We’ve often talked about separate realities, a term Sydney Banks used to describe the difference in each individual’s response to any given situation or event. There have been many studies to support the idea that we all really do see the world through different lenses.

The clearest example of this phenomenon may be seen in witness’ accounts of an accident. There are often vastly different interpretations of what occurred. One witness may swear the car involved was a blue Ford while another will be sure it was a gray Chevy. One driver may be described by some as 5’8’’, heavy set, mid 20s, by others as 5’11’’, muscular, mid 30s.

Another amusing example is a family’s response after watching a television show together. Depending on their line of work, ages, hobbies, etc. the viewers will notice different things. A teenage boy will comment on the racy sports car while grandma may not even notice the car. Dad might pick up on the clever advertising or the dynamic between boss and employee while mom may notice people’s body language and how they communicated. Same movie, different lenses.

As we notice these subtle differences in how we each view events, a door is opened to greater acceptance and understanding of another’s point of view, and being “right” takes on a whole new meaning. Maybe there are many sides to every question. Perhaps there’s something to be learned by another’s point of view, something worth considering.

That’s not to say we must bow to every opinion or perspective. We each have personal values and codes of conduct based on our life experience and our innate wisdom. We all have issues about which we feel strongly. What understanding about separate realities does, however, is allow us to see the other persons perspective as simply that—another perspective. It depersonalizes the situation.

We’re then able to move from an adversarial position of reactivity and “need to be right” to one of deeper innate wisdom and common sense.

For example, when we observe what we believe to be injustices or an abuse of power it’s far more effective to address it from a position of resolve and calm than from a position of anger and judgment. Remember, we’re smarter when we’re calm.

There’s a profound freedom that comes with seeing that we are all creating our own reality moment to moment. It’s testament to the amazing power of thought and to the abundant choices available to us at any given time. “My reality or yours,” both attempts to interpret the world, each one our own movie. Let’s make it a good one.

This one-time vaccination program is being offered to women in B.C. who were born in 1991, 1992 and 1993 to protect them from HPV infections that are known to cause almost all cases of cervical cancer. It’s estimated that the vaccine can prevent up to 70 per cent of these cancers.

The vaccine is provided in a series of three doses over a six month period.

“It’s available every Monday and Thursday,” explains Sun Peaks Health Clinic administrator Marg Kosolofski. “(But) check the website to make sure a doctor is scheduled in. Also, our nurse practitioner will administer it on the last Monday of the month. Her clinic requires an appointment between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. by calling during our open hours.”

Women who want to receive the vaccine but don’t fall into the eligible age range can consult with their physician or pharmacist about purchasing the vaccine. All women, even those who have received the HPV vaccine, are encouraged to continue to get regular Pap tests, as the vaccine does not protect against all cancer-causing strains of the virus.

To contact the Sun Peaks Health Centre, visit www.sunpeakshealth.com
For more information on the HPV vaccination program visit www.immunizebc.ca

“After a great deal of consideration of clinical evidence, commissioning a report to provide options and listening to what local governments had to say at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention last year, government has decided to restrict access to tanning beds for young people under the age of 18,” explained Michael de Jong, minister of health.

The government cites studies that show tanning before the age of 35 increases risk of melanoma by 75 per cent. However, Bill Sanesh, owner of Kamloops swimwear store and tanning salon Bikini Bill’s, finds fault with those statistics.

“In fact, the data in the report didn’t actually study indoor tanning salons, but rather sunbed usage,” states Sanesh. “Half of the subjects making up the World Health Organization’s 75 per cent figure were home tanning bed users or used medical sunbeds in dermatology offices.”

Different user groups fall into different risk groups, and lumping them all together can be misleading.
“The indoor tanning salons had a statistically insignificant six per cent increase in risk. The home tanning units had a 40 per cent increase in risk. The medical phototherapy sessions had a 96 per cent increase in risk,” says Sanesh. “It was the total of these figures that resulted in the 75 per cent figure.”

The government offers no regulation for the use of home tanning units or phototherapy to mitigate increasing melanoma rates. For Sanesh, this is problematic.

“This legislation will ban all under 18’s, including those using UV for the treatment of acne, psoriasis, eczema and depression, from using tanning salons that showed the lowest melanoma risk and will move them to unregulated home units and medical phototherapy which showed the highest increase in melanoma incidence,” he says.

