Reflections Newsletter
"People are not broken and in need of fixing... most people are just fine. They may simply need a tune-up."
Dr. Alexander R. Lees
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In This Issue:
Alex writes a very interesting article about placebos. No one really knows how or why they work; but work they do! Susan describes the element called Fire which is the rhythm of summer. She also provides an exercise that dissolves emotions that may injure the heart. Tom writes about pain and how energy medicine can help to unblock the congested energy that is causing the pain, giving you relief from pain. I provide some random thoughts which originated from reading Susan's article where she says, "Summertime and the living is easy."
Enjoy!
Berit Lees, Editor
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Placebos -- How do they work?
By Dr. Alexander R. Lees
Perhaps you have you experienced the following, or know someone that has -- A friend tells you a heart wrenching story of being diagnosed with some rare or well known disease, condition or malady, and the outcome they enjoyed defied all odds offered by the medical profession. "Oh, that's just the placebo affect," was probably the final summation.
Now before we condemn this interesting phenomenon completely, and write it off to simple quackery best left to the fellow with the tent and platform in front of it, hawking the latest version of snake oil (triple distilled, no doubt.) let's take a look under the hood, as it were, and learn a little more about it.
To begin with, the word comes to us, like so many words of merit, from Latin, and means "I shall please." It can be thought of as any pill, procedure, pretend surgery or other form of intervention that uses deception to assist in achieving some positive outcome for an individual or group. And therein lays the problem. If it (the pill, procedure, etc.,) is deemed deceptive, then a medical doctor faces a dilemma:
It is considered unethical for him (or her) to prescribe anything deemed deceptive, and at the same time, it's unethical for the doctor to not introduce something that heals, or at the very least, contributes to healing.
The pivotal point of the argument and resulting dilemma is primarily because the mind set of the physician is couched in logic and science. Therefore, whenever the word placebo is brought into the conversation, this mindset results in thinking that the pill, substance or procedure is the focal point of the discussion.
But what if we were to switch the focus to the results, or effects, of that same pill, substance or procedure, as opposed to the object itself? Then what is really at the heart of the clash is the assignment of meaning. If, for instance, we were to assign a meaning to placebo such as, "The positive effect of some substance or procedure on health," as opposed to the pill/procedure itself, we just might find the medical profession more inclined to support it.
Besides, if we continue to focus on the procedure involved, or the physical object as the placebo, rather than the outcome of its use, then we might just as well start reclassifying crutches as placebos, or even casts or bandages. And, if your doctor says something like, "You will be all healed up by the weekend," then we can also begin to think of a doctor as a placebo, could we not?
And, just to add to the mix, we have nocebos to contend with as well. Again, the root of this word also comes from Latin, meaning, "I will harm." So when a doctor says something like," Things don't look good, I'm afraid." Then we can classify this statement as a nocebo, and should start the lawsuit immediately. But, before we join the protesting march, throwing things at store windows as we pass, let's find out if this placebo thing is in fact worth saving at all.
To begin with, placebos have been used in medical and psychological research for decades. The subjects include Parkinson's disease, pain control, weight control, allergy symptom reduction, social phobias, and even cancer, just to name just a few.
This same research (please remember: the rules governing research are not the same as those governing a medical practice) shows the same physiological aspects of the brain activated by a pain killer are also activated by a properly applied placebo, such as the Amygdala.
Now the Amygdala is considered a major player in accessing emotions. It also lights up when the individual is forming or accessing memories. Now, if the memory/emotive parts of the brain are involved when a placebo is used, it isn't a giant leap to accept the following:
What if a placebo actually serves as a triggering mechanism, and activates the immune system, circulation, chemistry specific to healing, and previous memories of healing in such a way that this new state (or altered state, if you prefer to think of it that way) is actually even more conducive to healing than the one it replaced?
Way back in the 1800s, a young French girl was out collecting firewood, and happened to enter a cave while doing so. In that cave, she allegedly saw an apparition, and the apparition instructed her that a hole needed to be dug immediately. The instructions were followed, and voila! -- we now have a place that thousands have visited from various parts of the world, many of whom claim that visiting the site healed them of some physical complaint, ailment or limitation. This place is called Lourdes.
In several studies, the participants were asked to evaluate the affect of a 'new' pain killer. The pain killer was to be offered in various degrees of potency, they were told, and they were to compare and evaluate each 'dosage,' and report on the one that offered the most relief.
