Dr. Eric's Blog

Deliverance and Resurrection

At this time of year, many are celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover or the Christian holiday of Easter.  In some cases we celebrate both. 

One is the story of a people being delivered out of bondage, because of his love for them.  The other a story also of G-d's love, if you will, of our opportunity to be free.

Both of these stories point to our great opportunity both literally, if you are so inclined, but also metaphorically.

It is a good time to ask yourself, what do I need to be delivered from?  What do I need to ask forgiveness for?

These two questions can begin an inquiry into the spiritual aspects of our material life.

Perhaps it is the bondage of my own mind that I need deliverance from?  Perhaps from out dated beliefs about myself and others that bind my mind and make it impossible to see reality clearly?

Perhaps it is some fear that I am tied to that now prevents me from soaring in my life and in my relationships?

It terms of forgiveness...perhaps I am holding some kind of guilt or shame that has bound my energy and prevents me from authentic expression...perhaps it is me, that needs to die and be reborn...

What are your chains made of?

This of course is just the surface of the inquiry..it is up to you to take it as deep as you can..and to free yourself from your own bondage.

Many blessings to you.

Birthday: Mine...;-)

April 1, 2009 marked my 45th year on this planet...plied with questions like, "how does it feel to be 45?"  I find myself at a loss for words. I don't know what 45 is supposed to feel like, I have never been this age before...In most ways I feel like a child, sometimes like a teenager and sometimes like what I think, an adult feels like.  Due to the fact that I seem to be aging gracefully...changes that are taking place are gradual enough that I barely notice.

On my 45 year, I just simply wish to say I am grateful.  Grateful for my health and prosperity, grateful for a loving and supportive partner, grateful to my loving family, grateful to my teachers, some of whom are still here and some who are no longer here, grateful for my colleagues, grateful to my clients for allowing me to bring my skills and talents into their lives, grateful to my biz manager who keeps me focused and on track.

I am truly blessed and I have you to thank for that.

Many blessings to you.

Eric

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.

Mind/Body Medicine Clinical Training Day 1

ok..Herb Benson, M.D., is cute, funny and passionate about his work...of this there is no doubt.
We spent the morning looking at, learning about and practicing the elicitation of the "relaxation response. 

This response dates back and is included in every spiritual tradition.
1. A focus and repetition of one single activity.
2. The passive return to the repetition when other thoughts intrude

The goal is the interruption of our usual automatic thinking.

The rest of the day was spent learning about the physiology, on a molecular level, how stress impacts the body and mind.

While I don't feel I have yet to learn anything new, I am glad that this program exists and M.D.'s are learning to understand and appreciate the connection.

The docs that I have spoken with are frustrated by the system they work in and it's often inability to help patients get better.

In mind/body medicine, the role of patient is redefined.  No longer is the helping professional doing something to the patient.  The patient must pick up the mantel of taking on the role of active collaborator.

Stay tuned to part 2

HIV SHOCK!

The news of an HIV diagnosis can be a great shock to your mental and emotional being. Some are actually still stuck in that event no matter how long ago it occurred.

As a result many go on with their treatment and their life, but do not feel really connected to their lives.

Do you feel a disconnect with your life?
Were you shocked by the news?
Was your doctor/or other health care provider cold and distant?
Was your health care provider scared to give you the news?
Did you feel a deep sense of fear, regret or dread?
Did you become light headed and loose your ability to think?
Did you sometimes feel sad and isolated for no apparent reason?

Then you may have not processed the experience of getting the news of your HIV status and as a result have a number of unresolved issues about it.  To go on with your life with out working through these issues is like living half a life and you deserve so much more.

Sex and board games...

The other day while speaking to one of my clients, we joked about investing in board games.  It is my assumption that more and more people are staying home these days.  A lot less eating out, going to movies and various other forms of costly entertainment.  Besides, going to the movies usually involves taking out a second mortgage just for popcorn.

So what are people doing with their time at home, except worrying about the future. 

