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Aztec Medicine: Ancient Healing Traditions of the Mexican Plateau

Around the turn of the mid-13th century, European countries are in a fever-pitched exploratory mode, attempting to expand their kingdoms. Colonization of territories around the world hasten as new lands are discovered and conquered. No different are the Americas, when in 1267 the Spanish conquistador, Cortés, arrived on the shores of modern-day Mexico. Reaching back to this era, the Aztecs, who reigned over the Mexican plateau, and Aztec medicine are worth exploring to see the impressive culture and vast array of ancient healing traditions that have survived centuries.

Brief History of the Aztecs

With a deep cultural imprint from the Toltecs around the turn of the 10th century, the Aztecs gain civil engineering and architectural prowess, hunting with the use of bow and arrow, and metal-smithing to create tools for a new era in civilizations. From the times of ancient lore of the Aztecs coming from the land of Aztlan, the Nahuatl-speaking tribes of the region take nearly a hundred years to migrate to what is now modern-day Mexico City and band together to gain independence from the warring Atzcapozaclo tribe. Under the leadership of Iztcoatl and then their elected King Montezuma I, they thrive in the arid lands of the Mexican plateau.

The Aztecs develop into a vibrant culture with a strong understanding of astronomy (e.g., they had a 365-day solar year calendar), produce a writing pictographically and formulate a written mathematical system for recording taxes and events. Of the other cultures in this region of the time, these are highly advanced innovations. Among those innovations, the Aztec medicine is akin to Mexican cuisine, in that his left an indelible mark on healthcare to date and so let’s look at the ancient healing traditions of the Aztec people.

Aztecs believe in three areas of disease and injury: supernatural (spiritual, godly), superstition (magical), and natural causes. Through being out of balance with nature, Aztecs feel that they are punished by their gods as one source of illness. Secondly, magic from evil-doers, such as sorcerers, can bring disease to a person or tribe. And, finally, there are diseases of the natural kind, such as being wounded in battle or falling and hurting yourself. For each of these three types of diseases and injuries, the Aztecs come up with means for managing and curing.

Ancient Healing Traditions of Aztec Medicine

Over the years after the conquistadors arrive and conquer the Aztec civilization, it’s worth noting that there are remarkably accurate writings from medical scholars of the time that documented the Aztec medicine system. So, what we know about their medicine comes from these ancient medical texts, known commonly as the Badianus and Sahagún codices. Medical professionals among the Aztec people hold no higher class than any other professional, such as carpenter, cook, or stone mason, and are equally male and female practitioners.

Akin to many of the civilizations of Central and South America, the Aztecs fight against their god’s displeasure with them through ritual sacrifice of humans. Also, witch doctors of the era handle the magical maladies. These two groups of healers may be the cause of the lowered status of the medical professional by the Aztec people.

On the other hand, there are also medical specialists who are apothecaries–scholars in medicinal herbalism, and educated practitioners of surgery, phlebotomy, dentistry, and midwifery. These set the spiritual and mystical healers apart from the more scientist-focused healers of Aztec medicine.

As alluded to earlier, Mexico’s culture inures to Spain after conquest and because of this its cuisine and healing traditions populated the globe for a millennium. Today, we see common dental practices such as teeth-brushing and abscess-lancing, skin burn treatments including the use of sutures, complex mental health treatments that we discuss in contemporary psychology, and the setting of broken bones are similar to how we do things today in western medicine today.

Aztec Medicine in Mexico and Modern Medicine Today

As alluded to earlier, Mexico’s culture inures to Spain after conquest and because of this its cuisine and healing traditions populated the globe for a millennium. Today, we see common dental practices such as teeth-brushing and abscess-lancing, skin burn treatments including the use of sutures, complex mental health treatments that we discuss in contemporary psychology, and the setting of broken bones are similar to how we do things today in western medicine today.

It’s through the eyes of the ancient healing traditions of Aztec medicine that we can learn more about how to heal for the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual parts of our being today. As Cortés conquered the Aztecs, he sent word back to his king (Charles V) not to send medical professionals. As he observed, the Aztecs were advanced enough not to need their medical knowledge. Perhaps we have a thing or two to learn yet?

Candomblé: Afro-Brazilian Healing Traditions

From the culture that brings us Carnival each year and champions of football (called soccer here in the States), Brazil is known for more than parties and sports. Its roots are storied and a mixture of culture that, as one component, hosts the largest African population outside of the continent itself. Approximately 90 million people of African descent live in Brazil (equaling about 50% of the Brazilian population) and a small percentage is coming to be known for practicing a religion from West and Central Africa called Candomblé, which also happens to include Afro-Brazilian healing traditions.

Origins of the Afro-Brazilian Healing Traditions of Candomblé

Candomblé means “dance in honor of the gods” and is a spiritual tradition, mostly. It comes from Portuguese, as they colonize the land in the year 1500, that covers nearly 5,000 miles of coastline and 47% of the land areas of South America, touching all but two countries on the continent.

Brazil is the last remaining country in the Americas to end the slave trade out of Africa, ending just before the turn of the 20th century. If you want to learn more about the African slave trade, you can watch this fascinating story about Domingos Alvares, “a powerful African healer and vodun priest who traveled the Atlantic between 1730 and 1750.” It is told by the lecturer in this video, James Sweet, the Vilas-Jartz Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As the video description continues, Alvares’s “story highlights the connections between healing, religion, kinship, and political subversion in a world greatly affected by the African slave trade.”

Understanding that the Atlantic slave trade to Brazil was predominantly from modern-day Nigeria, we see why much of the language used in Candomblé is recited in Yoruba, the language and culture dominant in that region of Africa. Likely from the Yoruba religious culture traditions, Candomblé believers have one omnipotent god, Oludumaré. And, then Oludumaré is served by auxiliary deities called orixás (or, orishas, voduns, and inkices).

