More doctors recommending dose of God for their patients
Tribune staff report May 2, 2008
You might think a hospital sounds like an odd place to launch a spiritual quest. But for some patients, that's precisely where they find religion.
In fact, some doctors even rely on divine intervention to assist them in the healing process.
Tribune reporter Joel Hood's story this week about a continuous prayer week held in Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital illustrated how some hospitals recognize and embrace their role as a spiritual destination.
Dr. Yong Kim was one of the staff recruited to pray. An elder at his Korean Methodist church, Kim spent several hours praying for his patients' recovery. He told Joel that prayer is vital to a patient's recovery.
Kim is one of a burgeoning number of doctors who factor prayer into treatment, said Dr. Robert Klitzman, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. In interviews with 50 doctors, Klitzman learned that many are oblivious to patients' spiritual needs until they become patients themselves.
Has the threat of a serious illness prompted you to reassess your relationship with God? Do your doctors tend to your spiritual well-being too?
The determination to live a life that is meaningful, consistent with our values and reflects our passion about what really matters is called spiritual capacity. It is our spiritual side that should drive our behavior.
We often neglect our spiritual side, which is evident by not taking better care of our health. We forget there are others who love us, depend on us and want us to stay healthy for as long as possible.
In turn, we want to have the energy to enjoy our passion — what really matters to us, such as our family, friends, faith and achievements at work.
Writers refer to "spiritual capacity" as the force behind what we do — the energy of purpose, our values, and beliefs about what's really important — what defines our character.
Here is a profound (and challenging) question: How can we respect and honor the people we love if we dishonor ourselves by living a careless and unhealthy lifestyle?
We adapt to the storms in our life without consideration of the long-term consequences. Our stress-management program consists of eating large portions of high fat food, avoiding physical activity — just too uncomfortable and, oh, yes, not enough time and then wonder why we feel miserable — taking yet more medication and having little energy for doing what gives us the most pleasure.
Challenging question: Why would a person who loves his or her family, has a strong spiritual component and lists family, health, faith, work excellence and compassion toward others as his or her most important values, live a life disconnected from those values?
What areas in your life do you need to improve in order to expand your spiritual capacity? Take this test of "The Spiritual Truth" about you. Check the items that apply to you.
Those areas you check form your "story" that explain a lack of spiritual incentive to improve your health and live a life consistent with your values.
Think about it, and ask yourself this: What is your legacy after you are gone? How do want to be remembered?
Uncover your spiritual truth
Check the ones that apply to you.
Commitment/Passion
_ Not fully committed
_ Lacking long-term energy (perseverance)
_ Lacking passion for work
_ Lacking passion to improve my health and energy
Vision/Purpose
_ Lacking a strong sense of purpose (something greater then myself that drives my behavior)
_ My core values are not connected to my actions
_ I respond to demands based on short-term needs, not long-term consequences
_ I make expedient (quick-fix) rather than values-based decisions
Ethics
_ My actions are not consistent with my words
_ I do not lead by example
_ I do all I can to help others
_ I lack the incentive/energy to make important changes that will improve my quality of life
_ I place my needs first before the needs of others
Mark H. Anshel is a professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Middle Tennessee State University.
Many physicians see a lot of patients who show illness, but only a few who express or portray sickness.
As expressed in a little booklet by Dr. Donald Dudley, for centuries, patient and physicians alike have attributed accidents or illnesses to bad luck or bad timing, or carelessness or an act of God.
Many of us see neighbors or close friends spend half their time running from doctor to doctor, week or month after month. Is their faith in hoping to find one doctor that is smarter than another rather than having faith in themselves and the doctor they have chosen?
Consider this startling fact. Again, and I extract from the same little booklet, medical records indicate 70 percent of those medical treatments and surgical procedures are administered to only 30 percent of us.
We all believe in something beneficial to our health or not beneficial to our health. As human beings we are incredibly complex with an endless stream of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs that must be satisfied.
It is impossible for us to go from one minute to the next wondering if what I do every minute is going to make me sick or well.
We may or may not realize it, but a deep-seated love for ourselves and everything around us including the bugs, the viruses, and other good or bad challenges, is what keeps our immune system strong and all of internal organs working in harmony.
Love and confidence within ourselves is the key.
The important part of this is that we all must express the love that is in us from time to time to maintain good physical and mental health.
There is another excellent little book that I have enjoyed and have thought of from time to time when treating patients over the past 50-plus years.
It expresses more meaning to me now than 40 years ago possibly because I am in contact with more patients closer to my age now than before.
Most of us have some ongoing illness but few of us are expressing a sickness. Just remember to get a good physical from a physician that will look beyond just the laboratory studies and will take time to look, examine and talk to you about your concerns.
Ask questions and understand that changes are taking place in your body.
What deficiencies or alterations that possibly have taken place over the past few years in your body could be corrected or supported without synthetic drugs?
This may require physical adjustments such as exercise, nutritional changes, weight changes, and a host of others, or it could be mental or emotional changes such as relationships with your family, husband or wife, neighbors, or whoever may need to be addressed.
Last, and possibly the most important, is your inner spiritual realm. Are you happy? Do you love yourself?
If not, this will all be reflected through physical functions particularly in areas where time and age have already influenced function.
Love and be happy with yourself. Know and understand weaknesses that are taking place with age.
Correct or support that which you can do or have done naturally and use crutches in the form of drugs to support that which is showing failure.
Just remember that there are no synthetic drugs used that don't have side effects.
You can not support one system in an artificial way without altering or influencing another system of the body. Talk to your doctor about your concerns.
Some medical schools require students to take at least one course examining the role faith plays.
By Bonnie Booth, AMNews correspondent.
March 4, 2008.
Christina M. Puchalski, MD, was a bit of a pioneer when she created a spirituality and health course in 1992 at George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C.
The course, offered as an elective, covered spiritual practices, including meditation, as well as topics such as humor and alternative medicine.
When Dr. Puchalski first began teaching her course, 2% of medical schools offered course work in spirituality. By 2004, the figure was 67%.
Now 100 of the approximately 150 U.S. medical schools offer some variation of spirituality-in-medicine course work. And 75 of those 100 require their students to take at least one course on the topic.
Dr. Puchalski can take some credit for the change. She and a colleague developed a program in spirituality and health at the National Institute for Healthcare Research. Funding by the John Templeton Foundation -- an organization that makes grants to research projects -- has given medical schools the opportunity to develop a spirituality curriculum of their own.
100 U.S. medical schools offer some kind of spirituality course. Dr. Puchalski has worked with the Assn. of American Medical Colleges to define spirituality as part of the Medical School Objectives Project.
According to the MSOP, "spirituality is recognized as a factor that contributes to health in many persons. It is expressed in an individual's search for ultimate meaning through participation in religion, and/or belief in God, family, naturalism, humanism and the arts. All of these factors can influence how patients and health care professionals perceive health and illness and how they interact with one another."
76% of doctors believe in God, and 59% believe in an afterlife.
In recent years, more research has examined the links between faith and physicians. In 2005, a nationwide study found that 76% of physicians believed in God, and 59% believed in an afterlife. Physicians are more likely to attend religious services than the rest of U.S. population, said the study in the July 2005 Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Some experts said doctors don't know if it's appropriate to incorporate faith into medical practice. Doctors also might be unsure if they should address the topic of their patients' beliefs.
Research aside, social trends have led medical schools to consider spirituality in their curriculum planning, Dr. Puchalski said.
She said that during the mid-20th century, medicine shifted away from the physician-patient relationship and holistic care to a disease-centered model that focused more on advances in science and technology.
