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Part of the fun of working at the Helfgott Research Institute is being able to hang out with and learn from all of the talented scientists who spend their days trying to unravel the mysteries of natural medicine. One of these scientists, Agatha Colbert, MD, is directing a program of research at Helfgott that focuses on electromagnetic fields and how they influence the body to heal itself.

Dr. Colbert completed her medical training at the University of the West Indies, her specialty training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Ohio State University, and her NIH post doctoral research fellowship at the Oregon Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Her interest in electromagnetic fields began when she studied acupuncture with Kiiko Matsumoto in Boston in the mid 1990s. During her training, she became acquainted with magnetic therapy researchers, and heard about a new magnetic mattress pad that she thought might be good for fibromyalgia patients. Because it was a relatively untested practice, Dr. Colbert decided to conduct a small clinical trial to see if the mattress pad would work for these patients. She got funding from a magnet manufacturer, recruited 25 people with fibromyalgia, and found that there were some small improvements in sleep and pain. In the meantime, Dr. Colbert was using magnets on acupuncture points in her practice for pediatric rehabilitation patients, was seeing results, and wanted to know why. The convergence of these events got her hooked on research, and when she moved to Portland, Oregon she quickly obtained a post-doctoral position at the Oregon Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.

Since then, Dr. Colbert’s research has expanded to include a wide range of scholarly pursuits. As a post-doctoral fellow, she studied skin impedance (impedance is defined as the opposition to the flow of current in a circuit) at acupuncture points as a potential biomarker for acupuncture. This project expanded, and Dr. Colbert and her team recently obtained NIH funding to develop an instrument that will measure skin impedance at multiple acupuncture points simultaneously. Dr. Colbert hopes to use this instrument to test the theory that acupuncture points are linked by connective pathways, or meridians. She hypothesizes that these connections are electrical in nature and will test this theory by placing electrodes on meridians, then stimulating a theoretically related acupuncture point to see if changes in impedance occur that are unique to the point being stimulated.

Dr. Colbert is also the principal investigator on another NIH-funded study on the effects of magnet therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome. This is a dose-ranging study to determine which strength magnet is likely to give a therapeutic benefit. This study is still recruiting for participants, and is expected to reach target enrollment in late September of this year. Additionally, Dr. Colbert has produced a number of literature reviews, including a joint paper with Harvard researcher Andrew Ahn, MD, that reviewed the literature on electrical properties of acupuncture points, and a paper on the use of magnets on acupuncture points.

As if this doesn’t keep her busy enough, Dr. Colbert is also working on establishing a psychophysiology lab at the Helfgott Research Institute. Her goal is to have a fully equipped lab to use to initiate studies of autonomic nervous system changes associated with giving and receiving CAM interventions including acupuncture, magnet therapy, and Reiki.

The following is a report from the Seeds of Compassion event in Seattle, which occurred this past weekend in Seattle. This was a massive, five-day event which was meant to highlight the need for wide, societal changes through compassion. I feel it is relevant to pass this report on here because the affect that aggression has on the health of society is not dissimilar to the affect that it can have on the health of the human body. The key-note speaker was the Dalai Lama (whose presence unintentionally coincided with the recent political unrest between Tibet and China).

The point that I am trying to make here is that we all need to engage in meaningful dialogue, regardless of where we exist within cultural, religious and political spectrums. I myself am staunchly conservative in some regards and downright leftist in others and, thus, would make for a poor pundit or punching bag for any point of view. If however, you are able to glean from this a particular viewpoint that is different from your own, then please remember that the views that the authors express in this blog are not necessarily the views of the institution to which we are employed or to which we attend…

In 1995, I was completing a Master’s degree in Tibetan Buddhism while living in Katmandu, Nepal. During a break in our studies, several friends tried to persuade me to go with them to Tibet. I was aiming for a doctorate in Buddhist-Christian dialogue and had devoted the last several years of my life to the study of Tibetan religion and culture, even learning the language. Because I had studied Christianity as a philosophy major at a seminary, going to Tibet during the Buddhist part of my studies seemed like the logical step.

