ALTERNATIVE DOCTOR, LLC
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ALTERNATIVE DOCTOR, LLC
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Dr. Lloyd May I attended a “Spirituality and Medicine” course about eight years ago, sponsored by Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education. It was an excellent course, and so this year I decided to re-attend. This year the course, entitled “Spirituality and Healing in Medicine, The Importance of the Integration of Mind/Body Practices and Prayer” was again held in Boston, under the direction of Herbert Benson, MD, and Christina Puchalski, MD. It was presented by the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education in collaboration with the Mind/Body Institute (www.mbmi.org ), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (www.gwish.org ) at the George Washington University. From the outset, I was undecided about going again to Boston, not because of the course material, but because it was essential an unplanned trip. That Friday afternoon I watched the weather reports that blared at the airport with trepidation-“storms blanket the Northeast with snow.” I guess that included Boston. Later that afternoon, in Charlotte, my plane taxied, was approved for takeoff, started down the runway…then stopped, turned around, and returned to the terminal. Not a good sign, I thought. On return to the terminal the pilot, after considerable delay, reported that there would be a report in thirty minutes. Forty five minutes later, he said that the Boston airport was closed, but that he would report back to us in one hour. About an hour and one half later, he explained that it was alright to leave the plane, but to stay close by, in case anything changed, and that he really did not know when the next report would be. As upset passengers filed out of the plane, the thought crept through my mind-time to go home, forget about the course. I was undecided anyway, Mother Nature has made the decision for me. But I had a new book, and so I decided to read it. Since all the passengers had disembarked, the plane was quiet, and I quickly finished the book. I then left the plane, and saw two fellow passengers who said “we are leaving in thirty minutes.” Although I returned, I wondered whether the lecturers would show up, given the weather. But it was well worth the travel and the wait. I arrived in Boston blanketed in snow, earlier buffeted by near hurricane force winds, snow, and ice, and took a walk. The plaza in front of Trinity Church was covered with snow, and the lighted Christmas tree in front of the church was perfect. Early Saturday morning, December 10th, Dr Herbert Benson delivered the keynote lecture, “The Power of Belief and the Role of the Relaxation Response in Healthcare.” He emphasized three main findings. First, over half of the population is utilizing prayer and mind/body approaches, even though they do not usually communicate this to their healthcare provider. Second, the relaxation response, the repetition of a prayer, word, sound, or breathing, is an effective therapy for a number of diseases including hypertension, irregular heartbeat, chronic pain, insomnia, infertility, the symptoms of cancer and AIDS, premenstrual syndrome, anxiety, mild to moderate depression, anger, or hostility. Finally, overall healthcare can be thought of as a three legged stool. The three legs of healthcare should be self care, pharmaceuticals, and surgery. To the extent a person ignores self care, overall healthcare is unbalanced, and collapses. Dr Benson is best known for his groundbreaking work, The Relaxation Response, and is the President of the Mind/Body Institute. Dr Christina Puchalski delivered the next lecture, “ Restoring the Heart and Humanity of Medicine: Integrating Spirituality into Healthcare.” She mentioned that healthcare, while needing to excel in science and technology, should also reflect the values that are at the root of the profession, service and compassion. Also, the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (www.gwish.org) has developed courses for medical schools related to spirituality and health. Spirituality simply connotes the way someone finds meaning and purpose in the their life and it can be expressed in many ways, including faith, religion, nature, art, music, or a relation with a transcendent force or being. Finally, spiritual care is not an amenity, but is essential to total or holistic healthcare. Next, a Spiritual Panel discussed “The Use of Prayer and Mind/Body Approaches in Healthcare.” The discussion was moderated by Reverend Natalia Vonnegut Beck. Rev. Kusula Bhiksa presented Buddhism. He mentioned that the aim of all Buddhists is nirvana, which depends on a combined life of precept practice (transforming speech and action), meditation practice, and simplicity. Roman Catholicism was presented by Rev Joseph Driscoll. The fundamental aspect of Catholicism is that God is our creator. His creation is good, and so are we. Also, the emphasis of “grace builds on