Mind Your Health: Using Mindfulness to Heal Your Body

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Los Angeles, CA (USA) -- Scientist and meditation teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn includes in his pages of “Full Catastrophe Living” a horrifying story that speaks powerfully about the mind-body connection.

When renowned cardiologist Bernard Lown was in training to become a physician, he had in his clinic a patient, “Mrs. S.,” who had a narrowing of one of the valves on the right side of her heart, the tricuspid valve. She was in mild congestive heart failure; however, she functioned well enough to maintain her job as a librarian and do household chores.

She would come to the weekly cardiac clinic run by Dr. S. A. Levine, a well-respected professor of cardiology at the Harvard Medical School and at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, to receive digitalis and injections of a mercurial diuretic. One week Dr. Levine greeted Mrs. S. warmly, as he usually did — the two had an affable relationship — and then he turned to the entourage of visiting physicians and said, “This woman has TS.” With those words he abruptly left.

Dr. Lown describes what happened after that:

No sooner was Dr. Levine out of the door than Mrs. S.’s demeanor abruptly changed. She appeared anxious and frightened and was now breathing rapidly, clearly hyperventilating. Her skin was drenched with perspiration, and her pulse accelerated to more than 150 a minute. In reexamining her, I found it astonishing that the lungs, which a few minutes earlier had been quite clear, now had moist crackles… I questioned Mrs. S. as to the reasons for her sudden upset. Her response was that Dr. Levine had said that she had TS, which she knew meant “terminal situation.” I was initially amused at this misinterpretation of the medical acronym for “tricuspid stenosis.” My amusement, however, rapidly yielded to apprehension, as my words failed to reassure and as her congestion continued to worsen. Shortly thereafter she was in massive pulmonary edema. Heroic measures did not reverse the frothing congestion. I tried to reach Dr. Levine, but he was nowhere to be located. Later that same day she died from intractable heart failure.

The story is as tragic as it is inspiring: If this woman’s thoughts could induce congestive heart failure, then they also hold incredible healing powers.

In his book, Kabat-Zinn discusses a hundred or so scientific studies that suggest that our thoughts, emotions, and life experiences can very definitely influence our health. The practice of mindfulness, in particular - moment-to-moment awareness and cultivating an attitude of non-striving and non-doing - can bolster our immune system, determine which genes in our chromosomes are turned on, lower blood pressure, regulate emotions under stress, reduce pain, increase our stamina, and make us much more fun to be around.

For example, researchers at the University of Wisconsin looked at the effects of an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course (MBSR) founded by Kabat-Zinn 35 years ago. The course was delivered in a corporate setting during working hours with healthy, but stressed-out employees.

The researchers found that brain scans of those that participated in the course showed activity suggesting they were handling negative emotions like anxiety and frustration more effectively (or more emotionally intelligently) than the group that was on the waiting list for the course. There was right-sided to left-sided movement within the prefrontal cerebral cortex that is involved in the expression of emotions.

The study also found that the people who completed the eight-week training in mindfulness showed a significantly stronger antibody response in their immune system after given a flu vaccine (at the end of the eight weeks of training) than did those who were on the waiting list.

Another study conducted at UCLA and Carnegie Mellon University showed that participating in an MBSR program reduced expression of genes related to inflammation, measured in immune cells sampled from blood draws. The mindfulness training also lowered C-reactive proteins in participants, which is an indication of inflammation - a core element of many diseases.

Given that on any given day, I am battling symptoms of one or more of five health conditions - bipolar disorder, Raynaud’s phenomenon, thyroid disease, pituitary tumor, and aortic-valve regurgitation - I thought I should enroll in Kabat-Zinn’s eight-week course offered at our local hospital (taught by a trained MBSR instructor). So every Friday I show up for Getting-Life-Under-Control school, where I’m taught coping skills geared for those of us with colorful childhoods and blessed with fragile mental-health genes, or for anyone who wants to look as calm as the Dalai Lama.