But I felt angry over what I thought was an oppressive occupation of Tibet by the communist government of China. During the Reagan era, I had been to both the Soviet Union and Sandinista controlled Nicaragua and knew well the oppression we would see in Tibet. I told my friends that I would go to Lhasa only after the Chinese left and I went instead on a retreat to a Tibetan monastery just outside Katmandu, to live with the community as it exists in exile. I don’t regret that decision in the least but ever since then I have harbored a strong resentment toward the Chinese government for, in my mind, denying me this opportunity.

But while attending the Seeds of Compassion event this Saturday in Seattle, the Dalai Lama said something that greatly affected me. In his usual Tibetan style of broken English, he said,

“The twentieth century was a century of bloodshed. But I think it is our responsibility to make this the Century of Dialogue.”Despite how inauspicious this century has started, he added, there is still plenty of time left for us to affect this change toward dialogue.

Obviously as a comparative-religion doctoral wannabe, this language of dialogue is very appealing to me. In these times, there is a heightened need for dialogue between those of all political and religious beliefs. Then, the Dalai Lama relayed an idea that I have heard him propose in other talks. In his plan, all the leaders of the world would come together for a two-week vacation with no written, political agenda. They would come with their spouses and children and interact as normal people. It is a great idea actually. In fact, it is not all that different from the atmosphere that President Carter tried to create in his Mid-east peace talks at Camp David. Although I am sure that Sadat and Begin never splashed around in a swimming pool together and, in fact, the Peace Accords have gone through several stages of complete unraveling, the relentless commitment to sequestered dialogue was the driving force behind that initial success. But that was when dialogue and negotiation were held in higher regard than they are now.

I am not certain why we Americans have changed so much but can you imagine a president who would do such a thing now? There was uproar from the other candidates and pundits when Senator Obama stated that he would even consider a presidential meeting with Iran. Why has dialogue fallen so far from grace? The Dalai Lama is right. Our American leadership should not fear meeting and talking with other leaders, even those who are hostile to us. Just as the Chinese should not fear to sit down and speak honestly with the Dalai Lama. Yet I do not see either of these things happening anytime soon, and as I sat in Qwest Field last Saturday, I felt my anger grow again.

Then the moderator fielded a question from the public which asked what we as citizens can do to affect the attitudes of those who are in power. I, along with the rest of the righteously indignant crowd, burst into a loud cheer. But then he did what any good Buddhist would do, he turned it inward. The most effective way that we can change our leaders, he said, is to change ourselves.

We must not simply blame those in power, for they are in some ways reflections of ourselves. Rather, if we each succeed in engendering compassion within ourselves, societal changes will follow much more easily. Just as it is important that governments commit to nuclear disarmament, he said, “We first need to disarm ourselves.”

I attend many events on religious and political dialogue and people always ask a version of that same question at the end- what can we as individuals do to affect change? Most speakers advise people to start by doing whatever they can do. Regardless of final results, at least try to do something; try to influence a few people along the way. But the Dalai Lama said it a bit differently. He said that the one thing that we as individuals can do is change ourselves. If we all succeed in doing just that, everything else will follow naturally. It is not a new idea but it was a succession of ideas and points that resonated with me on a level I was both expecting and not expecting.

Traveling to Tibet is a bit dicey at the moment but maybe now more than ever is the right time for me to return. I feel the need to see both sides of this issue, to clearly distinguish between the government of China, which truthfully I will always disagree with, and the people themselves. This is always the first step toward peace, understanding the point of view of those you perceive as your opponent. In the sort of cosmic coincidence that I am growing to expect in life, my good friend from Georgia, with whom I was traveling in ‘95, has recently asked if I might be interested to go with him back to Tibet once the travelling bans are safely lifted and I do believe I will this time. Not because our touring of Tibet will mean anything to anyone or because I am under some narcissistic delusion that these events have anything to do with me, but just so that I can create a change in my own life as the Dalai Lama suggested. So that I finally can let go of my anger and return to the country in which I feel I have spent countless previous lives.