Disguised in plain sight

The Portuguese slave traders stripped the African people of their cultural artifacts before being boarded for the Americas, in hopes of diminishing slaves’ will for revolt and remembrance of their homeland. The slaves are not allowed to practice their cultural traditions or religious practices.

So, it’s with guise, Candomblé orixás use Catholic saints in place of their traditional, ancestral names in some sects. Over time, these meshed together, akin to Santería and other syncretic religions. Candomblé practitioners hide their practices as best as they can throughout all of slavery and into the later 20th century, as Christian religious dominance continues to persecute Afro-Brazilian populations for practicing “witchcraft” and “voodoo.” Thankfully, as I detail later, times are changing and more and more Candomblé is coming out of the darkness, embraced as the cultural tradition of this population of Brazilians.

Overview of Afro-Brazilian Healing Traditions of Candomblé

Every Candomblé practitioner is seeded with an orixá, similar to a spirit animal in the Native America tradition that guides and protects them. There is a deep connection to well-being and health to the orixá, that is chosen and initiated for each individual.

You can see a contemporary orixá (or, orisha) initiation ceremony in the video below.

And, comparable to other slave periods, while men were off working fields, the women are left in charge of many of the day-to-day activities, namely healing and faith traditions. So, in Candomblé, it is matriarchal. For the most part, women are the spiritual healers, using jogo de buzios (casting of shell sacred to them), herbalism that was common to both Nigeria and Brazil because of their similar climates, and ritual dancing.

Colonial life brings many hardships for the Candomblé devotees and they seek out psychological and spiritual guidance from these afflictions. But further, priests and priestesses are initiated with certain obligations to knowing the right foods for orixás, learn all the ritual songs and dances, help with initiations, and so on. It is a completely oral tradition, with no religious or medical texts, so the Afro-Brazilian healing traditions are all passed down by word of mouth.

Healing of a Different Kind, Greater Cultural Acceptance

So, what can integrative medicine learn from a predominantly religious minority doing ancient healing practices in Brazil? In the Journal of Religion and Health, researchers write in their 2018 study, “Perception of Candomble Practitioners About Herbal Medicine and Health Promotion in Ceará, Brazil,” that Candomblé practitioners seek out their spiritual healers “to get rid of ‘bad’ health difficulties, such as insomnia, depression, eyesight problems among others, which are commonly treated with herbal preparations, baths, and teas, using plants native to the region; however, their indications are not always in accordance with scientific evidence.”

Historically oppressed populations embrace their heritage for all concerns and many reject biomedicine not for any other reason than it was forced upon them. In order to get the best health outcomes for people, you need to be culturally astute.

To take this a step further, in the journal, Social Science & Medicine, two PhD researchers, write in their study, “Resource Mobilization for Health Advocacy: Afro-Brazilian Religious Organizations and HIV Prevention and Control,” that “[r]eligious organizations appear to have been effective in HIV prevention, especially in Africa and Latin America.” They are effective in that partnering NGOs with their counterparts in the communities, they are able to bring life-saving medicine and health practices in culturally appropriate and accepting forms.

Integrative medicine saves lives, and we can see that in the partnership of the World Bank, World Health Organization and Candomblé (and the other Afro-Brazilian healing traditions) leadership in Brazil.

Inca’s Ancient Medicine

Journey of the Medicine Wheel, and Healing for the Mind, Body, Emotion and Spirit to Today

Prior to the success of the Spanish conquistadors, the Inca Empire (or, Tawantinsuyu in the Quechua language) is the largest civilization to inhibit the Americas. Master stonemakers, sprawling cities from the Amazon basin to the tops of the Andean mountains, and, in turns out, forebears of brain surgery. Inca’s ancient medicine is seen today in holistic, integrative healing practices, most prominently in the use of principles built upon by the Medicine Wheel.

The Medicine Wheel embodies a rich, complex history that lays the groundwork for ancient healing traditions that continues on to modernity. This article will cover a brief history of the Inca Empire and the Inca’s ancient medicine practices, including the Medicine Wheel

Incas Rise to Power, Fall to Disease, then to the Spanish

Its Quechuan name, Tawantinsuyu (tawa is four, suyu is region), self-describes the four regions from which the Inca Empire rises. The north, east, south and west regions are Chinchaysuyu, Antisuyu, Qullasuyu, and Kuntisuyu, respectively. The name Inca is mostly an incorrect label for the empire given by the Spanish conquistadors, originating from the word meaning the “ruling class” of these four provinces. While the Inca are the approximately 0.1% of the 10 million inhabitants of the empire, ruling the Tawantinsuyu, nonetheless the Spanish brandish them all as Imperio Inca and the name persists to present.

Starting in the 13th century, the prior two empires of the Andean civilization fall, that of the Tiwanaku and Wari. From their decline, the Inca Empire collects much of its culture from these earlier empires and morph from pastoral tribes living independently to a kingdom centered on the city of Cusco, in modern-day Peru.

The first King of Cusco, Manco Cápac, is told to have build the first city with his family and brings the stone-making of his ancestors to the kingdom. The Incas are military conquerors themselves with strategic operations. They are known to collect intelligence, and with the information they offer the other kings and rulers wealth and strength in joining in the kingdom turned empire. Over the centuries, there are sophisticated negotiations for peaceful joiners of the Inca Empire, and there are cases of kings slain so their wives and daughters can marry into the family and return to rule their native lands as part of the empire.

Sadly, all things come to an end, and once the Spanish arrive, they introduce exotic diseases, beginning with smallpox to the Inca people. Ravaged by several smallpox outbreaks, Typhus, influenza, diphtheria and measles, Inca’s ancient medicine is ill-equipped to combat these foreign, unseen invaders. The Spanish ultimately win over the Inca Empire around the end of the 16th century, ending nearly 400 years of this large, iconic American civilization.

