This article, by Oprah, is a lovely testimonial to Transcendental Meditation.  She tells us that the results of her staff practicing TM have been awesome.  Better sleep.  Improved relationships with spouses, children, co-workers.  Some people who once suffered migraines don’t anymore.  Greater productivity and creativity all around.

After reading Oprah’s words did you wonder how and why closing your eyes and practicing the TM technique twice a day has such profound effects?

What the Dickens is the TM Technique?

TM involves the use of mantras—sounds whose vibratory effects on the nervous system are said to be especially beneficial.  The mantra is not something one uses to focus his or her mind.  The term ‘transcendental’ indicates that in TM the mind transcends even the subtlest impulses of the mantra and other thought.  The key principle behind the mantra is that sounds have an effect on the physiology. The mantra, even repeated silently, produces the sound.

But what exactly is this effect?  Why do millions of people practice and benefit from this technique?

Scientists have learned that TM produces a completely different pattern of physiological activity than do other forms of meditation. Overall physiological rest and relaxation combine with an enriched blood supply to the brain.  In other words, the physiology acquires deep rest, several times deeper than sleep, and this rest serves to create physical, mental, emotional and psychological health and wellbeing.  As a matter of fact, TM practitioners, as compared to non-meditators of the same age and demographics, go to the hospital 56% less often for illness or surgery.

Since the TM technique, which produces a state of restful alertness, has a direct effect on the central nervous system, the benefits are to every aspect of human functioning.  In Chapter 9 of our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss the particular benefits of the TM technique in relation to depression.  These effects are profound.

We also discuss the process of learning TM and the training required for one to become a teacher of this technique (a six month residence course).  Certainly we realize that different forms of meditation work for different people, but our primary reason (and, I think, Oprah’s primary reason) for recommending the TM technique is that it has been rigorously evaluated for efficacy.  In addition, unlike some forms of meditation, the TM technique, as mentioned before, doesn’t require adherence to any belief system.

If practiced regularly, the TM technique will inevitably yield positive results.  Research has shown that this technique works no matter what the expectations of the practitioner are.  It’s a bit like holding a tennis ball in your hand and then letting it go—the ball will fall to the ground whether you believe it will or not.  In the same way, the TM technique will affect your physiology whether you expect it to or not.

Many scientific studies, conducted over a period of several decades, demonstrate that the TM technique yields physiological benefits and that it anchors us and broadens our horizons.  As a result we are healthier and we are able to view life with more depth and breadth.  Meditation is a key agent of vitality!

Oprah ends her article telling us that Glinda the Good Witch was right:  “You’ve always had the power.”  Glinda (and Oprah) are right.  You do have the power.  It lies within and is only covered by the stresses of living everyday life.  With deep rest and the practice of a technique helping us to transcend the static of everyday thought, we can access the stillness and dynamism that lies within and reduce the effects of the stress that’s always there.  In this way we tap into our potential, enhance our awareness and live life in a fuller and happier way.

Sandra and I thank Oprah for reminding us about the benefits of the TM technique!  And,

as always, we wish you perfect health and happiness!  We send our best to you, hoping you feel your best!

Of course our honeymoon didn’t last and now we are experiencing winter weather.  Although not yet blustery it is chilly outside.  As the song says, it’s time to “button up that overcoat.”  This rapid change in weather has caused me to reflect on how seasonal changes affect the mind-body.

Although modern medicine is only beginning to consider the effects of annual biorhythms on the mind-body, teaching us how to transition from season to season has been an integral aspect of Ayurveda for thousands of years.

From the ancient medical system of Ayurveda we learn that nature and the body are part of a single continuum of intelligence.  This theme is the essence of how Ayurveda handles the change of the seasons.  Balancing the three doshas is the key for our adaptation to the effects of the seasons since each season exhibits the predominance of one dosha.

As you know, the doshas are the homeostatic or governing principles of the mind-body. The word “dosha” denotes the combinations of the elements of air, space, ground, fire, and water that make up the underlying intelligence of the universe.  Everything in nature, including the human physiology, is a manifestation of these elements.  Teaching us how to keep our unique elemental constitution in balance is the task of Ayurveda. Balance equates with health and the by-product of perfect health—happiness.

