Meeting April 23, 2008

Attendees:
Helen Craigie
Chris Ng
Kanae Kinshoto

Hello Everyone,
Our last meeting was small but very productive. Chris Ng came to speak about an event that she is putting together directed to both the healthcare community and the Buddhist communities here in Toronto.

For healthcare workers, the forum will emphasize the benefits that a Buddhist approach can offer, and also that there is a specific body of knowledge healthcare providers can acquire to service people who are Buddhist. The Buddhist community will be shown how their needs can be met by the Canadian health system.

The proposed event will take place over a weekend and include keynote speakers and practical workshops. Chris is hoping that we can bring Linda Carlson as the main keynote speaker. Linda Carlson is an Associate Professor in Psychosocial Oncology at the University of Calgary; her current research includes working with cancer patients in areas of mind-body medicine, meditation and yoga. Here is Dr. Linda Carlson's website.http://www.ucalgary.ca/~lcarlso/

The other proposed speakers are still to be determined, but we are hoping to get local speakers for the forum giving a Buddhist academic perspective, a caregiver’s perspective and a spiritual perspective on palliative care.

Chris had great suggestions for practical workshops to be offered to compliment the speaker presentations. One idea is to have someone from the Buddhist community introduce the Chinese practice of qigong. Medical qigong treatment has been officially recognized as a standard medical technique in Chinese hospitals since 1989. Qigong as a medical technique teaches practitioners to learn diaphragmatic breathing, an important component of relaxation which is important in combating stress and promoting mindfulness.

Overall, the hope is that this event will foster interactions among the diverse Buddhist communities in Toronto, articulate the needs of the community and to attract the attention of people in the healthcare system to Buddhist oriented complimentary healthcare services.

I am excited to get started planning this event with Chris and I know that our diverse talents will bring a lot to the table. I think that we should get together again soon for a good brainstorming session for ideas for speakers, possible funding partnerships etc.
Talk again soon!