The twelve of us in this course are taught things like how to transform an automatic or habitual stress reaction to a mindfulness-mediated stress response, how to disengage from the emotional, alarm reaction of our automatic nervous system and be able to see with a perspective that breeds calm. The class consists of many sessions of formal meditation, where we choose an anchor for our thoughts - our breath, or sound, or an emotion - and return to that anchor over and over, learning to gently let go of any thought or thought pattern outside the present moment, such as judging, planning, or analyzing.

My illnesses haven’t disappeared. I am far from being cured. However, I’m beginning to heal. Kabat-Zinn makes that important distinction in his book.

He acknowledges that “there are few outright cures for chronic diseases or for stress-related disorders,” however, “it is possible for us to heal ourselves — to learn to live with and work with conditions that present themselves in the present moment. Healing implies the possibility that we can relate differently to illness, disability, even death, as we learn to see with eyes of wholeness.”

At the very least, I think I am communicating with my body well enough these days that if a doctor told me I had TS and walked away, I would blame his rudeness on an empty stomach, say something impolite, and then go on to think about something else.

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Originally published on Sanity Break on Everyday Health.

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Japan’s Buddhist Temples keeping up with the times using DJs, apps, video games, booze and more

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Tokyo, Japan -- While religions of all stripes have something to offer in terms of support and advice, they also share a common detriment: they’re all really, really old. While age brings with it wisdom and experience, if religion can’t relate to modern society it runs the risk of getting left behind.

To help prevent this, several monks across Japan have been adopting new technology and trends or have tried simply reaching out to people differently, in less orthodox and more human ways.

Higher Tech Attainment

Walking around and looking at the masses of people with eyes looked on their smartphone it’s hard to ignore the pull of digital media. Higan Temple has been at the forefront of tapping into cyberspace to expose the masses to Buddhism.

What started as a blog chronicling Kosuke Matsumoto’s journey to becoming a monk has blossomed into a virtual online temple. Now several Buddhists and monks contribute articles offering their viewpoints on business, parenting, food, and more. The monks also answer questions asked via Twitter.

There is a small English section too where Mr. Matsumoto occasionally writes articles. The temple also released an app for iPhone and Android called Undo to assist in meditation.

Another website called Tera Koya Buddha works as a calendar of events for Buddhist related activities running the gamut from yoga classes to jazz festivals. Buddhist Temples have also be stepping up their game in the entertainment field as well.

Sutra Hero

One way to get recognition is to put out an interesting and entertaining product for people to latch onto. A few of our readers are likely familiar with Ryoho Temple, otherwise known as Moe Temple for its liberal use of moe characters all around the grounds.

A while back we reported on their video game Sutra Master, a rhythm game using traditional Buddhist “instruments”, characters and symbols.

Well, it seems as if Moe Temple was just getting started in the video game business. Now they have released an RPG game for use on iPhone and Android called Welcome to Ryoho Temple [Free Training Yokai Card Game]. The game is a strategy-based card game which uses moe versions of about 1,000 different traditional Japanese creatures such as tengu and akaoni.

Parties

Another way to lure people with technology is to throw a kick-ass party. Earlier this year Gokokuji Temple held the Tibet Festival Tokyo with the participation of Tibetan monks.  At the festival the temporary beauty of a sand mandala being made in-person could be seen.

However, after sunset the beauty of the temple gets kicked up a notch thanks to some projection mapping. Here’s a time lapse video of the event.

Also earlier this year was Kohgen 2013, which held various religious events at four temples and shrines in Gunma Prefecture. In particular the Joko Temple event was a feast for the senses. Inside the main hall of the temple, incense was lit to mellow the audiences sense of smell, vegetarian food was served to tingle taste buds and a DJ and live band played along with cryptic projections on the wall. Perhaps next year the musical stylings Tariki Echo could be worked in.

