Reflection On Medicine Wheel

Source 1 displays a Indigenous prayer ceremony to prepare for Christmas. The ceremony is influenced by Aboriginal culture such as their connection with the land and the spirits of the First Peoples. For Aborigines “all objects are living and share the same soul and spirit as them”. Spirituality is heavily incorporated into the everyday lives of Aboriginals. Spirituality can be defined as the sense of a connection to something bigger than yourself and involves a search for the meaning of life.

In Aboriginal teachings, the medicine wheel is sacred because it represents the various components of a healthy, well-rounded individual. Like wellness, the medicine wheel represents an “active state of health in which an individual progresses toward a higher level of functioning, thus achieving an optimum balance” (as cited in Fain & Lewis, 2002, p. 7). The medicine wheel is divided into four major sections, each representing a major part of a person (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual). In order to achieve balance in one’s life, one must analyze each of these components, and work to improve communications within one’s self. Intrapersonal communication is vital to the development of self-concept and self-esteem,

Physical Wellness- Physical Wellness encourages us to take care of our bodies by doing physical activity, eating well, and keep balance of metal health. The more you take care of yourself and the more you exercise, the more your physical wellness goes up.

Living in a culture that is unfamiliar to one’s own can be both overwhelming and a challenging process regardless of what country you are from. The Western traditions, values, and social norms can be quite different than those from back home. Oftentimes, when individuals relocate from their homeland to a new and more developed nation, they carry their own background, life experiences, and traditions with them. For this reason, these factors shape how they perceive and adapt to their new surroundings. To be precise, individuals commonly experience what is known as “cultural shock”, which describes the stress, disorientation, and the feelings of confusion that arise when entering a strange or foreign culture.Therefore staying committed to ancient family traditions can be difficult, which may then turn cultural transition into an ongoing battle for many. In particular, this paper will be analyzing the film, the Split Horn, through a social anthropologist's perspective and with the help of the Holistic model of health, including alternative understanding methods to further examine what certain families go through.

Anne Fadiman’s novel, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, addresses key concerns regarding health and medicinal relationships with cultural beliefs. She challenges readers to consider what is known about western medicinal practices and beliefs, based on science, and recognize its effectiveness when paired with cultural understanding. This novel portrays some of the greatest medicinal and health challenges and cultural failures of western societies. There were several cultural competency themes integrated throughout the book, however, it surprised me at how distant western practices and the Hmong’s healing methods were at the beginning. It seemed as if it would be a stretch to form a connection between these two extremities,

Communication with the American Indian culture can vary from different tribe types. Some of the most important aspects to note is that this culture tends to use many anecdotes or metaphors to discuss their health issues (Galanti, 2008). Sam D. Gill (1983) author of Native American Traditions writes about communication, noting, “Even ordinary daily speech is colored by complex and sophisticated principles of construction and usage, which often reflect world view and religious

As you have mentioned, Fair (2011) presented that physical wellness has numerous components like medical, pharmaceutical and drug, nutritional, aerobic capacity, muscular fitness, flexibility, and body composition wellness. What is my assessment for my physical wellness? The stage of my physical wellness has been in contemplation stage. Fair (2011) described that stage as the patient being aware that he/she is engaging in behavior that could lead to a health problem but still uncertain which approach to follow. “Despite the benefits of regular exercise and healthy eating, most people have difficulty beginning and maintaining positive behavioral changes” (Brinthaupt, Kang, &

The Medicine Wheel is a traditional Indigenous educational process that to teach people which create a relevance about the space, pedagogy and atmosphere within the culture. It is used to help people learn and understand the subjects which they are hard to learn or understand because the Medicine Wheel is ideal and not real objects (Bell, 2014). Also, it contains many rings of teaching, such as the seasons, the moment of a day, steps of life. The Settlers reconciled the First Peoples’ culture, language, the Medicine Wheel and the land. Reconciliation is a process and action that the government deep apologized to the First Peoples for what they did. It is not only an apology but also is a way to undo the damage as possible as the government can and they promised that will not happen again. Also, reconciliation is a way to promote the First Peoples’ culture and communities to the public and eliminate the gap between the public and them, and the stereotype of the First Nations. From this essay, it shows the concept of reconciliation from personal experience, the reading concept and the action for reconciliation to promote and protect the First Peoples.