The proposed regulation under the Public Health Act will ban the use of commercial indoor tanning beds by youth under the age of 18, unless they have a medical prescription. It is anticipated to take effect fall 2012.

“We’ve been offering the school-based HPV vaccination program since 2008, which has helped to protect thousands of British Columbian girls from cervical cancer,” explains Dr. Perry Kendall, provincial health officer. “I’m pleased that with this program we can expand that to ensure that all B.C. women aged 21 and under will have had an opportunity to protect themselves.”

HPV infections are the cause of almost all cases of cervical cancer. It’s estimated the vaccine can prevent up to 70 per cent of these cancers, as well as a number of pre-cancerous changes to the cervix that require treatment.

It’s hoped that the vaccine will be available at the Sun Peaks Health Clinic, and a determination should be made by the end of April. However, HPV vaccine is available from pharmacists, physicians, sexual health and youth clinics, post secondary institution student health services and public health units.

B.C. began offering the HPV vaccine to grade six and nine girls in 2008. Girls born in 1994 and later have been offered the vaccine in the school based program. Until now, those born in previous years have been ineligible for the publicly funded vaccine.  After studying the data on the vaccine and its cost-effectiveness, the B.C. Communicable Disease Policy Advisory Committee recommended that B.C. offer a one-time program for young women.

“The HPV vaccine is a safe and highly effective vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer,” said Dr. Monika Naus, medical director of immunization programs, BC Centre for Disease Control. “We recommended this one-time program so that we could protect more young women from cancer and provide coverage for those who missed the school program.”

For more information visit: www.immunizebc.ca or www.healthlinkbc.ca

The municipality is encouraging everyone to wear a daffodil to show support for persons living with cancer.

Daffodils were first used by the Canadian Cancer Society in 1956 as hand-outs to spread the message about cancer. When recipients wanted to pay for the flowers, the society realized they could be used as a fundraiser, and in 1957 the first “daffodil days” fundraising began. The society is now the world’s largest purchaser of daffodils.

As I was reflecting on how our thinking works and the amazing power of thought I was reminded of that show. In many ways it can be seen as a metaphor for our experience.

When we’re feeling gripped by a point of view or an idea it’s as if we’re seeing the reality or the truth. Instead, what we’re truly seeing is our personal perception of reality and truth. It’s as if life is a cleverly disguised mystery much like the questions on “Truth or Consequences.” What we make of it is up to us. And what we make of it is what we experience.

There is, within each of us, a beautiful radar that tells us when our thinking is taking us away from our true wisdom. The feeling that accompanies every thought is our signalling device. When we feel anxious or urgent, angry or judgmental, worried or fearful, we can be sure that behind the feeling is some thinking that’s creating this experience. We’ve interpreted an event, either past or present, through insecure lenses.

Our thinking tricks us because it appears to be right, to be real, to be important. There often seems to be genuine logic supporting our thinking. For example, if we’re attending an event at which we know very few people, it could seem quite natural to feel some anxiety. But is it really?

It’s only when we step back and allow our minds to get quiet that we’re able to recognize the true impersonal nature of thought. We’re then able to see all the choices available to us. In the example above, it’s not necessarily natural or logical to feel anxious or fearful in a group of strangers; it’s possible to feel excited, curious, calm or any number of responses.

As we become more sensitive to those feelings, which are our moment-to-moment experience, we realize that they’re the “consequences” of our thinking. They’re the inevitable outcome of a thought. We cannot have an anxious feeling without an attached anxious thought. Similarly we cannot have a calm feeling without a calm quiet mind.

In order to live in a calm feeling more of the time we need only recognize the feeling for what it is—our interpretation of a particular thought and a reflection of our state of mind. If I’m angry or upset it’s my response not the response, to a given event or situation.

We all have the gift of choice. We all have innate resiliency and wisdom. That’s a truth that promises consequences we all seek—to live in well-being more of the time.

Currently, there’s no certified winter recreational helmet available, and as a result, parents use whatever’s available or no helmet at all. The study compared the protective characteristics of three types of helmets currently used by children under the age of seven. Ice hockey, alpine ski and bicycle helmets were impacted at varying speeds on both the front and side to replicate the impact a child might experience while recreating.