The Birth of a Student Researcher

“Healing begins in the imagination,” Dawn Thompson, a program coordinator for Write Around Portland, said this to me in a meeting last Thursday morning. I love this statement. It ripples with meaning and holds some intuitive truth.

Dawn and I were meeting to discuss curriculum design for a pilot study being developed by a group of researchers at the Helfgott Research Institute. The project proposes to examine “writing in community” as a means of transformative change for people diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Why Writing?

Excellent question. And, I will add one, what does “writing in community,” mean? The idea for the study came from an experience I had before moving to Portland, Oregon. I was then practicing massage in a small rural community that was a Petri dish of sorts. I saw my clients at the grocery store, the café, and out in the mountains. In a sense we lived together. But the community didn’t come together for many things. I created the Mt. Shasta Writers Series and invited regional poets, whose work related to rural living, to come to town and give readings. People turned out in droves, sixty to eighty folks to a poetry reading. Out of that grew a monthly poetry open-mic. Somewhat unintentionally, we had fomented a cultural movement. People from different walks of life were gathering to hear live culture born from their home ground. I like to think this strengthened the weave of our connection with one another. One client’s case in particular stuck out. She was working hard towards change but was stuck. I came to work one day after a reading and open-mic and there was a long message on my voice mail. The event had catalyzed a change in her perception of her situation. From that moment she began initiating changes in her circumstances.

If healing begins in the imagination, how can this be delivered to people feeling decidedly unimaginative and stuck, like my client? Writing is particularly well suited to answer this question. However, most often we consider writing to be a solitary activity, the pensive writer alone with a cup of coffee or tea, gazing forlornly out as streaks of rain run down the fogged window. There’s nothing wrong with this picture – sometimes that’s me and I relish the time to be there like that with my thoughts.

It has been well documented just what social creatures we humans are. Before we gathered at cafes or bars to hear the latest news we were gathering around the campfire. In pre-history it was around the fire that stories were told and these stories were essential to continuing the fabric of the tribe. I think we are hardwired to like to tell and hear stories. Something changes when a story moves from words on the page to words in the air – somebody hears you. Things change.

And this is what I wanted to research when I approached the staff at Helfgott – not just writing, but sharing writing out loud, listening to one another’s stories. Using the inherent power in this medium to allow people to catalyze change in their lives.

What Next?

Thus began my odessey as a student researcher. It’s not all fun. There are hours at the computer reading dry and densely written research studies with impenetrable layers of statistics and conclusions. It was another language. This process, called the literature review actually bore fruit. I began to learn the language for one (though am still hopelessly poor at understanding all the statistical numbers). More important, two threads emerged. There was existing research on what is called “expressive writing” though none on a community-writing model. Second, I came to understand something of the struggles encountered by people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia (and the struggles of the medical community attempting to help them).

Anecdotes abound when it comes to the power of writing but anecdotes don’t generate NIH funding. Nor do they pave the way to real understanding at how well something like this might work and what exactly will it offer people.

Interesting Background Research

There is a history of research on writing in a medical setting. It is generally termed “expressive writing.” The pioneer of this work is James Pennebaker from the University of Texas. His model involves short periods of solitary writing about a specific traumatic event, repeated over a few days. The results were favorable and studies have corroborated his findings. The other interesting bit of research done on the writing process has examined the effects of writing poetry on medical students. It was found to help them become more empathic towards their patients and be better listeners. Poetry writing has become a mainstay in many medical school programs.

Just last week I came across an article on the New York Times website citing a study conducted by the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C. They were using a writing model based on Pennebaker’s research. Patients were asked to write in the waiting room of a cancer care clinic. The researchers concluded that their research “provide(s) support for future efforts to move beyond efficacy studies of expressive writing into community- and clinic-based effectiveness trials.” This study was published in the February issue of “The Oncologist” and can be read online. Strangely enough writing has yet to break out of these two models. That’s where we hope to come in!

