HEALING THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN MIND AND BODY

1
HEALING THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN MIND AND BODY

• hospice palliative care conference
• September 2007
• Karen Fletcher RN MN CON(C)

2
(No Transcript)
3
Research

• systematic review identified 916 trials of
  mind-body therapies
• included relaxation techniques, meditation,
  guided imagery, hypnosis, biofeedback, cognitive
  behavioral therapy and psychoeducational
  approaches
• considerable evidence that an array of mind-body
  therapies can be used as adjuncts to conventional
  medical treatment for a number of common clinical
  conditions
• Astin, John A., Shapiro, Shauna L., Eisenberg,
  David M. Forys, Kelly L. (2003). Mind-body
  medicine State of the science, implications for
  practice. J Am Board Fam Pract 16, 131-147.

4
Body

• the entire physical structure of an animal or
  human being
• keep body and soul together to manage to keep
  alive, survive
• corpse

5
Mind

• the entity of an individual responsible for
  thought, feelings, and speech
• intelligence or the intellect esp. as opposed to
  feelings or wishes
• attention or thoughts
• sound mental state sanity
• intelligence as opposed to material things
• in Cartesian philosophy one of two basic modes of
  existence, the other being matter

6
Dualism

• Cartesian philosophy
• the state or quality of being two-fold
• the subject who knows and the object who is known

7
Dualism

• long history of separation
• arises from the theory that the universe has been
  ruled from its origins by 2 conflicting powers
  one good and one evil

8
Dualism

• leads to a harshness in how we are
• living in a place of right and wrong closes us
  down and creates a variety of habitual tactics to
  approach our lives
• leads to halfistic care instead of holistic care

9
The Connection

• Not one but not two..

10
The Connection

• not two signals a negation of the stance that
  divides the whole into 2 parts, ie dualism while
  not one designates a negation of this stance
  when the practitioner dwells in the whole as one
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  http//plato.stanford.edu/entries/jananese-zen

11
(No Transcript)
12
Healing the Disconnect

• The Mind
• has no form
• clarify for oneself how we use the word
• the 6th sense life is perceived through the
  senses and mind acts as the interpreter
• is capable of great trickery
• is multi-layered as the mountains

13
(No Transcript)
14
Healing the Disconnect

• reciprocal body-mind relationship and its
  manipulation found to be an important target for
  therapies that can reduce suffering
• appears to be a mechanistic link manipulation of
  body tissues and relief of a broad range of
  symptoms
• the meridian system appears to be an important
  communication link between myofascial tissue and
  the nervous system
• Sagar, S.M., Dryden, T. Wong, R.K. (2005).
  Massage therapy for cancer patients A reciprocal
  relationship between body and mind. Current
  Oncology 14(2), 45-55.

15
Healing the Disconnect

• concept/idea vs direct experience/sensation
• some practices aim to control thoughts, to
  control the mind other practices let thought
  arise, note thinking and let the thought go
• to achieve a state of mind that is truly relaxed
  one has to begin on the physical level
• the breath can help link/connect body and mind
• embodied intelligence

16
(No Transcript)
17
The Experience

• Your thoughts.

18
Halfistic Care

• care vs cure
• objective data is valued, personal meanings,
  feelings and self-report become suspect
• we reduce our work to tasks performed on a
  problem

19
Halfistic Care

• Perhaps the most serious problem with this
  contemporary Cartesianism is that it misconstrues
  the nature and purpose of the kind of relational
  work nurses domany seem to profoundly
  misunderstand how relationships with patients are
  formed and what ends these relationships serve.
• Suzanne
  Gordon (2006)

20
A Caution

• The paradox here is that alternative medicine,
  while sometimes empowering for patientsis also
  the harsher discipline because it can so easily
  leave patients feeling at fault, guilty, and
  abandoned.
• Wolsko, Peter M., Eisenberg, David M., Davis,
  Roger B. Russell, S. (2004). Use of mind-body
  medical therapies Results of a national survey.
  J Gen Intern Med 19, 43-50.

21

• If you want others to be happy,
• practice compassion. If you want
• to be happy, practice compassion.
• 
  Dalai Lama