Idioteex

Posts Tagged ‘heal’

It was 1990 and I was back in NYC from LA dealing with my terminally ill mother in Cedar Sinai Hospital. Three years earlier, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. As you might have experienced yourself, back in those days the dreaded chemo was really the only treatment available. She put up the good fight, but by this juncture it had spread to the liver and lymph nodes. Mom was losing the battle and she was in and out of a coma.

Every so often she would moan, “Enough!” I had dealt with the inevitable and knew her time would come soon and that Mom would finally have her peace. It’s always difficult to deal with the impending death of a parent (or any loved one), especially when you’ve only had them for thirty-two years.

Take Two Aspirin & Laugggggggggh!

I would spend eight-hour days at the hospital by my mom’s bedside, and at night I’d go to a comedy club down the block and do a spot. You’re probably wondering how could I do that? How could I just go and make people laugh like that at a time like this? And my reply would be, “How I could not?” Humor heals and I knew it would be the only thing that could get me through this stressful time.

For thirty minutes, while on stage, time literally stood still for me as I blocked out what was happening to my mother only blocks away. If you were to talk to me that night in the club, you wouldn’t even know what I had gone through earlier in the evening. Making people laugh, seeing the joy on their faces, was the best prescription for me. I didn’t need valium or alcohol to kill my pain. Just laughter. Getting off stage I felt a real release. And you can do the same thing. If you’re going through a difficult time, then you should try humor as a way to “give yourself a much needed break.”  Read more...

Music and arts education are valuable components of academic instruction. And they become even more valuable when they are used towards the resolution of crisis situations that affect and traumatized children around the globe. Creative expression has both educational and psychological significance for children that have suffered natural disasters, wars, and violent acts, serving as a way through which people of diverse cultures can interact and unite in their shared humanity.

Teachers use art and music to cultivate communication, social abilities and cognitive emotions to increase cooperation, self-confidence and self-esteem. Through the creation of singing, moving, and listening stimulus to music, a broad range of emotional, cognitive and physical abilities of children are brought out and help them to learn new skills.

Creative therapy can be expressed in a variety of forms including music and movement therapy, writing techniques and play therapies. Aiming to provide children with a means of expression that can help them express their emotions about their individual experiences while using their imagination and the creativity of the therapist, creative therapy offers a sense of accomplishment.

Music and movement therapies have a therapeutic effect on children. By addressing physical, psychological, cognitive and/or social functioning, music and movement act as a powerful medium that provides support and encouragement to each traumatized child in the effort to acquire new skills and abilities. Movement therapies transform feelings into movement that helps children release their stress and express their emotions. On the other hand, music, because of its ability to touch each person in a different way and often in many different ways, creates the grounds for new learning opportunities and most importantly, for leading a normal life.  Read more...