and out of the site and ensure players and staff safe, especially given United's 'high profile.'

Planning documents submitted by the club to Trafford Council last month say: "These measures will upgrade existing security measures that are in place.

"This level of security is required due to the high profile of Manchester United and to continue to ensure that visitors are controlled and the complex remains secure.

"The gates will provide the complex with a secure boundary."

They add: "The proposed works are required to ensure that the world class status of the AON Training Complex is maintained.

"There are very special circumstances which clearly and demonstrably outweigh the minimal harm the proposals will have on the Green Belt."

A decision on the planning application is yet to be made.

After the Manchester Arena attack in May, United bosses introduced new security measures at Old Trafford with increased searches and nothing bigger than a 'small handbag' allowed inside.

Last May, the stadium had to be evacuated and their final Premier League game of the season against Bournemouth abandoned after a mock explosive device was found in a toilet block, which had left behind after a training excercise.

Around the same time the club successfully applied to erect new 26 foot high fences around the training base in a bid to keep prying eyes away from their sessions.

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Manchester United announce plans for ring of steel around their Carrington training ground - Manchester Evening News

Having fouled Earth with the works of their modern substitute for religion, science and technology, liberals imagine they can build a perfect world in outer space by means of science and technology that are now more advanced than they were in the past, or so it is boasted. It is what NASA has been about since the agencys inception. The effort has been joined in recent years by billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with space projects of their own financed by them. However, there is a fly in the liberals ointment.

It is that their planned perfect world would be inhabited by imperfect human beings, men and women who are often irrational, some to the degree that they persist in holding to the preposterous notion that a Palestinian peasant two thousand years ago was God, and all of them subject to emotions which can be unruly and lead to messy situations. This, despite liberalism with its belief in the perfectibility of man, having long ago replaced religion as the core around which the life of society is lived.

Some very rich and powerful men, not to speak of scientists and technologists of like mind, think there is now a solution to the problem (as they see it) of human imperfection. It is called transhumanism. Perhaps you have heard of it. The literature of transhumanism is quite extensive. Heavily funded foundations promote it. References to it show up regularly in mass media. Persons under forty are apt to talk about it at social gatherings when they want to appear to have intellectual interests.

Like Christianity ever since the so-called Reformation shattered the unity of the Faith, sectarian differences exist within transhumanism, but all its adherents believe in, work toward, or otherwise support an undertaking of the kind that could only be conceived in a post-Christian age like ours: melding human beings and computers. The idea is to upload artificial intelligence (A.I.) into men so they will become, transhumanists say, more than human. Christians would say it will make them, if successful, less so, but were not going to get into that here.

Not all Christians would say it anyway. Although most transhumanists are atheists, they recognize the Jesuit paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin as a precursor. To anyone looking for clarity of thought and expression the woolly verbiage of Teilhards writings make them difficult to read, but it is possible to get his drift. It appeals to the kind of Catholics who strive to reconcile truths taught by the Church with science and technology in order to rationalize their dependence on machines to transport them, cool them, make things for them, entertain them, keep them alive in some circumstances, do more and more of their thinking for them.

Being a paleontologist, Teilhard was a great believer in evolution. What he envisioned, decades before the development of the internet and worldwide web, was all machines linked in a network by which, and in which, human minds would merge, all consciousness becoming unified so that it would eventually break through the material framework of Time and Space and arrive at what he called Omega Point the Divine, Christ. Of course at that point human beings would not be as we know them and as they have always existed.

Julian Huxley, the famed British eugenicist, was a close friend of Teilhard, but a non-believer. In a 1951 lecture he presented a secularized version of Teilhard: Such a broad philosophy might perhaps be called, not Humanism, because that has certain unsatisfactory connotations, but Transhumanism. It is the idea of humanity attempting to overcome its limitations and to arrive at fuller fruition

Oh, those irksome limitations! (i.e., irrational beliefs and emotions.)

Many transhumanists see Christian belief in particular as positively threatening. Simon Young, one of their leading thinkers, has written: The greatest threat to humanitys continued evolution is theistic opposition to Superbiology in the name of a belief system based on blind faith in the absence of evidence.

