Make your voices heard on health-care!
December 17, 2008
If you’ve been wanting to contribute to policy-making on health care reform, now is your chance. The Obama transition team, via the change.gov website, is offering the opportunity to hold Health Care Community Discussions which will report their ideas to the team. Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services, Senator Tom Daschle, will even choose some discussions to attend in person.
President Elect Obama and Senator Daschle say they are both committed to health care reform that comes from the ground up — hence this call for community discussions.
To read more, sign up to lead a discussion and download a Moderator’s Guide, visit this link.
In praise of physical therapy
September 5, 2008
I’ve had back problems for years. I’ve seen chiropractors, acupuncturists and had all sorts of energy work. Somehow my inclination to use alternative treatments caused me to overlook physical therapists (PTs). Recently, when two friends with chronic back problems both said “what helped me the most was my physical therapist”, it really struck me. I had an evaluation with a physiatrist who couldn’t be sure about the cause of my current pain and stated “the back is a mystery”. When he offered to refer me to a physical therapist, I was eager to give that a try.
I came away from my first visit with the physical therapist (Dawn) with a clearer understanding of what was going on with my back, and most importantly, what to do about it than I’d ever had. I’d picked up bits and pieces of information here and there in the past and understood quite a lot about the spine, nerves, muscles, etc. I knew about the benefits of stretching, and stretching had made a big difference for me. But the session with Dawn made everything fall into place.
I’d had various evaluations before, but Dawn’s seemed more comprehensive. She seemed to hone it on exactly what was happening with my back. She evaluated areas of weakness, muscles that needed stretching and others that needed strengthening. Above all, she communicated what she found in such clear terms and gave me stretches and exercises that are very specific to my back and spine (which has a mild scoliosis).
Even though I’ve had an understanding of proper body mechanics and posture in the past, Dawn was able to help me experience it in my own body. She helped me to feel in no uncertain terms what “neutral” is for my spine (with the lumbar area neither too concave or too flexed). She watched me do every stretch and exercise making sure I was doing it properly.
I walked out of the session feeling that I was given what I needed in terms of understanding the situation with my back and a clear plan of action to follow. Because Dawn explained everything so clearly and her instructions made such perfect sense as remedies for my problem, I’ve been highly motivated to follow them.
Finally, what made the session with Dawn so valuable is that is was completely geared to my own self-care. Although physical therapists do provide treatments through manipulation and other means, Dawn’s focus was to show me what I needed to do to get stronger. I’ve long ago become disillusioned with repeated trips to practitioners like chiropractors who would make an adjustment which would then go out and required re-adjustment a short time later. The most valuable thing a practitioner can give us is knowledge of how to take care of ourselves.
Of course, only time will tell what impact this will have for me. The most important ingredient in achieving a healthier back will be my follow through, and this is true of any healing program. It’s our own self-care that brings success.
When I’ve had a kind of “breakthrough” session like this, I always have to ask the question as to whether it happened because the practitioner had the right training and skills or whether I was simply ready to more forward. Certainly the many experiences of the past and what I’d learned from them, as well as various ways in which I’ve grown, created a readiness to take a leap forward. Perhaps some other kind of practitioner could have done it for me. But given the experience of my friends with PTs and my experience with Dawn, I’d encourage anyone with back (or knee or neck) problems to give physical therapy a try.
What if I’m not the main character? The ultimate meaning of holistic healing.
March 26, 2007
When I first heard about holistic healing I was thrilled. It was about all of me — my mind, my body, my psyche, my spirit. As my definition of healing expands, however, I see that we really can’t talk about holism in healing from the narrow perspective of the individual. This is not to say that it isn’t crucial that our approach to healing include all levels of the individual. It is, and yet if we are really to evolve as human beings, we need to be able to consider the health of the whole of which we as individuals are merely a part. We need to do this for the health of humanity as a whole as well as for the health of the planet.
I saw a tee shirt once that summed up this shift in perspective so perfectly. It depicted someone in a crowd of people who was obviously startled by the revolutionary thought — “What if I’m not the main character?” When we become aware of how our entire understanding of life and its meaning revolves around the sense that we are the main character and it really dawns on us that obviously we are not, it can create a radical shift in our perspective.
What if, instead of being the owner of planet earth, we are owned by her. What if we are simply cells in the larger organism of the planet? What if my individual preferences are actually draining the energy and vitality of the whole? Certainly the phenomena of global warming is challenging us to look at the impact our individual choices are having on the life of the planet. Hopefully it is causing us to recognize that our own individual well-being is dependent on the health of the whole.
