...Equine Assisted Therapy By: Ashley M. Lorenc An ancient Greek sage once said, "The outside of a horse is the best thing for the inside of man." Hippocrates echoed that sentiment when he spoke of "ride rhythm" (Bliss). I have found there is an unspoken magic that horses posses when it comes to healing human beings. This experience is something that could never be taught or reached in a “talk” therapy session. The primary objective of Equine Assisted Therapy at Helping Hands Therapeutic Riding Center is rehabilitation, but it is also there to provide mental, physical, and social stimulation. The children love coming out to ride. It is amazing seeing an unresponsive child get on a horse and 45 minutes later have a totally different personality. Some of the children are more challenging to work with than others. Their attention spans can be short so keeping them focused and entertained can be difficult. One patient we had was a girl about age 12. While on the horse she would talk in song, in a soft tone. She loved being on the horse. When the therapist would tell her left and right she would start to respond and move the reigns. Every child has their own personalities and their own needs. Each child is matched with a horse depending on those needs. This takes great patience for all the participants. Safety is essential. That is why I am there. I volunteer to walk next to the horse, to control the horse, and to monitor the rider through the lesson. The therapist...
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...Wellness Spas are everywhere. We are offering a spa that will reconnect your mind, body and soul. It will be a place of refuge and a safe haven to revive your energies, redirect your thoughts and actions in the aim of being whole again. We will offer you exotic services to help you attain this measure of revitalization and peace. Please take a few moments to answer a few questions below. 1) Do you take a few minutes each day to quiet your mind and breathe deeply? a. Yes b. No 2) Are you familiar with: Very Familiar Somewhat Familiar No c. Aromatherapy and its benefits d. Hot stone massage e. Oriental Foot Massage f. Acupuncture g. Thai Yoga Massage h. Yoga exercise i. Spa Parties j. How to change your nutrition habits 3) Which of these services are you most likely to choose? k. Aromatherapy - mixture of natural oils inhaled or rubbed into the body to bring about psychological or physical wellbeing. l. Hot stone massage – heated stones are placed at strategic points on your back and the stones warm and relax the muscles. It is believed to improve circulation and calm the nervous system. m. Oriental Foot Massage – a form of reflexology bringing healing through pressure points on sole and to of feet. n. Acupuncture – ancient Chinese healing through insertion of needle in certain points of the body. o. Thai Yoga Massage – being stretched by the massage therapist to...
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...Wellness Intervention for Older Adults with Chronic Illness NAME INSTITUTION Chronic illness on elderly people has become rampant and of great concern. Medical intervention makes it possible for people to live longer and to survive more severe injury and pain. (Brown, 2003). Chronic illness can lead to isolation, depression, occupational deprivation among others effects. Occupational Therapists intend to know the evidence concerning nonpharmaceutical mind-body interventions that are more likely to increased participations. The objective of this study was to evaluate mind –body interventions for the elderly adult with chronic pain. I randomly sampled one hundred and twenty patients from different hospitals within Miami. The response gave instruction in mind and body relationship, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, communication and behavioral treatment for insomnia, nutrition and exercise, meditation, hypnosis, yoga and guided imagery. A structured review evaluated pain reduction, feasibility, and safety. I used studies in Medline and PsycINFO to retrieve the data. 40 samples out of 120 include older adults with chronic illness aged between 60 to 75 years for one year follow up. I excluded samples of chronic nonmalignant pain. I selected twenty two and eighteen samples for men and women respectively. The outcome measures varied by the study, it took into consideration of depression scale, chronic pain acceptance questionnaire health, arthritis impact measurements, health-promoting...
