We look at the whole picture, the entire lived experience that influences health.
Our work examines health through many lenses that intersect, and it often helps people who are underserved or experiencing trauma — for example, veterans suffering from PTSD, children with serious illness, low-income residents grappling with systemic racism and neglect, and others.
On May 24, we hosted Nova Campfire, “Connected Consciousness for Planetary Health,” and explored planetary health through spirituality, Indigenous perspectives, consciousness and inner development, and more. Recordings now available.
On March 23, we heard from experts and examined the future of food, including relationships between food, mental and physical health, the gut microbiome, and social challenges; the threat of ultra-processed foods; environmental and sustainability impacts from the food industry; and much more. Recordings now available.
On Dec. 1-2, 2022, we held Flourishing Futures, the Nova Annual Conference. Two days of sessions explored flourishing along every level of the person, place, and planet continuum. In an era of so many interconnected challenges, now is the time for ambitious, integrative approaches.
On Sept. 21, 2022 we co-hosted a Nova Campfire forum with Scholar Susan Prescott featuring keynote speaker and renowned social justice advocate Chris Wilson. Watch the recording.
The Nova Institute has held numerous community events to highlight demonstration projects and our research around our focus areas. Check out a sampling of some of great past events, held at our Broomcorn building headquarters:
The meeting will bring together a tremendous network of like-minded people from diverse fields whose interests span from planetary/population/ environmental health to microbial ecology/ systems biology and the deep biological mechanisms—all aiming to work in a more integrated systems framework as we seek to improve personal, environmental, economic and societal health alike.
Originating at Georgetown University School of Medicine, this experiential program provides faculty at health professional schools with the training, tools, and strategic thinking necessary to implement the course in Mind-Body Medicine Skills at their institutions.
During Nova Institute’s Healthy Happy Hour, participants learned how food and lifestyle can optimize your genetic potential.
Sign up for periodic Nova Institute news updates and event invitations.
RT @jonlevyBU: ICYMI, great article in @AMJPublicHealth about unequal environmental burdens on the LGBTQ+ community.... Read More
RT @DrSueIshaq: Apply by June 9: Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Animal + Veterinary Science, UMaine!... Read More
On #WorldEnvironmentDay, we look to #NatureConnection & the importance of natural systems for the flourishing... Read More
Over the past thirty years, we’ve been part of a movement to shift the primary approach to health from a focus on disease to a more complete approach. As reflected in our tagline, “For Health of People, Places, and Planet,” how we are building on “person health” and looking at the context of peoples’ lives and communities as well as the health of the planet we all share.
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Healing is facilitated through safety, persistence, and trust.
Resources support us as we heal. They include reframing, responsibility, and positivity. “Making connections enabled participants to acquire and refine resources and skills that were essential in their healing journey. People also brought their own personal strengths to the journey.”
“Connection to others was an essential part of all the healing journeys.” Humans are social creatures, and even the most introverted of us need close relationships. Friends and family add meaning and value to life and help support us, in good times and bad.
When we experience relational trauma, relationships can feel scary, but reestablishing safety and trust in relationships is where the healing happens. (To be clear, we do not mean reestablishing safety and trust with abusers, but rather finding other healing relationships.)
“When safety and trust had been established, people were able to connect with helpers. The nature of the behaviours of helpers that fostered healing ranged from small acts of kindness to unconditional love.”
Healing probably means different things to different people, but one definition that emerged from the study is: “The re-establishment of a sense of integrity and wholeness.”
Healing was an emergent property that resulted from each individuals’ complex healing journey, a result of bridged connections between resources and relationships. “…they gradually found relief from suffering and began to exhibit emergent characteristics: a sense of hope, self-acceptance, and a desire to help others—the immediate precursors to healing.”
In varying degrees, “they were able to transcend their suffering and in some sense to flourish.”
Suffering is the ongoing pain from wounding.
There is debate about whether or not one actually needs to experience suffering on the path to healing.
Wounding happens when we experience physical or emotional harm. It can stem from chronic illness or by physical or psychological trauma for which we do not have the tools to cope, or a combination of those factors.
“The degree and quality of suffering experienced by each individual is framed by contextual factors that include personal characteristics, timing of their initial or ongoing wounding in the developmental life cycle and prior and current relationships.”
Characteristics: How predisposed someone may be to wounding/how many tools and resources someone may have to deal with trauma/illness.
Lifestages: Developmental timing plays an important role in the impact of trauma — young children often do not have the same resources as older adults.
Relationships: Relationships can provide solace and support for those suffering, while lack of healthy relationships can prolong suffering.
