Mind/Body Medicine @ Harvard

Ok..so day one lulled us into a false sense of security.  (or at least into the relaxation response) 

The first part of the day was pretty easy for me.  It was all on cognitive restructuring.  Based on the work of David Burns, M.D., the concept being that our thoughts create our moods.

While this is true and the work of cognitive restructuring is effective, in dealing with Negative Automatic Thoughts (N.A.T.s) for short ; it is clear that it deals mostly with the thoughts and not the source of the thoughts. It would be interesting to do some studies working with issues around mood with Hypnotherapy vs. CBT and a combination of both.

later we looked further into the principles of mind/body medicine.

Did you know that 50% of deaths in the U.S.A. are likely related to lifestyle behaviors:
1. Dietary indiscretions
2. Sedentary lifestyles
3. maladaptive coping responses

And with all of our advances of modern medicine, our life expectancy is only slightly higher than the Czech republic.

Later that day was an exploration into QIGONG.  Another subject I am intimately connected to and its impact on health and well being...turns out those Taoists knew something after all!

Then the most amazing lecture on nutritional supplements.  There are currently over 29,000 different dietary supplements available today.  In an audit of retailers in the us(pharmacy, health food stores etc) They found 402 different weight loss products.

In the area of supplements there are many to choose from but they should not be taken with out the expert advice of someone who has done their homework, knows the science and is able to check for improvements.  Also, taking supplements are not a substitute for eating a healthy diet.

While I do not feel I learned anything particularly new, i did feel like there was more science to back up the work that I do and left the whole program feeling very affirmed.

Comments

[Weight Loss Supplement]

50% seems a bit high. Have a source? Its easy to say that a person's diet may have been the problem, but more often than not I think its speculative at best.

Cindy