Heartbreak and Hard Drinks

While flashing lights and websites are all well and good, they’re a dime a dozen these days. Perhaps to really get in touch with people you have to get out of the temple and into the real world.

That’s what a group of monks from various Buddhist sects did when they set up a bar. Geting away from all your worries sure would help a lot, so why not go where everyone knows a sutra – Vowz Bar in Tokyo. Listed as one of weirder theme bars in Tokyo with their Buddhist inspired cocktail names, it’s the best place to go for some sagely advice after a hard day.

If drinking’s not your thing you might be able to find one of the growing trends of sutra readings popping up around the countries. Here you can join a monk as they give you their own interpretations of sutras with interaction from the audience. It can be enlightening to see how those cryptic chants can apply to real life situations such as a break up or family dispute.

This is just a taste of what Buddhism is doing to stay active and relevant in Japan. Surely there will be more moe video games and electronica to come from this 2,500-year-old religion.

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Why Are Sri Lanka’s Policy Makers Not Using Buddhism As A Soft-Power Tool?

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Colombo, Sri Lanka -- We are all well aware that both India and China are rivals for supremacy in Asia and both are fishing for new strategies to tap to forge the alliances needed to strengthen that supremacy. If India and China nations that once put Buddhism aside for other priorities are now realizing that their answer for supremacy lies with Buddhism why has Sri Lanka’s policy makers not utilized this power which is under their very nose?

Historical facts have to be first made clear. The Buddha was born in Nepal. Buddha achieved enlightenment, gained spiritual following and achieved nirvana in India (Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar – all located in the Indian state of Bihar, one of the poorest in India). Buddhism was subsumed by Hinduism and none of India’s governments sought to even consider reviving the lost place given to Buddhism until now. However, Buddhism was abandoned by India and its leaders never gave any prominence to it though the spread of Buddhism historically is nothing anyone can deny. China too opted to set aside Buddhism until its present realization of how powerful Buddhism exactly is.

Buddhism’s compassion has unfortunately subjected ancient Buddhist nations that have been invaded and natives slaughtered through history. Once Buddhist nations today are occupied by invading forces who now claim their right to these nations – Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan were all Buddhist nations once upon a time. It is a tragic truth that Buddhism’s gentle philosophy advocating right to life for both man and animal attributed to its decline.

In the modern context, much of the blame for the deterioration of religions in the world is primarily due to the teachings of its master being replaced by ideologies of those now functioning as leaders of different faiths driving people away from the fundamental teachings originally advocated. This is why there is so much of confusions and contradictions that prevail in all religions and why by virtue of these differences there is calamities based on religious beliefs and practices. The present day religious heads are totally accountable for the catastrophe’s that prevail globally.

Nevertheless, both India and China are pulling out all their historical links to Buddhism in a bid to use Buddhism to its highest potential. The efforts of these two nations to scurry for links should have Sri Lanka taking the lead for Sri Lanka weathered the storms of 500 years of colonial rule and despite the fact that it was the Sinhalese Buddhists who were massacred in trying to save their nation Sri Lanka remains a nation with over 68% Buddhists.

Whilst China never forgets to remind India that its Buddhist population is far greater than that of India – though Buddhism came to China several centuries after its spread in India. India in an attempt to prove Buddhism was imported from India to China built a Buddhist temple in Luoyang. Though China’s Buddhist credentials become weak in the face of international opposition to its treatment of Tibet though much of the real situation is often hidden from the world by western owned international media.

The tell tale signs of Buddhism been made a powerful soft-power tool is evident.

China hosted the first World Buddhist Forum in 2006 – attention was diverted to reviving Lumbini with a USD3billion project, the birthplace of Buddha in Nepal. India responded with supporting the Global Buddhist Congregation in Delhi. China has an edge because Buddhism is a fast-growing religion now in China whilst India is simply trying to use smart ways to counter Chinese hegemony. China has often kept India from regional links in South East Asia portraying India as an outsider but we can see through numerous trade agreements and visits that India is countering these drives using the cultural tool of Buddhism.