Well many are cooking more meals at home.  Many are watching more tv.  Many are reading more books and my 2 main assumptions:  Many are playing board games, having more sex oh and yes, spending more time on face book.

How are you spending time with out spending more money?

You can't spit today with out hitting some spiritual teacher..

They are everywhere..The list of spiritual teachers today is enormous!!!

Every where you look someone has some advice for how you should do your life, your love.

Is it true?  Are we all just walking around with our umbilicus in hand, just looking for a new place to plug in?

About a week back, while watching Oprah's Best Life Series, a young women who was so scared that she was going to loose everything.  Oprah's panel of experts chimed in with wonderful spiritual principles but it was so clear that none of this was helping this very frighted women.

Opinions, platitudes and easy sound bites to not make a process of spiritual advisement or counsel.  Often these platitudes can make matters worse.  Holding out some place to arrive like a new carrot on a stick.

Oprah actually did a better job of counseling this women than did her panel

The difference between someone who espouses spiritual principles and a spiritual counselor, spiritual director or spiritual advisor  is the important aspect that was completely left out of this episode.  The goal of spirituality in our lives is not the integration of principles it is the discovery of our truest nature...we are spiritual beings.  Nothing to add...that's it...

In my opinion, a good spiritual counselor is someone who can help you discover, recover your connection with, for lack of a better term, the divine with in you. A good spiritual counselor can help you reconnect with your own inner resources.

Spirituality is EVERYTHING. Spirituality is in every moment. It is not some separate and distinct thing from everything else nor is it some special moment in time.

The spiritual counselor is concerned with your life. For your life is a spiritual event!

If you are not getting criticism, you are not doing anything critical!

Yup...that's right..I realized a long time ago, if I was going to say and do things that were important to me that their would be 4 sub=groups.  Those that loved me and loved what I do.  Those that love me, but do not love  what I do.  Those that hate me and hate what I do.  And those that could care less.

People pleasing ultimately pleases no one. No matter what you do, someone is going to be pissed off at you, so you might as well do what you really want anyhow.

I am not talking about hurting others.  I am talking about doing what you can to bring your own dreams into fruition.  You must be willing to risk.  Risk what you might ask.

Risk approval of others. 

Is your need for approval making it hard for you to approve of yourself?

I have a dream....

Martin Luther King had a dream, I have a dream, do you have a dream?

My dream is that one day, we will live our lives based on our values and live those values consciously.
My dream is that one day we will all be free from fear and greed.
My dream is that we will not only appreciate the golden rule, but put it into practice.
My dream is that we will compete less and collaborate more.
My dream is that we will wake up to our truest nature.

I have a dream.

Martin Luther King had a dream.  His dream changed the course of history.

In honor of Dr. King, what is your dream?

Is Oprah nuts or just singing the party line?

There are many reasons why people gain weight, have trouble loosing weight and often loose weight and put it right back on.

Oprah seems to believe that all issues around weight are just emotional....well they are not!

Here are two kinds of eaters:

Emotional eaters: eat no matter what emotions they are feeling. This is because they use food as a substitute for real need getting.

Emotional eaters often eat as a way of self-medicating because certain feelings are too hard to endure.

Then there are the people who could care less about food: They are the ones that have poor eating habits.  Could eat just one meal a day and that would  be it...(this would be me)  This then really does a number on your metabolism: it slows way way down and can cause other endocrine problems.

In both cases their can also be an energy issue.  When you have not eaten all day, your body and BRAIN crave energy. I can promise you, your brain is not going to reach out for a chicken breast.  It wants its carbs and sugars now!!!

So does it all boil down to Self-Love?  If you want it to it can...it also has to do with conditioning, homeostasis, endocrine issues and often requires a more complex approach then a simple narrative like self love.

Personally, I am tired of this over simplified and often dumbed down approach to life.  Life is complex and why we do what we do is often complex and if we over look the complexity we can miss important information that needs to be dealt with. 

While I appreciate Oprah's candor, her narrative, her experience and the way she explains it, is just not the way it is for everyone.

If you are struggling with weight, work with a variety of professionals who can help you with the complexity of this kind of issue!