The switch to managed care, the diminishing doctor-patient relationship and public pressure brought demands for change. The increased criticism of the medical system as a whole, she said, also stimulated changes in medical education.
The goal today, Dr. Puchalski said, is to help medical students understand how they can be compassionate participants in their patients' lives.
That simple question can play a powerful role in healing our lives.
One of two pages. Please click on external link for complete articleFeb 27, 2008
Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote: "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." Rachel Remen, M.D., has spent much of her 40-year medical career helping patients and doctors find their why. A colleague of mine at the University of California, San Francisco, and founder of the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness, she has been a pioneer of integrative medicine, exploring the powerful ways in which our emotional, mental and spiritual states may directly affect our health. Dr. Remen is also the author of the best sellers "Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal" and "My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging" (both from Riverhead Books). I spoke to her recently about how understanding and pursuing what matters most to us can help to heal both body and soul. Excerpts:
Dean Ornish: There is a lot of suffering in the world right now, and it's experienced on so many different levels—a lot of edginess, anxiety and fear. You often describe how suffering can be a catalyst for transforming our lives. In what ways?
Rachel Remen: Very negative experiences, including anxiety and fear, have the potential to cause us to question the way we've been living. They're a wake-up call. They make people think more deeply about things and ask themselves questions like: What's important? What really matters? How do I want to spend my time, my money, my energy? How do I live more deliberately according to the things that are important to me? Just a very simple two-word question—"What matters?"—can change your life and the lives of people around you.
Why?
Because most of us live by habit. We often spend our time and energy on things that, if we were to ask ourselves, "Is this really important to me?" the answer would be, "Not very." But we don't usually ask ourselves this question. We're not living our lives closest to what has meaning and passion and value for us.
Why not?
We get distracted. There are lots of pressures in life. We're multitasking a lot of the time. Many of us have become disheartened or depressed. We tend to want to numb ourselves out rather than go deep inside and find the well of renewal that is in every person. We spend a lot of time in front of the television set, maybe we tie one on over the weekend. And we're often looking for comfort rather than renewal, and those are two different things.
What's the difference?
Comfort is a temporary Band-Aid. But whatever you are trying to numb yourself from usually comes back. Renewal is healing. If you go deep within and look to live your life with greater integrity, closer to your genuine and authentic values, according to what is really true for you, then you permanently diminish the pain. You don't just numb it temporarily. Food is one of the ways we numb ourselves. Or we drink too much, or we go from relationship to relationship, constantly seeking something new.
A patient once told me, "When I get depressed, I eat a lot of fat—it coats my nerves and numbs the pain. It fills the void." Another said, "I've got 20 friends in this package of cigarettes. They're always there for me; nobody else is." In the effort to heal our pain, we often numb it so we don't look at our lives. The real healing comes from asking ourselves what really matters and having the courage to let go of what doesn't matter and take hold of what does.
When people are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, they often realize this, as well.
Yes. There is a moment of clarity where you know what's important to you. And it often isn't the way you've been living your life but something different than that. I've worked for years with people who have cancer, listening to their stories—the view from the edge of life is a lot clearer than most of us have.
In all those years, nobody ever said to me, "If I die of this disease, I'm going to miss my Mercedes." What really matters is who you've touched on your way through life, who has touched you and cared deeply, and what you're leaving behind you in the hearts and lives of those around you. We're so busy that we may not be present in our own lives. We don't see. We don't connect. And it's all here in front of us. Many are starving in the midst of plenty.
Christian Scientists rely on spiritual healing throughout their lives.
By BILL CUNNINGHAM The Orange County Register
At Fullerton's First Church of Christ, Scientist, two speakers stood together at a wide podium. One read a passage from the Bible; the other read related words from Mary Baker Eddy's book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." The Sunday morning congregation listened quietly in the plain sanctuary. No crosses, no statues, no elaborate ornaments. Words and thoughts were emphasized, rather than symbols and rituals.
The two books, the Bible and "Science and Health," are considered to be the spiritual leader of the church. There is no ordained clergy.
Mrs. Eddy, who wrote about suffering with ill health since childhood before studying the Bible and discovering a method of curing herself and others, founded Christian Science in 1879. It was designed "to commemorate the word and works of our Master (Jesus Christ), which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing," states a church manual.
An estimated 1,600 congregations now exist in America, with hundreds more worldwide. Beyond the use of the word "science" in the name, it has nothing to do with Scientology.
Spiritual healing is an important part of the Christian Science religion. When practitioners are sick or injured they pray first, rather than head to a medical doctor.
"Spiritual healing probably has as many different faces as there are individuals that are applying it," said Donald W. Ingwerson, spokesman for Christian Science in Southern California and a church member for over 50 years. "Basically it's the power of prayer that heals. And that prayer is based upon inspiration from the Bible and from 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.' "
But if a church member with a broken bone or a severe illness feels the need for medical treatment, there's no stigma attached. "All Christian Scientists are free to go to a doctor any time they feel the need for it," said Ingwerson. "However, generally speaking, a Christian Scientist would pray first and see where that leads their thought and their need. And if they felt after that prayer, they needed to see a doctor, they should feel free to go see a doctor. But many find that they don't need to go to a doctor after they pray."
Although Mrs. Eddy was founder of the church and the author of one of its most important texts, she is not looked upon a saint or a prophet. "But she certainly has the deep respect of the world for the religion she created," said Ingwerson. "Mrs. Eddy herself said 'look for me in my works' and that's where she wants to be of value to us."
Each church reaches out to the community in several ways. There are practitioners, considered full-time professional healers, who can be called by anyone seeking treatment through prayer. And there are Reading Rooms open to the public throughout the county. These rooms have Bibles and Christian Science literature available for reading, borrowing or purchasing.
On Wednesday evenings, one-hour Testimony Meetings are held, at which individuals tell of personal experiences involving healing. At a recent meeting, several spoke of ailments that were resolved without medical assistance. One woman told of many healings, "physical, emotional and relational" over the years.
Unlike some individuals who live in fear or hope of an afterlife, Christian Scientists "don't believe in a literal sense of heaven and hell," said Ingwerson. "We don't think it's a place. We think it's a state of thought and it's right here. You're living in your own hell or heaven right now. It's not a place you go to later."
A new documentary looks at how and when people choose to forgive
By LAURA LLOYD
Filmmaker Martin Doblemeier believes that forgiveness can transform the world. His new documentary, “The Power of Forgiveness,” which will be shown on public television stations beginning in March, explores that idea through interviews with people who have forgiven those who injured them.
Being able to let go of the bitterness that follows being hurt isn’t always easy, of course, whether for individuals or for nations. The difficulty in doing so is demonstrated powerfully on the film’s Web site, where Mr. Doblemeier recently posed a question, “How do you feel about a Garden of Forgiveness at Ground Zero?” Such a garden has been suggested by a New York City Episcopal priest, Mr. Doblemeier said.
“In 10 days we had 6,000 hits,” Mr. Doblemeier said. “Of the respondents, 97 percent said no to a Garden of Forgiveness and 3 percent said yes. Now, most of the people who go our Web site might be called progressive tree-huggers, faith-in-the-world types. Yet, they were not in favor of a Garden of Forgiveness.”
Mr. Doblemeier said America is “an angry culture, angry on the highways, angry in the movies. We’re a nation of people who are deeply hurt.” Still, in making his film he was able to find a wide array of people here and abroad who are making creative efforts to foster forgiveness.
“Forgiveness is a decision,” Mr. Doblemeier said. In other words, people don’t have to wait until they feel like forgiving to do so.
