Mind Body
Spirit medicine, it’s a fact, this Multidisciplinary Medicine uses applied
spirituality to bring about health. This concept medicine states that all
illnesses result of a spiritual disturbance and complete healing of the illness
can only be achieved through healing at the spiritual level.
Although
conventional medical therapies have much control over the superficial
expression of health in the physical body, they are not able to address the deeper
root of each illness with the use of pills or surgery. The truth is that inner
turmoil will be (somewhat) numb and will find a new form to express itself in
that person's life, if left unaddressed. Mind Body Spirit Work is the
discipline that truly engages the spiritual base of the
illness/distress/unbalance.
It is based on two important principles. Firstly:
by sincerely wishing to connect to
Earth/Universe/God (whichever of these entities relates to the person in
question), we cultivate our Spiritual Self
(our inner Mentor). Secondly: the quality and depth of our work towards our
Inner Mentor is determined by the profound
understanding that, somewhere along the line, we will feel exactly as we caused
other (any and all) beings to feel.
To connect
spiritually, we need to maintain truthful/loving intentions (empathy) towards
all people, in all situations (including ourselves, our thoughts and feelings).
To do so: our attention is to be focused
inward; we must be aware that the mind creates many false stories and hides
what really matters, whereas the heart never lies. It is our ability to feel that reveals the truth of our intentions.
On
the one hand any uncomfortable emotion is
a sign that we have or had
non-loving/non-truthful intentions. On the other hand, we must learn to validate
our emotional state, we need to accept the inner discomfort and stay
with the feeling inside of us. Eluding ourselves with busyness, drugs,
medication, lies, food, social media and so forth are escape mechanisms that
will allow our emotional conflict to eat us away from the inside: our
perception will cause us to have negative thoughts, we will be overwhelmed,
physical issues will arise (tiredness, pain, and indigestion). If signs of
inner conflict are ignored, then structural illness occurs (tumors grow, organs
deteriorate, arteries get blocked). Although these are the diseases that
conventional medicine can modify more effectually, we must remember that the
root cause is on the spiritual level. Instead of jumping to only fix that body part which is
damaged, we must cultivate our Inner Mentor so as to gain insight into what needs changing.
Mind Body
Spirit work consists of three areas, all of which must be pursued 24/7. Outer work is to review our life,
identify and change all that lies outside
of ourselves (relationships, job, home place) and has a negative impact on
our emotional/spiritual health. Inner
work consists of personal practices that will nourish our being whilst improving our focus inward, such as Yoga,
Chi-Kung, Art, Journaling, Meditation, exercising outdoors in Nature. Applied inner work consists in
maintaining the inward focus as we go about our day (awareness), finding a
better understanding of our emotions and intentions, being clearer in the
diagnosis of non-loving aspects in our life. Persistent application of Mind
Body Spirit work, with a spiritual focal point, will bring about INsight, the
experience of health and regeneration, knowledge
of ourselves as loving souls, release of a burden that you did not realized
that you carried.
One of the
personal practices amongst inner work,
is Chi-Kung (Qigong): an ancient form of Chinese Art, rooted on Taoism.
Chi-Kung allows the individual to harmoniously manage the Chi (the energy from
which the universe first resulted). The
energy flows between the Universe and the individual, as well as within the
person. Chi-Kung hence connects the universe/nature with the person (at
cellular level), as well as what is macro and micro in scale. Qigong consists
of sequences of smooth, quiet, yet precise movements that are accompanied by
strict observance of breathing. Consciousness in breathing is a spiritual
exercise in itself as it is about inward focus, awareness of being, feeling
grounded to earth through our own body. Chi-Kung is a personal discipline that
allows us to self-regulate and regenerate the body, mind and soul. It is one of
the mechanisms through which we can heal our spirit and consequently our whole
being.
Chi-Kung
contains several exercises and systems, one of them is the Microcosmic Orbit,
which consists of a circle formed by two meridians through which the Qi flows
along the front/back of the body, on a vertical axis. Meditating on the Microcosmic
Orbit means that you are seated, relaxed, with your tongue pressed against the
upper mandible (so that the two meridians are connected to each other), whilst
you visualize the flow of the Qi through the meridians, reaching all organs,
all cells (the flow through this channels brings as a consequence the flow of
the Chi through the other 12 meridians associated with organs in the body and,
also, the flow through an energy path related to the soul). Meditating on the
Microcosmic Orbit may be accompanied by chanting of mantras or special sounds and
must be preceded by the practice of the Six Healing Sounds. This is a
process by which the excess heat produced by inner organs (the accumulation of
heat results of physical/emotional distress) is released through the digestive
tube. This meditation will bring about cell regeneration, harmonization of the
Chi.
Another
form of inner and applied inner work is
the applied Zen Martial Arts to Medicine. It is based on the fact that
Martial Arts (MA) contribute to positive changes in the body's natural healing
processes, as they strongly influence the function of most organ systems, as
well as chemistry of our brain. Scientific studies agree the MA practitioner
shows brain neurotransmitter balance, mood elevation, enhanced self-esteem,
lower anxiety levels, resistance to depression, improved coping ability.
Moreover, heart rate is slowed, hypertensive blood pressure is reduced toward
normal, and improvement is verified in blood sugar, blood lipids, blood supply
to muscles, in the function of the liver in storing carbohydrate. These changes translate into overall risk
reduction of illnesses as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, chronic
respiratory disease, osteoporosis, obesity, and anxiety, mild to moderate
mental depression, chronic fatigue, and breast and colon cancer.
Observe,
in face of this data, that it does make sense that Chi-Kung also bring profound
positive change in our mind, body and spirit. All of these physical activities
are sound proof that health is spiritual based: once there is personal
discipline associated with education (physical, emotional, spiritual, artist,
scientific) we are indeed our own
healer. Anyway the scientific discipline of psicofisioneuroimunologie proves
all that.
MA
training combines dosage, distance (or time), intensity, frequency and
technique. MA are dose responsive in the sense that there is an optimal maximal
level of training: if it surpassed then the body will decline in physical and
mental health. MA training movements are classified as aerobic, strength,
stretching, skill and fun. Of these 5 categories, only the aerobic is able to
change metabolism and chemistry in such a way as to bring about a wide range of
health gains in the practitioner (other than MA, running, skating, aerobic
walking are also in this category). These health gains include the rebalancing
of the sympathetic (fight and flight) and parasympathetic (rest and repair)
halves of the autonomic nervous system (increased parasympathetic tone was
acknowledged in MA trained subjects). Moreover, it is also proved that the MA
practitioner shows higher levels of serotonin and dopamine, quicker mental
reaction time, improved fluid intelligence quotients, rebalance of sleep/wake
cycles and improvement of the immune system integrity.
In cases
where there is less elasticity of the air sacs and the entire chest wall, it
has been proved that rigorous MA training results in less dyspnoea and
increased respiratory capacity. Although the myocardium responds to exercise
differently, even in coronary disease accompanied by partly blocked coronary
arteries, our KatDoFit training together with a low-fat diet, result in
increased opening of the blocked vessels. MA practitioner exhibit greatly
increased capacity of the liver to storage glycogen (hence lowering the release
of glucose into the bloodstream), as
well as a consistent lowering of fat-to-lean ratio (translating in subjects
that were lean before starting a KataDoFit program, later reporting losing
inches around thighs, waist, hips, chest, upper arms without change in weight).
Adequate aerobic exercise training keeps resistance levels high, hastens
recovery from illness and injury.
We have
mentioned important improvement in a person's health due to practices like
Chi-Kung and Martial Arts, as seen from a pure biological standpoint: blood
pressure, heart rate, sugar blood level, cholesterol and so on. The spiritual
impact of these practices is also huge, as the practitioner is involved in
searching for their Inner Mentor, finding awareness, feeling connected to the
Universe, nourishing their whole being (as an undivided entity which depends
and influences all that exists around them), accepting and facing their emotional
state as opposed to invalidating it, devoting time to be quite and on their
own, maintaining the inward focus, finding a better understanding of their
intentions, enforcing discipline that will allow them to understand what needs
to be changed in order to regenerate/heal.
