Around Canada Day 2024: Scientific Culture and Memories of Ontario Science Centre

Posted on July 1, 2024 by prashant bhatt

Generations of frontal lobes, working in close collaboration, have created culture

Van Der Kolk (2014). The body Keeps the score

Around Canada Day, we went for walks and drives towards Orangeville, in preparation for the G license. As I told my son Sahil to review the drive, the scenic route through Caledon, develop a road memory especially at the curves of the road as we go from 410 North towards 10 North at the edge of Brampton and Caledon, we went through a tool of David Burns (Feeling Good) in which we are to rate our mastery and pleasure on a scale of 10, and then generate a number with specific details of different components. We tried this for the different components of driving and also the scenic route. We remembered journeys on this route in the yesteryears , when we went towards Blue Mountains.

Remembering Ontario Science Centre

Over the years, I’ve visited the Ontario Science Centre (OSC) several times to see the special and permanent exhibits. My first visit was in 2014, when I was taking a manual medicine course at a nearby college. My younger son, Sahil, was studying at Camilla Road School at the time and was about to go to Gordon Graydon. One of my favorite memories from that visit was showing Sahil the different sounds of the forest. Another was making him appreciate a tree system that was part of a Masters thesis and donated to the center in 1971. While standing in front of the tree, I told him that his grandmother had done her Masters in Botany in India in the 1960s. Being from the life sciences, I found the section on the brain and the special exhibitions on different parts of the body and how they adapt to extreme weather and high mountains particularly appealing. The dioramas of immigrant families were especially touching.

SOUNDS OF FORESTS-Ontario Science Centre

Mindfulness and the Forest: Over the years the many special exhibitions developed in us the spirit of science and we spent many hours in these galleries
Roots: a 1971 Masters Thesis project donated to the Science Centre

Rating Mastery and Pleasure: An Application from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Burns, 1981)

In this method, we break activities into parts and rate how good we are at them or how much pleasure they bring. This cognitive behavioural therapy tool can be used in various situations. For example, we watched “Chandu Champion” again and thought about how different generations have shaped the culture of sports. This reminded us of the 2012 London Olympics, which we attended at Celebration Square in Mississauga. That year, we moved to Canada from India after living in Malta for two years.

Van Der Kolk (2014) in this book -Body Keeps the score writes ” The frontal lobes allow us to plan, reflect, imagine, and play out future scenarios. They help us to predict what will happen if we take one action (like applying for a new job) or neglect another (not paying the rent). They make choices possible and underlie our astonishing creativity. Generations of frontal lobes, working in close collaboration, have created culture, which got us from dug-out canoes, horse-drawn carriages, and letters to jet planes, hybrid cars, and e-mail. They also gave us Noam’s lifesaving trampoline”

Picture from Van Der Kolk (2014) of a five year old’s drawing of what he witnessed in 9/11 at the World Trade Centre attack

Home Library and Journals

Our home library has books on Science and some interesting collections of pictures of scientific exhibits. The Ontario Science Centre gave many such memories. Will miss it.

Do you have a favourite museum or exhibit, which has enhanced your thinking about culture?

References

Burns, D. D. (1981). Feeling good (pp. 131-148). Signet Book.

Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York, 3.

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Father’s day-2024: The Home Library Journeys

Posted on June 16, 2024 by prashant bhatt

From the earliest times to our own, in cave, village, or consulting room, certain individuals- healers- have stood out for being able to ease the suffering of the mourning, melancholic, or mad

Jamison, 2023, Fires in the Dark, Healing the Unquiet Mind

Vision, trust,inspiration were some gifts my father gave me. 

Growing up in Poona -Maharashtra – he gave me the gift of the morning hour, when night turns into day. In developing the home library, and learning from different perspectives he helped me expand my horizons

This summer, as I visited my son in Elmhurst, Queens, we went to Marble Collegiate church (MC) for a mass. I also expanded my library.  The MC mass was having a ceremony to commemorate fresh graduates. They were asked to share about their first days in MC, something which the congregation does not know about them, how God/Spirituality is working in their lives. An interesting discussion with many varied responses led me down memory lane, when I used to attend Anglican church in Medina, Tripoli and reminded me of how the premises in Medina where the Church was housed, used to once be an art gallery. It reminded me of the Easter celebrations of the Orthodox church during the eighties (veterans told me about those years under Gaddafi-and how he was tolerant to those streams of spirituality). Those meditations in Medina Tripoli, led me to view the art of the Mediterranean in a different light, and understand works like “Death of Dragut” from different perspectives. 

MOTI-PALAM-National Capital Region-Delhi-India-Man's best friend-Jan 2020
MOTI-PALAM-National Capital Region-Delhi-India-Man’s best friend-Jan 2020
Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery-Tripoli
2011-Revolution in Libya-Wall Art in Tripoli
Karnaprayag-Uttarakhand-2016-November
With my Mamaji. Sudhir Bahuguna- walks in the Himalayas
Africa Section- Hyena-2014-Toronto zoo

This June as I drive around (Orangeville – to help son to obtain a G license so that he does not have to go back to taking the license every few years; Export boulevard- to see how the story of Ram can teach us lessons of society and see how the Guyana Hindu community carries the message forward in Canada in 21st century)- I listened to “Unquiet Mind” (Jamison, 2014) and the nuances of how depression and mania are different for men and women, what cultural messages are passed on to different genders and how these can be used to chart the maps, territories and journeys of persons with challenges.