“We defined helmet safety performance by the ability of a helmet to reduce acceleration of the head during impact,” explains Blaine Hoshizaki, professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Health Sciences and co-author of the study.

The research found that while there’s no one helmet built to protect in every situation, depending on impact velocity, different helmets offer better protection against brain injury. Ice hockey helmets offered the most protection for lower velocity impacts, while the bicycle helmet was a better choice for high velocity impacts. Alpine helmets had limited effectiveness in both low and high velocity impacts.

“Helmets are designed and tested to mitigate the risk of an injury,” says Hoshizaki. “They are not designed to eliminate head injuries.”

While there may not be one helmet suitable for all winter activities, a study by the Canadian Ski Council found that 83.1 per cent of Canadian skiers and snowboarders now wear helmets on a regular basis, up from 79.9 per cent last year.

“This remarkable increase in helmet usage reflects the efforts of the Canadian ski and snowboard industries and other stakeholders to educate skiers and boarders about the benefits and the limitations of helmet usage,” says Colin Chedore, President of the Canadian Ski Council.

Results from a 2010/11 National Consumer Survey also showed 95.5 per cent of children under 14 now wear helmets.

The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer is a two-day, 250 kilometre bicycle ride from Vancouver to Seattle June 16 and 17, 2012. With the proceeds from their book sale Stoner and Foster are halfway to their fundraising goal.

To support the ride, visit www.conquercancer.ca

I think most of us would admit to wanting balance in our lives. While that probably means different things to different people, I think it’s safe to say that we all have experienced the feeling of “imbalance” from time to time.

Whether it’s too much food and too little exercise, too much stress and too little sleep, too much work and too little family time, the resulting feeling is the same, a feeling of being out of control or victims of our circumstance.

We can blame our boss or the economy or our genes or the weather. Whatever it is that appears to be the source of our imbalance, the true source is our state of mind. It’s our habitual thinking, taken seriously, that creates our experience moment to moment.

When we become aware of the connection between a thought and the feeling that accompanies it we’re then able to step back and gain some perspective. We can see the role of thought in the creation of our reality.

Although it may feel that we are driven by outside influences such as what others may think, or what our parents taught us, or what our peers are doing, the truth is that we have the ultimate choice as to what we think and, as a result, what we do. We can choose to listen to our inner wisdom, the innate state of well-being that lies within each of us. And when we do, that wisdom will lead us to more balance.

While there are certain commitments and obligations that are required of us, we still have an ability to choose well-being more of the time. We can recognize when our thinking is not serving us and is instead leading us into a state of anxiety or stress. As we become more finely tuned to how we are feeling we are better able to catch ourselves before we become gripped by a thought. We can let go of unwanted habitual thoughts and instead allow fresh thinking to emerge, new insights to occur and our deeper wisdom to prevail.

For instance, if we have a particularly demanding work schedule we can find ways to either delegate or prioritize so as to allow time for other important aspects of our life whether it’s for exercise, more family time, pursuit of a course or a hobby.

Only when we recognize the power of thought and our capacity to choose are we able to tap into the profound pool of common sense and innate intelligence that is our birthright. From that place we can make wise choices and find a true balance and the well-being that comes with it.

Sun Peaks’ first women’s wellness weekend, scheduled for Sept. 15 and 16, 2012, promises to offer busy ladies a restful respite from their everyday lives.

“Between work and family and other commitments, women often forget to take care of themselves, and that’s what this weekend is all about,” says Janice Nankivell, Tourism Sun Peaks’ event coordinator.

The alpine setting of Sun Peaks provides the backdrop for a weekend of relaxation paired with workshops and activities designed to rejuvenate.

“This is a brand new event that is 100 per cent focussed on women,” says Nankivell. “From workshops, to spa treatments, to a leisurely canoe around McGillivray Lake, the weekend can be custom designed for whatever is most of interest.”

Workshops will focus on women’s issues, including balance and discovering your inner brilliance. SPIN columnist and psychology councillor June Earle and women’s small business coach Amy Earle will each facilitate workshops. Sun Peaks’ Isabelle Hamptonstone, local author and mental performance coach, will provide a keynote address.

For more information contact: www.activities@sunpeaksresort.com