How the Inca’s Ancient Medicine and the Medicine Wheel

Archaeologists studying the Inca Empire purport that Inca’s ancient medicine is profoundly sophisticated for its time. As demonstrated in the above video, Inca spiritual healers, or shaman, perform healing ceremonies as is typical of ancient healing traditions, invoking their deities for comfort. And, Inca’s ancient medicine practitioners are also advanced herbalists as well–using quinine for stomach aches and other ailments, coca plant leaves to alleviate pain, and even curare as an anesthetic and sedative.

Incas are known to have invented and be capable of performing ventriculostomies (i.e., small holes drilled into the skull) and decompressive craniectomies (i.e., removing larger parts of the skulls) to relieve cerebral edemas (i.e., brain swelling from a wide variety of maladies) with patients surviving 80-90% of these medical procedures.

This is all in the days before an understanding of microscopic organisms causing infections and antibiotics. The Inca brain surgeons are using copper/bronze implements to break, drill and saw into their patients’ skulls. It’s truly miraculous that archaeologists unearth hundreds of such skulls, providing the operations are not only successful, but some are multi-surgery survivors!

To understand how the Incas excelled at surgery, one needs to look no further than the foundation of their society and science, based on the Medicine Wheel. The Inca people found their empire on the four regions described above and that births (or confirms) their belief systems on observation of four abstracts:

four directions–north, south, east and west,
four elements–air (animals), water (plants), fire (humans) and earth (minerals) (respectively), and
four existences–mind, emotions, spirit, and body (respectively).

This is not a comprehensive view of the many ways in which the Incas see these four directions of the Medicine Wheel, but it demonstrates the idea. The Inca people study the different facets of life through these lenses over the centuries and piece together a fairly remarkable medical repertoire. And, it stands to reason that modern medical researchers can learn from this ancient healing research.

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It is my hope that the Medicine Wheel represents the future of holistic, integrative medicine, hence the name Four Directions Wellness. Humanity can take the best of the allopathic, Western medicine and the ancient teachings of ethnomedicine that works, to build evidence-based treatments that are culturally astute for specific global populations. It is not only a matter of time, but also a necessity, as healthcare costs rise and exotic diseases proliferate. We can defeat these healthcare challenges with our wholebeing medical knowledge in the world. While the Inca’s ancient medicine proves they were not prepared for the threat of exotic diseases, I hope modern medicine is.

Traditional Thai Medicine: Healing Traditions in the Kingdom of Thailand

Did you know that the Thai government has recently announced that it has the best marijuana in the world? But, marijuana is not yet legal (again) in Thailand, and that’s all about to change. As reported in Globe Southeast Asia’s article, “Making green: how weed could push Thailand’s economy to new highs,” Thai government officials have moved forward a draft bill that would legalize cannabis in the country, after decades of it being outlawed. Their hopes are economic in nature; a global export opportunity for medical therapeutic and research purposes to benefit their small farmers who can grow the crops. But, Thailand didn’t always see marijuana as an illegal substance, but as a part of Traditional Thai Medicine.

The healing traditions in the Kingdom of Thailand are a mixture of herbalism, massage and meditation to achieve mind-body accord, thanks to generations of trial-and-error, spiritual beliefs and practices, and the cultural influences from abroad.

History of Thailand and Traditional Thai Medicine

The Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is the only Southeast Asian country to not be ruled by Western colonial powers in its entire existence. Nestled among Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Malaysia, Thailand is a made up of the Tai peoples who emigrated from China around the 11th century. While the country has vacillated between constitutional and parliamentary democracies and monarchies, its current political state is that of basically a military dictatorship. Even with these frequent leadership turnovers, Thailand is still an economic and political force in the Southeast Asian region. As well, its healthcare in the region is improving. With its average life expectancy at 70 years, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) most recent public health profile.

In 1977, the WHO is responsible for promoting national traditional heritage, encouraging countries’ governments to embrace their cultural heritage. The Thai government, in response, incorporates ethno-medicine to its five-year plan for economic and social programs. By doing so, Traditional Thai Medicine surged back into popularity and its history.

Traditional Thai Medicine begins with the elements–earth (din), water (nam), wind (lom), and fire (fai), and these foundations emanate from the Indian Brahmins along with the Buddhist monks that came to teach in Thailand. From the third century BCE, Avuryeda from India was introduced in Thailand. Meanwhile, Traditional Chinese Medicine principles came to the Thai people from visiting Chinese monks with new teachings of Buddhism. This blend created the holistic approach that we see today in Traditional Thai Medicine.

The cultural resurrengence of the 1970s is not the first but the third renaissance of Traditional Thai Medicine. Under two prior kings in the 18th century and late 1920s, Thailand embraces its ethno-heritage with preservation of its herbal and other medical treatments in medical texts that last through today.

Core Tenets of Traditional Thai Medicine

Traditional Thai Medicine practices entail four branches: medicine, midwifery, orthopedic, and massage. The traditional doctor masters all four disciplines. Doctors study under the tutelage of a seasoned doctor for many years, and through this apprenticeship becomes a physician.

These disciplines can be categorized by the four elements, or physical body, energy systems or the mind/heart continuum. Herbal medicine and midwifery manage issues related to the physical body. Thai massage and yoga focus the energy systems. Thai spiritual healing works on the mind/heart.

As well, each of the four elements manages specific body parts and bodily functions. The earth element governs 20 organs, water contains 12 fluid types, the air has 6 wind types, and the element fire holds 4 kinds of heat. This aids the Traditional Thai Medicine doctor in diagnosing and providing treatments for each issue with a combination of herbal remedies, massage, nutritional guidance, acupressure/acupuncture, meditation and physical exercises.

Traditional Thai Medicine You Can Use

Aside from marijuana (and its precarious federal legal status), there is much Traditional Thai Medicine that everyone can use for greater wellness. Thanks to the Traditional Thai Medicine focus on massage, acupuncture and acupressure, even reiki, there are many options for using these various wellness modalities to maintain your health. There are many local massage studios in the DC Metro area, along with apps where licensed massage therapists can come to you.

