Spirituality and Healing in Medicine

When we look at modern medicine today, we could conclude that “spirituality” as therapy would be considered alternative or complementary to traditional medicine. Yet, for centuries, various traditions have used spirituality as a viable therapy to complement other therapies.

Let’s define what we mean by spirituality and healing. Spirituality is that inner quest for contact with the divine (or Unity) within oneself. It is not “religion,” which primarily concerns itself with social aspects of life and may or may not support spirituality. Healing does not mean going back to the way things were before and is not the same as curing. Healing is allowing what is now to move us closer to the divine.

The question of spirituality becomes very important when facing serious illness or chronic illness. When cure seems impossible, spirituality becomes more important. Healthcare providers are not always well equipped to deal with patients with terminal illnesses and the more tools in their arsenal the better.

Injecting spirituality into medicine is not just an academic exercise. A growing number of hospitals and clinics around the country now offer spirituality-based adjunct therapies including prayer, meditation and massage. Almost two-thirds of the nation's 125 medical schools include courses on "spirituality issues."

We can view spirituality devoid of “religious” terms and refer to the mind-body connection. Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind Body Medical Institute (www.mbmi.org) has been researching and explaining what he calls the “relaxation response” - whereby one can find healing by taking the time to relax using a technique similar to eastern meditation. According to Benson, 60 percent of physician visits are due to stress-related illnesses that can be remedied or improved with the physiologically soothing effects of chanting and meditation, or “the relaxation response.” Research into mind-body-spiritual healing is still in infancy stages because modern science has not document these cases.

What is it that causes spiritual healing? Spirituality as a therapy involves contacting and enlivening “energy” within the patient - this energy positively affects physical health. The new medical discipline of neurotheology is currently attempting to verify this energy as reflected in brain activity.

Traditional techniques to enliven this energy are prayer, ritual and story. When one is involved in prayer or ritual, simple fears and stress of the present move aside and allow energy to provide comfort. Also, there are many stories in Scripture that provide healing and subtle spiritual nourishment for believers.

The religious traditions are filled with examples and advice of spirituality in healing. The Quaker’s simply say that it is the relationship with God that changes us. Judaism’s advice to the surgeon who touches and alleviates the disease in the body, “if a physician cannot give a patient medicine for the body, he should find and give medicine for the patient’s soul.” Christianity adds the anointing with oil as a spiritual act. Judaism adds the ritual of giving the patient a new name. Christian Science emphasizes the power of prayer to increase healing from God; simply sincerely asking for healing – “Heal us and we shall be healed.”

Frank Ostaseski of the Zen Hospice Project approaches spirituality for both the caregiver and patient equally. He has learned that simple human kindness strengthens the caregiver’s spirituality and benefits the patient. He teaches patients to be aware of each breath they take. As our life started with an “in” breath, we can feel gratitude for each breath. We also need to remember that our life will end with an “out” breath. Being aware of that spiritual place between the in and out breaths, that short period of “no breath” allows us to be more familiar with the present moment.

He teaches, when we care for the dying, we need to take a stance of receptivity and push nothing away. We become a companion of someone who is facing death. We establish a relationship and are also given an opportunity to discover meaning, value or purpose of our own lives. There is a basic Buddhist teaching that says resisting the truth of the impermanence of life is the cause of suffering, and that our efforts to avoid change bring suffering.

Many healthcare providers intuitively practice spirituality when dealing with patients and sometimes caring becomes as important as curing. Simple attention, reassurance and the hope of healing may assist the patient’s natural healing powers.

Healthcare providers often initiate ritual in healing without knowing. Simple acts of kindness act as conduits for spiritual healing: walking with the patient can become walking meditation; holding a patients hand can be spiritual touch; acknowledging a patient by looking at them can be spiritual recognition; sharing something from nature can connect them to the creator; encouraging a patient to do a simple act and witnessing the patient’s inner joy when the act is performed. For a moment, there may be a spiritual connection and a sense of peace may be present. Using positive encouraging words acts as prayer when it produces results like reducing fear. Gandhi said, “Fearlessness is the first prerequisite of a spiritual life.” The goal would be to help the patient attain this sense of relationship and deeper meaning for a sustained period of time or to learn how to tap into this experience to find peace.