Albeit with different language, modern quantum physicists echo Vedic knowledge.  They tell us that five spin types (elements) form the most basic concepts in particle physics.  Physicists assert that everything in creation is derived from the combination of these five fundamental spin types into three superfields:  gravity, gauge, and matter.  Modern science and ancient wisdom agree on the nature of the universe.  But, only the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda gives us the practical advice necessary to roll with the seasons and keep our mind-body in balance.

Winter is Vata Time

Winter is the Vata (combination of space and air) time of year and the Vata qualities of dryness and coldness which exist in our physiology can easily become aggravated by the environment.  If Vata dosha becomes aggravated this can produce oversensitivity to colds, respiratory infections, insomnia, dry skin, indecisiveness, hyperactivity and worry.

Ayurveda offers many practical interventions to keep Vata dosha in balance.  If we follow these interventions we will avoid the physical and emotional ups and downs that can be triggered by an imbalance in Vata dosha.  In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way, Sandra and I give in-depth suggestions for keeping Vata dosha in balance.  Today I want to highlight just one significant intervention that we can use to stay warm and calm during these cold Vata aggravating months.  This intervention is an oil massage with sesame oil.  The Sanskrit word for massage is abhyanga.

The abhyanga has, according to Ayurveda, profound health benefits.  Vedic tradition maintains that frequent oil massage promotes softness and luster of the skin, lubricates the muscles, tissues, and joints, and increases their flexibility.  Moreover, by stimulating the tissues in the body, oil massage is said to help keep impurities from accumulating in the system.  Daily abhyanga is recommended but if you cannot do the abhyanga on a daily basis even two or three times a week will offer you significant benefits.

Different oils work for different constitutional types.  But, in the cold of winter sesame oil works best for most people because sesame oil has particular properties that nourish and warm the body.

Massaging the skin with warm sesame oil pacifies all three doshas, but the soothing influence of warmth and touch on the skin’s many nerve endings calms Vata dosha especially.  This affects the whole system, because Vata leads the other doshas, and when it becomes aggravated, the other two will often follow suit. Abhyanga will benefit everyone at all times of the year, but it is particularly important in the winter.  Apart from the benefits mentioned above abhyanga will keep the skin from becoming dry and cracked, a frequent problem when Vata is aggravated in winter.

The oil must be organic and cured.  To buy high quality sesame oil go to Mapi.com or call Mapi at 1-800-345-8332.

Sandra and I want to remind you that if you keep Vata dosha in balance during the winter months you will transition into spring without encountering an excess of mucus that triggers allergies and springtime colds and flus.  As always we wish you perfect health and its by-product, happiness!

Image from http://www.care2.com/greenliving/ayurvedic-oil-massage.html

Happy New Year! I’ve been reading articles about the need to be careful when making a New Year’s resolution.

The gist of these articles is that we start out with the best of intentions but do not stick to our resolutions. Most of us have forgotten our positive intentions by the middle of February. Not sticking to what we said we would do or not do serves to harm self-esteem. The majority of us will meet 2013 holding the same old worn out resolution. Isn’t this a sad state of affairs?

Does this speak to how difficult it is for the human being to change even if change is in a desired direction?

Perhaps it is difficult for the human being to achieve real and lasting change but I think we also make a mistake when we set our intention for change. All too often the desired change is coupled with deprivation or hard work. Examples of this are the intention to eat less or to work out more. We set ourselves up for punishment; not reward. Why would anyone want to stick with something that doesn’t feel good?

When I read these articles I was reminded that we are all more aware of our weaknesses than we are of our strengths. When we want to change we look at behaviors we perceive that we do incorrectly instead of the things we do correctly and well. We think of improvements we “should” make instead of thinking of how we can enhance our arsenal of strengths.

We also forget that as human beings we lead with our hearts; not our heads. In other words, it is difficult to change a behavioral direction unless we acquire a means to relieve internal stresses. Feeling positive leads to positive behaviors. It is difficult to maintain positive behaviors if the feeling life remains chock filled with stress.

How about doing two new things in 2012. First, think of something you do well and resolve to do more of it. In this way you will enhance an existing strength. Second, consider adopting an Ayurvedic lifestyle.

