Mindful Healthcare is dedicated to assisting and educating Healthcare Professionals with understanding how Complementary therapies and modalities are helping the general public get and keep healthy.

Mindful Healthcare understands and honors the methods and knowledge in which Modern Medicine commands in providing healthcare in this day and age.

Mindful Healthcare provides educational information to current Healthcare Professionals, Medical, Nursing, and Ancillary science students, and the general public to further the comprehension and use of Complementary modalities. It is our belief that a combination and an integration of both Modern Medicine and Complementary Modalities can and will assist individuals in obtaining, and maintaining their optimal level of health.
 
Mindful Healthcare encourages everyone to take responsibility for their own health. With acknowledgement that various socioeconomic communities have different challenges and access to education, prevention, and health promotion, Mindful Healthcare encourages individuals to seek out and utilize the educational information and guidelines offered on this website and in their local communities.

Mindful Healthcare promises to offer unbiased information on Complementary modalities and therapies in order to increase communication and further improve the healthcare system that the United States currently has.

It is our ultimate dream that one day, individuals will take back responsibility for their health, share their successes with others and mindfully participate in their Health plans.

Today during the 21st century we are starting to see evidence of a “full circle” on health. In the book, “The Marriage of Sex and Spirit” the following was shared.
 “A Brief History of Medicine” (author unknown)
2000 BCE: Here, eat this root.
1000 BCE: That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 CE: That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 CE: That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 CE: The pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
 2000 CE: That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root.

As Judith Orloff, MD. Psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at UCLA writes in the book The Marriage of Sex and Spirit…..Healing has come full circle over the centuries. What is in one year is out the next-then it’s back again. Our task is to reconcile extremes, recognize every method with merit, and treat the whole person.

Mindful Healthcare believes the next step in the history of medicine is the integration of modern medicine and traditional medicine through Complementary Modalities and Therapies. This integration is to be done by keeping the integrity of each modality while balancing and improving the whole art and science of Medicine.

By Integrating the two wholes (modern medicine and traditional medicine), a larger more comprehensive and therapeutic medicine emerges. At Mindful Healthcare, the term External Medicine is used for this new integrated, balanced holistic medical approach.

External Medicine is a modality that empowers each individual to return to health and responsibility in taking charge of their health. It is our hope, at Mindful Healthcare to not only bring modern medicine healthcare professionals up to speed on what indigenous people have been faithfully practicing for years, but to also understand what the general public is currently and successfully doing right now. The general public is already spending billions of dollars on nutritional supplements, herbs, exercise, therapies and complementary modalities…so why not trust in the “full circle evolvement and merge modern medicine with traditional/complementary modalities? Mindful Healthcare will explore with you these areas that the general public is already participating in.

At Mindful Healthcare you can expect to find answers to in successfully integrating the powerful Complementary modalities into your current organization, and further more into a national healthcare system where everyone benefits. We are committed to External medicine and upgrading, improving and returning healing, prevention and crisis management into the hands of each and every participant of our country.

So, What are Modalities?
When sharing my plans and dreams of Mindful Healthcare with my friend one day, he asked me, “What are you meaning by modality?” I was startled by the question, my friend, a physician with over 25 years of experience, was asking me a Registered Nurse with ten years of experience what a modality was. To be honest, I answered him in a non-confident way, “Well, it’s a method or way of doing something.” I was suddenly taken into the space of “The abyss of the unknown.” I thought to myself, okay….if I’m going to succeed in my dream of my Mindful Healthcare and improve communication between Healthcare Professionals and the general public, I’d better know what modality really means. I turned on my laptop, and looked up modality.

A modality, defined by Merriam-Websters Dictionary is:
Modaility pronuniciation: mO-‘da-l&-tE
Function: noun inflected form(s): plural-ties
1a the quality or state of being modal b: a modal quality or attribute: FORM
2: the classification of logical propositions according to their asserting or denying the possibility, impossibility, contingency, or necessity of their content
3: one of the main avenues of sensation (as vision)
4: a usually physical therapeutic agency

modal Pronunication ‘mO-d&L  FunctionL adjective
Etymology: Medieval latin modalis, from Latin modus
1: of or relating to modality in logic
2: containing provisions as to the mode of procedure or the manner of taking effect-used of a contract or legacy.
3: of or relating to a musical mode
4: of or relating to structure as opposed toa substance
5: of or relating to, constituting a grammatical form or category characteristically indicating predication of an action or state in some manner other than as simple fact
6: of of relating to a statigical mode

Examples:
In Physical Therpay Modalities are; therapeutic ultrasound, laser, Tens, EMS (muscle stimulation), IFC, Heat and Ice. Other examples of uses in Modern Modalities include; Mental Health-treatment Modalities, Treatment Modalities for End Stage Renal Disease, Modern treatment modalities for Neonatal/pediatric Treatment Modalities for Respiratory patients, populations at risk for osteoporosis, Treatment Modalities for Gall Stones, Treatment Modalities for patients with HIV to name a few.

In essence a modality is a set of procedures or actions that are done in a manner that produces specified or intent ional results. Treatment modalities usually have been documented or proven to be successful and an entire approach around the procedure or action is generally followed in order to have high frequency positive outcomes.

In the following weeks, and months, if you chose, you will have access to understanding various Complementary Modalities and therapies, and begin to understand how and why the modalities work and what the principles of the modality is based on. With this information you will be able to see the connection between modern medicine and its treatments along with the purpose and health benefits and treatment of Complementary modalities.

We will also assist you methods in starting to use this information in your practice, clinic, hospital. Benefits to utilizing and implementing our Mindful Healthcare External Medicine approach include; 
      Increase communication with your clients   
      Increased personal understanding in new and useful Complementary Modalities 
      Decrease the long term costs of patient care by implementing the External Medicine approach    
      Improving your Health Assessments and Physical Examinations 
      Decrease average hospital length of stay    
      Decreased unnecessary vists to the doctors office 
      A healthier, happier cilivization

So what is the difference between Alternative Medicine, Complementary Medicine, Complementary Therapies and Conventional/Modern Medicine?

Alternative Medicine means just that, using alterative modalities or therapies in lieu of modern medicine. It can be as simple as choosing to try the old method of chicken noodle soup, and drinking lots of water and orange juice for a cold. Eating a bulb of garlic a day to prevent a cold. But generally it means that the individual seeks some other method of treatment other than the local doctor, nurse practitioner, or physicans assistant. Specifically going to a herbalist or acupuncturist rather than the traditional modern medicine practitioner. The word alternative is utilized when conventional treatments and medicine are not used by the patient or client.

Complementary Medicine is a method of healthcare that combines the therapies and philosophies of conventional/modern medicine with those of alternative medicines such as acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Complementary Therapies are therapies that complement traditionally, socially, or politically accepted methods of treatment for diseases and illnesses. Complementary Therapies include hundreds of different types of methods. Some Complementary Therapies include; Acupunture, acupressure, napopathy, guided imagery, reiki, healing touch, watsu, bodywork, chi gung, tai chi, dance therapy, martial arts, therapeutic touch, various forms of exercise, visualization, yoga, pilates, massage, breathe work, prayer, shamanism, biofeedback, folk medicine, herbal medicine, diet fads, homeopathy, faith healing, new age healing, chiropratic, naturopathy, music therapy, and kinesiology to mention just a few of the therapies that are frequently practiced and available in communities. Information and explanations on these various therapies will be offered in subsequent articles.

Conventional/Modern Medicine is currently the most common type of medicine offered in the United States. Cough, Cold, Concussion, Coma….no problem, see your doctor in his or her office or clinic, for the more emergent circumstances you will see them in the hospital.