Spiritual healing allows some patients to have higher esteem and be more adjusted to their disease state, they can give up control of their illness and find peace in the healing on the present moment.

Healthcare providers need to consider the healing effects of spirituality and learn how to address the patients’ spiritual needs. Do not neglect the “spiritual” as a therapy for healing.

- First published in HealthCare Review (New Hampshire), March 2002

Medicine cures, doctors diagnose, God heals

There is a short saying that I would like to provide a brief commentary. It is simply this: Medicine cures, doctors diagnose, God heals.

There is medicine, diagnosis, and healing. Medicine does not cure all diseases all of the time, be it herbal or pharmaceutical medicine. In fact, medicine may not cure disease at all; it may only act to correct internal disharmonies. At that point, the body reverts to a state of health. Cure implies that someone is trying to eliminate a disease through medication, surgery, or therapy. Curing gives us the gift of time.

Modern doctors are known as diagnosticians; they diagnose the disease, usually based on the symptoms and laboratory findings.

Healing has little to do with the removal of symptoms. It is more about connecting with our Source, our Inner Being, our God. Healing belongs to God. It is true that a person can be healed and not cured. Likewise, a person can be cured and not healed. It is truly a blessing if one can be both cured and healed.

May there be great healing throughout the world. ~

Planting Seeds

“The seeds you plant may not fruit before your eyes.” Steven Maimes

The seeds you plant may not fruit before your eyes – yet, we must share and be true. We must use the gifts we have been endowed with.

In regard to knowledge, whatever insights have been given to us, they are for the benefit of others as well. These insights are seeds – some will grow quickly, some will take years, some may not grow in our lifetimes – yet, we plant seeds.

Knowledge and insights can be shared but not wisdom. We can hear words of wisdom and live by them but (in most cases) we cannot receive wisdom directly – we receive seeds.

We plant seeds and receive seeds. The seed of peace is an important teaching – it is balance with the body, the earth and all humankind... May we receive the seed of peace.

From Pirke Avoth, it is taught: “It is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to cease from it.”

Plant seeds.

Alternative Hepatitis C Protocol

Alternative Hepatitis C Protocol
Prepared by Steven Maimes
Alternative Hepatitis C Protocol
- Useful herbs and supplements for hepatitis C with notes.
"A strong immune system can keep the hepatitis C virus dormant."

Other reports of interest:

Maimes Report on Hepatitis C Infection in New Hampshire
March 2002, PDF file, Download
“Incidence of hepatitis C in New Hampshire may be low, but prevalence is alarming.”

Milk Thistle Product - Discussion of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) products.

Mountain Perspectives

Various perspectives are based on: where we are focusing, what consciousness we are expressing, what terms we are using, what audience we are addressing.

Let’s imagine a mountain that is shaped somewhat like a pyramid. The top of the mountain is the highest point and encompasses the entire mountain. As we descend the mountain there is more volume or space and room for more.

When we discuss our perspective and want to express the highest truths we are speaking from the top of the mountain. When we want to discuss more general truths and techniques or paths we are speaking from lower points on the mountain.

This analogy is especially important when we communicate to others. If we are expressing top of the mountain truth and our audience is discussing truth from another place on the mountain then there may be some misunderstanding. At this point, the speaker may need to ask “do you understand?” or the listener may ask for clarity. In order for dialog to continue and be fruitful participants must understand the perspective of the dialog – from where one is speaking and also where the listener is.

There is more room for discussion lower on the mountain. There is more silence at the top of the mountain.

