Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving...wishing you all a season of gratitude. A wonderful little book, Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons of Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn, happened to land on my desk this week. As I opened to the first page, a poem by Derek Walcott jumped out at me....reminding me once again of the gratitude I feel daily for the gift of life, love and mindfulness. May you arrive at your own door this Thanksgiving. With gratitude, I share with you Derek Walcott's poem:

The time will come

when with elation,

you will greet yourself
arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other's
welcome.

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your
self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back
your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved
you

all your life, whom you
ignored

for another, who knows you by
heart.

Take down the love letters from the
bookshelf.

the photographs, the desperate
notes,

peel your own image from the
mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott, "Love after Love"

Integrative Therapies in Treatment of Chronic Pain

As many of you know, I have a clinical interest in integrative therapies in healthcare treatment. An interesting segment on chronic pain and its treatment aired on the 11/09/07 Today Show. Click here to view the video. Chronic pain is a huge issue in terms of quality of life, worker productivity, and overall health and wellbeing in the U.S. today. It is estimated that over 50 million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain conditions. Like many other maladies, chronic pain usually is not curable, but is treatable. We need to open our minds to integrating age old wisdom together with high tech medicine to acheive the best possbile outcomes.

We are "LIVE"

"LIVE"...What a curious way to describe getting a blog and website up and running! But, it is a wonderful way to kick off my new blog which I hope will inspire you to explore, learn and share insights and challenges on sustaining and building resiliency in our lives...work, home and health. I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts, news, and links with you. Let me know you are out there by commenting!