Mindful Healthcare is dedicated to the blending and honoring of alternative medicine with modern medicine. What if the two merged into a new healthcare system, one that honors and takes the best from both disciplines? Modern medicine versus Traditional Medicine, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) has increased over the last decade and seems likely to continue. People in many countries are now more prepared to look for alternative approaches to maintain their health. Demand for traditional medicine from the public and the growing economic importance of traditional medicine have led to increase interest on the part of both government and academic communities in the Region.

The World Health Organization describes Traditional Medicine as the knowledge, skills and the practices of holistic healthcare, recognized and accepted for its role in the maintance of health and treatment of disease. It is based on indigenous theories, beliefs, and experiences that are handed down from generation to generation.

Winston Churchill once said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” With this in mind, when we look at the Indigenous cultures of Africa, the Native Americas, and the Aboringinies and their use of religion, sacred dance, magic, prayers, hymns, mythology, sacred song, ceremonies, use of native plants and medicines for thousands of years, and we consider where individuals are spending money, time and effort today… we are not so unlike our primitive family members. And if this is true, even with the advances and miracles brought about by modern medicine and invention… why not merge and balance the best of both medicines together to make a Mindful Healthcare system?

Based on sales and numbers the general public in the United States is averaging $12,000,000,000 a year or more on alternative therapies. With numbers like these, can you continue to ignore understanding and learning more about the modalities and therapies your patient, clients, and potential new members are already doing without your knowledge? Why not further your understanding, comprehension, communication, and success by utilizing Mindful healthcare as your website for information and answers.

Your Patient does What!: Things You Weren’t Taught in Medicine or Nursing School

So, there you are taking your initial health assessment and doing the physical examination trying to mind your own business and mind the time until next patient, when your patient mentions that before and during his Reiki session he had chest pain. Chest pain,...check, assess, assess, order….What? In the back of your mind you say to yourself…”Reiki? What on earth is that?” Perhaps you even think to yourself, “Oh no, not another “alternative therapy.” You pretend to understand what Reiki is and try to project a non-judgmental viewpoint on their “quackery” by nodding politely, and continue your focus on obtaining further information on the chest pain episodes. You find out that his pain was more severe before the Reiki session, but it is still noticeable after his Reiki session. You order the normal blood tests, EKG, and a Chest X-ray., and ask him to wait in the waiting room while the results of his test come back.

Now, I can’t say for sure how your patient is going react, or say even that he already knows by your subtle response and casual nod, but most likely the patient and you will further your distance in communication and lose important data on his full health assessment disclosure.

Maybe you distance yourself from him because of your lack of knowledge about Reiki or other mentioned therapies. Maybe, your patient feels uncertain for your reaction, or fears judgment, or lack of empathy from you so he decides to not share the other helpful information. Such as the therapies and activities that he is participating in and that actually has helped him to lose the twenty or so pounds you mentioned last time he saw you, in order to avoid the diabetes type II, that runs in his family along with the heart disease.

Communication breakdown thus has started and next time Joe sees you he decides to not share with you his success with how he quit smoking or has decreased his stress levels in his life, thus decreasing the risk for a heart attack. Meanwhile, Sally in the next examining room is anxious about how she’s going to lose the weight you suggested to her at the hospital after surviving her first heart attack.

Now, let’s re-write the above situation. Plain and simple. Joe, shares with you that he had chest pain before and during his bi-weekly Reiki session. He shares with you that is was worse before the session than during or afterwards, so he called and came in to see you right away. Understanding what Reiki is you acknowledge to him that Reiki has been around for over 2,000 years and has many healing properties and success stories. You order the usual blood tests, EKG, and Chest X-ray. Before he goes off to the lab, he shares with you that he just met his goal of 20 pounds weight loss through dietitary changes, yoga and local breath workshops. He adds that he is feeling better about quitting smoking because with his bi-weekly Reiki sessions he is feeling less stressed and has found more enjoyment in his work and hobbies. Off you go, into the next examining room, Sally is sitting on the examining table waiting to see you. You greet her with a smile….