ADAPTOGENS: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief

ADAPTOGENS: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief

By Steven Maimes and David Winston, RH (AHG)

Healing Arts Press (Inner Traditions): $18.95 quality paperback, 324 pages, illustrated. ISBN: 1-59477-158-8. Published April 2007.

The definitive guide to adaptogenic herbs, formerly known as “rejuvenating herbs,” that counter the effects of age and stress on the body.

• Reveals how adaptogens increase the body’s resistance to adverse influences.

• Provides a history of the use of these herbal remedies and the actions, properties, preparation, and dosage for each herb.

We all deal with stress every day, and every day our bodies strive to adapt and stay balanced and healthy. In Adaptogens, authors Steven Maimes and David Winston provide a comprehensive look into adaptogens, non-toxic herbs such as ginseng, eleuthero, and licorice, that produce a defensive response to stress in our bodies. Formerly known as rejuvenating herbs or tonics, adaptogens help the body to “adapt” to the many influences it encounters. They increase stamina and counter the normal effects of aging and thus are becoming important tools in sports medicine and in the prevention and treatment of chronic fatigue and other stress-related disorders.

Maimes and Winston present the historical uses of these herbal remedies in India, Russia, China, and the Americas and explain how they work and why they are so effective at combating stress-induced illness. Monographs for each adaptogen also present the latest scientific research and include the origin, traditional use, actions, properties, preparation, and dosage for each herb.

About the Authors of Adaptogens

Steven Maimes, the former owner of an herbal products business in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a researcher, freelance writer, philosopher, and principal of SALAM Research in Rochester, New Hampshire.

David Winston, RH (AHG), is an herbalist and ethnobotanist who has practiced Cherokee, Chinese, and Western herbal medicine since 1969. He is the president of Herbalist and Alchemist, Inc., author of Saw Palmetto for Men & Women, and coauthor of Herbal Therapy and Supplements. He lives in Washington, New Jersey.

Praise for Adaptogens

"Adaptogenic herbs can be most useful in the quest for health in our stressful society. David Winston and Steven Maimes explain and champion the use and benefits of these important herbs." - James A. Duke, author of The Green Pharmacy

"Essential reading for all involved with adaptogens, whether practitioners or consumers. This is the first comprehensive guide to adaptogens based on good herbalism, good science, and NO hype! A truly excellent book.”

- David Hoffmann, author of Medical Herbalism and The Holistic Herbal

“With Adaptogens, David Winston and Steven Maimes have finally made this important healing concept accessible to a wider audience. We need adaptogens—gentle remedies that, over time, have the powerful effect of restoring and protecting our health on many levels. David Winston’s vast clinical and practical knowledge of herbs adds tremendously to the value of the book.”

- Christopher Hobbs, author of Handmade Herbal Medicines and Medicinal Mushrooms

“Brilliant! Fully researched, full of information not readily available, as well as being practical and easy to digest. The authors have managed to blend the traditional and recent scientific information into a fully comprehensive and informative text. This will become a classic, a definitive work on this most important group of medicinal plants.”

- Rosemary Gladstar, founder of United Plant Savers and author of Herbal Healing for Women

"Adaptogens are destined to play an increasingly important role in the future of health care. This book provides an excellent introduction to and comprehensive overview of their traditional uses and of the science supporting their safety and therapeutic benefits.”

- Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council

"The first part of this book provides an overview and background on adaptogens, i.e., herbs that produce a defensive response to stress. It discusses the history of adaptogens, their actions and health benefits, and a general discussion of the stress response. Part two is a materia medica of monographs on adaptogens and herbs that complement them. Each monograph includes names (both common and Latin), family, taste/energy, part used, cultivation, habitat, properties, chemical constituents, history, modern uses, safety ratings, dosage forms, and research studies."

- HerbalGram. 2007;76:70 American Botanical Council

Table of contents

To order the book or for additional informal from Amazon.com, go to: Adaptogens at Amazon or go to: www.adaptogensinamerica.com