A Roman Catholic, Mr. Doblemeier is a veteran maker of documentaries with spiritual themes. The 25 movies he’s produced and directed include “Bonhoeffer,” a documentary about the well-known German pastor who resisted the Nazis, and “Final Blessing,” a film about the spiritual issues of the terminally ill. He decided to explore the topic of forgiveness in a variety of faith traditions and from a scientific perspective as well. He found out that almost all religions teach the importance of forgiveness, and some, like the Amish, make it a cornerstone of their faith. He also found that scientists are discovering that the ability to forgive can confer health benefits such as lower blood pressure and better cardiovascular health.
Forgiveness “is a wonderful virtue in itself and it’s also good for our health,” Mr. Doblemeier said.
He is happy that acts of forgiveness have health benefits, but he places greater value on the idea that corporate forgiveness can lead to a “transformation of the world.” His film focuses on such transforming acts as a school program in Northern Ireland that nurtures nonjudgmental attitudes between Catholics and Protestants and efforts to foster reconciliation between Germans and Jews affected by the Holocaust. These acts, he thinks, have the most power.
“Jesus, when he was on the cross and said, ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do,’ wasn’t forgiving because it was good for his health,” Mr. Doblemeier said.
Mr. Doblemeier left out of his film some stunning acts of forgiveness. They include the story of South Africa, where Archbishop Desmond Tutu counseled forgiveness of the white minority that had viciously oppressed the black population, and Pope John Paul II’s forgiveness of his unsuccessful assassin and his request for forgiveness from the Jewish people. For centuries, Jews had been persecuted and discriminated against by the Catholic world.
“The Power of Forgiveness” is already being used as a teaching tool. Susan Hendricks, a social worker who leads a group of women in the maximum security Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia, S.C., has used parts of “The Power of Forgiveness” to encourage discussion about forgiveness -- both of the self and of others. “This film is so important,” she said. “It demonstrates to the women through stories how to forgive themselves and how to forgive others. A lot of them don’t recognize this, that a lot of times you have to forgive yourself for what you’ve done.”
Journey Films, Mr. Doblemeier’s production company, took “The Power of Forgiveness” to 25 special screenings in 2007, including one at a theater in Blacksburg, Va., the home of Virginia Tech, where a student gunned down 32 persons before killing himself, and another at the United Nations. The upcoming broadcast on PBS of “The Power of Forgiveness” is part of a strategy designed to spark conversations at both a national and local level about the ability of forgiveness to alleviate anger and grief. Groups who want to use study material for teaching “The Power of Forgiveness” can download them from the film’s Web site at www.journeyfilms.com.
Mr. Doblemeier, who has been present at many of the screenings of the film, often in churches or synagogues, is optimistic that “The Power of Forgiveness” will have a continuing impact on people’s lives through workshops and seminars. He has noticed that after the film is shown, people frequently come forward to talk to him. Sometimes they reveal they have been living with guilt and are in need of forgiveness themselves.
“I like the idea that the movie shows it is possible to have a positive resolution to a problem and for people to see others who are able to help,” Mr. Doblemeier said.
Laura Lloyd is a Kansas City, Mo., freelance writer.
Why is it, with so much resource and opportunity in the world, the sheer volumes of information we have on the Internet, and the litany of spiritual venues available, that people would continue to be riddled with unhappiness and plagued by depression? Why do so many of us feel utterly powerless to make a significant difference in the world? Why does it seem like this mysterious force, “out there,” is in charge of what’s happening? And why do we continue to live in fear of one another? Most importantly, what can we do to overcome all of this?
To paraphrase Einstein though, “we will never be able to solve the problems of our current situation from the same consciousness that created it.” That is to say that fear cannot and will not overcome fear. You cannot fight terror with more terror; for all that does is compound the problem!
As we evolve, and our sense of discernment grows sharp, we must start to understand and take responsibility for our beliefs. Simply stated, our beliefs create the reality we live in. By allowing the burgeoning corporate interests and media empires to use propaganda, sensationalism, and psychological prowess to shape our opinions, we are living at the effect of what we see and experience on television. Quite frankly, our subconscious does not realize the difference between a real life experience and an experience it remembers from a picture.
In order to regain control, we have got to become more selective and fill our minds only with information that is useful and critical to our success!
Jack Trout, in his book, “Differentiate or Die,” expounded upon the number of messages that come at us on a daily basis. It is estimated that the average individual is exposed to 30,000 messages on any given day; quite an astounding number. On one level, we have a filtering mechanism that allows us to function despite this full frontal attack of messaging, however on another level, we have very little defense, unless of course, we live in a cave somewhere. It is virtually impossible to escape the proliferation of “Consumerism” and thus, we need to take proactive measures to live within our Essence.
Health can be directly correlated to your ability to process and subsequently stand clear of negative thought. Conversely, we typically pay dubious attention to the negative stories that run us and subsequently persist in ways that will seemingly resolve these negative thoughts - such as listening to negative banter on the news. Each of us, face lessons in life that make us bitter or they make us better. The real trick is to take each obstacle and process both the pain and the wisdom that goes with it. As we resist these lessons, they become imbedded in our consciousness and make us unhealthy and negative – we start to chase conversations that validate negative data. The point is not to deny our experience, resist it, or try to overcome it, but rather to embrace it, asking questions and finding answers that facilitate the highest and best wisdom. The same goes for concepts and words that clog our minds with negative meanings and unclear outcomes.
True discernment is the ability to assert Choice. When you let your negative reactions dictate the way you feel and act, there is no Choice, only reactive behavior. This reactive behavior is the biggest problem we have. Life can certainly be lived reacting to everything that goes on around us. We can try to build walls to keep out the evil forces and put guards at the gates, but at the end of the day, you really have to ask yourself, how much energy is that going to take? You see, ultimately you can never have enough energy to fight off and react to the consciousness of fear and therefore, it is a losing struggle. This is the underlying reason for depression. The alternative is simply to discard the fear based thought and regain Creative Choice, the underlying nature of Essence. Therein lay the answer.
It would be a disservice though, to write at length about what Essence is, Lord knows, the religions have been trying this for Ions and that is fine. We feel the approach best taken to your own Essence is to allow you to stand clear of your reactive fear based thoughts and listen. Listen for what calls to you. Listen for the synchronicity that life hands you every day. Acknowledge the spectrum of Choice at hand and allow yourself to just be still. Everything you need to live the Essence based life is right in front of you, and that is a promise.
by The Times-Picayune Tuesday February 12, 2008, Chris Bynum Staff writer
There's plenty of proof that love is good for your health. But even if Valentine's Day suggests that a direct hit with Cupid's arrow is required, health experts say that love's physiological benefits are not limited to heady romance and passionate highs.
"When I say love, I mean a deep emotional connection as opposed to being in love, " says Dr. Mark Liponis, medical director of Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass., and author of "Ultra-Longevity" (Little, Brown and Company, $25.99). "You can have a really deep emotional connection with friends, hobbies, children, pets, nature. We are social creatures. We have found that social interaction improves outcome."
Liponis points out one of the reasons people form or join support groups is to dissolve "negative emotions like anger, despair and anxiety." Such negativity, he says, can impact health adversely, elevating our levels of C-reactive protein, which weakens the immune system.
Love has been measured in blood tests, stress levels and psychological responses as scientists seek to measure love's impact on wellness. A Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2004 study indicated that married adults are less likely to be smokers or heavy drinkers and less likely to have sexually transmitted diseases. The same study concluded that a healthy marriage contains built-in stress reducers -- combined incomes translating to greater wealth over a lifetime, friends and family from both spouses serving as a ready support group, and a tendency toward more responsible behaviors.