- The first one was a small white pill.
- The next was slightly larger, and coloured blue.
- On the third day, they were given two pills, both coloured yellow. These pills, it was explained, had a synergistic affect when combined.
- On the final day of the trial, the participants were given a
much larger pill, this time coloured red. The attending physician
advised the participants that this was strictly an experimental dosage
and although it had been shown in previous trials to be the most potent
in handling pain, there were a few side affects, and this
particular mix of ingredients was the most expensive. The physician went on to say those side effects were now eliminated by tinkering with the formula.
80+ % of the participants reported that the large red pill was indeed the best in managing the pain they were experiencing.
All of the pills were sugar pills.
In another study, the doctors were coached to display optimism, confidence and enthusiasm towards the patient when discussing the outcome of the surgery they were facing. At the same time, other doctors were coached in being more vague and conservative in their approach during these discussions. The success rate of the first group was higher than the second. Just to be clear, the first group wasn't lied to; instead, the doctors responded to each question of concern with a smile and a suggestion that was designed to enhance the patient's optimism, etc.
In the second group, for instance, the doctor might have responded with a statement like, "Well, let's just wait and see," type of response in answer to the patient's query about their chance of a successful outcome from the surgery, and so on.
Other studies have shown that the attitude, deportment, etc., of a counselor can influence the outcome of a psycho-therapeutic session for the patient or client almost as much as the counselor's knowledge did, and in some cases, even more so. Similarly, when the patient or client possessed a clear expectancy or belief that the time invested would pay off for them, or they harboured a belief that they deserved to get better, this also seemed to contribute to more positive outcomes from their sessions, each and every time.
To sum up then, we will use the analgesic effect of a placebo as an example, as so much study has been done on just that. We know from medical research that when a placebo is offered and healing begins to occur, the anterior cingulate, the prefrontal, the orbitofrontal and insular cortices, the nucleus accumbens and the Amygdala are all activated, even if the pill, cream, or ingestive used are nothing but sugar or some other innate substance.
We also know a positive belief or expectancy towards the use of a pill, cream, process or procedure will also affect the resulting outcome. So one way of thinking about a placebo is that a mental process is involved, and therefore the attitude shown, the compassion shown, and the confidence shown by the therapist can go a long way in helping to provide the client with an outcome they so desperately seek.
And later, if someone says, "Oh, that's just the placebo affect," then you can gleefully agree, knowing a placebo affect just might be the mind/brain/body's natural healing mechanism, and you have learned how to include it and trigger it in your work with others (or yourself). If so, congratulations!
************************************************************************************************* Ken and his wife Edna went to the state fair every year, And every year Ken would say, 'Edna, I'd like to ride in that helicopter.' Edna always replied, 'I know Ken, but that helicopter ride is fifty bucks, and fifty bucks is fifty bucks.'
One year Ken and Edna went to the fair, and Ken said, 'Edna, I'm 75 years old. If I don't ride that helicopter, I might never get another chance.' To this, Edna replied, "Ken, that helicopter ride is fifty bucks, and fifty bucks is fifty bucks.'
The pilot overheard the couple and said, 'Folks I'll make you a deal. I'll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and don't say a word, I won't charge you a penny! But if you say one word it's fifty dollars.'
Ken and Edna agreed and up they went.
The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word...
When they landed, the pilot turned to Ken and said, 'By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. I'm impressed!'
Ken replied, 'Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Edna fell out, but you know, fifty bucks is fifty bucks...'
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Workshop News
Fall Workshop Schedule will be announced in August.
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 Contributing Columnist Susan Stone is a licensed acupuncturist, certified in Eden Energy Medicine and Eden Energy Medicine for Women. In addition she is a Registered Bach Flower practitioner, an Acutonics practitioner, with a BS degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, and has been in private practice since 1977. Susan's other interests include a passion for dressage, mountain climbing, and life. Contact Susan at her clinic in the Boston, MA area. www.stonehealthcenter.com
Fire -- the rhythm of summer
By Susan Stone
"Summertime and the living is easy..." As we enter into the energies of Summer, the word JOY comes to mind. Joy, rapture, delight are heart fulfilling words and emotions and the Heart is one of 3 meridian/organs associated with the rhythm of Fire. Fire is the rhythm of Summer. As we move from Wood energy of Spring with all of our new projects we expand and embrace the Fire energy of Summer. The love and passion for life (Heart energy) fuels our projects (developed from the Liver/Gallbladder energy) and is reflected in our Shen. Shen is related to the Heart and is the reflection of Spirit manifesting within us that is visible to others.