When parents apply religious or cultural beliefs concerning spiritual healing, faith healing, or preference for prayer over traditional health care for children, concerns develop. This dilemma is unraveled in Anne Fadiman 's true story, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, where the study of cross cultural medicine holds a significant value in all profession. The book chronicles the vast cultural differences between mainstream Americans and the Hmong, and how language and cultural barriers affected Lia 's treatment. To understand the Lees we really need to understand the Hmong culture.

The traditional aboriginal art depicts places, events and dreaming ancestors, also incorporating actual events, whereas the temporary was only for initiation ceremonies and funerals. The aboriginal art opens up ways of communicating the close relationship between the ancestral beings and the laws, views, values, ceremonies and obligations of the people. They enable understanding and knowledge within a community and also partcially the outside world.

Indigenous literacies are used to communicate certain messages that are meaningful to the people in that individual community. These literacies are used to communicate stories, laws, maps, songs and dances to their own society. These forms of literacies are seen as being crucial to the cultural community as they are used to convey the social practices that should be handed down through the generations. Indigenous literacies may be interpreted in western cultures as art but they are actually narratives and recounts that Indigenous people generate. Indigenous literacies derive from different worldviews and connection to a range of components. They are then shaped and reiterated through knowledge systems that highlight knowing one’s stories of kinship. Indigenous Literacies are seen in forms such as on tress, bark, wood, sticks, rocks, carvings, in the soil and on bodies and

Hmong cultural traditions and modern western medicine conflict with one another because Hmong culture relies on spiritual views while western medicine relies on physical treatment. The two differences between one another cause disagreement, and throughout the book the theme of power revolves around it. Power is a central theme and it is shown because Lia’s family is in constant battle with the doctors trying to prove who is superior to one another. Lia’s parents believe that the doctors are only hurting her by giving her too many medications and feel as though that they should be in charge of her health. Lia’s parents, specifically her father refuses to give her the medications the doctors prescribe to her because they believe that she could be healed through rituals. In the Hmong culture,

Though the American healthcare system has made big steps towards providing affordable healthcare for everyone, there remains a growing population of people who fall through the system’s cracks. These people are the medically underserved. They are typically the victims of unfortunate life circumstances that has left them without health insurance, or with insurance that provides inadequate coverage. The underserved also includes those who have trouble accessing healthcare for any reason. Anyone with illnesses or disabilities that require assistance beyond their coverage, or people who live in remote areas where healthcare services are sparse fall under this title. The term also does not exclude those who have sufficient insurance and resources, but struggle to understand and navigate our increasingly complex system of healthcare.

The belief in kinship with creation is widely supported within most indigenous religions. In this way of thinking, there is more importance placed on the concept of “we” than there is on the concept of “I”. Here, the family or village is where strong emphasis lies. In many indigenous traditions, developing and maintaining a respectful relationship with spiritual energy is paramount. This concept doesn’t only apply to humans, but also, in many cases to the immediate natural environment as well. The oneness of the body and the land is vital. Many think of themselves as mere ‘caretakers’ of the earth, and nothing more, who has a duty to nurture and preserve it for future generations. Certain animals are seen as spiritual conduits, just as certain trees are seen to impart herbal healing secrets.

Brushing my teeth, I look in the mirror. Aside from the toothpaste making its way through my beard, I appear to be like any other college student you’ll see. I am young, active, a bit stressed at times, and probably running late to something. It has taken me years to realize, however, that the reflection I see is unidimensional. The mirror does not reflect who I am: a mosaic of interacting identities. This emergent property of multidimensional identities may not be reflected in the mirror, but it is the driving reason behind my decision to pursue medicine.