Those who have experienced happy unions can attest to the intangibles that statistics don't always communicate. Local lawyer Orr Adams is one of those who has seen the benefits of a 22-year marriage.
"There's one obvious benefit: You have a partner to do things with, whether it's health-related, raising kids, working on the house, or learning to sail. Having someone there makes it more likely that you will do something and pursue it, " says Adams. "Some people are not shy at all, and they are willing to do things with people they don't know. But if you have a friend or spouse who will go with you, you get involved, and you stay involved."
Adams believes that stability is an important side effect of marriage, and that in turn has a positive effect on his overall quality of life.
"I am very much a creature of habit, and when I am in my comfort zone, I have more peace of mind and can go through the day with a greater sense of optimism, " he says.
Sean Johnson, founder of Wild Lotus Yoga Studio, has been conducting couples yoga classes for more than eight years. His observations corroborate what studies show.
"What I have witnessed in couples who have a healthy, loving relationship is that the love that exists in partnership radiates outward, illuminating other areas of life -- generating a positive, passionate and creative energy that is contagious, " he says. "What I see in these couples is that their love for each other gives them even more incentive to love and take good care of themselves individually."
Johnson says the value couples place on their relationship often translates into healthier spiritual, emotional and physical habits out of respect for their partners. "Partners believe in and support each other and are invested in each other's well-being."
There is, however, one documented negative health risk -- obesity -- that is greater among married people than singles.
The term "married" carries weight in other aspects of health.
"Those who live together may enjoy temporary health benefits, but they may not reap as high a benefit as those who take the plunge (and marry), " says Jack, citing the results of the CDC study.
While no one can dispute that unhealthy marriages carry negative side effects from stress to depression, there are some telltale signs early on as to how to steer the marriage in a healthy direction.
While Valentine's Day might feel like a doomsday barometer for singles who are currently not dating, Jack says the holiday should be put in its proper perspective.
"It's not a personal thing; it's a commercial holiday, " Jack says. "It's an opportunity for those in a relationship to recommit, but it is not a day for single people to beat up on themselves about past relationships. It is an opportunity to appreciate where they are in their journey."
Liponis sees love as much as an action as a feeling, an action that he says can be expressed multiple ways throughout the day. He suggests becoming an advocate -- putting any strong feelings of love or compassion in a positive direction, "whether it's animals, the environment or politics."
Working for your cause, whether as an advocate leading the charge or a volunteer living a passion, he says, is not only an expression of love, but provides a logical place to find a soul mate.
To give credit where credit is due, Stephen Post attributes his scholarly work on altruism and the widespread recognition it has garnered to a simple bit of advice from his Irish mother. Whenever he was bored or morose as a kid, she would tell him, "Stevie, why don't you go out and do something for someone," Post told an audience at Florida Southern College on Friday.
Post is professor of bioethics, philosophy and religion at the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and the author of "Why Good Things Happen to Good People." He delivered the keynote lecture at the annual meeting of the Florida Center for Science and Religion at FSC, which was devoted to the topic "Angels and Devils: The Theory and Praxis of Good and Evil in Science and Religion."
In a lecture that was by turns intellectual, inspirational and humorous, Post marshalled a host of data from scientific studies to support his thesis that unselfish actions toward others have mental and physical health benefits. Or, as Post put it, "It's good to be good, and science says so."
Post cited one study in which a researcher followed people who had high indications of anger on a psychological profile test. Their mortality rate by age 50 was 20 percent. For those in the lowest quartile of indications of anger, the mortality rate was 2 percent, he said.
Post was tapped by British-American philanthropist Sir John Templeton several years ago to found the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which facilitates studies on the interface of science, health and love. Post devoted a good bit of his lecture to questions of happiness and love. The key to happiness, he said, lies in practicing altruistic virtues, such as helping others and practicing forgiveness. Noble purposes and actions yield more enjoyment of life, he said.
"I believe even in the deserts of life, if you plant a rose and stick with love, in the long run you're going to be better off and be blessed for your efforts," he said.
Responding to a question, Post said people should not pursue altruism just so they can be healthier.
"If you're getting into religion for self-benefit, that would be inauthentic. All science can give us is statistics, not promises. We 'do unto others' because they're deserving of it," he said.
Post called the late 20th-century "an intellectual hellhole" because of ideas that cast suspicion on notions of unselfishness. He mentioned existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre and biologist Richard Dawkins, author of "The Selfish Gene" and one of several recent writers who have written harsh critiques of belief in God. Attributing the moral category of selfishness to the biochemical process of reproduction was "ridiculous," he said.
"In our contemporary society, for a lot of people, the gene has taken the place of the soul. If you want to know your ultimate essence and destiny and nature, it's your genotype, baby. ... So don't get to be feeling too genuine about yourself," Post said, describing Dawkins' views.
Health and happiness are two of the universal goals of all people. Many philosophers, spiritual teachers, the world's major religions, including Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have prized gratitude as a spiritually beneficial emotional state. Now doctors and psychologists have joined in the chorus.
Medical research indicates that there is something you can do each day to be healthier and happier, and it will cost you nothing and take very little time. Be grateful. Dr Michael McCollough, of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Dr Robert Emmons, of the University of California at Davis, say their scientific study indicates that gratitude plays a significant role in a person's sense of well-being.
A Healthier Lifestyle
Grateful people: Those who embrace gratitude as a permanent trait rather than an occasional state of mind have an edge on the not-so-grateful when it comes to health.
Stress Buster
"Gratitude research suggests that feelings of thankfulness have tremendous positive value in helping people cope with daily problems, especially stress," the researchers say.
Immune Booster
Grateful people tend to be more optimistic, a characteristic that the boosts the immune system. Dr Lisa Aspinwall, professor of psychology at the University of Utah, reported on some very interesting studies linking optimism to better immune function. In one, researchers compared the immune systems of healthy, first-year law students under stress. They found that students who were optimistic (based on survey responses) maintained higher numbers of healthy blood cells that protect the immune system, compared with their more pessimistic classmates.
Optimism also has a positive health impact on people with compromised health. In separate studies, patients diagnosed with AIDS, as well as those preparing to undergo surgery, had better health outcomes when they maintained attitudes of optimism.
Heart Health
Clinical psychologist Blair Justice, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology at the UT School of Public Health at Houston, states, "A growing body of research supports the notion that rediscovering a sense of abundance by thinking about those people and things we love lowers the risks of coronary events."
GRATITUDE STRATEGIES
Practise: Start each day by simply focusing on three to five things for which you can be grateful. This will increase your health and happiness. Everyone has something to be grateful for. Just being alive is a big one. Being able to breathe, or having enough money for lunch, or a roof over your head are all things we can be grateful that we have, but we often take these for granted.
Express your gratitude to someone else for an even stronger dose of health and happiness. Holding the thought of gratitude and expressing that gratitude to the friend will benefit both of you.
Record your gratitude. Some people have found even greater rewards from practising gratitude when they make a daily list of things they are grateful for in a 'gratitude journal'. This practice is made even more powerful when they find time to reread their gratitude lists.
Share your gratitude. Gratitude becomes infectious. Look for ways to share your blessings. It can express itself in simple ways like with a smile, a blessing, a prayer, a note or phone call. Just do it.
Thank you for reading this; I'm so grateful that you did.
The history of fasting goes back thousands of years to Hippocrates, Socrates, Plato.
Jesus did it for 40 days for spiritual renewal.
Debbie Ragsdale of McKinney does it once a month, for about the same reason.