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...Structure [Paragraph 1] [First one or two sentence(s) restating the question as your thesis] [Section 1: Summary] [Say what you are going to do in this section of your paper.] *Now state each step in the philosopher’s argument in your own words.+ [Assert the reasons the philosopher gives in the text for his/her conclusion.] [Back up that assertion with a quotation or two.] [Explain why the quotation(s) you used are important.] [If you have done the above for each of the philosopher’s premises in the argument, you can now restate the conclusion of the argument.] [Section 2: Critical analysis/critique of the argument] [Analyze each premise of the argument you summarized.] [Explanation] [Is the premise true or false?] [Explain why you think so.] [Give an example to support this.] [Explain your example.] [Clarify your explanation.] [Consider possible objections the philosopher could have to particular criticisms you made above.] [Conclude with a sentence asserting that you have proved your thesis.] Detailed Explanation and Examples 1. [Paragraph 1] Explain the purpose of your paper. [This means restate the essay question]. a. [First one or two sentence(s)] For example, if you are being asked to summarize and critique Descartes’ argument for mind/body dualism, then you would say something like: i. “In...
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...Descartes Premise for Distinguishing Body and Mind In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes discusses the nature of the body and mind. By drawing from three lines of thought, Descartes launches a powerful premise that the body is something distinct from the mind. He conceptualizes his argument by using the uncertainty of knowledge argument, appealing to God’s omnipotence, and describing the indivisibility of the body and mind. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze Descartes’s premise for distinguishing the body and mind. In the first Meditation, Descartes begins by discussing a topic that seems far removed from the subject, yet instrumental to his argument. He questions the certainty of reality or truth of worldly opinions. In meditations 1.5, he notes that his opinions about the world are based on senses and argues that he cannot be certain that his senses deceive him. He argues that he cannot be sure that what he thinks of as his perceptions of the world are not dreams (Cress 36). Because there is no mechanism for distinguishing sleep from wake, Descartes says that he is also uncertain about the existence of the body. In addition, he argues that an evil demon may be deceiving him about the existence of the sky, air, colors, sounds, and bodies yet such things are illusions of dreams (Cress 41). By reflecting on the scenario of the evil demon and dreaming, Descartes doubts whether external things such as the body exists. In the second Mediation...
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...Descartes’ Mind Body Dualism Rene Descartes’ main purpose is to attempt to prove that the mind that is the soul or the thinking thing is distinct and is separate from the body. This thinking thing was the core of himself, which doubts, believes, reasons, feels and thinks. Descartes considers the body to be an extended unthinking thing; therefore it is possible that one may exist without the other. This view is known as mind-body dualism. He believes that what he is thinking in his mind is what God created and instilled in him. Descartes outlines many arguments to support and prove his claims of his discoveries. He states that because he can think, his mind exists. This is known as the Cogito, which is the first existential principal of all of Descartes’ work where modern philosophy begins. Descartes also explains that it is possible that all knowledge of external objects, including his body could be false because of the deceiving actions of an evil genius. The evil genius could make him contemplate his existence of his nature as a thinking thing. Descartes further explains in his arguments, even physical objects, such as the body, are better and more distinctly known through the mind than through the body. Descartes shows this through his example of The Wax Argument, where solid wax transitions into liquid state. With all of this in mind, Descartes theories suggest the mind and body can exist separately but it can be argued, the mind needs the body in order to think and reason...
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...paper, the issue of mind is discussed in the framework of mind/body problem. While in the times of Aristotle and Plato it was named differently and explained through objects materiality and soul divinity, the modern perception of the same correlation was emphasized by Descartes as body/mind problem. In the present paper, the essence of the problem is outlined in the context of one of the modern philosophies of mind, meaning physicalism. The main aims of this essay is to identify the corner stone of physicalist concept, its main supporting and opposing arguments, and distinguish which position is the strongest one and understand the reason why. Key words: physicalism, body/mind problem, knowledge, exclusion, consciousness. What is mind? In the history of human thought, there were various dilemmas which the brightest minds of their times were trying to solve and which remained enigmas until our times. The mind/body problem is one of those issues. While, in times of Aristotle and Plato, it was named differently and explained through the objects materiality and soul divinity, the modern perception of the same correlation was shaped by Descartes as body/mind problem. In the present paper, the essence of the problem is explained in the context of one of the modern philosophies of mind, meaning physicalism. The main aims of this essay is to identify the corner stone of physicalist concept, its main supporting and opposing arguments, and distinguish which argument is the strongest...