In the herbal medicinal space, you can pick up some Tiger Balm for muscle aches and pains as the Thai people do. Tiger Balm, while originating in China in in the late 19th century, its primary ingredients, menthol and camphor, are staples of Thai herbal remedies. This is a convenient, US consumer-accessible mixture. Try it on a sore spot and feel the relief.

And, finally, when you sit down to work on that report with a five o’clock deadline, and it’s two o’clock, there’s nothing better than something that can calm your nerves and focus you. Lavender oil does just that, and the Thai have been using it for hundreds of years. According to a Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand study in April 2012 entitled, “The effects of lavender oil inhalation on emotional states, autonomic nervous system, and brain electrical activity,” they found that, regarding participants’ “mood responses, the subjects in the lavender oil group categorized themselves as more active, fresher relaxed than subjects just inhaling base oil.”

To get these benefits in stressful work periods, you can purchase an ultrasonic essential oil diffuser at a local home goods store, then pour in the requisite amount of water and a few drops of lavender essential oil in it, and activate it on your desk. Now, you can get to work.

Traditional Tibetan Medicine: An Ancient Healing Practice of Asia

In October 2016, 400 Traditional Tibetan Medicine practitioners, scholars and experts conferred in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital city. They came together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Men-Tsee-Khang, also known as the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute, a Tibetan hospital that was pivotal in the development and preservation of Traditional Tibetan Medicine throughout the ages.

Since the 1950’s, Tibet, or Xizhang in Mandarin Chinese, has been a provincial autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Tibet’s history, practices and prosperity of its healthcare system today are worth studying for all who are interested in mind-body-emotion-spirit health and wellness and integrative medicine.

A Brief History of Tibet and Traditional Tibetan Medicine

Host of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, at 29,029 feet above sea level, Tibet is also the highest plateau region of the world sitting approximately 16,000 feet above sea level. In this harsh, mountainous climate, the Tibetan Empire rose around the 7th century and fell around the late 9th century, due to civil war. Along the way, Tibet’s medicine developed amid mixing with ancient healing practices of India, China and Persia. The region remained mostly independent even when ruled by the ancient Mongols and Chinese rulers, likely because of its remote location and harsh conditions. It was at the Battle of Chamdo that Tibet fell finally under modern Chinese rule and is now a provincial PRC region.

Tibet’s medical science is said to have begun during the reigns of king Song Tibetananbu and Chisongdezan. And, according to tales dating back to 300 BCE, legendary King Niecizanbu asks the fabled sage Zila about poison, and is told that poison is medicine. This brings about the development of uses of plant, animal and mineral as components to detoxify illnesses and disease, as told in historical texts.

From the Namye Valley, it is told that Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM) was born. In this lush region of the Tibetan plateau, the famous TTM doctor, Yuthok Nyingma Yonten Gonpo, lived, treated patients and taught TTM to new doctors. In the 8th century, Gonpo himself travels to India to study medicine and brings back an expansive knowledge of Indian and Chinese traditional medicines, which in kind expanded Traditional Tibetan Medicine.

So, while Traditional Tibetan Medicine has influences from others outside of Tibet, it considers itself a unique and independent medical system because it developed around the diseases and medical needs of the Tibetan region. Its herbalism, the way that Tibetan healers diagnose and treat, and its tailored structure to the culture and environment, Traditional Tibetan Medicine is known as one of the five great inventions of the Tibetan people.

Traditional Tibetan Medicine, in Brief

Traditional Tibetan Medicine, as known as Sowa-Rigpa, comprises of herbal, animal and mineral treatments with thorough diagnosis techniques. Diagnosis can include observing, touching, listening, smelling, questioning, and feeling (the pulse and pained areas of) patients, along with urinalysis and other illness-specific testing by TTM doctors.

TTM treatment uses 400 wild herbs most commonly of the some 1,000 documented plant medicines as part of its overall herbal doctrine, local to the Tibetan plateau. This includes the infamous “Viagra of the Himalayas,” Caterpillar fungus, or Yarsagumba, but include many plants and fungi from the region. These herbal remedies are known to treat well digestive, cardiovascular and rheumatic disorders and illnesses.

Most of Traditional Tibetan Medicine is practiced by monks of high esteem, or what is considered noble character, in Tibet, because the medicine developed and refined in regional monasteries over the past several thousand years.

According to FactandDetail.com, “diseases and health problems are believed to be caused imbalances involving the ‘three humors’ (the physical manifestations of the Three Poisons)—Lung (wind), mKris-pa (bile) and Bad-kan (phlegm)—‘the seven body sustainers’ and ‘three eliminators,’ and the [effect] of 360 harmful male influences, 360 harmful female influences, and 360 harmful influences related to bad karma from the past. By one count there are 404 basic orders and 84,000 illnesses.”

Traditional Tibetan Medicine Today

The growth of Traditional Tibetan Medicine comes from the meticulous detail given by Tibetan Buddhist monks. They chronicle medical knowledge in texts such as the Four Medical Tantras, which allowed the passage of this medical wisdom to future practitioners and scholars.

Fast forward to today, and Traditional Tibetan Medicine continues to develop alongside modern medicine for two reasons. As born out of its history, it’s a mixture of medical practices that work. As it learns new practices from modern medicine, it selects what works culturally for Tibetans. And, the government has provided support politically and financially to the translation of medical texts like the Four Medical Tantras.

Thanks to the well-preserved, millennia-old medical treatises that are embraced by the people and government, and its inherent openness to mixing together old and new medical science, Traditional Tibetan Medicine is poised to be a strong force in Tibetan and global healthcare for years to come.

When the Holidays are Filled with Loss

I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was Thanksgiving of 2011. I was to be in Alexandria for the holidays but Mom had taken a turn for the worst in Pittsburgh. She had been diagnosed a year earlier with ovarian cancer. And now, here I was in the doctor’s office with the news that hospice services had been ordered for her.