India is also looking at reviving Nalanda University – an extremely strategic initiative and one that should not escape anyone’s attention because it was a place that imparted far more “teachings” on students than Buddhism alone! India, Japan, Singapore and China is part of this effort which next asks why has Sri Lanka not prominently featured in this effort? India has even gone on to sponsor the International Conference on Buddhist Cultural Heritage in Yangon/Myanmar in an obvious bid to reach out to the 89% Buddhists in Myanmar. India also went on to take the “Kapilavastu Relics” preserved in the National Museum in Sri Lanka which showed how hundreds of thousands of Sinhalese Buddhists queue to pay homage.

It is not too late for Sri Lanka to spearhead Buddhist teachings, Buddhist student cultural links including both East and Western students and the exchange of Buddhist thoughts, views, discussions and other cultural programs – there is a whole world of ways that Sri Lanka is able to use Buddhism to its advantage – our question is why is it lying dormant? India is not a predominately Buddhist country and accept for a handful of Indians more interested in the philosophical aspects of Buddha’s teachings they are not interested or committed to Buddhism and would never desire to give up their Brahmin practices. This is why Sri Lanka needs to exert its supremacy and no one can challenge this.

It is easy for any nation to use hard power – military might is never without drawbacks, economics has its ups and downs but a far greater way is to use soft power and with majority of Asian nations spiritually aligned to Buddhism there is no other soft power that needs to be used. The advantages are many.

To use a soft power tool it must have “native ownership” and India nor China can claim to have given due place to Buddhism in their national policies unlike Sri Lanka where Buddhism is enshrined in its Constitution. The success of Muslim nations has been to use Islam as a soft power which is incorporated into its “nationalistic” thinking and actions. The soft power tools of the West are Hollywood, Music and brand names. However such superficial “cultures” does not have the “muscle” or function as a vehicle to drive the objectives that Buddhism is able to achieve as a soft-power tool. These are the realities that India and China have now understood.

Asia aside, Buddhism has been able to generate a spiritual awakening amongst the people of the West probing for a calmer and philosophical meaning to their lives. Asia on the other hand needs to move away from the terrain of material pleasures that is moving them further from their religious practices.

It is no coincidence that both India and China are now digging ancient links to Buddhism to use for its own strategic advantage and when Sri Lanka does not need to do anything of the sort why do we not use Buddhism as a soft-power tool to forge greater ties with the Buddhist nations as well as tap into a fast growing Buddhist awakening in the Western hemisphere?

While China and India battle aggressive marketing strategies on how to use Buddhism to its full potential we question what Sri Lanka’s Foreign Service is doing by not using a tool already powerful and available with Sri Lanka? With so many missions and manpower why is Sri Lanka not using this soft-power diplomacy that would certainly work to our advantage on international forums like UN/UNHRC etc?

The populations of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia and China are a very powerful source to tap using Buddhism as a soft-power tool and Sri Lanka needs to culturally and religiously use these allies to alleviate its political standing.

Nevertheless with all the mechanizations in place, a plethora of Buddhist foundations/organizations/Buddhist Scholars already available it is timely for Sri Lanka’s leaders to use every avenue available to tap into these resources and make Buddhism a soft-power tool instead of watching other nations that abandoned Buddhism to take the lead not out of interest for Buddhism or belief in Buddhism but simply to use it as a political tool.

Sri Lanka on the other hand has ensured whatever the odds that Buddhism has not faced the same fate. It is within Sri Lanka’s right to unite the nations of Asia using the soft-power tool politically and it’s a powerful tool that Sri Lanka’s policy makers need to seriously look upon. It certainly does question the lack of interest and wonders whether it is because non-Buddhist advisors are advising the Buddhist leaders along the wrong path! If this is so it is time the Buddhist leaders realize the folly and address the situation immediately.

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