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...The mind-body problem has been always been a controversial subject which can simply be defined as the uniqueness of the mind’s relation to bodies. To ignite this argument, one could ask the question “how can anything that acts only by thinking have effects on something that can be acted upon only by being moved?” With that, an in depth look into dualism (any philosophical position that divides existence into two completely distinct, independent, unique substances) is presented. For some, a car-driver analogy can be used. The mind is the driver and the body is the car. However, Descartes rejects this idea and unites the mind and body into a whole. This leads us to Cartesian dualism. Cartesian dualism can be defined as sensations that go with the body, not with the mind, but they only exist from the perspective of the mind. Descartes was the first to clearly identify the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and to distinguish this from the brain, which was the seat of intelligence. Descartes held that the immaterial mind and the material body are two completely different types of substances and that they interact with each other. He reasoned that the body could be divided up by removing a leg or arm, but the mind or soul were indivisible. As proof, Descartes used cogito ergo sum, "I reflect, therefore I am." We cannot doubt the existence of our own self because we cannot doubt it unless there was a self to do the doubting. Though the mind and body are of a different nature...
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...of the arguments made by Descartes. It says that any two things that are identical have the exact same properties. Descartes uses this property to defend his argument of the mind and body. Descartes believes that since the mind and the body have different properties that they cannot be identical. He even goes as far as saying the mind is better off without the body because they body can somehow distort perceptions making thoughts unclear. Although Descartes' argument makes certain points, I find it very difficult to make any sense of it. I believe that the mind and the body are two separate things, but I disagree when...
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...Andrew Pitts Professor Silverstein Modern European Philosophy Spring 2013 Conceiving and Possibility Without God: On Descartes Conceivability Argument In the sixth meditation of his Meditations on First Philosophy Descartes advances an argument for establishing a form of dualism. The argument, dubbed the ‘conceivability argument’, attempts to establish a ‘real distinction’ between the mind and the body by linking the conceivability of such a distinction with the possibility of said distinction. For Descartes, two things are ‘really distinct’ when they can exist separately. In this paper I will first outline Descartes argument, then question the place of God in the argument. I will next propose an argument for conceivability entailing possibility, consider an objection to the argument, and ultimately conclude that the ‘conceivability argument’ for the real distinction between the mind and body is viable without the necessity of God to providing a link between conceivability and possibility. Descartes begins his argument by stating ‘everything which I clearly and distinctly understand is capable of being created by God so as to correspond exactly with my understanding of it’ (54). This seems to be the critical premise of his argument, and it functions in several ways in his argument. First, it seems to establish a connection between what is conceivable and what is possible. Descartes seems to believe that if he can conceive of something, then God can make it such that what...
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...“Think” Are experiences through senses and experiences in the mind independent? Simon Blackburn attempts to answer this question by first explaining the “Zombie and Mutant Possibilities.”(pg. 52) The Zombie Possibility proposes that people may look and behave like ones-self but are not conscious. The Mutant Possibility proposes that there are people who look and behave like oneself and are conscious, but do not interpret feelings or senses the same way that you do. The idea being proposed is that if the mind can live on without the body then the body can live on without a mind. The body would still respond to things the way one with a conscious mind would but it would not be aware of its own existence. This idea is called Cartesian...
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...In the philosophy of mind, dualism is the theory that the mental and the physical—or mind and body or mind and brain—are, in some sense, radically different kinds of thing. Descartes calls the mind a thing that thinks and not an extended thing. He defines the body as an extended thing and not a thing that thinks. Descartes said that every material thing is defined by having extension. Which is another way of saying: it occupies space. Moreover it cannot share that space with another things. Even water or gas can be reduced to particles, and then you find they are extended things. So each occupies a unique portion of space. One of his argument for dualism is the argument for the soul. This argument states that you can doubt your your body, because of the dream argument, but you cannot doubt your mind. He had 2 arguments for skepticism: the dream argument, which involves sensory beliefs, and the evil genius argument, which are reasons based beliefs, specifically claiming that a God is powerful enough to deceive you. Descartes recalls that sometimes he has had perceptual experiences while dreaming that are exactly like those he has had while awake. Reflecting on this, Descartes concludes that “there are never any sure signs by means of which being awake can be distinguished from being asleep.” This leads him to doubt almost everything that he believes on the basis of sense perception, including his belief that he now has hands. The dream argument tells us that sensory are not trustworthy...