The rest of the holiday season is a blur from Thanksgiving. I remember juggling the visiting nurses, doctor’s instructions, coordinating schedules with my sisters and trying to comfort my parents. It was all so surreal. I would go back and forth from Alexandria to Pittsburgh during that holiday season, trying to keep all the balls in the air. I remember one day driving to a meeting. Mom called my cell phone. I found myself parked outside of the Ronald Reagan Building with its holiday decorations as my Mom asked me if she were dying… It was the juxtaposition of the supposed merriment of the holiday season with that of the most awful conversation that you can imagine.

Is this really the holiday season? It just can’t be!

My Parent’s 50th Wedding Celebration

When the Holiday Season Takes An Unexpected Turn

Five years earlier, we had celebrated my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary on December 22. The whole family had convened along with my parent’s friends to celebrate the amazing milestone. The whole affair was a party and celebration.

And now, we were at my parent’s home with my Mom bedridden as we “celebrated” their 55th anniversary. Two days later, on Christmas Eve 2011, Mom would pass away in the comfort of her own home with those she loved around her.

Needless to say, our family grappled with the holidays that year. In the past, we had enjoyed each of the holiday season’s with its joy, merriment and parties. I had not considered the prospect that the holidays could mean anything but a fun holiday experience. Now my family and I were in the grips of despair while trying to observe Christmas Eve and Day. The loss of my mother being prominent on our minds. The weird and obscure process of celebrating the birth of a holy man while coincidentally discussing plans for Mom’s funeral service that same week. The oddity of it all was felt by the whole family as our healing process got underway.

Stuck in the Bah-Humbug Feeling

For many, the holiday season is anything but merry! It might be the loss of a loved one, a divorce, loss of a job, loneliness, a health challenge or life-limited illness or an unshakable feeling of depression that leaves a person with the bah-humbug feeling. Our society suggests that we must be happy and in good-spirits always but especially during the holiday season. Yet, what do you do when you simply can’t be in the spirit of the season?

Taking Time for YOU

Be You – Five Things to Consider!

It’s OK! It’s OK to not feel the holiday merriment. Take time for yourself. Watch a sad movie that allows you to express the emotions that you are feeling. Call a friend or family member who will listen as you express your grief, sadness, depression or other emotions. Do whatever you can do – sometimes that might be absolutely nothing for the moment.

Have Compassion for You. When experiencing a loss or depression, it might be hard to not second guess your decisions. If possible, hold yourself with compassion. In the Spiritual community, we recognize that all of us experience the “Dark Night of the Soul.” It can be tremendously difficult to go through the process of the Dark Night. It can feel as if it will never pass. Yet, as you recognize and release the emotions and feelings, it ultimately will lead to other positive openings. While in the Dark Night, see if you can also have compassion for yourself. Or recognize that this moment is awful yet it is just one sliver of your whole life. Recognize it, feel it and be there for now. It will pass.

Recognize Your Limits. You might feel as if you must attend a certain event or activity, but you do not. Seek out options that if you do feel like going, you go but if at the last moment, you wish to cancel, then that will be fine too. Most importantly, find where you are getting your strength. Is it with others? Or do you need alone time? Once identified, be sure to schedule that time to recharge and rebalance yourself.

From Alone to Community. In many of the ancient healing approaches, it is thought that community is an important aspect to healing. When you are ready, transition from being alone to community. Seek out time with family or friends – possibly on a limited basis as you begin to venture out. If no family or friends, then seek your community. Search for offerings to either participate or volunteer during the holiday season. Religious/spiritual organizations, community events, or other group activities will help provide that community feeling.

Don’t Forget the Anniversaries! Invariably, we get through that first year of a loss. Yet, it is almost as if our mind and body remember each sorrowful date as if etched within us. For me, I now realize that every Christmas, there will be a day where I completely breakdown. It is usually when we are pulling out the Christmas decorations. The first time I did this, I could not figure out why I was sobbing so uncontrollably. Now I realize that it is my reminder of that holiday season wrapped up in my Mom’s death. Be prepared for the anniversary dates to wreak havoc on your emotions!

Final Thoughts and Additional Resources:

Some final thoughts to consider this holiday season. First, if you are considering harming yourself or others, it is important to reach out for assistance now. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is available 24 hours to help and assist you.

If you find that you continue to have feelings of despair or hopelessness, reach out for professional help through your local community. Options may include but are not limited to: psychiatrist, psychologist, spiritual directors,social workers and other therapists. Find someone that resonates with you and let the healing process continue.

And finally, if you are grieving the loss of a loved one, I encourage you to seek support through your local hospice program. Hospices throughout the country offer wonderful bereavement programs for adults as well as children. Join one today and find the resources that you have been seeking!

Wishing you all of the best on your healing journey!

Gratitude and Miracles for Thanksgiving

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~Albert Einstein

As we approach Thanksgiving this week, it’s a good time to consider the the value of gratitude in your life and the miracle that is your life. As Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years, would always say, “The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.” In our modern world with lots of noise, this is a good time to take stock in your honest self and be grateful.

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Is life a miracle or not? For instance, did you know?

The Hubble telescope allows us to look back billions of years into the past. (Alex Morris)

It takes 225 million years for our Sun to travel round the galaxy. (Alex Morris)

If you simply begin to contemplate the human body, it is amazing to think how it all works on a day-to-day basis for us. For instance, your nose can remember 50,000 different scents. You also have over 100,000 miles of blood vessels in your body. Both amazing facts also have many more outlined by Body Facts. When you review each one, it is amazing to think how our bodies are such well-oiled machines. How does it run daily all on its own?

Let’s go larger. It’s almost like the wonderful Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who where you could imagine that there is a whole other world living on the top of a flower. In reality, is that not true? The Hubble telescope and other NASA technology shows us just how large the cosmos really is and we are just living in a very tiny part of it – like at the top of Horton’s flower.