Father’s Day 

This spring I took a course on Grief, Bereavement, and Mourning in which the course directors (Dr.Eddy Pakes, Psychiatrist and Michael Blugerman, Social worker) told about how the age of loss (death /separation/adoption/ transition) affects the nature of grief. A young child who has lost his parent perceives the world in a different way. This reminded me of my own father’s oft repeated remarks about how his mother passed away when he was less than five years old (Shimla, British India, early 1940s). It also made me recall the emotional recalling by my uncle , one of my reading and note taking mentors, on the day his father passed away, when he was around ten years old, and how he went from school to the banks of one of the tributaries of the River Ganga, (north of Rishikesh area, Uttarakhand, India) to participate in the last rites of his father. The influence of my father and uncle, on the way I make notes, view the world, and relationship with death and life became more focused as I took this course. 

Afterthoughts

The home library has been a a gift my father, grandfather and uncles gave me, which I have refined over the decades. Keeping a Reading journal, in which I note my thoughts, reflections after reading adds richness and uniqueness to this library

References

Jamison, K. R. (2014). An unquiet mind: A memoir of moods and madness. Pan Macmillan.

Mind, A. U. (2015). Kay Redfield Jamison. Writing Widowhood: The Landscapes of Bereavement, 169.

Earlier perspectives 

In 2015 (Radiology, Tripoli) – we did a series on History of Medicine and the Imaging correlates of Nobel prize in medicine for past 20 years, and inculcated them into our department Wall Magazine

Struggles and Confessions-Notes from a Reading Journal-2018
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Deepening Reflective Practices: Insights from Barre and Manresa Retreats

Posted on May 12, 2024 by prashant bhatt

Retreats are a great way to deepen one’s reflective practices. The fourth retreat at Manresa in the past two years, made me remember the yesteryears and the previous Buddhist Guided retreat in Barre-Massachusetts on Mindfulness of Death (Feb 2024). 

Barre Centre of Buddhist Studies -BCBS- Each retreatant had some volunteer duties. Being an early riser, I used to ring the wake-up bell in the morning. Feb 2024

Fellow retreatants shared their experiences with different retreats, the nuances between a 12-step retreat, an Ignatian retreat and a guided spiritual retreat for self reflection.

Manresa again

The tail light meditation, gratitude meditation for the highway 401, and remembering when meditations kept me going for the 90 minute rush hour drive from Burlington.

Tail light meditation : Meditate on the tail lights of the vehicles ahead. This is a mindfulness exercise which helps feel grounded, be calm during traffic snarls and helps connect with the common humanity of the fellow travellers on the rush hour

Gratitude meditation for the highway: sent gratitudes towards the persons who helped build and maintain the highways and the service persons who maintain safety.

Remember when: As I passed Leslie street, Victoria Park, remembered the teachers, fellow students, with whom I practised and studied towards getting regulated health licences in Ontario.

Nuances of a Previous Retreat: Barre-Feburary 2024: The Obituary discussion

As part of my reflections at Manresa, after going for a walk in the labyrinth, doing grounding meditations (focus on breathing, body scan, awareness of thoughts, feelings) I went through the notes of the Mindfulness of Death retreat facilitated by Nikki Mirgahafori which I attended in February in BCBS-Barre Centre of Buddhist Studies 

One of the exercises was to write an Obituary and then discuss in smaller groups and the larger group as appropriate. The obituary can be an official style facts based one, or a heart style what mattered one or a today-as this is it.We were then to say it aloud and then reflect upon how this experience was for us. What we learned about ourselves, society, and did sharing the Obituary cause any shift, connection with the group.

My experience , memories of letters, walks in Delhi Gardens

This exercise led me to the memory of letters, and how writing letters has been a way of life for me. I was introduced to the world of letters by my grandfather -Ganesh Prasad Uniyal (GPU) in the mid 1970s. Over the decades letters have helped me shape my perspectives, feel the presence of others, honour the patience and persistence of persons who helped shape me. In the Obituary discussion- I wrote an open letter to Humayun Tomb, where I have spent many lovely hours, reading, reflecting. 

See blog: Squirrel Friends at Humayun Tomb-June 2014-

https://prashantbhatt.com/2014/06/04/squirrel-friends-at-humayun-tomb/

Debrief tool

Holding space, quietly letting the monologue of the share end, give feedback in a grandmotherly way and remember that this could be you, were the four suggestions the facilitator gave the retreatants.

Holding space: Imagining the last day to be in the beautiful retreat centre made one connect more with nature, the seasons and the rhythm of the day

Quietly letting the monologue end  and then feel the shift in energy, be aware of the joint energy of the group and let the feeling of a joint journey be more present.

Feedback in grandmotherly nature– is a loving kindness exercise, which helps see the causes and conditions which made the person who they are. It also deepens one’s understanding of our own roots, the factors and forces which shaped our previous generations. The feedback gave me a moment to pause and recognize how little I know about the other cultures, their geographies and previous generations and a need for cultural humility, cultural growth and awareness of gaps in cultural competence.

Remember this could be you: In my case, I talked about Humayun Tomb letter, and also remembered persons who passed away before their time, the pain it caused to their parents. This was one of my formative childhood memories, and while discussing the Obituary exercise, those memories came back.

In next blog, will discuss nuances of how a Retreat can be a place to deepen step work.

worksheet-obituary-reflection-1Download

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