nature” that grace is free, leads to the sense or doctrine of sacramentality, the reality or visibility of God’s action. Christian Scientist has as its core a theology of healing the sick. Giulia Plum presented the practice and ideas of Christian Science, as first explained in Science and Health, with a Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. William Proctor presented the Evangelical perspective. True faith-with the potential for an intimate relationship with God-which includes interactive prayer-arises from a deep “abiding” (John 15) personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Next, Dr Balaji N. Hebbar presented Hinduism, an ethnic faith. Hinduism believes in God and in gods. The soul is coeternal with God, and reincarnates. Salvation is attained by selfless good deeds, meditation, scriptural study, and devotion. The idea of karma, that actions have consequences, was discussed. Rabbi Fahara Davidowitz-Farkas presented insights about Judaism, not easily pigeonholed into Western concept of religion or ethnicity or culture. Jewish texts, the parallel laws of Mishra, Talmud, and precepts such as tzedakah (charity) were examined. Imam Yehya Hendi discussed Islam. Muslims number 1.2 billion worldwide. What is Islam? The Pillars of Islam? And Islam and other religions? Islam means submission to the Will of God, and obedience to his law. The Pillars of Islam include not just belief, but acts of devotion such as daily prayers, charity, fasting the month of Ramadan, learning perseverance, and remembering the poor, as well as pilgrimage to Mecca. Islam teaches peaceful coexistence with Jews and Christians. Dr Terry Tafoya (www.tamanawith.com ) explained concepts of Native American spirituality. Concepts such as “Dance of Life” as well as ceremonial aspects were mentioned. Most importantly, the concept central to Native Americans is harmony with Mother Earth, and the many gifts provided by the Mother Earth. Protestantism was discussed by Rev Dr Teresa Snorton. Prayer is a communion between men and God. The idea is that God is responsive and faithful. The model prayer is the Lord’s prayer (Mathew 6). This prayer explains the many uses of prayer: invocation, thanksgiving, petition, confession, and intercession. Prayer is a remedy for sickness, and has both a community and private function. The Saturday afternoon, December 10th, sessions were devoted to workshops. The first workshop was “Islamic Perspectives in Medicine and Spirituality, Muslim Faith Practices in Healing,” by Imam Yahya Hendi (http://imamhahyahendi.com ). Discussed were the many aspects of Islamic healing rituals and practice. Next was “Skills to Build a Meditative Practice: Deeper is Better,” by Margaret Baim in truncating suffering through contemplation. Quoting from the Dhammapada, “What you think, you become; what you feel, you attract; what you imagine, you create.” The third concurrent workshop was “Care for the Journey: Innovations for Supporting Prescience in Healthcare,” by Gary Malkin and Mary Matthiesen. Medicine is a practice and a spiritual path. No one has ever prepared us for this experience…(see Care for the Journey. A Companion Arts initiative www.companionarts.org ). The fourth workshop presented a detailed discussion of “The Buddhist Approach”, with Kusala Bkiksu. The Dharma (Truth) is taught by Buddhists monks and nuns. The practice is a combination of precept practice, and meditation practice. The goal of precept practice is the transformation of speech and action; that of meditation practice is the transformation of consciousness. Discipline is important as is technique, found in the eightfold path which is right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. (See free e-books at http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/ebooks.html ) The last workshop was “On Being a Technician of the Sacred,” by Dr Terry Tafoya, on Native American spiritual traditions. Finally, a Creative Dialogue was organized by Rev Beck and Dr Puchalski (cf Beck, Natalia Vonnegut, The Listening Circle, 2004). By now it was late Saturday evening, about 6:30, and I ate a bowl of clam chowder at Legal Seafood, took a walk, and returned to the conference, debating all the while whether to forgo this late night session, after ten hours already at the conference, wondering what a discussion could add to the lectures. However, this turned out to be the most dynamic and powerful session of the entire course. The participants were divided into groups by random seating and preference; the small groups had a scribe to record each group’s discussion highlights, and each group discussed their own issues of importance after initially selecting general discussion topics with the large group. I was fortunate to be in a highly motivated group, and the discussion continued unabated until the moderator ended all the group discussion. The final large group discussion and presentation was powerful and innovative. Several groups continued their own discussion long after the large group officially