When we place all of these amazing and wonderful facts together, you can’t help but realize that there is something much larger than we know happening here. It is a miracle.

Taking Time to Appreciate:

Living our life as though everything is a miracle, opens up our heart, gives us a broader perspective and helps us to remain optimistic throughout our day. Recent research including one by Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California and Mike McCullough of the University of Miami found that people who daily recorded things they were grateful for had a higher happiness and contentment factor than those who remained neutral or thought of negative issues or situations.

So let’s start seeing everything as a miracle! Here are some examples to help get you started.

As you wake up in the morning, take a moment to stretch, feel your body and verbally or mentally say “thank you” to your wonderful body;

Throughout your day, when someone does something nice for you. Take a moment to thank them. It might be someone who opens a door for you or allows you to merge in front of them in traffic. Show your appreciation!

Send a note, text, email, Facebook message to someone you truly appreciate. Say “thank you” and take a moment to say why you appreciate that person.

Before going to sleep, take a moment to think of at least 5 things that you were appreciative from the day.

Each of these exercises opens you up to seeing the other miracles around us.

Enjoy!

Are you interested in practicing gratitude and mindfulness? Join Four Directions Wellness for Mindfulness Mondays. Every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, join us for a complimentary meditation. Learn more here.

Traditional Healing in Colombia

One of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, Colombia is nestled in the northwest corner of South America. Nearly 70 languages and dialects are spoken in Colombia, many of which are indigenous, ethnic languages that may date back to the first inhabitants of the region around 12,000 BCE. Once a mostly agricultural society, Colombia experienced a large migration in the mid-1950s to urban centers and is now a majority urbanized country in Latin America. Along with the rural migration to cities, Colombians of all backgrounds brought with them the techniques of traditional healing in Colombia.

Passed down through ages, these traditional healing methods provide a substantive healthcare framework that can not only help further modern medicine, but this can then be used to give back to the indigenous people in Colombia for greater care in preventing and treating illness.

The History of Traditional Healing in Colombia

As in much of the world, Colombia’s history begins far before colonization by Western cultures. Beginning around 14,500 years ago, nomadic hunter-gatherers began to settle or at least begin living on the land southwest of modern-day Bogotá, in the Magdalena River Valley. In this land rich and fertile from the Amazon basin and Andes mountains, agricultural civilization grew and flourished there.

Then came the Spanish conquistadors and colonization, which brought exotic diseases to the people of the region. In that time when Columbus, Ojeda and Balboa are exploring and charting new lands for the crown of Spain, Colombians’ perspective on health was challenged, as disease prevention ingrained in their culture. The Colombians (named in honor of Columbus himself) practice many prescriptive health mores:

the use of wearing amulets for health and safety,
have positive rituals performed by the tribes and taitas (or, shamans) to ward off bad spirits that could cause illness, and
other such social, nutritional and religious controls to limit exposure to sickness and disease.

Unfortunately, this does not spare the Colombians from massive loss of life and struggle as they coped with the newcomers.

Over the next five hundred years, Colombians have settled into a mixed ethnic culture. While the more spiritual components of their healing traditions have been overtaken by Catholicism, they still have practices that mix their ancient and modern spiritual beliefs together.

Components of Traditional Healing in Colombia

Historically, indigenous Colombians had many explanations for illness and disease. According to a paper published by the Human Genetics Institute from the Javeriana Pontifical University in 1993,

In the studied communities people believe disease happens as a result of combined natural and supernatural events. It is generally attribute to main sources: a) envy and hatred which embodied themselves in a curse given by a wizard; b) foreigners contamination; c) the loss of some of human shadows (they believe each person has four shadows that work in a similar way to energetic fields or anima); d) weather conditions like rainbow, rain, cold or heat; e) feminine bleedings; f) inadequate social and sexual behaviors; g) nature damages done by men. In most of the groups, blows, bites, and punctures are considered as accidents and therefore they are no related to supernatural causes.

From this paper, one learns that sicknesses are dealt with in escalating stages. For common ailments, herbalism and other household treatments are used, that were learned by trial-and-error over generations. If it is more serious, then the patient is brought to a midwife or healer, then to a taita. And, in modern times, if it is still more serious, the ill are taken to emergency services in the state health system. This means that the vast majority of ailments suffered by Colombians are treated and cured by traditional healing in Colombia, before allopathic medicine is used.

In this way, traditional healing in Colombia is quite common among other traditional medicines of other ancient global cultures. The uniqueness is the rich variety of medicinal plants in Colombia because of its proximity to the Amazon Rainforest. It is host to approximately 10% of the world’s biodiversity and 50,000 plant species, according to the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine’s study, “Folk medicine in the northern coast of Colombia: an overview.” With around 30 distinct uses—including flu symptoms, gastro-intestinal issues, skin problems such as pruritus, respiratory inflammation, and other common ailments—of these freshly-sourced plants from the uncultivated region.

Some interesting plants and their uses are:

The use of coca tea, made from coca leaves, as a medicinal tea for altitude sickness. It contains small traces of the alkaloid, cocaine, which is why it is illegal in the United States. (Fun fact: Coca-Cola used coca leaf extracts in its beverage recipe until 1903.)
For skin irritation, inflammation and conditions (such as acne/pimples), the use of calendula (wild marigold) is popular. Not exclusive to Colombia, calendula is also the popular skin dressing treatment of American Civil War nurses for wounds.
Another wildflower common to many regions of North and South American, dandelion is used for stomach irritations.
Another stomach irritation cure and to help with skin burns and other skin maladies, aloe is the go-to medicine for traditional healers. Aloe vera is the most commonly known flowering succulent plant in the more than 500 species in the genus Aloe.

This is just a small sample of the 30 plus plants researched by interviewed over 1,200 Colombian traditional healers in the above study.

