Student health matters

Last friday we met for the final time. We made posters depicting why student health matters, and after 7 weeks I have learnt the importance of making time for myself and remembering to relax. One message that particularly stands out to me if the important of separating myself from my degree; I am not just a medical student. Knowing this, I can remember to partake in acitivities away from medicine, and activities that define me as a person. I have also learnt a lot about how alternative and complementary therapies can work along side more traditional treatments. Some of the treatments discussed, I believe have a real place in the treatment of certain ailments, such as massage for muscular injuries, however, I still have some reserves about some other treatments, such as raiki. All in all I do believe that different forms of treatment benefit different people; raiki may work for those who find relaxation in it, but not for those without belief in it's therapeutic effects. This has been an interesting 7 weeks of learning.

Alternative therapy centre

After weeks of discussing how alternative treatments can affect and improve your health, we got to attend a therapy centre for an afternoon and experience these treatments first hand. When I arrived I was able to go straight into a room for a 'hydrotherm' massage - once again, as with many of the techniques experienced during these sessions, I had not previously experienced, or even heard of, this form of massage. It was similar to normal oil massage, but aided with the use of a hot bed of water that allowed a back massage to be done whilst lying on your back. I was informed that this treatment is very useful for muscular injuries, especially when the clients mobility may be impaired. I was told my scapula was pulled forward and that this massage could enable them to return to their correct position. As I had expected, this massage was very relaxing and did make my back feel less tense afterwards. After this, I also got to experience a Hopi ear candle. Although it did feel relaxing, I don't believe it made any difference to my sinuses or my balance. After this session, I am still not sure where I stand on the uses of alternative and complimentary therapy debate - although it was thoroughly enjoyable, how much did it effect my health?

Meditation

Last Friday we attended a session on meditation. We discussed our current style of living and how meditation can become part of a healthy lifestyle to aid us in our every day tasks. Meditation is the art of entering a deeper stage of relaxation by going beyond normal thinking. This is the first time I had ever experienced meditation; it is not something I would normally participate in, and I do not think I fully experienced the optimum outcome of such an activity. I found it hard to get beyond my normal style of thinking, especially as I have quite an active mind - it is harder than one would imagine to switch off every day thoughts. I'm also not sure how meditation would affect ones health. The woman taking the session stated that by relaxing the mind, one can avoid stress and hence obtain a clearer mind set. In theory I can see how this could be affective, yet I think it would take a lot of practice to reach such a level of relaxation. I don't think this is an activity I would take part in on a regular basis, but I can see how it may help some people to relax.

Yoga

On Friday's session we took part in a two hour yoga session. This is the first time I had done yoga; I discovered that although I did not think I was particular 'good' at it, it did help to relax me and I thoroughly enjoyed the session. Before I had taken part in this yoga session, I had previously thought that yoga was mainly designed for stretching muscles and hence would be uncomfortable and not particularly enjoyable. However, the woman leading the session stated that there is no point pushing yourself into positions that are uncomfortable. This was well received! I believe this could help improve a persons health as it allowed time to relax whilst also using your body - a better option than sitting in front of the television. Stress is known to have a cumulative negative effect on a persons health, so taking time out to 'de-stress' should be an integral part of a healthy lifestyle.

Who do we admire?

During this weeks session we discussed admirable qualities we notice in others (particular in someone we admire). I decided that the virtues I most appreciate in others include such qualities as kindness, empathy, being non-judgmental, and being caring. I actually found that the qualities I look for in a person differed somewhat to what other people in the group looked for. Other qualities put forward included integrity, honesty, and being hardworking. Although I believe these to be important as well, I don't see them as to be attributes that I would first notice in an individual. Further to this discussion, we spoke about ourselves as individuals, and how we balance our time between our work, and our hobbies. The group was in a general agreement that we often feel as if our degree takes up too much of our lives, leaving us little time to be who we really are. It would be nice to be able to overcome this, however I do think time management can often be very difficult, especially with a degree that requires so much time and thought input.

Introduction

Today was our first session about holistic healing. We spent a lot of time discussing health, and what exactly it means to be healthy. This was an interesting topic, as I had previously thought myself to be quite unhealthy. However after listing ideas about what health was, I realise in retrospect that I fulfill many of the "specification" that one should meet to be considered health (such as physic, mental, and social well being). We had to place ourselves on a continuum of health, from 1 to 10 (10 being healthy, 1 being unhealthy) to demonstrate how we felt about ourselves. Had I have had to complete this task at the beginning of the session, I would have placed myself at the lower end of the scale. However, after discussion I decided that in the grand scheme of things, I was around a 7. This session made me realise that I may not be so unhealthy after all.