There are four organs/meridians associated with the Fire rhythm and they are Heart, Small Intestine, Circulation/Sex or also named Pericardium and Triple Warmer. Triple Warmer also is called Triple Burner, Triple Heater or the San Jiao Meridian.
This article is going to describe briefly the beauty of the two of the organs/meridians of Fire. As we learn to understand each of the energies of each organ/meridian we appreciate the flow of its energies as it illuminates our life.
The Heart is the Emperor. The Heart is dearly protected by the energy of Pericardium/Circulation-Sex as it insulates it from harm. Small Intestine, the Yang organ paired with Heart is responsible for governing the function of Sorting in the body-mind-spirit. It helps with discernment and decision-making. Triple Warmer, the yang aspect to Pericardium/Circulation-Sex is likened to the warrior energy of our body. It harmonizes and communicates with all the organs/energies in the body.
The Heart energy manifests in the complexion. What you look for is the glow. Heart energy shows through the complexion as the energy of Spirit flows through the eyes. The Nei Jing says "the complexion of a person shows when the heart is in splendid condition". The spirit of a person is reflected in their voice and the voice of the Heart energy is laughter, which is joyous and effervescent. The energy of the Heart opens up into the tongue. Stuttering is a Heart imbalance. The Heart expresses itself through the tongue. Express yourself clearly; withholding your self-expression can be injurious to the Heart energy. Tell the Truth to yourself. When there are blocked emotions the result can be a stagnation of Qi, this in turn causes a stagnation of Blood. If it has affected the Heart energy it can be observed on the tongue. The sides and tip of the tongue will be overly red and you may see red pinpoint spots on the tip of the tongue.
The other functions of the Heart in Oriental Medicine is its role of governing Blood and housing the Mind. When there are pathological changes of the Heart they will often be related to Blood issues and long term emotional issues that manifest in the Mind and eventually affect the Heart's energy. The excess emotions of joy, sadness and anger will affect the heart. The emotion of joy is associated with the Heart. Sadness is primarily associated with the Lung and anger or frustration is primarily associated with the Liver. Because of the close relationship the Heart has with the Liver and the Lungs, these emotions can also affect the Heart.
Sadness deeply affects the Heart-Qi and can cause Heart-Qi deficiency. Sadness dissolves Qi and will make the Heart -Qi deficient. Excessive joy can also injure the Heart. This isn't as common, but when a person shows inappropriate laughter, when you hear a person laughing about tragedies they've endured then that may indicate Heart energy that is in need of repair.
In addition to EFT for helping dissolve emotions that may injure the Heart here is my favorite Energy Medicine exercise that Donna Eden has created.
The Nine Hearts Exercise: This exercise is especially good for the Heart, Large Intestine and all of your Radiant Circuits.
a. With your hands on the front of your thighs, take a deep breath in and out.
b. Inhaling move your hands slowly up the front of your body to the top of your forehead.
c. Exhaling, trace a heart from your forehead to your chin
d. Inhaling move your fingers back up to your forehead, middle finger leading the way up the inside of the face and the bridge of the nose, then while exhaling, trace the heart a second time. Repeat one more time.
e. On one deep breath in and out, move your hands slowly down to the middle of your chest over your heart chakra.
f. Inhaling, begin tracing a heart with flattened hands moving up over the chest, and while exhaling, finish tracing the heart by moving your hands around the trunk of your body, down the inside of the hip bones, ending at the tip of the pubic bone.
g. Repeat this step two more times, but begin tracing the heart from the top of the pubic bone and travel up over the chest on the inhale, then finish tracing the heart on the exhale.
h. Starting at the tip of the pubic bone, draw your flat hands up your body to the center of your chest as you inhale.
i. Exhaling turn your hands so that the tips of the fingers touch one another and the palms lie on the top part of the chest.
j. Inhaling, bring your hands together in a prayerful position and raise them above your head.
k. Separate your hands, lift them a bit further up, and exhaling very slowly out of your mouth with enough pressure to puff out your cheeks, slowly press your outstretched arms down to your sides with strength, as if pushing down a weight. Bring your hands down all the way to the sides of your legs.
l. Repeat steps h-k two more times.