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...The Mind and Body Debate LaSonya Jenkins PHL 443 June 16, 2011 Dr. Dean Dowling The Mind and Body Debate Is the mind independent of the body? The relationship between the mind and body has been a stimulating argument for philosophers for many years. Some believe that the mind and body is separate entities and others believe that the mind and body are one and are dependent upon each other. The following dialogue will present the position of René Descartes and John Searle regarding the mind and body debate. Descartes: It is certainly obvious that the mind and body are two distinctly different entities. The body has physical properties whereas the mind is nonphysical. John: With all due respect Mr. Descartes, I can’t say that I fully agree with your proclamation. However, I would say that the mind is a biological state of the mental that can cause or be caused by physical changes to the body. I feel like you do not have sufficient justification of the relationship of the body and mind (Searle, 2004). Descartes: Well young man, let me explain a few things that will support my premise in a substantial way that may indeed change your position. First of all, the mind can exist without the present of the body. You see John; the existence of my body is dubitable whereas my mind is not. Therefore my mind does not consist of the same properties of my body. This is a clear distinction that my mind is separate from my body. John: Mr...
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...idealism) will be explored. Each theories provide adequate explanation of reality but there are limitations and shortcomings when one contemplate carefully. The theories will be explored and critique by using the mind body problem, The Chinese room, the radical emergence theory. Moreover, one should consider which theory describes the nature of reality with least logical incoherencies. Substance Dualism is a theory that describes “mind and matter” as “two distinct things” (Nagel Thomas 206). Furthermore, substance dualism categorize matter as “physical or material substance” and mind or soul as “non-physical or immaterial substance” (Lacewing Michael) “Substance Dualism”). So, dualism is the proposal that human being as a living, thinking entity not only includes brain and physical matter but also a non-physical substance to account for the mind. The famous seventeenth century French philosopher René Descartes claimed that as “a subject of conscious thought and experience, he cannot consist of spatially extended matter”. He therefore states that “his essential nature must be non-material, even if in fact his soul is intimately connected with his body” (qtd in.Nagel Thomas 206). Here, we will explore the arguments that tries to support the claim. The Conceivability Argument shows that one can “imagine a robot that resembles a human with no consciousness or inner life”. Furthermore, one can also “imagine spirits or creatures with emotions...
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...Michael Lacewing Descar tes on mind-body independence and the inter ming ling thesis This handout follows the handout on ‘Descartes’ arguments for distinguishing mind and body’. You should read that handout first. How is the mind related to the body? While Descartes has argued that the mind as intellect is distinct from the body, we have just seen that the existence of the imagination complicates the picture. In Meditation VI, Descartes says nature…teaches me by these feelings of pain, hunger, thirst, etc., that I am not only lodged in my body, like a pilot in his ship, but, besides, that I am joined to it very closely and indeed so compounded and intermingled with my body, that I form, as it were, a single whole with it (159). Because ‘one single whole’ doesn’t sound like ‘two substances’, this claim and its implications for Descartes’ dualism are puzzling. THE ARGUMENT FROM BODILY SENSATIONS AND EMOTIONS Reflecting on perception, sensation and feeling, we notice that we perceive we have bodies, and that our bodies – this particular physical object that we have a close and unique relationship with – can be affected in many beneficial and harmful ways. This is brought to our attention through our bodily appetites, like hunger and thirst, through emotions, such as anger, sadness, love, and through sensations, like pain, pleasure, colours, sound and so on. All these experiences have their origins in the body. This doesn’t mean that mind and body aren’t distinct; in Meditation...
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