21st Century Doc

Recently, the University of California published a summary of results from a series of highly focused, cutting-edge studies on the nature of gratitude, its causes, and its consequences.

Below are just some of their findings:

(Never mind the heavy “scientific” lingo, look at the trends)

* In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

* A related benefit was observed in the realm of personal goal attainment: Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.

* A daily gratitude intervention (self-guided exercises) with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy compared to a focus on hassles or a downward social comparison (ways in which participants thought they were better off than others). There was no difference in levels of unpleasant emotions reported in the three groups.

* Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or having offered emotional support to another, relative to the hassles or social comparison condition.

* In a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, a 21-day gratitude intervention resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more optimistic ratings of one’s life, and better sleep duration and sleep quality, relative to a control group.

* Children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008).

It’s clear – from studies and personal anecdotal evidence – that spending time each day reflecting on the aspects of your life you are grateful for is both healthy and rewarding.

I’d even go further than that:  when you exercise the Discipline of Gratitude you will not only be happier… but you’re going to start to achieve more in your life.

This is very powerful stuff, and I personally have experienced it over and over in my life.

It comes down to this: you can go through your life with a chip on your shoulder, wondering why things aren’t coming easier to you… or you can go through your life feeling grateful for all you have.

It’s your choice. And this choice will define how happy and how successful you are in life.

So, with the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, here’s a little 3-step exercise for you, suggested by the University of California.

Step #1: Spend 20 minutes thinking about and writing down all of the things in your life you’re grateful for.

Step #2: Spend 10 minutes meditating on one of the things on your Gratitude List. Think about why you’re grateful for it. How thankful you are for having it in your life. Think about what it truly means to you.

Step #3: Each day going forward, spend 10-minutes meditating on another item on your Gratitude List. As you realize you have new areas, items, or aspects of your life to be thankful for, add them to your Gratitude List and the daily meditation rotation.

Doing this exercise on a regular basis will add an exciting new dimension to your life, boost your overall health and well-being, and make you feel good.

Source: http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/

If, however, you think this exercise is too much, there is a quicker and easier way. It’s just a matter of consciously taking a little time on a regular basis to acknowledge everything you have to be grateful for.

And trust me, we all have LOTS to be grateful for.

Just take five minutes, close your eyes – and reflect on everything that you’re grateful for… this is even more powerful if you actually speak those things out loud. And it’s even better if you write them down.

Go ahead… take a few minutes and do it right now…

So how did that feel? Do you feel happier? Lighter? More alive?

This really is a wonderful exercise to do each morning when you wake, or at night when you go to bed.

Bottom line – if you want to achieve great things in your life (and great success), then the
Discipline of Gratitude is one of the key life-skills you need to master.

The good news is that it’s also one of the easiest.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Thank you for being a part of our lives.

Dr. Irina, Dr. David, Tanya, Jeanne, Kody, and the rest of the Transformational Health Team

Over the last three years we have accumulated some empirical data that the Q1000 and COSMODIC devices were very effective for treatment and sometimes even reversal of AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration) .  We have quite a few happy clients, whose visual functions substantially improved after a course of therapy and remained that way.

Now where do we go from here? We cannot really publish our findings, because we treated only a limited number of cases and, besides, our data were not received in controlled clinical trials. Therefore, it cannot not be considered “valid” in the conventional medical eyes and no self-respected medical publication will take it.

But we want people to know that they have an option to improve their dreadful condition! Maybe, someone else out there in the closed ophthalmological circles does something similar and we can team up? I was determined to find out, for the benefit of all AMD sufferers.

I put on my dusty after 12 years on the shelf eye doctor’s hat and last week ventured to the Advanced Retinal Therapy Congress in Vienna, Austria. This is me on the picture with two of my Russian colleagues in front of the Austrian Academy of Science building where the Congress was held. BTW, this building is a part of the former Jesuit monastery – you can imagine the atmosphere.

Here are my findings.

1. Austria is beautiful, and Vienna is breathtaking.
2. All they say about Viennese forest, waltzes, and pastries is true – and there is a lot more to Vienna.
3. European ophthalmological science preserves its strong traditions and it does not look like things changed much since I’ve been a part of it almost 13 year ago.
4. Advanced Retinal Therapy exists and a lot of very serious scientists work tirelessly to make it even more advanced.
5. 99% of attendees of the congress who I connected with (all MDs and PhDs) had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Soft Laser for AMD reversal? Nonsense, it can’t work. SCENAR? What is “SCENAR”? What do you mean, “energy medicine”? Cm’on, is there really such thing as life energy?

I felt like I was in dark ages… And the Jesuit monastery created a perfect background.

It was some light in the overall darkness though. Professor Arthur Newfeld from Chicago presented a very interesting report on the aging process of the retina (the sensitive back part of the eye that primarily consists of nervous cells). With the way his study was organized it is really easy to see how fast the aging process is going. So, if something slows down this process, the effect can be clearly shown and quantified…

You can guess by now where I am going with this, right? I talked to Dr. Newfeld and he is very interested to see the effects of the resonating laser on the retina in his study (on this picture I am with Prof. Arthur Newfeld). At least one open-minded scientist… Let’s see what will come out of it.

Just imagine if we can actually have a documented proof of what we see every day with our clients – that the Q-series laser slows down aging and can actually rejuvenate tissues and organs?

My overall conclusion: we cannot rely on conventional medical establishment to bring in changes our inefficient health care so badly needs. The cure will not come from doctors – it has to come from YOU.  Take charge of your health, educate yourself, review all available options, listen what your intuition tells you – and go for it.  After all, it is YOUR body…

And despite of what your ophthalmologist may tell you about your AMD and its irreversibility…  We’ve seen it improving and even being reversed. We KNOW it is not hopeless, even though we cannot prove it. Please, do not give up. The new truth is always at first ignored, then violently opposed, and only then accepted as self-evident. The time of our truth hasn’t come quite yet, but in a few years everyone will know that the Q-laser and COSMODIC are just the things you need if you’ve been diagnosed with AMD.

So do really you want to wait these few years?

Dr. Irina