An Ayurvedic lifestyle is geared to helping the individual to feel perfect health and its by-product, happiness. What more could you possibly desire for yourself in 2012 (or any other year, for that matter)?

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I help you to identify your unique constitutional type and we give suggestions for the creation and maintenance of health and wellbeing. Ayurveda never suggests making a big lifestyle change all at once. Big lifestyle changes are like New Year’s resolutions. They aren’t lasting.

According to Ayurvedic philosophy we should choose one or two easy things to do. The physiology responds quickly to positive change and as we feel better we can add another alteration to our lifestyle. The mind-body will always lean in the direction of more health if it is encouraged to go in that direction. Feeling good is the best encouragement one can have to add another positive lifestyle change.

This New Year choose something easy for your resolution. Perhaps you will begin to go to bed an hour or even a half hour earlier. Maybe, for you, eating a warm lunch will be a health promoting change. Or perhaps you will profit from choosing to imbibe in drinks which are at room temperature, foregoing ice and its deleterious effects on the physiology. Maybe you will eat fresher food or find another way to enhance digestion and create increased vitality for yourself.

Perhaps you desire to receive more positive feedback from other people. If this is your wish you can begin to offer to others more of what you want from them. Every communication is a response to what was heard and positive communication breeds more of the same.

Have you guessed yet what I am going to suggest for your New Year resolution? I am suggesting that you buy a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way and that you choose something positive that you can do to enhance your overall health. Do this with the realization that as you feel better it will be easier to correct any perceived weaknesses.

Have a blessed and happy 2012! Sandra and I wish you health and prosperity in the New Year.

- Nancy and Sandra

Last week I mentioned that I was going to a conference and would tell you some of the things I learned.  The conference was NICABM, the National Institute for the Application of Behavioral Medicine, and it was held in Hilton Head,South Carolina(where it was chilly and rainy!)

Many scientists came to this conference and presented their beliefs.  I found the talks interesting but I also found a contradiction in messages.  On one hand, the speakers seemed to believe in the resilience of the human mind-body but at the same time, they seemed to believe that who we are as adults is largely determined by early childhood experiences.  After years of taking pressure off Mom, her shoulders are being burdened again.

Many speakers emphasized being helpful to children.  Our children, the speakers said, are our national treasure.  Their success and well being as adults has to do with early childhood experiences.

The challenge to parent well has a great deal to do with Mom taking care of herself.  Her ability to parent effectively is hugely impacted by her vibratory essence (basic physical and emotional health) which in turn influences her behaviors.

The scientists in Hilton Head reminded us that the mind is divided into two aspects, the unconscious and the conscious.  The unconscious mind becomes filled with perceptions about self from the time of conception until the age of six.  This mind is filled with perceptions that are acted out for the remainder of life.  There is no bridge, the scientists told us, between the unconscious mind and the conscious mind.  Their advice to mothers is to be supportive of feelings, set limits in a nurturing manner, speak kindly and send a plethora of realistic but positive messages.  (I remembered that Ayurveda suggests that every day a mother say to her child, “You are smart, happy, and healthy.”) These words, according to the scientists would become reality because they affect the child at a cellular level.

A video from a research center inItalywas shown and in it a fetus showed signs of stress while the parents were yelling at each other in an angry, hostile manner.  The researchers stated that until recent times the nervous system of the Mother was considered to be separate from that of the fetus.  Science now knows that the fetus is continually bathed in the bio-chemicals of the Mother and that her stress directly affects her child.  Who the child will become is partly established in the womb.  (I had some trouble believing that the environment encountered there could not be reversed, but the scientists felt that this environment had a powerful and lasting influence.)

It is important that Mama, the researchers told us, take care of herself. However, there was no discussion of particular techniques for the release of stress. But, you, dear readers, know that the Transcendental Meditation program, yoga, proper nutrition for your body type, exercise and sleep work synergistically to relieve stress thus enabling you to communicate in a kind and loving manner.  When we speak we communicate our internal feeling state.  Take care of yourself and you will help others.

The scientists also spoke about the “new genetics.”  This is called epigenetics.  In the recent past science believed that DNA was responsible for pretty much everything in the determination of the individual.  Currently, we know that DNA is influenced by the environment. A change in environment alters DNA.  Nutrition can alter DNA.  A peaceful environment can alter DNA.  A stressful environment can alter DNA.  The mind-body can change in either direction very quickly.  (Ayurveda has been telling us that for centuries!)  Modern science continues to meet Eastern philosophy.

What the sages have told us about life and living life continues to be validated.  It is now validated by scientific knowledge about cellular biology.  Meditation, nutrition, exercise, yoga, sleep, and breathing techniques are incredibly important for health and well being.  These techniques alter our environment; thus affecting DNA, our self and everyone we come into contact with.

I attended a talk on addictions.  A researcher inCaliforniahas identified several environmental factors leading to addictive behavior.  A few of these are:  physical, emotional, or psychological abuse, hostility between parents, an alcoholic parent, neglect, or physical abuse between parents.  If a person scores as high as a 4 on the problem list, i.e., they have personally experienced four or more of the behaviors,  they are over 5,000 times more likely to exhibit addictive behavior.  The speaker remarked that researchers become excited when statistical evidence shows a slight leaning in one direction or another.  Five thousand times as likely is sky high!  Again, the way we are treated has everything to do with everything!

I left the conference knowing that once again Ayurveda was validated.  I also left concerned about increased pressure on Moms.  However, Ayurveda has the instruction manual to help Mothers relieve their personal stresses and, therefore, to interact with their children in helpful ways.  I hope that at the next conference the scientists offer practical advice to Moms and I hope they include Fathers in their discussion of child rearing.  Holism demands that we look at life through a wide- angle lens.  If the environment is a huge determinant in outcome we need to offer people the tools to relieve stress and create a positive environment!

We wish everyone Happy Holidays.  We won’t be writing again until after the first of the year.  Until then—-Best wishes for perfect health and happiness.

As is the atom, so is the universe.

As is the human body, so is the cosmic body.

As is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind.

I have been invited to the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine to speak this week.  In preparation for my presentation I remembered the above verse.  It is included in Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way (a wonderful book if you haven’t already read it!).  I decided to open my presentation with this verse.  I think it packs a great deal of knowledge in just four brief lines.

In a nutshell this verse tells us about our body, our mind, and our health.

How does a simple verse give so much information?  It does this because it tells us that our human physiology is made up of the same elements as the cosmos. The same natural intelligence that regulates the rising of the sun, the change of the seasons, and the flow of the tides regulates the inner workings of our physiology.  In other words, as human beings we are directly linked to nature.

The fire that burns deep within the belly of our planet is the same energy that drives digestion in our stomach and intestines.  The element that makes up the earth we walk on creates our physical body.  The expansive space that surrounds us is as vital to the universe as it is to the working of our brain.  The mineral composition of the water in the sea is similar to the fluid inside our cells.  The elegant workings of the universe are mirrored in our cells.

What are the implications for this knowledge?

Understanding that we are part of the natural world opens up endless possibilities for health and healing.  Nature can become our pharmacy.  We can use natural substances to stay healthy or to regain health if we have gone off track.  Ayurveda provides a simple, easy-to-understand instruction manual.

Understanding that we are part of the natural world drives home the point that we must live within the laws of nature if we are to maintain our health.  We need to learn about our unique constitution and what foods, herbs, and exercise programs are best for us.  We also need to follow the basic rules for an Ayurvedic life style.  Many of these rules seem like common sense but how often do we go against what we know is correct?  All too often, I am afraid.  Approximately 45% of American adults suffer from a chronic disease.  This high statistic is proof that as a populace we are not living within the laws of nature and following an Ayurvedic life style. How silly!  Life becomes increasingly vibrant and joyful the better you feel!

The first step in attaining health is to acknowledge that you, that each of us, is an aspect of the natural world and is, therefore, subject to the laws of nature.  Our mind-body exists in a sea of consciousness (natural intelligence) and is a manifestation of the underlying intelligence of nature.  Everything we do and everything we ingest, both physically and psychologically, has a profound effect on our health and happiness.  Choose wisely and create vitality!

There are many interesting speakers coming to the conference this week.  I look forward to hearing them speak and to learning from them.  Next week I’ll fill you in on what I learn!  In the meantime Sandra and I send you best wishes for health and happiness.