It’s become obvious to me that to be truly holistic, holistic healing needs to expand to include the consideration of the health of humanity and the planet as a whole. In the more narrow consideration of upgrading our health care system, the addition of the holistic approach is an important step, but it doesn’t go far enough. To lead truly healthy lives, we need to experience see own well-being as inextricably bound up with the well-being of others. It can’t just be a concept, it has to be something we feel. It’s something that goes far beyond just what happens in the offices of doctors and holistic practitioners. It involves our choices and strategies on all levels — politics, economics. It’s about our choices in every aspect of our lives in every moment.
I wonder how well we will be able to thrive, or even survive, without an evolutionary leap in consciousness and perspective. Some feel this is happening. I hope so. I don’t really know. I do, however, find some peace in the realization that my one life and even the life of this planet is a tiny blip in space and time. I can’t pretend to understand how my life and that of this planet fits into the whole. It’s a mystery and surrendering to that brings peace. Nevertheless, my passion for healing will undoubtedly continue and so will the prayer in my heart that this wonderful planet will grow and thrive.
The Middle Way, My Way — Balancing Conventional and Holistic Medicine
January 29, 2007
Some people use only conventional medicine, others avoid it like the plague and use only holistic or alternative medicine. Most people are somewhere in between.
In some ways it’s easier to stand in only one camp, since the two approaches actually represent completely different worldviews. It can be challenging to integrate the two, both for individual consumers and for healthcare professionals who want to offer the “best of both worlds”.
Over the years I’ve come to use holistic approaches as a first resort, and conventional medicine as a last resort, quite the opposite of many people. That doesn’t mean I recommend my choice to others. It’s a very individual decision and one that might change over time. There’s no perfect system or practitioner or formula that we can rely on for everything all of the time, but unless we choose one system exclusively, we are in the position of finding a “middle way”, a way to integrate the two.
It’s been tempting at times to throw out conventional medicine completely, particularly since I find interacting with my physician around my choices difficult. I continue to use both systems, however, because they clearly both have something to offer.
To be able to use both approaches has taken a lot of study and the willingness to be my own authority and take responsibility for my choices. I’ve had to unlearn the old kneejerk response to accept the “doctor’s orders” and be willing to refuse certain recommendations and state my choices. Of course, to do this, I’ve needed to find a physician who is able to accept that stance at least enough to keep working with me. (In medical parlance, I am often a “noncompliant patient”.)
Our medical doctors can’t be expected to be knowledgeable about holistic systems and modalities which take years of study to master. (It takes an enormous amount of time to keep up with allopathic medical knowledge.) We also can’t rely on them to make our choices for us. I don’t think we can even rely on them to be straightforward with us if they do agree with some of our unconventional choices because they need to adhere to accepted medical protocol to protect themselves legally. I know a physician personally in a popular HMO who definitely has a holistic orientation but is constrained by the policies of the HMO with regard to what he can recommend and do.
No system can guarantee a cure of everything all of the time. The idea that our western medical system is “scientific” and therefore accurate is a misnomer. It represents a way of approaching life and seeing things which constitutes a philosophy or worldview. It’s research and methods are very much influenced by economic and political forces. Yet it is the system which is supported by our government and legal system. In some ways, freeing oneself from the sense that it is the authority for our healthcare decisions is similar to freeing oneself from deeply ingrained religious beliefs that no longer serve us.
Holistic healing approaches require more of our time and participation in our own self-care. They generally take time to work and are not quick fixes, but they can not only solve problems but do so in a way which promotes greater strength and health, rather than treating a symptom with a drug or surgery that can weaken overall health. I’ve found it to be well worth the time to investigate and use alternative methods of healing and promoting health.
If you are just beginning to look into alternatives, the number of choices can seem overwhelming. It can be challenging to find the right approach for your particular problem, and to know which approaches are safe and worth pursuing. A search on the web will bring up any number of offers of help and cures! One thing to be wary of is anything that offers a quick, simple fix, and certainly be careful in pursuing anything that is very expensive. For chronic, non-life threatening problems, there are a whole host of things you can do that don’t cost a lot of money.
While the “middle way” is probably the best way for most of us, there certainly is no “easy way” to put together a good healthcare program for oneself. Hopefully in the future we will have a healthcare system that has fully embraced the best of holistic medicine. Since that is probably a long way off, my sense is that those of us who want the best of both worlds will need to find a middle way for ourselves.
Holistic or Conventional Medicine — which? when? how?
January 26, 2007
Just read a clear, perceptive and compelling post illustrating the shortcomings and limitations of our medical system in the US through the author’s personal story. I agree with everything the author states and couldn’t have said it better, so I simply refer you to the post. I plan to write on this subject more in the near future, until then please visit –
http://avanoo.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/us-citizens-would-be-healthier-and-live-longer-lives-if/