Spiritual Ayurveda in Allopathic & Holistic Practice: Case Studies
http://www.ayurvedahc.com/articlelive/articles/317/1/Spiritual-Ayurveda-in-Allopathic-amp-Holistic-Practice-Case-Studies/Page1.html
Kul Anand, MD, CAy, OMD
Medical Doctor, Certified Ayurveda Practitioner, Licensed Acupunturist. Graduation from International Vedic Institute's School of Ayurveda. Offers spiritual ayurveda at his job in hospice and in private holistic practice. By Kul Anand, MD, CAy, OMD
Published on 10/18/2007
After practicing Ayurvdic Medicine for a few years, I have come to the realization that spiritual counseling is a more powerful healing tool than diet and herbs. In fact I use herbs rarely in my practice.
Spiritual Ayurveda in Allopathic & Holistic Practice: Case Studies
I am an allopathic physician with certification in acupuncture and Ayurveda. Most of my patients are health professionals such as nurses, doctors, and social workers, etc. Some patients are referred by physicians (MD's) for Ayurvedic treatment.
Heres how a typical consultation develops. At the first appointment a patient is assessed fully Ayurvedically. I also review allopathic diagnoses, lab results and medications. Patient is started on medical Ayurvedic Therapy, including dosha diet and life style suggestions.
When the patient shows signs of improvement after about 2 or 3 weeks, they become amazed at how miraculous the healing effect and how simple the therapies, and thus become more open to spiritual therapy discussion. So then I gradually introduce the topic of Dharma. As the patient continues to improve, the patient is weaned off the doctors and medications. The patients begins to appreciate that health needs active participation of the patient. Encouraged by the improvement the patient continues with spiritual counseling.
I find when I start up with diet and herbs I'm looking after physical disease mainly which is medical ayurveda. Patient make some improvement and then we get ÒstuckÓ and cannot go any further in making more gains in health. I find it best to avoid this situation in the first place. I was trained by International Vedic Institute School of Ayurveda where Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha Ji emphasized the importance of spirituality. Though it took me sometime to grasp this modality of healing and now I use it routinely and find it extremely useful. I don't insist on any particular path to spirituality but enourage the patient to continue with his/her same path. Most of my patients have a busy and hectic lifestyle and don't have a lot of time to grasp the details of spiritual approach to healing. I use simple figures, example fig. 1 and 2, and example table 1 to highlight in a relatively simple way certain spirituality healing concepts.
As spiritual counseling unfolds, I usually see a marked improvement, not only that physical symptoms continue to improve or resolve but see a big decrease in negativity and increase in positive thinking. The patient begins to get a sense of peace and harmony within. This is not surprising because spirituality gets to the root causes of physical and mental disorders.
To illustrate this point I would like to describe an approximately sixty years old senior health professional who was running a high blood pressure (systolic of 160-170 mmHg and diastolic of 100-110) inspite of the face that she was taking three types of antihypertensives which included B-blockers, ACE inhibitors, and diuretics. She was very stressed and anxious as her blood pressure did not respond to these medications. With spiritual therapy her blood pressure began to decrease and her last blood pressure at her last visit, after approximately three months of spiritual therapy, was 110/70. She was looking forward to seeing her private MD to request him to either stop one of the medications or decrease their dosages. She became more relaxed and had a sense of peace and harmony within.
In another case, a 70 year-old patient who had coronary artery bypass surgery, came under my care for rehabilitation. During morning rounds I found that she had multiple symptoms each day, such as back pain, fatigue, or dizziness, and looked somewhat sad. On the the fourth day of rounds I asked her if she had any problems that I could help her with, because she looked sad. Tears came to her eyes and she said, "I am alone in this world." I asked if she had children, and she said she had one daughter who doesn't call or visit her, and doesn't care about her. At that point, I gently put my hand over her hand, looked into her eyes, and said, "Mrs. Jones, when I left India many decades ago, my parents said to me, my son you are going far away, but one thing you should realize is that you will never be alone. God is always with you." The patient said, "Thank you so much for reminding me of what I had forgotten." After that day, she looked much better, happier, and from the next day after our conversation, she stopped having physical symptoms. She was discharged after two weeks, and asked if I would accept her as a patient."
So with both case studies, I found by simply relating to the patient on a spiritual level, healing occurred spontaneously and completely. I show the below chart to the patients, explaining to them they are sitting in the negative emotions, and healing occurs when they switch to the positive emotions.
INSERT TABLE 1
Next, I offer my patients a method for them to move their thoughts to the positive end of the spectrum. It is something I have read in Bhagavad Gita, and in Yoga Vani, and also told to me in conversation with Swami Sadashiva Tirtha. Finding this method very beneficial myself, I share it with the patients, adapting it to my patient's situation. I say, 'whoever is your God, they are full of peace and harmony and devoid of all the negative emotions. Sit for five minutes and picture God in your mind, and feel the divine qualities they possess.' This simple spiritual suggestion seems to be effective, and the patients' benefits begin to occur almost immediately.
The logical question may follow, how is it possible that this simple meditation method can bring about such quick and dramatic healing? I show the patient a chart (see fig. 1) why spirituality heals the body. First it calms the mind, which in turn positively alters the brain to secrete healthy chemicals, hormones, and enzymes into the body, thereby healing spontaneously occurs.
INSERT FIG 1
To sum up I would like to say that spiritual counseling is a powerful healing tool and is effective fairly fast, that is within 2-3 weeks. And the benefit continues. Not only does it bring relief to many symptoms but the patients look more relaxed and able to cope with stress more effectively and develop good relationships within their families, friends, and workplace. In addition they experience a sense of peace and harmony within. Finally, the patient discovers that healing occured from within themselves - by themselves. They do not need to rely on or pay of external healing modalities. This is the essence of spiritual counseling - self-reliance for self-healing and Self-Realization.