Thanks for reading,

- Nancy

The majority of people look forward to the holidays.  They feel excited and hopeful that they will be surrounded by love and good will.  Oftentimes this dream comes true!  But, sometimes people become stirred up by being with the family.  Buttons get pushed and family members become reactive to each other.  Holiday time can be stressful if we allow ourselves to be triggered and reactive to our family members.

Give yourself a talking to while you are preparing the food you will take to your family dinner!  This “conversation” should remind you to focus on your own behavior, your own interactions, and not on the interactions and behaviors of others.  You will digest the emotional experience of being with the family more easily if you keep your attention on yourself.  Be who you want to be within the family and don’t react to triggers from others!  This is how you will protect your emotions and be able to leave the gathering enveloped with that desired feeling of warmth and good will.

There is a lot of food to digest at holiday dinners but remember we also digest experience.  In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I write about digesting experiences.  We recommend the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation to help us with this task.  The TM technique has been shown to remove stresses from the physiology and regular meditators are less reactive to others.  They also recover from all types of stressors more quickly than non-meditators.  Read Chapter 9 in our book to learn more about the amazing benefits of the TM technique.

The mind, body and spirit is one seamless energetic system and no matter where we intervene we affect the totality.  We also suggest you not overeat this holiday season.  If you eat too much you’ll end up feeling sluggish and tired.  After all, your body doesn’t know about holidays—it only knows that suddenly it is expected to process an unusual amount of food. Of course it is going to have trouble with this task and leave you feeling fatigued.

According to Ayurveda (and modern medicine) if we overtax our system and don’t fully digest our food we build up residue.  Is it any wonder that January is the time that depression often announces its presence? Yes, depression happens for a wide variety of reasons, but overeating and overdrinking during the holidays can be one of the variables for the onset of depression.

This holiday season strive to interact with all family members from a grounded state of being.  In the end, the only thing that can deeply bother you is your own behavior—so react from a calm place.  And pace yourself with eating and drinking!  If you follow these prescriptions you’ll have a blessed and joyful holiday!  We wish you the best!

Image from http://ticklesandtimeouts.blogspot.com/2010/12/5-ways-to-keep-it-simple-admist-holiday.html

Unfortunately a few ideas from the book have been taken to extremes and two children have died as a result of their parents’ attempts to “discipline” them.  The reverend states that he did not mean for parents to go to extremes in corporal punishment.  I am sure he didn’t, but some questions remain unanswered.  Does sparing the rod spoil the child? Is physical punishment a positive way to teach children discipline and good values?  Last, but far from least, is physical punishment for children coming back into vogue after years of being considered (in most circles) unacceptable?

Let’s look at how psychology views these questions.

Hitting is negative attention but it positively reinforces behaviors.   In other words, hitting reinforces the very behavior which the parent is trying to extinguish. It doesn’t work as a child management technique.

The NY Times quoted the minister as saying that parents need to impart their values to their children and corporal punishment for behaviors contrary to parental values will work to accomplish this goal.  Is this true?  No, it is not.  Hitting doesn’t reinforce the values the parents wish to impart to children.  If a child is hit they become angry at the parents and rebellious to the parent’s value system.  Hitting insures that the children will metaphorically “leave” the parents.

It would be a huge step backward for our national culture and values if hitting children came back into vogue.  I believe that the great majority of parents wish to do well by their children and many are confused as to how to proceed.  It will be tragic if in their frustration and confusion they turn to hitting — a form of child management bound to fail if the goal is to rear adults who have good value systems and who reach their full potential.

Simply put, hitting children is abuse and abused children have two ways to integrate their experience.  Some children will tell themselves that they must be “bad” or else the parent would not treat them in such a way.  Other children will believe that they do not deserve the punishment and will become angry at the treatment they experience.  The physically abused child grows up feeling angry and/or believing that he or she is a bad person.  Neither of these scenarios works to create a happy and successful person.  Our prisons are full of grown up children who experienced physical punishment in their early years.

Children struggle to make sense of the world.  They intensely experience their emotions.  They are philosophers—existentialists—-figuring out the world and their place in it.  Children are like the sapling in a field full of large animals.  The sapling needs a protective fence or it will be trampled by the animals.  With protection the sapling will grow into a strong and healthy tree.