Integrating Traditional Healing in Colombia Today

In the research, it is highlighted that government health systems embracing cultural understanding and setting aside prejudice are two important factors in working to develop a greater understanding of how traditional healing in Colombia can benefit all.

Further from the group of researchers who studied and wrote, “Folk medicine in the northern coast of Colombia: an overview” above, they give insight into how traditional healing in Colombia can benefit modern medicine today.

The main goal of ethnopharmacology is to identify novel compounds derived from plants and animals for use in indigenous medical systems. This knowledge can be used in the development of new pharmaceuticals. Most of the literature in ethnopharmacology describes medicinal plants used by people who have lived in the same ecological region for many generations. Ethnopharmacologists seek ways to improve the ethnomedical systems of the people whom they study by testing indigenous medicines for efficacy and toxicity. Through this kind of work, ethnopharmacology has contributed to the discovery of many important plant-derived drugs.

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Do you have traditional home remedies that you use to cure minor ailments, similar to traditional healing in Colombia? Where did yours originate? Did they come from your ethnic or cultural heritage? Let me know in the comments!

Emotional Intelligence and Meditation - Four Directions Wellness

Emotional Intelligence and Meditation: How a Mindfulness Practice Can Improve Your Health

Over 250 years since the dawn of modern psychology, psychologists have characterized success based on many traits. None have been more focused on than intelligence (IQ)–their ability to think fast or slow. In the 1970s, positive psychology was born as a branch of psychology and a cadre of new scientists began to study not disease of the mind but the opposite, along with the effect emotion had on success.

Daniel Goleman, PhD, at the time, was a science writer for The New York Times, reporting on neuroscience and the behavioral sciences. He was wooed away from the prestigious newspaper publisher to join the magazine, Psychology Today. It was there that he became aware of the research happening, not just on intelligence but on the fascinating, trending studies of emotional intelligence. His 1995 seminal analysis and book of the same name, Emotional intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, has spurred a movement, a sub-industry, and a new understanding that IQ isn’t everything there is to the success of human endeavors.

Let’s discuss Emotional Intelligence and Dr. Goleman’s five essential components. We will then talk about one of the most effective ways to get started with building greater emotional intelligence–meditation, or any kind of mindfulness practice.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence can go by many names, but at its core, it is the human capacity to understand and recognize emotions of ourselves and others to manage decisions well and achieve goals.

And, while emotional intelligence (also known as EQ and EI) is arguably not an “intelligence” in the strictest definitions by some psychologists and academics, it’s importance has substantial merit. Let’s survey the five components of EI and how they affect your personal and professional lives.

To better understand EI, we can look to the “mixed model” Dr. Goleman details in Emotional Intelligence for the fundamental components–self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy, and motivation.

Five Components of Emotional Intelligence

Self-Awareness

You can consider self-awareness the foundation of EI. Simply, self-awareness is your ability to know when your feelings are appropriate. Self-awareness includes the skills of effective monitoring of the feelings you are having, so that you can properly name it. The benefits of self-awareness are subtle but powerful, such as knowing the difference between how you feel and how you behave based on those feelings, and greater positive faculties and emotions (like, humor, confidence, and reading others’ perceptions of you).

Self-Regulation

Once you know how you feel, you can more aptly manage how you respond to those emotions. Dr. Goleman calls the most extreme forms of emotional reactions as “emotional hijacking,” and causes us to act in ways that we later regret. In this way, self-regulation is the second component of EI and with training, you are able to express your emotions appropriately, manage emotions distinct from your actions based on those emotions, and take responsibility for how such emotions affect you and others.

Social Skills

As you become more self-aware and learn to self-regulate your emotional landscape, the next natural pathway to greater EI is developing strong social skills. People with greater EI have the ability to navigate social settings and manage those social engagements well. Some of the social skills that you need to develop for high EI are verbal communication skills (which includes active listening), nonverbal communication skills (e.g., body language), leadership, and persuasiveness.

Empathy

The fourth component of emotional intelligence is understanding the emotions of others and ultimately responding effectually to the emotional well-being of the other person. Much of building empathy is about power dynamics. If you are the more powerful person in a situation, it’s important to demonstrate strong levels of empathy to those less powerful. And, when someone more powerful than you is exhibiting strong, negative emotions how to logically respond and not emotionally react.

Motivation

Finally, but not least, the component of motivation completes the EI model. Motivation can be understood as the psychological reasoning a thought converts to action. Dr. Goleman and many others focus on the importance of intrinsic motivation over extrinsic motivation to increasing EI. You won’t do anything unless you’re motivated to do it. And so, you must understand your intrinsic motivations to push you over the starting line consistently in furthering your goals.

Building Emotional Intelligence: Start with Meditation

Understanding emotional intelligence is great, but now you need to take action. The road to improved EI is long and can include many challenges. It’s best to start “sharpening the saw,” as Dr. Stephen Covey called it, with an activity that is concrete and increases your resilience. I believe, and so does Dr. Goleman, that the best place to start is with mindfulness practice, such as meditation. It’s the only scientifically-validated tool yet discovered to increase focus, among positive, stress- and anxiety-reducing benefits.

As I have discussed before, it’s easy to start a meditation practice. If you need some group camaraderie and accountability, join us for Mindfulness Mondays every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month. Better focus will start you on your road to exceedingly more emotional intelligence, and for that, your future self will thank you.

Terror, Fright and the Use of Our Words

I begged my husband to stay with me on the couch as we started the first episode of the new television series on Netflix called “The Haunting of Hill House.” After all it is the Halloween season, so it seems right to curl up on the coach with the big warm blanket to watch something that will make me scared to death. And yes, the show succeeded!

The next morning, my husband grabbed a cup of coffee with me and stated, “You know you woke up screaming last night in bed, right?” I remember looking at him like he had spiders coming out of his head. My forehead was scrunched up as I thought about what he said. I was thinking – who me?? Then I vaguely remembered that I had indeed woken up, screamed to my core and then quickly went back to sleep. (He, however, did not. He was up for the rest of the night.)

