Laughter Yoga Is The Best Medicine!

by Daryn Brown

Chronic pain is an epidemic. The Institute of Medicine of The National Academies[1] estimates that 100 million American adults live with chronic pain, yet there are few effective treatments. Doctors only receive about nine hours of[2] education focused on chronic pain management during the course of medical school, and The National Institute of Health (NIH) spends only about 1% of their budget on researching chronic pain. Judy Foreman[3], a highly respected medical journalist for many years before she developed chronic pain, recently wrote a book “A Nation in Pain: Healing our Biggest Health Problem,”[4] about how little doctors know and understand chronic pain and how it works.

Caregivers: What I've Learned After 28 Years

by Lorraine Cannistra

mobileWOMEN.org writer, Lorraine Cannistra and her service dog, Leah

I have heard the words hundreds of times, but they never get easier to take.  When a good caregiver tells me that they have been accepted to nursing school or are otherwise moving on, my congratulations are always genuine, but they are coupled with a flutter of fear in my heart.  Will I find someone else just as good?  Being born with cerebral palsy means that I am a full-time wheelchair user, and there are many things in my day-to-day routine that I cannot accomplish on my own.

The Raw Beauty Project

by Kara Aiello

mobileWOMEN.org writer, Kara Aiello

Recently, I was honored to join Wendy Crawford and other mobileWOMEN.org members in viewing the second annual Raw Beauty Project in NYC, the first being held in 2006 in Miami Florida.  Raw Beauty Project NYC consisted of 20 models with various physical disabilities and was held at the ACA Galleries on September 20, 2014.  About 200 people were at the exhibit many of whom use wheelchairs themselves.  But the project also brought out family members, friends and many others who wanted to see what this rare event was about.