Children have slender shoulders and cannot be expected to bear the weight of a parent’s temper tantrum, which is what hitting usually amounts to.  They cannot make choices for themselves but need to be guided to the correct choice.  Parental guidance, not hitting, will help them to grow in values and moral judgment.

Discipline is an important aspect of rearing children.  Children do experience discipline as love when it is administered in a gentle and kind manner.  Yes, parents need to be in charge but being in charge never means being harsh.  The parent who is in change appropriately is in control of their emotional reactions and sets boundaries without acting out themselves!

Parents who are in physiological balance and who are not experiencing undue stress find the task of parenting to be smoother than those who are out of balance and stressed.  In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I help readers to identify their state of balance or imbalance.  We suggest interventions for the creation of balance.

The best thing parents can do for their children is to take care of themselves.  If the parents are fully in tune with their emotions they will inevitably be aware of the futility of using the rod.  In fact, the physiologically balanced parent will tune in with the child and develop awareness of how the child is affected by their words and actions.   They will be able to develop effective limit setting techniques which help the child to grow in love and strong values.  Hitting or other abuse should never be part of those techniques.  The mature parent is aware of their emotions, processes them, and uses them as guides.  Maturity means not acting out feelings and anyone who says that hitting children is not indicative of acting out anger is fooling themselves—-and trying to fool you!

www.depressionproofyourlife.com

Experts in Ayurveda would not disagree with mental health professionals regarding the causes of addiction.  At the same time, the Ayurvedic perspective on causes and healing for the addicted person are profoundly deeper than what modern psychology offers.  They are deeper because they address the energetic level, the elemental imbalances and the unique constitution of the addicted person.  There is no-one-size fits all in Ayurveda and the focus is always on the person (and their energetic imbalances) instead of the symptom.

Psychology informs that in the beginning of the addictive process the addict feels power over feelings, others and circumstances but gradually the addiction overpowers the addict.  Over time feelings of fear and shame replace feelings of power.  When fear and shame become overwhelming the addicts’ only defense is to increase the consumption of alcohol or drugs in an effort to retrieve the feeling of power.  The greater the effort the addict makes to have power over the addiction, the more the substance overpowers them.  Ultimately and paradoxically, the addiction renders the addict totally powerless.  Reduced to powerlessness addicts lie to themselves about their need for the addiction and they sustain their lie with more addictive behavior.  It is a classic vicious circle and is often interrupted only after the addict has reached a bottomless pit of despair.

Ayurveda informs that if our lifestyle does not conform to the laws of nature we will accumulate elemental imbalances in our mind-body.  It is human nature to lean toward the imbalance.  Some people will lean toward an addiction in an effort to stabilize.  Of course this is an incorrect attempt but our thoughts, emotions and behaviors reflect our degree of balance or imbalance.  Without intervention the addicted person will continue to use substances, therefore increasing physiological imbalances.  These imbalances will continually affect the addict at the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels of their being.

Are you scratching your head wondering what I mean when I refer to the laws of nature?

We human beings are an aspect of the natural world but we are capable of straying from what nature dictates is the appropriate life style for us.  The sunflower has no choice but to turn its head toward the sun.  In this way it survives and flourishes.  We, on the other hand, possess an intellect that gives us choices.  Unlike the sunflower, we often forget that we are an inherent part of the natural world and are subject to its laws.  We make mistakes in many of our daily choices about food, sleep, exercise and how we use our time.  The mistakes are often made unwittingly; nevertheless, the body is adversely affected. In this way we block our ability to experience happiness and all too often reach for a substance which we erroneously believe will fill the missing gaps.

In other words, cows don’t eat pizza at midnight!  Or no other sentient being messes up their prana or energy flow as humans do!

In addition, everyday life is stressful.  According to Ayurveda we ingest experience as well as food.  If we are subject to upsetting or horrific experiences, and don’t have a tool to help us to regain balance we are vulnerable to reaching for a substance to fill our emotional and mental needs.

Ayurveda agrees with western thought that the causes of addictive behavior are genetic tendencies, a lack of personal power and unhappiness.  At the same time these causes are tied to elemental imbalances in energy flow.  The Ayurvedic belief system leads to treatment options which are profoundly helpful.

