Of soul food and spiritual healing

As we prepare to honor our dear departed relatives, it’s as good a time as any to turn to the spiritual. To talk about things spiritual, like, yes, soul food and spiritual healing.

A lot of studies – too many they could fill an encyclopedia – have been done, heartily proving that patients who have strong spiritual beliefs suffer less than those with no spiritual grounding. This, regardless of age, sex or religious affiliation, according to Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa with Cameron Stauth in his book The Pain Cure (available at Goodwill Bookstore). The heart of the matter is, Dr. Dean Ornish himself, who’s concocted a most popular program for heart disease, includes "opening your heart to a higher power" and "opening your heart to others" as a vital part of his program.

A most prescribed spiritual cure is prayer. Studies – more than 150 of them – assert that prayer, which is a form of meditation, promotes health. Prayers were proven to be an effective Rx when the patient prayed for himself/herself. Or when someone else prayed for the patient. Take this study of 18 hapless children with leukemia, 10 of whom for prayed for. Fifteen months and countless prayers later, seven of the 10 children who were prayed for were still around while only two of the eight children who had not been prayed for survived.

Take it straight from the mouth of the expert, Dr. Khalsa, who had a patient suffering from severe abdominal pain caused by a swollen spleen. Richard was writhing in pain when he checked into the hospital. The diagnosis: Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura – phew! – a potentially fatal condition where the spleen destroys the blood’s ability to clot. The surgeon wanted to remove Richard’s spleen immediately, but Richard held back and tried to postpone the operation as long as he could. Meanwhile, his friends would visit him and pray for his recovery in his room. At these instant prayer sessions, Richard would be seen looking so full of positive energy you’d be stunned. You just wouldn’t associate him with the man who came into the hospital wracked by pain. By the time the prayers ended, his doctor had reduced the dosage of Richard’s pain-relieving medication. A week after that, Richard’s spleen began to heal and soon, he was checking out of the hospital with a clean bill of health.

Then there was Constantina, who walked into Dr. Khalsa’s office with excruciating jolts of pain shooting through her shoulders, arms, abdomen and back. She was in the throes of despair, asking why her of all people, and was contemplating suicide. She was treated with antidepressants, acupuncture, Chinese medicinal herbs, massage therapy – name it, she must have tried it. She learned to meditate and regularly did mind/body exercises. She went through a roller-coaster ride of emotions during her recovery. Through it all, she points to the one "medicine" that cured her: A gargantuan dose of TLC (tender loving care, but of course!) from her husband, a doctor. The mere mention of his name makes Constantina’s face light up. "He was the key, I really feel like his love was what healed me. You (the doctor) told me that I should come up with a positive meaning for my pain. At first, I thought, what on earth is positive about feeling like your muscles are on fire? It just seemed stupid. No offense. But then I got to thinking about my husband – about how he was so good to me for so long and how that had changed me."

Now, she knows that: "If you suffer, but don’t get any love, it just makes you bitter. If you never suffer though, it makes you shallow. But if you suffer and get love while you’re suffering, you learn compassion. You learn to love – even in pain – and that’s the most beautiful love of all. I needed to learn compassion. And, in my pain, I finally did. That’s ‘Why me?’"

Finally, Dr. Khalsa highly recommends this prayer taught to him by a yogi:

Inhale and hold your breath, for the peace of the world,
for the health of all,
to make everybody happy,
so those who are lonely may have their partner
and God may find mercy on everybody,
on each individual.
Say this payer on this breath and please exhale. This is the charity of the breath.
Inhale again.
Pray for all the dear ones, related ones, known and unknown,
on the whole planet – for those who are sick, those who are unhappy, unhealthy, or need spirit.
Send this thought, by doing a prayer on this breath.
Let the breath go.
Inhale deeply again to end all causes and effects, which affect
all men and make them unhappy or in pain.
For anything that brings war and destruction.
For anything that brings hatred and jealousy..
Say a prayer on this breath, and let it go.

Not Bowing Out

Dear Consumerline,

Thank you so much for publishing my letter. I was overwhelmed by the number of text messages it generated.

I would just like to update you as to how far the case has gone. I was informed by Sally Gutierrez of Novartis, the company that handles both melleril and methergin, that some four months ago, the same "mistake" was committed at another branch of Mercury involving the very same medicines methergin and melleril.

I have elevated the case to BFAD (Bureau of Food and Drug). They took a very long time to come over and investigate the case. My case is now sitting at the legal level of BFAD. I learned from Tess of BFAD that some months back, a lady informed them that Mercury had dispensed the wrong medication. Her doctor had prescribed a "pampakapit" to assist her in her pregnancy and Mercury gave her an anti-viral.

Though we lost three of the five pups of a very valuable litter, it consoles me to know that there are still people who care. I will fight this out.

Sincerely,
Joya