Far from starving, a growing number of studies show a periodic fast can do as much for the body as it does for religious beliefs.
After years of being told to eat many small meals a day to rev up the metabolism, research shows giving it a one day rest, once a week or once a month -- may also be beneficial.
Research shows depriving the body of food -- for 24 hours, drinking only water -- can give the heart arteries and pancreas a rest.
"If you're able to fast all day long, except for water, and reduce your insulin secretion," says Baylor University Medical Center Dr. Brian Welch. "There may be some metabolic advantage to that as long as it's not followed by binge eating."
Dr. Welch, a practicing endocrinologist, says there's even evidence partial fasting can extend the lifespan, because eating less sends a message to the brain and cells to use energy more efficiently.
Scientists have seen the proof in rat studies and in real life.
A study recently presented to the American Heart Association looked at Mormons. The study showed Mormon's hearts are much healthier than the average American's -- and not just because their religion forbids smoking and drinking.
Gordon Wright, a Dallas attorney who also happens to be Mormon, has fasted regularly his whole life.
"The appetites that we typically have and just set them aside and focus on more spiritual things. It allows us to focus on things other than the body and the things that drive us day to day," he said.
And Wright says when the fast is over, he's suprisingly not ravenous or obsessing about food. That's because research also suggests that supressing insulin may also reduce the taste for sugar.
Reducing sugar cravings can lead to weight loss over time.
Ragsdale also tries to eat healthy. Once a month, she and friends gather to cook and share a light, healthy lunch, as part of that endeavor.
And, she never misses her monthly fast, for body and soul.
Doctors say fasting more than a day at time breaks down muscles, instead of helping the body. And diabetics should talk with their physician before attempting even a one day fast.
By Sam Manger Epoch Times Australia Staff Jan 29, 2008
Emotions play an important role in our health.
"Heartbroken" and "heart-warming" have long been considered simple expressions with no significant medical meaning. However, research from the National Heart Foundation of Australia has clearly shown that depression, social isolation, and lack of quality social support are three significant risk factors for the development of coronary heart disease. [1]
Heart disease takes one Australian life every ten minutes, and is the leading cause of death in Australia. In 1993–1994 alone, the health system costs for coronary heart disease were around AU$900 million.
Had a patient asked a doctor twenty years ago whether they believed there was any association between the heart and love, they might have received a chuckle and a pat on the head. However, recent research indicates that joy and interaction are necessities to a healthy heart and body.
Many spiritual and alternative health philosophies have been oriented around the idea that disease is a physical manifestation of a corresponding damaged emotional or psychological condition. It has long been thought that parts of the body represent certain emotions or conditions. For example, the heart represents love; the back represents support, and so on. These ideas have generally received limited support from mainstream medicine, but are they really so far-fetched? Recent research would suggest not.
According to the World Health Organisation, by the year 2020 depression will be the second most prevalent health condition in the world. It is reported that the rate of childhood depression in the United States is increasing at a rate of 23 percent per year. This reflects the situation in Australia—rates of depression are highest in younger age groups, especially females. About half of those affected do not seek medical attention.
In 2001, Australian GPs reported that depression was the fourth most common illness in their practices. GPs have increased their number of prescriptions of antidepressants. The Age Online states that 250,000 antidepressant prescriptions were issued to children and adolescents alone in 2003—an increase of 30,000 from 2002. The statistics call for government and health professionals to take a different approach.
Antidepressants have various adverse effects, including violent and suicidal behavior. Most importantly, pills alone do not address the underlying cause of depression.
Faced with this, health professionals in the future may have to change their traditional approach and begin to incorporate apparently alternative paradigms. We may soon welcome a new age in wholistic medicine.
A study published in the January issue of Journal of General Internal Medicine explores the connection between the mind and body.
The study found that 45 percent of Chicago internists surveyed have prescribed a placebo at some time during their clinical practice. The authors surveyed 466 internists at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and University of Illinois-Chicago, 50 percent responded.
The authors also noted that a growing number of physicians believe in the mind-body connection, which means what a person thinks can impact the health and well-being of the body.
The survey also inquired about whether there might be psychological or physiological benefits to meditation, yoga or relaxation techniques, and prayer or spirituality among other questions.
The concept of prayer as part of the healing process for a physical illness is something that doctors in Tuscaloosa as well as elsewhere have been exploring for some time. In the Chicago survey, the authors reported that the majority of physicians believed in both psychological and physiological benefits.
Numerous studies have suggested that spirituality can confer a wide range of benefits.
It can lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and confer a general sense of well-being, says Dr. Malcolm Herring, physician liaison for mission services with the Seton Cove Spirituality Center of St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis. For instance, a 2005 study of 3,050 elderly Mexican-Americans found that those who attended church weekly or more regularly had a 32 percent reduction in mortality. A 2006 study of Danish adults yielded a similar result.
And it isn't just at the end of life that such behavior appears to have an effect. A 2006 study of British teenagers found that religious observance lowered youths' risk of developing a meningitis-like disease just as much as a vaccination did.
It's not clear that any of this is directly attributable to religion or inner peace. But in general, the calmer and happier people are, the less frequently they fall prey to infections, hypertension, headaches and nervous stomach, says Indianapolis psychiatrist Dr. Marvin Miller.
"Having a sense of meaning, which is often derived from having a set of spiritual beliefs, is really important," says Miller. "Almost every culture in our world that's been examined has some evidence of people searching for that higher power and the search to attach meaning to their lives, and I think that is healthy."
The definition of what constitutes that spirituality varies, experts agree.
For one person, it might be regular attendance at church or another form of worship. For another, it may be something else that provides a connection with others, such as volunteering.
For Nikki Myers, owner of Cityoga, a Downtown yoga studio, that tranquility has come through the popular activity that combines exercise with relaxation.
She first tried yoga more than three decades ago. But life sidetracked her, and she didn't get back into it until the early 1990s, after a debilitating case of sciatica sidelined her. Her doctor recommended she try yoga to de-stress.
Within three or four months, her sciatica had disappeared almost altogether, and Myers, now 54, had made yoga a part of her life.
For her, yoga and inner peace go hand in hand. "I know when my life is in balance, one of the key things that shows up is a sense of peace," Myers says. "Stress is such a huge factor in taking us out of balance."
Even before someone falls ill, religion or spirituality may help ward off disease, numerous studies suggest. Research has shown that older adults who attend church regularly are at lower risk of losing the ability to care for themselves over time. A 2005 study found that middle-aged and older Israeli adults who lived in communities that had more people with religious affiliation had a lower mortality rate than their less religious counterparts.
Spiritual Reflections: Change perspective to hold yourself together
By Lynne Silva-Breen, Spiritual Reflections
Every January it’s the same thing. Magazine covers, newspaper articles, and radio shows devoted to keeping those health-focused New Year’s resolutions.
Whether its weight loss, smoking cessation, decreasing alcohol use, or improving your overall mood, there’s a program, a drug, a class you can join to fix it all in several easy steps.
So: How’s that going for you?
I believe that that pattern of idealism, attempt, failure and self reproach are harmful to our spiritual and emotional health. All this “self improvement” effort makes our bodies into a kind of lifelong construction project. Is there something else we can do instead?
I would like to suggest a different way of thinking and behaving around these efforts to improve our body’s health. Rather than looking at ourselves as if we were two separate beings, one being as the mind, the other as the body, we might attempt to live life as a whole self; a whole, complex, embodied self.
While Judaism and Christianity assume a person’s embodied self, religious views of human life have given way recently to more utilitarian and objective points of view.
