Mana for the Doctor's Soul

Have you ever loved a pet -- and had that pet love you in return? I surely have. The photo above is of Bilbo, who was my loving companion in medical school, residency, and beyond. My then-boyfriend gave him to me as an early Valentine's gift. At least that was the story he told. More truthfully, we rescued him from Zayre's Discount Store one snowy afternoon, when we were shopping for a few other things. Bilbo was a scrawny kitten sitting all by himself in a much-too-big cage, yelling his head off as I walked by. A sign said he was "free to a good home." I knelt down to his level on the floor, and was smitten from the first eye contact. The little fluff-ball knew it, too. Reaching his paw out through the bars of his prison, he fully claimed my heart with one tender touch. That was it. D's objections were futile. Our shopping list expanded to include kitten supplies and toys, along with food for his hungry belly. (Zayre's profited by giving him away that day!) H...

Much of my daily work involves people who, for one reason or another, really don't care for themselves very much. This includes people in the role of "healer", "doctor", "nurse", and "therapist" as well as "patient". Some may even feel extreme self-loathing and self-hatred -- but for most of us this is masked. Some escape these painful feelings through non-stop work, figuring that even if we aren't worth loving, we can at least be admired through our accomplishments. It's a compromise. Other escapes include addiction to substances, or chasing after others to supply the love we feel we're missing. None of this ever fills our bottomless need. Theories about how we arrive in such painful, desolate places are plentiful. More fruitful questions might be: "What can I do about this? How do I learn to first care for -- and eventually love -- myself?" The short answer is that it takes a decision, and then moment-to-mom...

Many people wonder how ho'oponopono or other spiritual practices could help them with conditions such as hypertension , depression, and even hearing loss. The September 2007 issue of Ethnicity and Disease published a study showing that adding classes in ho'oponopono helped hypertensive people improve their blood pressure more effectively than medications alone. It was a relatively small "pilot" study, but is a beginning in exploring what people might be able to accomplish through such processes. Others' experiences with ho'oponopono and their health situations fascinate and inspire me. Jimmy Piver, one of my friends in North Carolina, has written about his own challenges with hearing loss in his blog " Ho'oponopono for Today ". The post is titled: Why Hearing Loss and Deafness were Blessings: Or Why My Hearing Went South . He shares wisdom about mind-body interactions, how he feels these apply to him . . . and how ho'oponopono has helped him...