TruthBook Religious News Blog

Ancient practice is helping people slow down and find serenity and, evidence suggests, improve their health

By KELLY BOTHUM • The News Journal • July 21, 2009

Russ Apple has practiced meditation for 35 years as a way to live in the moment and find the calm amid the sea of chaos around him. Through meditation, he has explored what it means to live life from the inside out and learned how to escape a mind always in motion.

While others boast of their Bluetooths and BlackBerrys that allow them to juggle five tasks simultaneously, Apple remains deliberate in finishing one thing at a time. A one-on-one conversation is just that -- him and another person talking, with no other distractions or filters to get in the way.

His appreciation for the power of meditation has only deepened since his diagnosis of appendiceal cancer in 2008. Despite two surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer has not abated. But Apple has found strength in continuing to live life in the present, one of the key focus points of meditation.

"The thing with cancer is, there's this threat of death. And the threat of death is the understanding that the tomorrow may not be," said Apple, who has decided to forego traditional cancer therapies and follow alternative treatments. "The blessing, if one's willing to look at it like that, is that I no longer live in the tomorrow or in the past. I've got today."

On the surface, something as simple as sitting silently or chanting mantras in a lifelong search for inner peace seems out of place in an always-on-the-go, technology-driven society. But it's an ancient practice that has remained popular despite our infatuation with speeding up life and staying busy.

An estimated 20 million Americans had practiced meditation within the past year, according to a 2007 survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. By comparison, about 15 million people had practiced meditation in 2002.

Across the country, medical centers like St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington are even offering guided imagery and other relaxation techniques to help patients preparing for surgery or living with chronic health problems.

This is the first of a five-page article about the benefits of meditation. Please click on "external source" for the whole article.

And, here is another view, with a Jesusonian twist; this article discusses "Jesus-Style" meditation

Labels: cancer, health, Kelly Bothum, meditation, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Holistic medicine adds tools to cancer fight

Holistic medicine adds tools to cancer fight

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the Institute of Health has issued some facts on complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. These facts might bring up more questions than they will provide answers, but I hope we all think holistically.

Some familiar tools for the treatment of cancer are chemotherapy, radiation and surgery provided by physicians. Holistic medicine expands the tools with which to work and adds mental, social and spiritual aspects to physical needs.

Conventional medicine includes medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy, plus physical therapists, physiologists and registered nurses. Integrative medicine offers diverse medical and health-care systems, practices and products that are not yet considered to be a part of conventional medicine.

Integrative medicine combines both conventional medicine and CAM without distinguishing which is primary.

CAM is used by 36 percent of adult Americans. But when megavitamin therapy and prayer for health reasons are included when defining CAM, that figure grows to 62 percent. The use of integrative medicine was especially high among those who had a serious illness like cancer.

These statistics are from a 2002 National Health Interview Survey, supported by NCAM and the National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, 88 percent of the 102 people with cancer who participated in research at the Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center had included at least one CAM therapy. This research showed that of these who used CAM, 93 percent used supplements such as vitamins and minerals, 53 percent used prayer/spiritual practices or chiropractic care and almost 47 percent used both.

Some CAM therapies are now used as cancer treatments, not so much as a cure, but as a therapy which can help one feel better or recover faster. Acupuncture can help with the side effects of chemotherapy and to relieve the pain which follows surgery.

"I used to believe that we must choose between science and reason on one hand, and spirituality on the other, in how we lead our lives. Now I consider this a false choice. We can recover the sense of sacredness, not just in science, but in perhaps every area of life." Dr. Larry Dossey wrote in Reinventing Medicine. Dossey's research, intended to dispute the power of prayer, revealed that prayer has power. Both he and his wife, Dr. Barbara Dossey, are authors and pioneers in the field of holistic healing and provide a broader view and better understanding through their books.

People of all ages, from all walks of life and every culture, do healing work. Many live here in Acadiana. Holistic practitioners are nurses, traiteurs, massage therapists, acupuncturists, nuns, refloxologists, priests, counselors, lay people, iridologists, psychologists, trained in Reiki and healing touch.

Tell your doctor if you are working with a CAM practitioner. Ask the same questions you would of a physician when looking for one. Ask for what you want. It might be within you.

Becca Begneaud is a traiteur and two-time cancer survivor and regularly coordinates this column.

Labels: Becca Begneaud, health, holistic, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, prayer, religion, spirituality