When I went to San Francisco for holiday, the plan was not to get caught in a COVID19 community spread hotspot during my intern year in Internal Medicine. The plan was to get some heavy mist, ocean waves, redwood love and friend time. I got 2 out of the 4. What I received instead was some insight into my core values of medicine, health and healing and an increased horror of capitalism.
Having gone through a childhood living in a holistic health center outside of mainstream America, then Canada, then college and Naturopathic/ Acupuncture medical school in Canada I have a very left of center foundation of health and healing. And Yet I am an Internal Medicine doctor and successfully completed a fairly traditional, rural medicine based allopathic medical training. I rarely bring any of my foundational knowledge into my daily practice of medicine as we know it – even when I witness its applicability.
I consider myself at the bottom of the pyramid of medical training – a lowly intern- and always endeavor to learn and practice evidence based hospital based medical standards of care. There is so much I have to learn and I am truly a convert to the Church of Pharmacy. Yes, i prescribe vaccines and statins and birth control and antihypertensives with assurance and pride.
But in this situation, where there is no medicine other than the possible monoclonal antibody being engineered by Regeneron, I fall back on my original pillars of nutrition, botanical medicine and even prayer as medicines worth bowing to.
Ive been talking about the food parts alot lately on this blog. See Food Sensitivities as well as other Food as Medicine posts. I have been triggered and upset by the food hoarding and money spending on food that has been happening over the past two weeks as people collectively buy out shelves of food to stock their fridges. I mean, I love a full fridge and meal planning and I have love for the folks taking the time to cook vegetables and eat fruits and make special meals for themselves and family. I am sadenned by the scarcity mentality that has erupted like Pompeii and concerned about both restrictive food mentality and binge eating with or without purging in these uncontrollable times. Not to mention alcohol and pot and other substance use skyrocketing without the structures of work outside the house and mouting social and familial pressures…..
What is the medicine for this in these times? I do think its prayer and mindfulness. Cleaning house. Feng Shui. Emptying our skeletons from closets with literal and metaphorical help from therapists and friends and family across the globe using the internet. My daily quarantine schedule includes:
- 20 minutes of mindfullness meditation with the Insight App timer or guided visualization
- 20 minutes of stretching or calisthenics *(or more)
- 60 minutes of housework to beautify the space for work
- at least 4 hours of academic work including reading, study
- 30 minutes of fresh air
- time online with friends
‘I unexpectedly went to the Stella Maris church in San Fran 3 days in a row. It was in the neighborhood I stayed in, and had a welcoming open door I passed by often. I was drawn to the Marys, lightening candles and saying Hail Marys not only for myself, my lover and my friends but also the world. This is a global issues, not a first world only or American drama. There are decades (generations) of evidence for the power of prayer for long distance healing and miracles. I dont have the energy to research this right now to provide evidence based links; find them for yourself. In this time, more than ever, I believe in the power of prayer to lift us up from our selfishness and anxieties, our fears and projections, and to offer both solace and hopelessness in this wold wide moment we are sharing.
Pema Chodron says it best in her audiobook When Things Fall Apart which I could not recommend highly enough. Having a consciousness that we as healthy or strong humans can hold strength for those who are weaker or less privileged only in this very moment is a position of empowerment and capability that builds on itself. Prayer builds capability out of nothing. There is nothing to lose, and it does not need to be structured within a religion, a god or goddess, or a building. There is no wrong way to connect.
The other thing I have relied on heavily for prevention in these contagions viral times is herbal medicine. I have some knowledge of chinese herbs and some of western herbs. More to follow on pandemic herbal medicine in Part 2
