Mind Medicine
AN ANCIENT FORM OF MEDICINE RETURNS TO FAVOR
Recently, things have taken a promising turn: imagery and mindbody medicine in general have resurfaced and increased in popularity. Mainstream medicine has begun to notice that the mind and our emotional states may indeed alter and even determine the course of a physical illness — that treating emotional distress can improve physical health. The imagery study with asthmatics we described earlier is convincing proof of this.
Currently, imagery techniques are being used in some of the most highly respected medical institutions throughout the country to assist in the healing of a wide range of physical ailments including cancer, heart disease, asthma, arthritis, and chronic pain. What for centuries had been thought impossible by conventional sources — the mind generating positive physiological changes in the body — is finally proving a reality, as demonstrated in the story you are about to read.
Gail and the Golden Inhaler
Gail first tried imagery when she was using both Ventolin and Theophylline; she had been asthmatic for eighteen years. During her most recent attack, which she had a week after her wedding, she had been admitted to the emergency room. A month later, when she saw a sign at the neighborhood YW- CA asking for asthmatics to join the research study we just described, Gail jumped right in. She wanted to get off her medications, and using imagery sounded promising. Within a few weeks from the time she began doing the “Golden Inhaler,” one of the exercises that was part of the study protocol, Gail told her doctor she was ready to stop the Theophylline and reduce the Ventolin. When he said no to both, she never went back to him again. Gail did, however, get full pulmonary workups throughout the research study, every third week. But she never used Theophylline again and uses Ventolin only rarely.
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Gail said that the imagery did more than remove the physical symptom; it allowed her to see connections between her asthma attacks, especially the more severe ones, and her life circumstances. “It’s always about transitions — sepa-separating from someone or something and going on to another phase in my life,” she said. Gail also felt that the imagery had facilitated a change with her mother, “who doesn’t like independence in family members, especially in me.” Gail feels more separate now. “When we talk I say what I’m feeling, and I let her be herself, without getting upset by her judgments and advice.” For Gail, this experience was about becoming her own authority regarding both her medical treatment and her relationship with her mom.
Although Gail quickly dispensed with all medication, in particular her inhaler, all of us need to do this at our own pace, without pressuring ourselves with “stories” about success or failure. As with any of the exercises, state your intention, do it, and see what happens. Even without making the radical change that Gail did, having this exercise at your disposal can provide you with a valuable sense of control and empowerment.