Why People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia?

The short answer is because that’s what Dr. Heather Zwickey, Director of the Helfgott Research Center, said. I think the real answer is longer than that – she just wanted me to discover it for myself. I think I’m getting there. I could bore you now with those impenetrable layers of statistics, but I wont. Quite simply the available and effective care for people suffering from these diseases is limited. There are: medications, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and support groups, exercise programs and, alternative medicine interventions such as acupuncture and/or naturopathy. Most patients end up trying some mixture of these with the goal often being managing their symptoms and trying to improve their quality of life. Success is varied if it comes at all. This is not to say that people don’t get better, some do. The quote below was taken from the NIH website discussing the challenges facing people with these diseases.

“Providing social support and education about one’s disease or disorder has been shown to be an effective means for improving the health care status of individuals with chronic diseases. Studies are currently underway focusing on patients with fibromyalgia to advance understanding of how social support and education interventions may be helpful to these patients as well. (Source: excerpt from Fibromyalgia Research Challenges and Opportunities: NIAMS)”

There is a lot of interest on figuring out effective ways to work with these diseases. We are hoping to add something meaningful to the discussion.

The Model is the Key…

I mean the curriculum model that we use. Now this part of the process has been fun!

This is PART 3 in a 12 part series for the Year of Sagely Living project, entitled 12.12.12: A journey of self-discovery for a lopsided soul.
To learn more: click here.

For the duration of the month, I felt like I had a sousaphone stationed squarely behind my head, bleating out a tempo unknown to me. But I kept marching forward, awkward as it was, knowing that growth was occurring whether I was aware of it or not. So the month came and went, flashing a few Monday-Mondays into the mix, audaciously moving time forward on its second Sunday. My internal biorhythms got scrambled, and I nose-dived off course at times. Yet somehow my makeshift movements followed suit to unknown brute and less predictable forces. Clumsily, I managed to make it through those 31 cumbersome days on my continued path of self-reflection, getting glimpses of my roughness and inflexibility all along the way. The result was that I learned how to relax in a pigeon holed world; to gladly give in to the mechanisms and comfort of routine.

I must admit that March infiltrated my energetic discourse and made a swan song out of me. Not in the traditional sense of swan song, a trumpeting of retirement, but rather the transforming of an ugly duckling into that of a cygnet who is finally preening her feathers, eliminating the grime from years before, and celebrating her self-discovery. Call it personal acceptance on a whole new level. March militarily forced me to reconcile with my rebel tendencies, pushing me past my own boundaries and pointing out that I needed a bit of balance to keep me on my mission.

The lesson: structure can be good. Yep, for those readers out there, sitting mouths agape, it is true: I now enjoy a bit of structure in my life. I’m successfully developing as a protagonist in this “12.12.12”, a 12-step program for a Year of Sagely Living. Allowing myself to accept structure was quite beneficial and led me down a path upon which I would not normally encroach. The roads became clearly marked and the pattern self-evident. In a sea of strange, my steps slowly progressed, one foot, two foot, three foot, blue foot, somehow still in pursuit of the oddity of me.

Here is the direction I have taken in order to crack the code, finally hatching my psyche from its not-so-innocent shell:

March - Lung, Yin 寅 (Tiger)- Activity/Rest: This category will contain practices having to do with appropriate cycles of rest and activity in daily life - for instance, appropriate waking times throughout the seasons. Why this pairing? This earthly branch and the essence of the Lung Zang are about the peaceful tension between opposites, like the time of the year associated with both. Further, being mindful of our need for balance between rest and activity is great preparation for the often overactive spring/summer energy.