We commonly do invasive things to our bodies unimaginable a couple of generations ago (deep brain surgery, in vitro fertilization, cancer treatments, to name a few) without attending to the emotional and spiritual aspects of these interventions. Our medical advances have outstripped our ethical and emotional reflection on our abilities.
It’s no wonder many of us don’t think of ourselves as the bodies we are. We have begun to treat our bodies like repair projects.
Our cultural mind/body split is at the heart of several rapidly increasing mental health disorders, including those around food and eating, body image, sexuality and gender, and mood disorders. I worry that we have trained ourselves to believe that all it takes is the right pharmaceutical product – the right prescription drug – to fix the body.
Though we know this is not true, both instinctively and factually, we have convinced ourselves of the superiority of technology over our most human of problems.
I invite you to take a step back from the cultural avalanche of body problem solutions this month, and attempt to view yourself as a whole being.
What would that understanding of yourself do when you imagine trying to lose weight, or manage your diabetes, or calm your sleeping problem? How would it shape your next visit to the doctor, or to the gym? We are not just a jumble of parts, but an amazing whole.
May that perspective find its way into your New Year, and help hold you graciously together.
(Rev. Lynne Silva-Breen, M.Div., M.A., has been a Lutheran pastor since 1984, is a family therapist/pastoral counselor and can be contacted at www.inspiringchange.us. She is one of several area pastors who write columns for "Spiritual Reflections.")
Posted on Sat, Jan. 12, 2008 By REBECCA ROSEN LUM Contra Costa Times
Scientists are taking a hard look at the value of faith as an instrument in healing -- including the "intercessory" or healing prayers said on behalf of others.
Numerous studies show a link between faith and outlook, faith and well-being, faith and healing times.
Scientists at such prestigious institutions as California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Duke University in North Carolina, and the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health in the nation's capital are exploring the relationship of prayer and faith to healing.
More than half of physicians in an April survey by a group at the University of Chicago said that religion and spirituality significantly influence patients' health.
But the exact mechanism by which it works remains elusive.
Religion can help those with chronic conditions, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke and arthritis, say the authors of a study at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Yoga, reading of religious texts, meditation or the laying of hands have value in a clinical setting, the researchers concluded.
Hospital officials have long left patients' spiritual needs in the hands of chaplains, but they increasingly are reaching out to faith communities.
Official recognition
Parish nursing, or faith-community nursing, which combines spiritual and health services, has exploded since the American Nursing Association recognized the specialty in 2005.
Today, an estimated 10,000 faith-community nurses work in American congregations.
In San Francisco, a leading researcher in mind-body medicine found a positive link between intercessory prayer and the well-being of people with AIDS.
Prayed-for patients in a study by late University of California-San Francisco professor Elizabeth Targ had fewer setbacks and lived longer than a comparison group. A follow-up study found the same results. Targ later found a link between spirituality and well-being among women with breast cancer.
THE CONFLICT
Some academics recoil at the blurring of the line between faith and healthcare, saying prayer, meditation and other faith practices resist definition or measurement.
Far more studies show no link between religious belief and healing than a positive one, said Richard Sloan, a Columbia University behavioral medicine professor and the author of Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine. Suggesting one can mislead people and put an unfair burden on them, he said.
"Look, nobody disputes that religion and spirituality bring comfort in a time of difficulty, but when spirituality is brought into medical care, it is another issue entirely," he said.
"It can do all sort of harm because it causes people to confuse medical care with other aspects of their lives," he said. "It can lead them to avoid conventional medical care. And it can lead them to believe their health problems are from inadequate faith and devotion."
Book Review: The Cure Within - A History of Mind-Body Medicine
By Anne Harrington Jan 2, 2008
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Scientific studies, social trends, and pop culture show that we are endlessly fascinated by the magical notion of mind over matter. News headlines claim that reducing stress leads to a stronger immune system and a longer life expectancy. There are miraculous stories of tumors disappearing with the help of visualization techniques. Accordingly, many are embracing practices such as acupuncture, yoga, and transcendental meditation. Interest in alternative sources of health and wellness indicate that even with the advances of medicine, many recognize the mind’s role in healing the body.
In her new book, THE CURE WITHIN (W. W. Norton & Company; January 21, 2008; $25.95 cloth), Anne Harrington, historian and chair of Harvard’s Mind Brain and Behavior Initiative, unravels the mystery of “mind cures” – the mind’s role in healing the body and the notion that the mind exerts an influence on our well-being. Superbly researched, enlightening, and original, THE CURE WITHIN is the first cultural history of mind-body medicine. Beginning in the early days of Christianity, when notions of possession dominated the church and medicine, Harrington moves to the secularized mind cures of Freud’s psychoanalysis, explores the deep-seated Christian roots of our modern self-help vernacular, and probes today’s designer blending of Eastern and Western wellness medicines.
Harrington reveals the deep historical and cultural roots that underlie our notions of healing. She chronicles faith and religion’s historical role in curing illness from early Christian times, to the 17th and 18th century exorcisms sanctioned by the church as an effective treatment for what was deemed “demonic possession,” to the persistence of religion today in more modern examples of faith-healing, including pilgrimages to sites such as Lourdes and the laying in of hands. She traces the origin of the power of positive thinking to Mary Baker Eddy, the 1879 founder of The Church of Christ, Scientist, whose advocacy of spiritual healing above medicinal treatment remains the accepted doctrine of today’s Christian Scientists. Harrington also explores secular influences on mind-body healing—from Freud’s techniques for curing illness and hysteria to today’s stress management and visualization techniques popularized by figures likes Dr. Herb Benson, whose ground-breaking study of Transcendental Medicine sparked a tremendous interest in spiritual and holistic health practices.
Both religion and science have something to say about the seemingly real effects of the mind’s role in shaping, harnessing, and controlling disease. Harrington expertly navigates historical cases that demonstrate these influences, punctuating her story of psychosomatic medicine with an examination of neuroscience’s role in confirming the influence of mind over body. THE CURE WITHIN is an absorbing, enlightening investigation of our cultural notions of mind cure from ancient times to the present.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Anne Harrington is Harvard College Professor for the History of Science, specializing in the history of psychiatry, neuroscience, and the other mind sciences. Also a visiting professor for Medical History at the London School of Economics, she is the author of Reenchanted Science and the editor of The Placebo Effect and the The Dalai Lama at MIT. Currently she serves on the Board of the Mind and Life Institute, an organization dedicated to cross-cultural dialogue between Buddhism and the sciences. She lives in Watertown, Massachusetts.
TITLE: THE CURE WITHIN: A History of Mind-Body Medicine AUTHORS: Anne Harrington PUBLICATION DATE: January 21, 2008 PRICE: $25.95 cloth PAGES: 354 ISBN: 978-0-393-06563-3
Researchers note possible health benefits for people who absolve wrongdoers, but others express skepticism
By Melissa Healy January 3, 2008
Forgiveness - a virtue embraced by almost every religious tradition as a balm for the soul - may be medicine for the body, researchers suggest. In less than a decade, those preaching and studying forgiveness have amassed an impressive slate of findings on its possible health benefits.
They have shown that "forgiveness interventions" - often just a couple of short sessions in which the wounded are guided toward positive feelings for an offender - can improve cardiovascular function, diminish chronic pain, relieve depression and boost quality of life among the very ill.
Like proper nutrition and exercise, forgiveness appears to be a behavior that a patient can learn, exercise and repeat as needed to prevent disease and preserve health.
Psychologist Loren Toussaint of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and colleagues were the first to establish a long-term link between people's health and their propensity to forgive.