My best wishes for a summer full of joy and delight!
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You gotta love this police report.
A True Story from the Jacksonville, Fl., Police Dept.
A man goes to a party and has too much to drink. His friends plead with him to let them take him home. He says, no he only lives a mile away. About five blocks from the party, the police pull him over for weaving and ask him to get out of the car and walk the line. Just as he starts, the police radio blares out a notice of a robbery taking place in a house just a block away. The police tell the man to stay put, they will be right back and they hop a fence and run down the street to the robbery.
The guy waits and waits and finally decides to drive home. When he gets there, he tells his wife he is going to bed, and to tell anyone who might come looking for him that he has the flu and has been in bed all day.
A few hours later the police knock on the door. They ask if Mr. Joe is there and his wife says yes. They ask to see him and she replies that he is in bed with the flu and has been there all day. The police have his driver's license. They ask to see his car and she asks why. They insist on seeing his car, so she takes them to the garage. She opens the door. There sitting in the garage is... the police car, with all its lights still flashing.
True story: Told by the driver at his first AA meeting.
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 Contributing Columnist Tom
Dorzab is a retired biologist from Kansas and now lives with his wife
in Spain. Tom followed his passion and is now an energy medicine
practitioner specializing in Eden Energy Medicine. Contact Tom here
Got Pain?By Tom DorzabAnybody out there got pain? Yes? Then have I got a deal for you. Did you answer No? Well in that case, have you ever had pain? I'll bet I got you on that one. Pain is something that everyone has at one time or another. As much as it hurts when you're in the moment, the truth is, pain is a very good thing. Before you start thinking about my psychological problems, let me explain. Pain tells us that something is going wrong and you need to take immediate steps to correct it. Maybe you are a little too close to a hot stove and you are just beginning to feel a little pain. Most of us will take the hint and move away a bit. Or maybe you have just hit your finger with a hammer. Many people in that case tend to do the opposite and move the hammer away from themselves, very quickly. At those times it's important for those around you to be alert, since flying hammers can be an extreme example of the Butterfly Effect and have a tendency to cause even more pain. While it's too late to move the hammer away from you at that point, no matter how fast or far it flies, you will know to be more careful the next time. Often we know exactly why we're experiencing pain as in the two examples just mentioned. In this modern age however, it's becoming more common for people to feel pain and have no idea why. In these cases there is no immediate cause and effect relationship, but if there is pain, it is a result of something. Finding that something is the trick to finding relief. From the energy medicine viewpoint, pain is the result of congested energy. Therefore, pain relief is associated with finding ways to relieve the congestion. Conventional medical approaches usually just block the pain signal from reaching the brain. While that approach does bring relief, and believe me, I have used a lot of very powerful pain killers in my life, it does nothing to correct the problem that is causing the pain. One of the best examples of this approach can be found in the world of automechanics. The pain in your body is a signal that something is wrong, much like the oil warning light in your car is a telling you that your car is dangerously low on oil. When you take a pain medication that blocks the pain signal from reaching your brain, it's like simply removing the low oil warning light from your car. You feel better for a while without that irritating light shining in your eyes, but since you have done nothing to correct the problem, it's only a matter of time before something much more serious happens. In the case of your car, the engine, without the lubricating action of the oil, will eventually stop working. In the case of your body, the reason you have the pain in the first place, at least if it's a chronic issue, will usually continue to worsen until you also have a much more serious issue to contend with. In addition to simply blocking the pain and not correcting the cause, medications tend to have the nasty habit of actually adding more problems to the mix through their frequent side effects.Beginning in my mid-twenties, I began having debilitating lower and mid-back pain. Due to a knee injury I sustained playing high school football, I have been plagued by knee pain since that time. About fifteen years ago I began having excruciating neck pain and my other knee decided to get into the action too. During that time I thought my only option was to take pain killers. I started with aspirin and Tylenol, but the pain was so intense that I needed to begin taking some real heavyweight pain killers. I was taking so many that my doctor at the time was getting worried and was talking about weaning me off of them. I have to admit, I was getting to the point that I was really looking forward to taking them and the thought of being without them was terrifying. It got to the point that even those were ineffective. About five years ago, in desperation, I began looking into energy medicine as a possible way of getting at least some relief. I ordered a book and a DVD and began experimenting on myself. All I can say is WOW! I began feeling some very strange sensations in my body. I am assuming that