I’m a rebel through and through, finding the chaos in the conventional and status quo. You know what I’m talking about. The vulnerable crack, that narrow space of new understanding within a system; it intrigues me. And I’m not alone. There are others out there like me, physicists squinting into the cosmos, geneticists deliberating over nature’s blueprints, artists pushing past propriety and adopting new mediums barely bent into existence, as well as the musicians who lace notes together in a fashion that would resurrect Rumi causing him to embroider yet another poem for our eyes to read. This seam is where creation occurs, a rebirthing of ideas and paradigms, which shift and sift the imbalances of our world. This is where I spend most of my time: watching for the oddities, the uniqueness of each system. It’s the movement, the dynamic nature of change that I find fascinating, and would explain why new alternatives are appealing to me and the structure from which it came can appear old hat. Being aware of this is good, but it is not a holistic picture of the universe, nor is it an appropriate fixation for a lopsided soul in pursuit of a balanced and holistic state of existence.

My simple acts of self-discovery have more to do with the uncovering of my personal cracks, peering into the dark areas and learning what it takes to be… well, me. Someone somewhere said that the outer world is a reflection of our inner world… and I’m starting to really believe it now that I’m examining myself with a bird’s eye view. In the past, some of my goals remained unattainable due to my inner imperfection, the inability to keep routine patterns consistent enough in order to add a sound playing board for my explorations. So, to cut to the chase, you could say that I discovered my own weak link in my fledgling flight of personal pursuit, and through introspection I learned a great deal more about balance. And I find this inner unearthing as equally delightful as all the external explorations traveled thus far, especially since I am able to recoup, fueling more energy for my passions. The act of shifting structure into my life added the necessary insight for me to become more sustainable.

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a bird of a different feather. If I’m alone with my thoughts, chances are I’m whistling some tune or another, concocting yet another crazy scheme to make more individuals aware of their own personal health care. But I don’t ever wish to be perceived as Whistling Dixie, the endeavors outlined in February’s 12.12.12 need tending, my focus must remain steadfast on the tasks at hand.

New ideas continually bubble, surface and pop into my consciousness all the time, and it’s hard to say no to such delightful constructs. Distractions and other weakening ilk keep my target out of reach. Learning how to navigate this life without a road map can be tricky, especially if pursed in a distracted manner. Why not choose a direction and follow through, plan provisions along the way so that I could remain balanced throughout my journey? So, I did just that: I willingly stepped into my black box, felt its walls firmly against my sides and discovered that a routine of self-care could prove comfortable.

What I learned:

Balance presented itself with a pleasant rigidity, adding a solid base note during life’s chaotic orchestrations. In my Pandora’s box I discovered that being sustainably healthy requires me to take my thinking cap off, place it aside, and let my mind relax once and a while. For me balance only appeared after I adopted a structured support system, in the form of social occasions and laughter with friends and family, a new gym membership, as well as consistent acupuncture and massage treatments. Walks in the park are now considered equally as important as a work-related meeting and not substandard. These simple acts bring me pleasure and in turn allow me to remain present and productive at my beloved job.

I am easily distracted. New concepts can quickly capture my attention and sometimes lead me to discover directions different from initially intended; multiple frames of reference and tangents are common to my ways of thinking. Luckily, these qualities offer flexibility and strength when I attempt to communicate my ideas to a larger audience. Continuing to decipher the multitudes of creativeness is good, but staying the course over the long haul in order to reap reward is another skill entirely.

I’m learning that you get what you ask for if you pursue it with passion and a dedicated heart. And as those rewards continue to pile in, I am actively learning to accept and contain its bounty. Enjoying the fruits of my labor is a good thing.

Upon the completion of my third month of the Sagely Living practice I am reminded of the words stated by Arthur Schopenhauer,

“All Truth passes through three stages:
First: it is ridiculed.
Second: it is violently opposed.
Third: it is accepted as being self-evident.”

It should be no surprise that I followed this timeless description to at T. For those of you just tuning in, please refer to January and February for a rather obvious adherence to this pattern. My latest working proof: I am odd and yet I am even… therefore what am I?