Their national survey, published in the Journal of Adult Development in 2001, found forgiveness rare enough: Only 52 percent of Americans said they had forgiven others for hurtful acts. But willingness of young respondents to forgive showed no link to health; that propensity began to make a difference as respondents approached middle age. The survey found that those 45 and older who forgave others were more likely to report having better overall mental and physical health than those who did not.
Efforts to put forgiveness to a rigorous scientific test have been funded largely by a pair of philanthropies long associated with research on faith, religion and science: the Michigan-based Fetzer Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation of Pennsylvania, which effectively created the field in 1997 with a pledge of $2 million for research on forgiveness.
These origins raise discomfort and controversy among both scientists and those who help the physically and mentally wounded heal.
To many in mental health who fear that traumatized patients face pressure to forgive when doing so is premature or ill-advised, the new science of forgiveness is deeply worrisome.
"The whole Christian, 12-step mentality has permeated our culture, and the emphasis on forgiveness is part of that," says Jeanne Safer, a New York psychoanalyst and author of Must We Forgive? "For many patients, forgiveness is a double-whammy: First someone [hurts] you, and then it's your fault you don't want to embrace them in heaven. I'm not against forgiveness; I'm against compulsory forgiveness with no choice. And I'm against 'forgiveness lite,' which keeps you from feeling the intensity of the experience, from deeply grappling with what's been done to you."
Clinicians skeptical of forgiveness as a necessary endpoint of therapy say many of those who are quickest to forgive others do so because they blame themselves for the bad things that have happened to them. Others forgive too quickly because they are unwilling to acknowledge their general feelings of shame and anger or simply because they feel unworthy of better treatment.
Safer calls this "fake forgiveness." It allows victims to continue blaming themselves, she says. And it's a dangerous side effect of what Safer sees as a bid to sell forgiveness as a panacea.
Jeffrey R., a Maryland man whose father sexually molested him and three siblings as children, acknowledges that self-blame and denial after the abuse has exacted a terrible cost on his family. The Sun does not report the names of sex abuse victims.
After nine suicide attempts and decades of contending with crippling temper and suspicion toward others, Jeffrey says he's not ready to forgive the father who did it, the mother who looked the other way or the aunts and uncles who, after the abuse came to light, refused to discuss it. His sister, who was raped by her father at 5, has embraced forgiveness, says Jeffrey, telling her brother God will judge their father. Jeffrey says he's let go of the anger and bitterness caused by his abuse, and it "has saved my life."
But forgiveness on the same level as his sister's? "I'm not really there yet," he says.
Science taking hard look at healing power of faith
By Rebecca Rosen Lum, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 12/18/2007
Science is taking a hard look at the value of faith as an instrument in healing — including the intercessory or healing prayers said on behalf of others.
Numerous studies show a link between faith and outlook, faith and well-being, faith and healing times.
Such prestigious institutions as California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Duke University in North Carolina, and the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health in the nations capitol are exploring the relationship of prayer and faith to healing.
More than half of physicians in an April survey by a group at the University of Chicago said religion and spirituality significantly influence patients health.
But the exact mechanism by which it works remains elusive.
Religion can help those with chronic conditions, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke and arthritis, say the authors of a study at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Religion is infrequently discussed in rehabilitation settings and is rarely investigated in rehabilitation research, said Missouri health psychologist Brick Johnstone. To better meet the needs of persons with disabilities, this needs to change.
Yoga, reading of religious texts, meditation or the laying on of hands have value in a clinical setting, the researchers concluded.
Hospitals have long left patients spiritual needs in the hands of chaplains, but increasingly are reaching out to faith communities.
Parish, or faith community nursing, which combines spiritual and health service, has exploded since the American Nursing Association recognized the specialty in 2005.
Today, an estimated 10,000 faith community nurses work in American congregations.
In San Francisco, a leading researcher in mind-body medicine found a positive link between intercessory prayer and the well-being of people with AIDS.
Prayed-for patients in a study by the late UCSF professor Elizabeth Targ had fewer setbacks and lived longer than a comparison group. A follow-up study found the same results. Targ later found a link between spirituality and well-being among women with breast cancer.
Some academics recoil at the blurring of the line between faith and health care, saying prayer, meditation, and other faith practices resist definition or measurement.
Why Giving Back Could Make You Happier … and Healthier
By John Stossel and Sylvia Johnson Aug. 20, 2007
How good would it feel if someone just gave you $1,000?
Last fall, Oprah Winfrey thrilled audience members with these words: "You will each go home with $1,000."
Then she said there was a catch: "You have to spend the money on someone other than your family."
They still applauded, but the smiles looked a little forced.
Yet maybe she did her audience a favor, because even though the audience had to give the money away, it could get back even more than they gave.
Stephen Post explains why in his new book, "Why Good Things Happen to Good People." He reveals that new science shows giving -- money or time -- not only feels just as good as getting, but can actually improve your health.
"Giving is as good for the giver as it is for the receiver. Science says it's so. We'll be happier, healthier, and even -- odds are -- live a little longer if we're generous," Post said.
"Public health isn't just about bugs and staying away from lead. It's about doing unto others, and at the right dose, science says it's very good for you," he said.
Arthur Brooks, author of the new book, "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism," also knows a lot about the current research on charity. Brooks said, "There's evidence that it helps people with their asthma, in cardiovascular disease, weight loss, insomnia. When people have a lot of happiness, they do a lot better in their health as well."
Helping Others, Healing Themselves
That was true for former heart patients at Duke University Medical Center. They were asked to visit current heart patients -- no particular agenda, just to listen and lend support. By doing that, the volunteers had better health after their heart attacks.
A similar study at the University of Miami by Dr. Gail Ironson followed HIV patients who volunteered, like Katherine Marshall Scott, who talks to teenagers about avoiding infection, and Stephen Baker, who counsels fellow HIV survivors. These and other HIV patients who helped others had lower stress levels and higher immune resistance.
Scott's disease-fighting cells went up, from 200 to 800.
Baker says he could feel how volunteering improved his health.
"To get involved with someone else's problems makes your problems look a lot less," he said.
Service Learning
Many high schools require their students to volunteer.
It's called service learning. And oddly, even though the charity is forced, it still brings happy results. Teachers say students who volunteer raise their grades, and get higher SAT scores.
Abington High School student Jeff Rohrback said, "After service learning started, I got so involved into it, I started paying attention more, picked up my grades." So "20/20" decided to see whether we could find a similar effect.
We put an ad on Craigslist recruiting people who were not currently volunteers. We introduced them to Post, and asked them to try it for one week.
But first, Post had them fill out a questionnaire that asked how they felt about life, like how often during the week they felt calm and peaceful.
Children for Children, whose mission is to get children involved in giving, agreed to help us, as did the Salvation Army, which has many different programs, from soup kitchens to after-school activities for kids.
Then off they went -- bringing donated books to children at an elementary school, then reading to the kids and making scarves with the kids. One spent time in a truck handing out food to the poor. All four worked at a Harlem soup kitchen.
One week later we had them answer that questionnaire again.
This time their answers about how often they felt "calm and peaceful" changed from some of the time to most of the time.
The Helpers' High
"The helper's high has been measured physically," Post said. "We know there's an actual physiological state. It's quite euphoric."
The helper's high shows up in MRI brain scans.
People who give money show brain activity that's associated with feel-good chemicals like dopamine -- the same brain activity that happens when you receive money. National Institutes of Health neuroscientist Jordan Grafman showed us the brain scans.
"Those brain structures that are activated when you get a reward are the same ones that are activated when you give. In fact, they're activated more," he told us. We asked our volunteers after their week of service who had gotten more out of the experience: the people they helped, or they themselves?
