Life Modification For Community Leaders

Meditation is very difficult to describe and can only truly be explained once experienced. It is the practice of mental concentration leading ultimately through a sequence of stages to the final goal of spiritual freedom, nirvana. The purpose of Buddhist meditation is to free ourselves from the delusion and thereby put an end to both ignorance and craving. The Buddhists describe the culminating trance-like state as transient; final Nirvana requires the insight of wisdom. The exercises that are meant to develop wisdom involve meditation on the true nature of reality or the conditioned and unconditioned elements that make up all phenomena. The goal of meditation is to develop a concept in the mind.

Many people will experience many physical factors such as pain and mobility problems, some individuals may feel that it’s best to take orthodox medicines which are the best pain relief or option for them, this includes treatments such as paracetamol and ibuprofen. However, some people might have side effects from medicines, therefore they choose to have alternatives, such as, massage and acupuncture. This means that pain can be taken away without any side

CAM is not only used as a place to introduce and bring awareness to preventative

Acupuncture is gaining popularity as numerous claims are being made to its validity and effectiveness. Although many studies and experiments regarding acupuncture have been done, the scientific basis of the principles of this alternative approach still remains unclear (http://www.health.org/pubs/acu-nih.htm).

On a typical day, Jeff says he sees about 30 patients and they change around every 15 minutes. Everything in life is about balance. If you have a passion for something you must learn how to balance everything you’re doing and be sure you are doing it well. We were given a small history lesson about Western and Eastern medicine. In the chiropractic world, Western medicine (what we use in the U.S.) believes when something is in pain the reason for the pain is the general area of where the pain originates. Conversely, in Eastern medicine (used everywhere else in the world) believes that pain is caused in harmony with the body. For example, in Eastern medicine, if someone is having pain in their knee, a chiropractor approaches the treatment as if the pain were originating from the neck on down to the knee and even below the knee to the person’s feet. The second large topic of Jeff Varner’s speech was acupunture. Acupuncture is a system of medicine that involves pricking the skin or tissues with needles, used to alleviate pain and to treat various physical, mental, and emotional conditions. Currently, an acupuncture is used to treat depression and stress. There are over 400 acupuncture sites located throughout the

A wide range of treatments exists under the umbrella term of ‘complementary therapy’. Each treatment has its own unique theory and practice, which makes it difficult to offer a

Ten’s of millions of dollars have been poured into research for this treatment, and yet all have come back with virtually insignificant results. All of the participants, control group as well as those who received the treatment, reported almost the same about of pain relief. Harriet Hall, an ex-physician and noted critic of CAM, had this to say: “ We have no evidence that acupuncture is anything more than theatrical placebo,” ( Interlandi 24 ). Although placebo is often seen as bad or ineffective experience in medicine and studies, it could be used as a treatment all of it’s own. As a placebo is where the brain is “tricked” into believing the body is undergoing effects that, in reality, it is not. In simply reshaping the reality of some patients situations, they can be healed ( Benedetti 22 ). The human mind is a complex system that controls more body functions than we are aware of in many cases. If a patient believes that they will never get better, treatment can only do so much, there must be belief and treatment before the patient can become well ( Chandler np

Meditation allows one to focus on the present rather than dwell on the past or stress about the future. A US study showed that meditation led to fewer visits to the

CAM is not only used as a place to introduce and bring awareness of preventative

Mindfulness is a specific form of meditation or simply put awareness of the moment. There are many different forms of meditation, however we are going to specifically focus on mindfulness meditation, which this author believe to be the most practical and pure meditative exercise. Mindfulness involves directly participating in each moment as it occurs with complete awareness of your present experience. Life only exists in the Here and Now when practicing mindfulness. The moment we experience is pure and unadulterated. Mindfulness is a "living" meditation that you can practice each second of your precious life. There is no need to escape to a secluded place, as you can engage in mindfulness anywhere and at anytime, no matter what is happening around you.

This class has been vital in providing me with a new perspective on different types of alternative medicine and practices. Although there were some lectures which came across to me as a bit hard to believe, such as Scott Roos’s Ayurveda lecture, in the end all of these different methods of healing and self-betterment gave me a new understanding of the importance of alternative types of medicine. And even with the rather far-fetch topics, if they ultimately have worked for people, even without scientific backing, then who are we to judge what is the right or wrong way. For the most part, my knowledge of medicine was backed mainly by the western medicine I was exposed to growing up,

Attending Xavier high School a jesuit high school in the Pacific, has taught me many important values . One value that I hold greatly is the Jesuit mission to be man or woman for others. At Xavier High School, I was able to learn and implement the importance of being a man for others through leadership positions such as the Chrisitan Life Community (CLC) President and the Cross-Country Captain.

In today’s society an increased number of patient are turning to complementary and alternative therapies to help maintain or recondition health. Alternative therapy is a parasol term that simply defines practices like chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, massage therapy, hypnotherapy, pet therapy, reflexology and many others. Many of these complementary and alternative therapies do not interfere with most therapies prescribed by a medical doctor; they help provide an ongoing method to maintain optimal health. The number of patients turning to alternative therapies has increased tremendously in over the years. This increase is due to people’s awareness that treatments provided by regular medical doctor does not provide relief for a lot of

Mindfulness meditation focuses on physical sensations of the body. It brings attention to the present moment, clearing the mind of other thoughts (Hanh, 1999; Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992). Mindfulness meditation reduces negative affect and to leads to greater subjective well-being (Brown & Ryan, 2003). As such, mindfulness meditation is used for reducing stress (Kabat-Zinn 1982), treating borderline personality disorder (Teasdale, Segal, Williams, 1995) and treating relapses of major depressive disorder (Linehan 1993).

These therapies have proved to be of much benefit in supporting the normal healing course of the body. Even though there are many modern alternative remedies, with different beliefs, all of them operate under some common principles. One of these principles is that the body has the capacity to heal naturally and maintain stability (Paquette, 2000). The other one is that adverse health conditions can occur as a result of factors emanating from mind, emotions and the body. Alternative medicine, according to Goldberg, Trivieri and Anderson, (2002), focuses on determining the chief cause of a particular condition, and dealing with the whole person rather that concentrating on symptoms. If a person pays close attention to his/her health he/she can contribute to his/her wellbeing. Alternative medicine holds firmly to the principle that one treatment cannot be used for all people even though they may be suffering from the same condition. Each and every person as per alternative medicine has distinct bodily, mind and spiritual make up (Goldberg, Trivieri and Anderson, 2002).