Research has shown that in general residential treatment for substance abuse has no greater effect size than out-patient treatment.  Research also shows that AA has been enormously helpful to many substance abusers.  It is helpful because it offers a twelve step program which the addict can effectively utilize and it offers a relationship that nourishes and strengthens the mind and spirit.

AA can be supplemented with the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation or the TM technique can be exceedingly helpful on its own if AA isn’t, for one reason or another, for you.  A meta-analysis of studies on reducing alcohol, nicotine and drug consumption found that the Transcendental Meditation program produced a significantly larger effect on reducing substance use compared to conventional treatments and prevention programs specifically designed for substance abuse.  Moreover, in contrast to the time course of conventional programs, whose early effects tend to decrease precipitously in the first three months following completion of treatment, the time course for the Transcendental Meditation program showed that lower levels or use of abstinence patterns were maintained or increased up to 2 years later (the longest period studies).  Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly. 1994; 11: 11-84.

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I help you to identify your elemental nature and any possible imbalances.  If you are balanced and healthy then substance abuse will not tempt you.  If you are in the throes of recovery we suggest you pick up a copy of our book and read Chapter 9 Meditation:  Transcending Darkness and learn more about the TM technique.  This technique will be helpful to you no matter where you are on the continuum of health and wellness.

As always, I wish you the best for perfect health and happiness!

Nancy

• Integrated Medicine is primarily concerned with prevention and western medicine concerned with curing disease.  Both aspects of medical theory are exceedingly important.
• 80% of all disease is directly caused by Lifestyle factors.
• Nutrition influences the expression of genes.
• 50% of Americans suffer from a chronic disease:  these statistics are constantly rising as the population ages.
• There are 250,000 deaths annually because of the deleterious side-effects of pharmaceuticals
• Costs are spiraling out of control.  Health care cost 2.4 trillion in 2009. We need to prevent illness!
• The incidence of depression is rising and current research shows the anti-depressants work (in most cases) no better than the placebos.
• 40% of the world’s population uses alternative therapies and Americans spent 27 billion out-of-pocket dollars last year on alternative therapies.
• Eight states have laws giving well-trained alternative practitioners the license to practice.

Until recently the major lack in western medicine was a focus on prevention.  The western definition of health has traditionally been the absence of disease.  Presently our population is becoming re-educated and we are learning that health exists on a continuum.  In other words, through prevention we can maximize our physical health and in so doing increase mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

The word Ayur is a Sanskrit word meaning “health” and the word Veda is also Sanskrit.  It means “knowledge.”  We say “everything that works is Ayurvedic!”  This ancient practice of medicine teaches us how to live our lives vibrantly by creating good health every step of the way.  It is the world’s oldest form of natural medicine. It is the tree of knowledge from which many popularized therapeutic interventions have grown.

Ayurveda defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.  Health is not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.  This ancient science offers the epitome of a holistic approach to living life with zing.  We can think of Ayurveda as Mother Nature’s spokesperson, giving instructions on how to weave threads (our daily actions) into a vibrant tapestry (our physiology).  Ayurvedic precepts form the basis for Integrated Medicine.

We are rapidly approaching a major change in how medicine is practiced in our country.  Hospitals and doctors have begun and will continue to employ consultants who are well-trained in prevention.

Prevention is never one-size fits all.  Each of us is unique and the specifics on how we prevent illness from knocking at our door must be personalized.  Patients will have the privilege of receiving individual assessments and recommendations which are unique to them.

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I write about how to achieve and maintain wellness.  Our book is replete with questionnaires to help you to determine your particular imbalances and suggestions for Lifestyle changes which might be helpful to you.  We think you would enjoy reading our book even if depression is not an issue you struggle with.  Depression is but one symptom showing that health is not optimal.  Perhaps you have a different symptom.  You can still profit from reading Healing Depression.  This book is about achieving perfect health.  Can’t we all do a little bit better in that area?

Our health is in our own hands.  This is an exciting and empowering concept.  The top medical schools now recognize the influence of Lifestyle on health and are training their students to be aware.  Prevention is where it is at!  We hope you pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way as it will help you to enhance your education about prevention, health and happiness.