Mind Body
Spirit Work also includes outer work which
may involve relationships, family, work, the place where we live, our
community. Frequently these matters are relevant in Life Mentoring (LM) and
therapy (seen here as a general medical practice that seeks to help people in
emotional/inner turmoil). There are three key factors that separate LM from
therapy. Firstly, the Mentor is a professional whose goal is to empower the
client, help them connect to their Spiritual Self so that they will have
insight as to what holds negative impact, how those issues can be turned into
opportunities, which options are too considered, set an action plan and hold
the client accountable (the GROW and SMART models are key in this work). In Therapy,
the professional defines and implements the treatment plan, thus removing
initiative from the client (various schools of Therapy utilize different takes
on the professional's authority in the process). Also: in Life Mentoring
Method® approach the client is to leave the process as a person that is able to
lead their life, whereas in therapy there seems to be no prospective of the
client leaving. Secondly, LM is about knowing where the client wants/needs to
go, starting from a relatively stable position they hold now. Therapy, on the
other hand, is about what is holding the person back. So LM looks at now/future
whilst Therapy dwells mostly on the past. Thirdly, the LM client wants to
achieve a particular/objective goal (a goal that can be completely physical
like 'feeling stronger, feeling fit') whilst the Therapist's client needs to
address an issue/problem (there is ambiguity as to what is an issue as opposed
to a problem).
An important
aspect that separates LM from Therapy is that the client in the latter may have
no control whatsoever of their emotions, may hold a mental health issue, may
suffer drug/alcohol/medication dependency, and may have a history of abuse. A
LM client is a person with a cognitive stable base which allows them to set a
path (rational, spiritual and physical) from here towards the better person in
them, grounded on their own skills, abilities. That cognitive stable base of
the LM client enables the professional to apply Goal Mapping exercises, ask the
client to keep a reflexive diary, draw up an action plan, and engage in
scheduling exercises. These are instruments that help the LM client in a
tightly focused process to address their issues as swiftly and efficiently as
possible. In LMM we believe that the Body is the true instrument through which
we can reach emotion, spirit, change, health. Therefore we believe in
nutrition, in physical training and education. Naturally, disciplines like
Yoga, Chi-Kung, and Martial Arts require that the client has a stable core from
which to evolve. That is another reason why LMM is not adequate for clients
with deep structural problems - these people need to be referred to other
health professionals. LMM shares the belief that Mind Body Spirit work also
involves Art, journaling, science ... again these are personal disciplines that
cannot be asked of person with characteristics that are adequate only to
Therapy.
In Therapy
there is a range of psychotherapeutic techniques and beliefs whose common
thread is to assist the client to accept, manage or solve their problems as
swiftly as is possible- the 'Brief Interventions'. They are time-effective
techniques (opposed to long-term counselling relationships), solution-based
(rather than problem oriented), less concerned with how problems arouse than what
is currently preventing them to be overcome. 'Brief Interventions' is a non-directive
counselling, an active process that is geared toward the now and future. It
seeks to aid clients to sort their problems out and move on with their lives.
It is apparent that Brief Interventions' holds proximity to LM in fundamental
concepts. Moreover, the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), is one of the
techniques in 'Brief Intervention Therapy'. Through CBT, the Mentor can help
the client notice and avoid the pitfalls of 'cognitive distortions' such as
labelling, fortune-telling, catastrophizing. The individual is encouraged to
identify their core beliefs, challenge their thinking, turning what if into then what and consequently empowering themselves from negative
thinking and beliefs. This process
enclosed in CBT is important in LM thus establishing proximity between these
practices and Therapy.
In itself,
the search for spiritual health (and, as follows, all health), the search for
awareness, for clean positive intentions towards all, the path towards our
inner Mentor requires that we keep an open mind and heart.
In this sense, the
LMM does not place judgement on Therapy - LMM is open to positive influences
that might arise from it and embodies that in the feeling 'I'm a LM but I'm not
blind to Therapy or any kind of activity that is meant to nurture an individual
into inner growth, spiritual health, wholeness with their body, mind and the
universe.'
This is the Life
Mentoring Method®.