Perhaps the most influential transhumanist thinker is Ray Kurzwell, a director of engineering at Google. A book he wrote in 1999, The Age of Spiritual Machines, is a kind of bible of the movement. The twenty-first century will be different, he said therein. The human species, along with the computerized technology it created, will be able to solve age-old problemsand will be in a position to change the nature of mortality in a postbiological future.

Change the nature of mortality? He means his spiritual machines will live forever, their bodies incorruptible, immune to disease and decay. To acquire knowledge, all theyll have to do is upload it effortlessly to their brains.

Kurzwell calls the point in evolution where this happens Singularity. It is analogous to Teilhards Omega Point.

Some transhumanists, including Kurzwell, talk about resurrecting the dead. Theyll do it, they think, using the DNA we all leave behind. This is where space travel comes back into the picture, though in a way unforeseen by the men who launched NASA: What with the dead being brought back to life and everybody living forever (as spiritual machines), it wont take long before Earth really is overpopulated. Migration to other planets will be necessary.

The billionaire Elon Musk identifies as a transhumanist. Besides developing the Tesla electric automobile, he is best known for Space X, a project for developing reusable rockets with a view to their eventually transporting men and material to Mars for human colonization of the Red Planet. (Since there is no oxygen on Mars, vehicles on the planet will have to be powered by electricity. Hence the Tesla.)

Peter Thiel is another billionaire transhumanist and financial angel to enterprises like Future of Humanity Institute and Singularity University. Although he was given a speakers slot at last years Republican National Convention, he is less well known to the public than Elon Musk. Born in Germany and now a citizen of New Zealand, he was a co-founder of PayPal and early investor in Facebook, is openly gay, a huge fan of Tolkein (he says he has read Lord of the Rings more than ten times), was a member of the Libertarian Party until 2016, and seems to have an unerring instinct for placing himself where power and influence can be had. His membership on the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group shows that. So did his being named to the executive committee of Donald Trumps transition team after Trump won last Novembers election (he had contributed $1.25 million to the Trump presidential campaign). It is known that he is a partner of Jared Kushner in one of the latters investment operations. Oh, he also describes himself as a Christian but acknowledges that his beliefs are not orthodox. His financial contributions to transhumanism are weighted toward life-extension and age-reversal projects. (At one point, pre-PayPal, Thiel was a speech-writer for William Bennett when the former drug czar and U.S. Secretary of Education was marketing himself as a morality guru with books like The Book of Virtues and The Childrens Book of Virtues, but grew tired of the job and quit before the public learned that Bennett was a compulsive gambler who had blown millions of dollars at Las Vegas casinos.)

The defense of civilization requires vigilance, but guarding against treachery from within is hard. Western Christian civilization has been undone by leaders who were really Judases, beginning with the priests, bishops and princes who led millions out of the Church at the time of the Protestant revolt commonly called the Reformation. They were followed by the Revolution which first overthrew Christian government in France in 1789 and has continued to unroll so that it does not now exist anywhere. More recently there were the culture wars, which Christians could never have won, not with the weight of modernity against them.

Why? The Judas factor again. Christianity demands sanctification for entrance into Heaven; and self-denial, self-abnegation, self-discipline are requisite to it. Too many modern Christians, faith and belief run out of them, including belief in Heaven except maybe as a place where everybody will go anyway, have preferred self-aggrandizement instead. What they want is all that will make things easier for self or, better yet, enhance it. What could do that to a greater degree than the promise of immortality, especially immortality without pesky emotions and irrational beliefs to mar its perfection?

The trouble is that only a computer could see such a state of things as perfect.

Footnote: Transhumanists argue among themselves as to whether the right of anyone to stay human, especially for religious reasons, should be respected and protected. If these people ever exercise more power and influence than they already do, the argument will probably prove pointless. When most remaining Christians arent Christian enough to face life without the benefits of modernitys existing appurtenances smartphones, processed foods, automobiles, television, air-conditioning, etc., etc. how many will choose Heaven in whose existence they can believe only by faith over the scientific certainty of life in the here and now forever and ever?

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Link:
Transhumanism - Catholicism.org