Your Pet Can Save Your Life

I think we can all agree that nothing warms your heart more than the unconditional love a pet provides.  I can't help but smile when I come home and my little dog jumps and spins with happiness while he tries to shower me with kisses.  There's been  a lot of information recently on the health benefits one can reap just by spending time with a furry companion. 

 First of all, there are all the studies that have shown that spending time with a pet can improve your  health. There have been several long term scientific studies to prove that pets can dramatically loweryour blood pressure.  Way back in 1980, the State University of New York at Buffalo conducted a large study on pets and individuals who had high blood pressure.  The results were impressive.

Even the Center for Disease Control recommends pets!  According to their research, pets can decrease your:

•     Blood pressure
      Cholesterol levels
      Triglyceride levels
      Feelings of loneliness

Pets can increase your:

    Opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities
    Opportunities for socialization

In addition to this, pets can play a pivotal role in the recovery of a serious illness.  There are now many organizations that provide pet visits to hospitals and nursing homes.  Sometimes the love of a pet is enough to keep a patient strong and can energize their fight for life.  Sometimes the inability to care for that pet, and ultimate loss of the pet can have the opposite effect.  Many people are forced to give up their pets when they become ill or are going through a health crisis.

I recently met an extraordinary woman by the name of Ann Marie Schrage-Glaviano.  She went through a horrendous experience fighting Lupus.  Ann Marie was lucky because she had a large support system.  She had great friends that volunteered to help her through this battle.  Not many people are as fortunate.   This journey included months of chemotherapy and two strokes.  Ann Marie fought hard and won. 

Then Ann Marie had a vision. "Autoimmune mediated and other serious illnesses rob us of the only thing we truly possess, that being, time together. Pets are family, love as family, live as family. None should ever be left behind in any disaster. Disability is not a choice!" exclaims Ann Marie. Having a life long passion for pets combined with her personal experience in a life threatening illness inspired her to create PetsNPatients.  Ann Marie has organized a national network of volunteers that can assist in caring for a pet when the owner is going through a health crisis.  I don't have any scientific statistics but I can say from my heart that Ann Marie has probably saved many lives- human as well as pets.

If you're interested in getting your pet involved in a pet therapy program, here is a list of local organizations.

In my opinion, nothing can make you feel better than doing something to help others.

Kerri On~ Journey of bullied girl; from an abused Hells Angels wife to brave mother and more...

Kerri On is the debut novel in a trilogy by author Kerri Krysko. The courageous Ms. Krysko bears her heart and soul in this gut wrenching memoir. It is a tale of a lonely little girl who was abused by all who should have loved and nurtured her; bullying in its purest form. 

Bullying in its most excruciatingly painful form...

The abuse set the stage for a lifetime of abuse. The pattern of history repeating itself while Ms. Krysko searched for that elusive feeling of belonging...of fitting in...of being loved...for prince charming to come and sweep her off her feet and take her away from all of her pain. 

Like all beautiful girls who suffer from low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, she was drawn to the bad boys. They always seem to start out as the answer to her dreams but ended up being nightmares. Kerri was always able to pull herself together and gather up the strength to leave these monsters.  That was until she met "The Beast". He was charismatic and manipulative and knew exactly which buttons to push. 

The Beast was the king of all the bad boys; he was a high ranking, “full patch” member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Gang. He dazzled her with his power, money & sexual prowess. People were afraid of him and gave him VIP treatment and soon she found that she was also receiving VIP treatment. But there was a very high price to pay...

The Beast was so diabolical that through his constant verbal and physical abuse he was able to beat her down psychologically and physically until she felt powerless.

For the sake of her children Kerri knew she had to find the strength to break free. She decided to start her own  journey, to revisit and explore her past to figure out how she got where she is today, and to escape her nightmare.

I'm really looking forward to the second book in the trilogy...at the edge of my seat!

Buy the book here

Kerri's Website here

Lift your spirits

Many people feel a bit let down at this time of year.  Maybe it's all those expectations for the holiday season, along with the added stress.  Sometimes it just accentuates any feelings of sadness or loneliness.  Whatever the case may be, you are not alone and there is help out there.  You don't even need a prescription.  It's a new day and the answer be in your spirituality.

Spirituality is a term that is tossed around quite a bit these days.  Many people are not clear on the definition of spirituality.  Even if you check the Merriam-Webster dictionary  you will find that there are a few different interpretations. The definition that makes the most sense to me is, "Joined in spirit".   There have been several studies that have proven both physical as well as mental benefits to including spirituality in your life.

The term "joined in spirit" may seem confusing.  I know it was confusing to me, learning as a child and even as an adult I wasn't completely clear on that.  But one day I saw a video that illustrated perfectly how we are all one in God- the universe- or whatever your perception may be.  There were thousands of birds flying in formation- creating designs in the sky.  Like a perfect ballet. To me- I realized that we are all part of God- all living creatures- all connected.  Please see this video and tell me if you don't feel it.

Researchers at the University of Manitoba examined a link between religious attendance and attempted suicide.   This health survey was based on 37,000 respondents. Dan Rasic, the studies principal author found that, "Those who attended church at least once a year had decreased rates of suicide."   Some believe that the attendance of these services enable people to feel as though they are part of the community as less isolated. Some believe there is a powerful synergy when groups of people gather and pray.


Although people have found comfort in prayer and other spiritual for thousands of years, the scientific proof is relatively new.. Based on research dating back several years, it's been found that spirituality can give hope, act as an antidepressant and even help to cure serious illnesses like heart disease and cancer.   In fact, researchers have found that spirituality and the practice of religion may slow the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.  These findings were actually presented at The American Academy of Neurology 57th Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Florida back in April of 2005.

In May of 2004 the National Center for Health released findings of a survey involving 31,000 people using prayer and complementary and alternative therapies.  Prayer was the most popular of all the "therapies".  The results were astounding. Catherine Stoney, Ph.D, a Program Officer at the NCAAM noted, "There is already some preliminary evidence that religious affiliation and religious practices are associated with health and mortality- in other words, with better health and longer life."
 
Many researchers agree that there are strong connections between the mind, the spirit and the body.  Spirituality doesn't have to include going to a church or other houses of worship.  Spirituality can be found in many ways.  Some find spirituality in meditation, yoga or even a support group.



Spirituality is a very individual, personal endeavor- but definitely one worth pursuing.