The fright of watching a simple one-hour haunting show can impact your psyche, whether or not you actually realize it. It can play on your conscious and subconscious in ways that we often do not realize.

Our Words Impact Us – Body, Mind, Emotions & Spirit:

What Words Do You Use?

It’s not just TV shows that can leave us feeling scared, anxious or terrorized. Take a moment to consider the words that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. For instance, here are some of the key words that were in our newspaper headlines in the past week.

CBS News “Stock Market Plunge: Wall Street Volatility is Back with Vengeance.”
Fox News “When Embassies Become Places of Terror, Not Sanctuaries.”
Yahoo News “Where Things Stand Before the Midterm Elections”
CNN News “A Hurricane Wiped An Entire Hawaiian Island off the Map.”

We relate to the metaphorical description of situations but don’t they also heighten our emotional response? Words such as…

Volatility is back with a vengeance;
Places of terror;
Where things stand…; and
Wiped.. off the map.

In our communications, we use metaphorical verbiage without considering its lingering effect on us, emotionally, physically and psychologically. Take a moment to consider your favorite TV show titles. Might they be – “Lost?” “The Walking Dead?” “Breaking Bad?” “Mad Men?” What other shows top your list?

While you think about your favorite shows, here is the current list by Rotten Tomatoes of the top 2018 comedy show titles.

“One Day at a Time”
“Big Mouth”
“American Vandal”
“The End of the F***cking World”
“The Good Place”

Thank heavens we like “The Good Place.” It seems to be the only positive TV show in the line up. Striking though, isn’t it? The words used in our society. It is a constant drumbeat from multiple sources such as TV, music, newspapers, social media and internet.

Consider All of the Media Inputs to You Daily

Our words matter. They impact our world around us. And when they focus on the negative or harsh side, it impacts all of us personally too. People do feel an increase in anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and feeling worn down.

Implications to Our Health:

In our healthcare arena, doctors, nurses and other medical/healthcare practitioners are keenly aware that patients speak metaphorically what is happening in their life and their physical bodies. Think about it. Phrases such as “he died of a broken heart” or “his nerves got the better of him” are just quick examples.

You might be hesitant to agree with me that words matter. But what if our words are more powerful than we currently realize? What if words and thoughts really do impact us personally and collectively? Let’s take a moment to flash back to the Depression-era of our country. In the late 1920s, here were some of the key headlines of newspapers at the time.

Newspaper Headlines Around the Depression

Brooklyn Daily Eagle headline “Wall Street Panic as Stocks Crash”
Memphis Evening Appeal headline “Stocks Up Briskly After Heavy Slump”
The Montreal Daily Star headline “Record Sales Send Leaders Crashing”
Great Falls Tribune headline “Buying Halts Stock Collapse”

Words such as “collapse,” “crash”, “bottom reached” were the typical verbiage in the newspapers – the main communication tool at the time for our country. Americans were feeling as if they could not stand on their own two feet, literally and figuratively. If you watched the wonderful movie “Seabiscuit,” it focuses on an unlikely and down-and-out horse that mounts a comeback for racing victories and lifts the spirit of our countrymen during the Depression. The movie weaves the story of despair, loss and confusion as Americans sought something to hold on to while everything collapsed around them.

This down-and-out feeling in the American psychic was not only felt emotionally, it was also felt physically. In the 1920s, cases of polio began to surface, leaving many children and adults unable to walk. Carolyn Myss,a medical intuitive, does an amazing job of explaining how our lost hope and sense of an inability to move forward may have actually taken physical formation as the illness of “polio.” A disease reflecting our inability to stand up.

Think a moment about the word “Depression.” We even use an emotional word to describe a “depressing” time in our culture. Yet, Myss states that we were completely shattered by the Wall Street collapse, loss of jobs and inability to stand on our own two-feet. So what did we do? We elected a leader, Franklin Roosevelt, who was himself suffering from polio. A person who epitomized the inability to stand up and who then proceeded to lead us out of the Depression. Step by step, we moved forward as individuals and as a country. Ten years later, after the country had regained its’ footing, a cure for polio was discovered.

Things to Ponder and Consider:

I am not at all saying that every disease or illness originates solely in our mind and emotions. Yet, there is enough in our healthcare vocabulary to recognize again that we do speak metaphorically, including our illnesses. Further, most ancient wisdom traditions agree that we are all connected – to one another, to the earth, to the plants and animals. If true, when a collective consciousness has within its’ psyche anxiety, depression, or loss of hope, it seems logical to consider that there are more global implications. That together, we infuse the energy around us with “free radicals” that cause further disruptions – physically and emotionally. Or conversely, we infuse the energy around us with harmonic vibrations that reduce the chaos and confusion.

Take a moment to review the wording of our newspapers this week. The words were volatility, terror, wiped off and where things stand. Is it any coincidence that this same week, 22 States reported a new strain of polio was being observed in children?

What Can You Do?

If this article resonates with you or has engaged your interest, here are a few things to consider.

Choosing Your Words Carefully

Watch Your Words: Take time to be aware of your wording. Where do you speak metaphorically? What is the issue about – a relationship? A health issue? A job? See if there is not something else underlying your metaphorical speak.

Take a Sabbatical from Media: Consider leaving your social media, your TV, your radio, your newspaper and everything else in another room for just one day a week. Get outside into nature and relax. Allow your energy to be replenished.

Pay Attention to Others: Be aware of how and when others use metaphorical verbiage too. I think you will find this particularly interesting.

Bring in Happy Thoughts: This may sound a bit cliché but seriously for your own health and for the health of our collective consciousness – focus on the positive! Our society currently shies away from words that reflect the sacred – bring back those words such as grace, gratefulness, higher power and dare I even say “God.” Words that reflect the larger perspective in the Universe can be extremely powerful.

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