Volunteer Daniel Smith didn't hesitate with his answer. "No brainer. Me, definitely."
Lelani Clark also felt renewed from her single week of volunteering.
"I just felt energized," she said. "We were so caught up in this energy of helping that it was like a buzz -- like a spiritual buzz."
Winfrey's audience members reported that, too. After a week of giving money away, many said they were changed.
Maybe we should call it selfish to help others, because it seems to help the givers more.
"If you want to define selfishness so widely as to include the warm glow that people feel in the aftermath of selflessly giving to others, guess what, we need more of it, not less of it," Post said.
So try it.
Get out and give your money or your time. You'll help someone else. … And you'll feel good, too.
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.
If only my mother would remember that she's God's perfect child--and so is her doctor--maybe she wouldn't feel so guilty.
By Susan Sherman
I lay in the dark with a headache, praying to know that it wasn't real. My mother told me I was God's perfect child, made in His likeness. I was His reflection, she said, like an image in a mirror. I couldn't have a headache because God couldn't have a headache. I fell asleep, and the headache lifted. I was three.
Spiritual healing has long been part of my family on my mother's side. It was normal for my mother and grandmother, who had continued the family drift away from Judaism, to talk about illness as error, an illusion, to "un-see" anything negative because God could never have made it. My mother followed my grandmother into Christian Science, the religion founded in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy, a New England woman who was healed of a serious injury by studying the way Jesus healed--seeing the allness of God and the nothingness of evil.
Although the church does not directly prohibit anyone from getting medical help, in reality there's a good deal of social pressure not to seek it. If you're under a doctor's care, you can't visit a Christian Science practitioner or hold church office, and you feel guilty even sitting in church or doing the weekly lesson readings. You're not radically relying on God, and it's your own fault that you're not being healed. As Mrs. Eddy writes, "If patients fail to experience the healing power of Christian Science, and think they can be benefited by certain ordinary physical methods of medical treatment, then the Mind-physician should give up such cases, and leave invalids free to resort to whatever other systems they fancy will afford relief." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures page 443). Emphasis on "think" and "fancy."
For years, we had many healings in my family. And sometimes we didn't. My grandmother died of breast cancer in 1968. Years later, at age 67, my mother developed lymphoma. When the tumor grew noticeable, she went to a doctor, who told her unequivocally, "This is fatal if not treated." Fearing to go through what my grandmother did, she was treated medically. She didn't die. But her guilt at becoming ill in the first place (through the sin of false belief), and then resorting to materia medica for healing, brought on a serious depression and panic disorder. It was an agitated kind of depression that raged for five years, wreaking as much havoc in her life and ours as the cancer. The depression abated for 12 years, then returned full force following another treatable bout of cancer this year.
My mom has tried desperately to get her faith back. At times she will renounce medicine, then obsessively worry about minor symptoms and go to the doctor. She will take half-doses of antidepressants and then read her Bible. She will call her Christian Science practitioner many times a day, but the words offered by this saintly woman don't sink in. Swinging back and forth between medicine and spiritual healing, never feeling confident in either, she has become undone by guilt. Constantly denying and "un-seeing" material conditions are too great a strain on her mind.
This story doesn't have a happy ending (yet). But for me, it does have a big lesson. I've learned that having to choose "either/or" cuts us off from the manifold blessings of God. I believe now that God created us, body and soul; that God created many kinds of healers--physicians, nurses, medical researchers, massage therapists, medical intuitives, acupuncturists, and psychotherapists, as well as purely spiritual healers. Why is it OK to accept all the scientific advances of the 21st century, except in the field of medicine? Because Jesus was evolved enough to heal without drugs? Jesus also said that the lilies of the field don't toil or spin. Yet we still work and wear clothing.
I believe in spiritual healing, and sometimes I can get to a deep place within, that place that I first located as a child when I had a headache. I get there by closing my eyes and picturing myself diving down, down into a vast ocean beneath the pain, and just resting there in God's arms. I call it "my place of healing." But if I can't get there, I don't feel guilty about reaching for an aspirin.
Madonna drinks Canaan wine, Paris Hilton orders kosher steaks, Bono eats sushi under the supervision of the Beth Din, Donald Trump holds his meetings at one of Manhattan’s kosher restaurants – and everyone burns calories to the tunes of Sarit Haddad and Eyal Golan. Kosher is trendy in the USA
Yaniv Halili Published: 07.06.07
This latest American trend has celebrities enquiring about the coveted kashrut seal before letting a morsel of food touch their mouths. Apart from Madonna (who has a private room at the Prime Grill), many others are rushing around in search of steaks from cows that were slaughtered under the supervision of a rabbi.
A not very trendy 3300 years late, Americans are discovering that kosher food is both healthy and spiritual. The subject is complex, but it is encouraging to realize that we were right all these years and that it was worth insisting on manna in the desert. New kosher restaurants are opening all the time in big cities throughout the United States, offering dishes that have not been boiled to death. Kosher products are finding themselves on supermarket shelves and major producers in the dairy industry are strict about having the kosher stamp on their product labels, knowing that the “gentiles” want kosher products too. Even Hollywood is slowly turning kosher: the current most popular restaurant is a kosher meat and sushi bar where paparazzi photographers have a permanent place at the entrance.
Kosher Buddhism
Until recently, the words “kosher food” would have the average person running away rather than meet the dubious culinary experience. These days the two words mean prosperity. In Manhattan, kosher Chinese, French, Japanese, Indian and Iranian restaurants have opened. There is even a kosher Buddhist restaurant - indeed, Buddha spent his youth in a yeshiva.
In the last decade, kosher food sales in American supermarkets have reached a growth rate of 15 percent as opposed to a four percent growth rate for food that is not kosher. Eleven million Americans buy kosher food, and they are responsible for a yearly turnover of $9 billion. What’s interesting in all this data is that there are only just over six million Jews in America and even fewer keep kosher. Slowly but surely the kosher food market is being taken over by non-Jewish Americans who are on the lookout for kosher food that is not just gefilte fish and matza.
So, have the gentiles finally realized that Judaism is cool? Not necessarily so. In a recent survey carried out by Mintel International, 55 percent of kosher food consumers do so because they believe that kosher food is healthier, not due to religious reasons. The health merits attached to the kashrut seal are welcomed by mouths wide open: this last year Americans have had to swallow avian flu, mass poisoning and E.Coli bacteria.
The American Health Department’s statistics are scary: 76 million people - one in four Americans - suffer each year from diseases caused by spoiled food. As the numbers of diseases rise, so does people’s awareness and conscious consumers are on the look out for alternatives.
Kosher food is popular mostly amongst health food fans and strict vegetarians who can eat at a dairy restaurant and be sure that no suspicious pieces of meat will find their way into their plates and that they won't meet chunks of smoked bacon in their salads.
Americans like the fact that kosher food is prepared under the watchful eyes of supervisors, often more than one, and kosher restaurants in Manhattan are proud to announce that “all the food here is prepared under strict supervision”. This impresses the customers, even if the watchful eyes are those of a kashrut supervisor who is only making sure that the dairy and meat utensils stay separate from each other.
A survey published just before Independence Day shows that Hebrew National sausages made of 100 percent beef is the highest selling brand in America. Muslims and Christians too are among Americans who eat kosher food. Certain Christian groups follow a diet that is prepared “in the spirit of the Bible.”
And for dessert Eyal Golan
The kosher trend in New York got a big push last year when Madonna arrived in the city for her Confessions tour. After each sho