disbanded. The topics were varied, and ranged from end of life issues to self care health care. The last day of the conference, Sunday, December 11, started with two important keynote lectures, followed by a full day of workshops. A musical interlude was provided by Marcia Feldman. Dr Gregory Fricchione started with “The Potential for Illness Prevention via Spirit-Mind-Body Approaches: Theory and Practice.” He introduced the recent term “allostasis” and reviewed the current literature and science behind this topic. Topics covered included Stress Buffering and Health Strengthening, The Relaxation Response, Belief and Conscious Expectation, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Resiliency. He mentioned that separation anxiety is the ultimate stressor for humans. Allostatic load comes to mean an a cumulative measure of physiologic dysregulation over multiple systems. Next, Rev. Beck gave a dynamic audience interactive lecture, “Making Sense in the Midst of Chaos: Spirituality in Everyday Living,” which was a fitting culmination to the formal lectures. She introduced the Levels of Living concept, a pyramid with Surviving at the base, followed by Coping; then Creating, Inspiring, and finally Peaking. To reach the higher levels we should first investigate closeness/intimacy; secondly encourage involvement with like-minded people; thirdly, explore experience in prayer or meditation; fourthly, determine need for patience/silence; lastly, realize the power of living in the moment. Five new workshops were presented for the remainder of the conference, as well as repeat workshops from Saturday. Dr Ann Webster presented an interactive program “Teaching Techniques for Inner Stillness.” This was a powerful workshop. Breathe in- “I am” Breathe out “at peace.” These techniques are used at the Mind/Body Institute. Techniques used also included “minis” short episodes of meditation, imagery, self-hypnosis, yoga, repetitive sound, and others. The technique of breathing, and counting down was demonstrated. She demonstrated yoga stretching-arms up, neck roll to the left, to the count of three, then reverse, and to the right. Then we closed our eyes, took a deep breath, held it, and then exhaled, repeating the cycle three times. Then we started a relaxation (Jacobson progressive relaxation) exercise starting with our forehead, moving to eyebrows, jaw, shoulder, neck, vertebrae counting down 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 breathe deep through then to the count of 3 2 1 opened our eyes . Then imagery with taking a deep breath she counted down 3 2 1 and when we imagined a place anywhere you can go anytime or anywhere by just sitting breathing and counting down. She mentioned the power of imagery and visualization to explore inner senses. We did the lemon visualization and not only could I see the lemon, but my mouth was watering…The techniques mentioned or demonstrated included sound, prayer, meditation, yoga stretching, progressive muscle relaxation, repetitive movement, self-hypnosis, autogenic training, dedicated silence. (something will come to you ) Mental rehearsal alters physiology i.e. also wise person imagery :”inside you knows..” Even to have a day of dedicated silence. Benefits for these techniques range from symptom control to increased self-awareness. References for this workshop include: Healing Imagery,(CD) Ann Webster, Mind/Body Medical Institute (www.mbmi.org ); Seven Metals (CD) Singing Bowls of Tibet, Benjamin Jobst; Sounds of Blackness: Africa to America, the Journey of the Drum (CD) and Zen Escape (CD) by Nature’s Spa. The next workshop was Spiritual Mapping with Rev Joseph Driscoll. Spirituality is naming whatever or whoever gives ultimate meaning and purpose in one’s life. The practices of Noticing, Meditating, Contemplating were mentioned. The idea was noted of mapping one’s spiritual journey. Next, Dr Balajii Hebbar presented “Hindu Doctrine and Ritual.” The karma cycle was explained in the idea of the ethics of behavior and its tie to bondage and suffering. Also the Doctrine of Moksha was explained, the end of the cycle is salvation, with the emphasis of selflessness alongside ethics. Finally, a workshop “Miracles and Healing An Evangelical Christian Perspective,” was presented by William Proctor (www.williamproctor.com) The question was answered What is and evangelical? What do they believe about the power of prayer and community prayer and the power of prayer in healing? The conference ended. I walked to Boston Commons, then returned to the hotel, gathered my belongings, and waited for a taxi. I shared the taxi with a fellow attendee. A physician, who seemed already burned out from the demands of the profession. Who would now start a journey, learn about energy healing… References Mind/Body Medical Institute www.mbmi.org George Washington Institute for Spirituality www.gwish.org Chaplains www.professionalchaplains.org Counselors www.nbcc.org Social Workers www.naswma.org
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