Have you ever not told your doctor you are using an herb or a massage for your problems? Have you ever had a physician yelling at you because you dared mention such modalities at all? I am looking for gentle healing forms for twenty five years now – and I am astonished that I am still hearing about such fossil physicians and incidents.
This week I attended a gathering to celebrate a generous gift Jill and Hung Cheng have given to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston toward an alternative-complementary medicine program.
We celebrated with speeches (of course!) and healthy Chinese fare, and had a ball, generally – celebrating that a farsighted couple tries to overcome the big divide between alternative and conventional medicine.
BUT: Why are we still talking about alternative?
There is nothing alternative in using healing foods and movement to help patients. Not astonishing, a new study showed that overweight, under-exercised physicians are utilizing less food and physical modalities to help their patients. Which means: Overweight, under-exercised physicians prescribe more medications. Scary?
In Germany, many modalities like herbal therapy, Natural Medicine, massage, acupuncture, yoga, relaxation, hydrotherapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, chiropractic, biophysical medicine, and so on are mainstream. Which means that a physician can pass an examination in a subspecialty, in front of a board of peers to show his/her knowledge. I have done it (Arzt für Naturheilkunde).
Are there quacks in alternative medicine? Sure, there are. But so are in conventional medicine. Not talking to each other only perpetuates the shortcomings on both sides of the aisle.
This is what is needed:
• A subspecialty degree in Complementary Medicine that can be acquired by any physician who has passed the Internal Medicine, Family Practice or Primary Care Boards.
• Conferences and Continuing Education that automatically comprise ALL healing modalities that have been proven useful in certain diseases and conditions.
• More research in complementary modalities – of course!! Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
The Hhhh Sound
June 9, 2011
Health, house, home, hearth, happiness, hope, humor – and many more – positive words start with an “H”. Did you notice?
Why is that so?
The “H” is the exhaling sound: Hhhh … It means we can let go. We don’t have to hold our breath because something will hit us from behind. We don’t have to exert ourselves – we can let go. We are at home - at Hhhhome.
When I take a cold shower after a warm one, I exhale. That one doesn’t come naturally. Naturally, one would hold one’s breath while the cold hits. By first exhaling and then immersing in cold, I tell my body: It’s okay! Just relax! All will be fine!
I bet the Hhhhh sound was born when the first man (?woman) found the first cave to live in. He sat down on his pile of bear hides, looked around pleased and exhaled: Home – finally Hhhhome!
Observe how you are running through your day: With your breath held and in constant fear of a catastrophe hitting? Or in harmony – there! Another one! – with your surrounding? Read More
World Oceans Day 2011
June 8, 2011
Water is the most precious stuff of life. We drink it, we bathe in it, we revere it.
This morning I had a shower, then drank a sencha tea and ate a bowl of congee with sauerkraut and grape leaves. None of my morning ritual would work without water.
In August we will return to our cabin in Maine. It is small, but it is at the ocean, and so important for our family – most of our renewal starts there, every summer.
What is important today, on World Ocean Day 2011: That you tell at least one youngster to work on saving the waters, the whales, the life of our old Earth.
You know the Gaia hypothesis, don’t you? According to the Gaia hypothesis, our old Earth, Gaia, is an organism of her own – and we are just some lice in her hair. Isn’t that exactly the impression she gives us presently? She is shaking herself to get rid of the vermin on her surface by sending tsunamis, fires, tornados, earthquakes, torrential rains, floods, and plagues.
Regardless, if the Gaia hypothesis is right or wrong – it helps me to see my task better: To protect our old Earth as much as I can. Because she is the only home we have. Read More