as blockages were removed and energy began to flow freely, I was feeling the changes. The best part of the changes was a remarkable reduction in my pain. Living in Spain I had no practitioners available to help guide me through the process, but I was still able to reap huge benefits by working on myself. Eventually, on subsequent trips to the USA, I was able to get sessions from some very gifted energy medicine practitioners and I have continued to improve. With the exception of taking a few aspirin tablets about a month ago for a shoulder pain that seemed to come out of nowhere, I haven't taken any pain medication for years. The shoulder pain is improving without medication, but I certainly don't hesitate to use energy medicine techniques to help it along. Take it from someone who has lived through excruciating pain for years, you can often reduce or eliminate your pain while actually correcting the cause simply by using energy medicine techniques.There are many possible choices in the world of energy medicine when one is searching for relief from pain. Over the next few months we will be exploring some of the ways you can reduce or eliminate pain and at the same time correct the underlying causes.Be sure to check in with us next month. What do you have to lose but your pain? **********************************************************************************************POWER OUTAGE
At my recent assault trial, I offered a plea of "Guilty with an explanation." The judge asked me what my explanation was, so I told my story. "Your Honor," I said, "I had a mammogram appointment, which I actually kept. I was met with: 'Hi! I'm Belinda!' This perky clipboard carrier smiled from ear to ear, tilted her head to one side and crooned, 'All I need you to do is step into this room right here, strip to the waist, then slip on this gown. Everything clear?' I'm thinking, 'Belinda, try decaf. This ain't rocket science.' Belinda skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors. With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left and said, 'Hmmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so we can get everything?' 'Fine', I answered. I was freezing, bruised, and out of air, so why not lose the remaining circulation in my legs and neck and finish me off? My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other breast wedged between those two 4 inch pieces of square glass) when we heard, and then felt, a zap! Complete darkness and the power went off! 'Oh, maintenance is working. Bet they hit a snag.' Belinda said, and headed for the door. 'Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone are you?' I shouted. Belinda kept going and said, 'Oh, you fuss puppy...the door's wide open so you'll have the emergency hall lights. I'll be right back.' Before I could shout 'NOOOO!' she disappeared. And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, maintenance men Extraordinaire, found me ... Half-naked with part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life, and the other part smashed between glass! After exchanging a polite 'Hi, how's it going' type greeting, Bubba (or possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the power was off. Trying to disguise my hysteria, I replied with as much calmness as possible 'Uh, yes, yes I did thanks.' 'You bet, take care' Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been standing in the line at the grocery store. Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin. Making no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said, 'Oh I am sooo sorry!' The power came back on and I totally forgot about you! And silly me, I went to lunch. Are we upset?' And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the clamps....." The judge could hardly contain her laughter as she said 'Case Dismissed!!' ********************************************************************************************** |
Berit's Corner
A couple of things...
I'm sad to say that Dave Marshall, our Contributing Columnist living in Spain, has announced his retirement. We will miss his informative, amusing and entertaining articles and thank him for all he's written for Reflections over the years. We wish you all the best Dave, and look forward to sharing a bottle of wine the next time we're in Spain. Take care and have fun!
Some of you may be aware that we didn't send out our Reflections newsletter at the end of May and that's simply because we took some time off for ourselves to do some "stuff." But now, we're back!
I feel a little strange "working." It's amazing how fast I got out of certain habits like answering the phone. The first time I answered the phone today I couldn't remember what to say, or where I was! Thank heaven my subconscious kicked in and in the blink of an eye I heard myself saying, "Good morning, Dr. Lees' office." Whew -- that was close!
Of course, I now have a ton of stuff to do just to catch up and get current. The whole month of June was gloomy with gray skies and rain, but now we're supposed to finally start getting some summer weather so I'm tempted to play outside in my garden and maybe paint some rooms in our house. Paint dries faster in warm weather. :-)
Soon enough it will be time to gear up, get organized with our workshops and re-focus our energy on a new on-line venture we're working on. But, all that sounds like "work" and I think I should ease into it slowly... very slowly, starting right now. I'm going to take a break, and as Susan wrote, "It's summertime and the living is easy."
Till next month,
Take care.
P.S. I hope all our Canadian friends had a fun filled Canada Day and that our American friends have a great 4th of July!
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Volume 17, No. 07
July 2010
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