All I do is recognize and address the person as soul rather than illness, and the healing occurs on its own; leaving me more time to focus on my own spiritual growth.
References
Ayurveda + Mind by David Frawley
Ayurveda Encyclopedia by Swami Sadashiva Tirtha
Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times by Swami Sadashiva Tirtha
Yoga Vani: Instructions for the Attainment of Siddhayoga by Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha
Heres how a typical consultation develops. At the first appointment a patient is assessed fully Ayurvedically. I also review allopathic diagnoses, lab results and medications. Patient is started on medical Ayurvedic Therapy, including dosha diet and life style suggestions.
When the patient shows signs of improvement after about 2 or 3 weeks, they become amazed at how miraculous the healing effect and how simple the therapies, and thus become more open to spiritual therapy discussion. So then I gradually introduce the topic of Dharma. As the patient continues to improve, the patient is weaned off the doctors and medications. The patients begins to appreciate that health needs active participation of the patient. Encouraged by the improvement the patient continues with spiritual counseling.
I find when I start up with diet and herbs I'm looking after physical disease mainly which is medical ayurveda. Patient make some improvement and then we get ÒstuckÓ and cannot go any further in making more gains in health. I find it best to avoid this situation in the first place. I was trained by International Vedic Institute School of Ayurveda where Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha Ji emphasized the importance of spirituality. Though it took me sometime to grasp this modality of healing and now I use it routinely and find it extremely useful. I don't insist on any particular path to spirituality but enourage the patient to continue with his/her same path. Most of my patients have a busy and hectic lifestyle and don't have a lot of time to grasp the details of spiritual approach to healing. I use simple figures, example fig. 1 and 2, and example table 1 to highlight in a relatively simple way certain spirituality healing concepts.
As spiritual counseling unfolds, I usually see a marked improvement, not only that physical symptoms continue to improve or resolve but see a big decrease in negativity and increase in positive thinking. The patient begins to get a sense of peace and harmony within. This is not surprising because spirituality gets to the root causes of physical and mental disorders.
To illustrate this point I would like to describe an approximately sixty years old senior health professional who was running a high blood pressure (systolic of 160-170 mmHg and diastolic of 100-110) inspite of the face that she was taking three types of antihypertensives which included B-blockers, ACE inhibitors, and diuretics. She was very stressed and anxious as her blood pressure did not respond to these medications. With spiritual therapy her blood pressure began to decrease and her last blood pressure at her last visit, after approximately three months of spiritual therapy, was 110/70. She was looking forward to seeing her private MD to request him to either stop one of the medications or decrease their dosages. She became more relaxed and had a sense of peace and harmony within.
In another case, a 70 year-old patient who had coronary artery bypass surgery, came under my care for rehabilitation. During morning rounds I found that she had multiple symptoms each day, such as back pain, fatigue, or dizziness, and looked somewhat sad. On the the fourth day of rounds I asked her if she had any problems that I could help her with, because she looked sad. Tears came to her eyes and she said, "I am alone in this world." I asked if she had children, and she said she had one daughter who doesn't call or visit her, and doesn't care about her. At that point, I gently put my hand over her hand, looked into her eyes, and said, "Mrs. Jones, when I left India many decades ago, my parents said to me, my son you are going far away, but one thing you should realize is that you will never be alone. God is always with you." The patient said, "Thank you so much for reminding me of what I had forgotten." After that day, she looked much better, happier, and from the next day after our conversation, she stopped having physical symptoms. She was discharged after two weeks, and asked if I would accept her as a patient."
So with both case studies, I found by simply relating to the patient on a spiritual level, healing occurred spontaneously and completely. I show the below chart to the patients, explaining to them they are sitting in the negative emotions, and healing occurs when they switch to the positive emotions.
INSERT TABLE 1
Next, I offer my patients a method for them to move their thoughts to the positive end of the spectrum. It is something I have read in Bhagavad Gita, and in Yoga Vani, and also told to me in conversation with Swami Sadashiva Tirtha. Finding this method very beneficial myself, I share it with the patients, adapting it to my patient's situation. I say, 'whoever is your God, they are full of peace and harmony and devoid of all the negative emotions. Sit for five minutes and picture God in your mind, and feel the divine qualities they possess.' This simple spiritual suggestion seems to be effective, and the patients' benefits begin to occur almost immediately.
The logical question may follow, how is it possible that this simple meditation method can bring about such quick and dramatic healing? I show the patient a chart (see fig. 1) why spirituality heals the body. First it calms the mind, which in turn positively alters the brain to secrete healthy chemicals, hormones, and enzymes into the body, thereby healing spontaneously occurs.
INSERT FIG 1
To sum up I would like to say that spiritual counseling is a powerful healing tool and is effective fairly fast, that is within 2-3 weeks. And the benefit continues. Not only does it bring relief to many symptoms but the patients look more relaxed and able to cope with stress more effectively and develop good relationships within their families, friends, and workplace. In addition they experience a sense of peace and harmony within. Finally, the patient discovers that healing occured from within themselves - by themselves. They do not need to rely on or pay of external healing modalities. This is the essence of spiritual counseling - self-reliance for self-healing and Self-Realization.
All I do is recognize and address the person as soul rather than illness, and the healing occurs on its own; leaving me more time to focus on my own spiritual growth.
References
Ayurveda + Mind by David Frawley
Ayurveda Encyclopedia by Swami Sadashiva Tirtha
Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times by Swami Sadashiva Tirtha
Yoga Vani: Instructions for the Attainment of Siddhayoga by Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha