If you are curious about my own private practice in Vancouver, Washington, our clinic website has more details, and it is called Points of Origin, PLLC.

Please leave your comments and feedback below. And stay tuned for more video episodes coming up on this topic and others.

Energy Medicine Book for Parents Published

After the release of my ebook called Energy Medicine Principles for Parents, several people asked if I was considering publishing it as a softcover book. I looked into it and I’m happy to say it is now available in my office, on my website’s online bookstore, and even at New Renaissance Bookstore in Portland, Oregon!

I’d like to say a special thanks to those of you who encouraged me to undertake this project and to those of you who have given me feedback.

I also took the step to make an audio version of the book which is available on 2 CD’s, as some people prefer to listen rather than read. I have some copies of the audio CD’s in my office as well as available to order through my online store here.

I also want to let you know that I recently teamed up with the International BodyTalk Association (IBA) to raise awareness of this energy medicine/consciousness based modality. I have a special page where visitors can buy my ebook and contribute 50% of the proceeds to the IBA to help with the funding for the many projects and good works they are doing throughout the world. Here’s the link to this special page here:
http://www.principlesforparents.com/pfp-and-iba.html

As always, please feel free to give me feedback and comments on my blog or through the contact form on the website.

Thanks,
Peter Hanfileti, MD

Heart Coherence

I had the opportunity recently to talk with Dr Rollin McCraty who is the Director of Research at the HeartMath Institute in California. They have been investigating the concept of heart rate variability and coherence for many years now. You may have seen Dr McCraty’s appearance in the movie I profiled in a previous post called The Living Matrix Movie. It is a wonderful exploration of energetics in healing, and I think well worth your time to watch it. You can check to see if there is a screening in your area by checking the Living Matrix website.

Our hearts beat with a pattern that most of us don’t recognize and really don’t think much about. Most of the time the pattern is somewhat chaotic and goes up and down in a random fashion. However, there is a pattern called physiologic coherence where the heart rate actually increases and decreases in an orderly, smooth way. On a computer screen it shows up as undulating waves going up and down, which is very different than most people’s baseline heart wave pattern. How is this important to you and your child?

It turns out that this state of coherence is strongly correlated with improvements in health status and one’s ability to deal with stress. It has been found that most people are not in coherence except in very specific circumstances or only after having been trained in certain techniques. The HeartMath Institute did a study several years ago which documented improvement in school age kids’ ability to handle anxiety prior to and during test taking in school. This is a remarkable finding which showed that kids could be taught a few simple self calming techniques and this actually translated into improved subjective feelings on the part of the students, as well as improved objective findings pertaining to their test scores compared to a control group. The full reference to this study called TENDS, which stands for Test Edge National Demonstration Study, is available on the HeartMath website.

I am very interested in exploring this concept of heart rate variability and coherence as a way to document what’s going on with kids in particular when we are using techniques like BodyTalk and other non-invasive, natural approaches to pediatric problems. The heart itself is much more than a muscular organ that pumps blood circulation throughout the body. It has amazing energetic qualities as well, in keeping with the multidimensional aspects of all of our body’s organs and systems. For example, in the Chinese medicine system, the heart energy is in charge of such things as sleep cycles, creativity, dreaming and speech patterns. I believe we must expand our understanding of what it means to have this remarkable body and system operating on different levels of experience and awareness.

Stay tuned for more information coming about the HeartMath Institute and their dedicated researchers. Their work is truly exciting and it is on the cutting edge of natural medicine and healing modalities available to us now and coming in the near future.

BodyTalk: Consciousness Based Healthcare

Dr John Veltheim, the founder of the BodyTalk system, presented a full weekend workshop called Finding Health: Mapping the Healing Process in Portland, Oregon which I found fascinating and awe inspiring. He also gave a public lecture and I was asked to say a few words before the presentation. I have included my remarks below.

“8 years ago, I received a handwritten letter in the mail from someone I had never met, the letter said that a speaker was coming whom I had never heard of, and he was to discuss a technique known as BodyTalk which I never imagined could become part of my daily clinical practice as a physician. I followed an inner prompting to follow the directions in that letter and I showed up for the talk just like you all have done tonight. That night 8 years ago, I listened to an interesting Australian named John Veltheim, and afterwards my pathway was set, I enrolled in the first BodyTalk class I could find and my learning which started back then continues to this day.

This curious twist of fate or what I can call a synchronicity happened when I was in the middle of transitioning from a conventional pediatrics group practice to the complementary or holistic medicine practice I have today. I had always wanted to treat kids with non-invasive approaches whenever possible, and in my opinion, BodyTalk is the ultimate system when it comes to natural, gentle, respectful techniques used in the treatment of children.

Let me just back up a little bit and tell you that I was trained in the conventional way as a physician. I graduated from medical school, went through a 3 year residency program in pediatrics at the University of Michigan, I joined a pediatrics group in Vancouver WA and practiced for 6 years as a primary care pediatrician. My duties included seeing newborns in the hospital, performing well child check ups and school physicals, putting in sutures for lacerations and cuts, and spending time with parents trying to give them the best advice I could.

At that point in my career, I didn’t have the faintest idea what energy medicine was or even how it could be useful to me or my patients. I was on track to put in my 30-35 years and retire along with my colleagues. That was my assumption and I had planned to stick with it.

However, something was pulling me toward new ways of thinking. I was gradually exposed to the energy medicine paradigm which included fascinating fields like acupuncture and Chinese medicine. And then when BodyTalk came along, my mind was really expanded.

What I now realize is that a consciousness based system like BodyTalk is able to embrace the simple notion that we as human beings are much more than what our anatomy and physiology reveals. What I learned in my conventional medical training was no doubt useful and necessary, but I did not realize how incomplete it was until I became exposed to these concepts. Seeing kids in my practice over the last several years has taught me even more about the energy dynamics that play a role in all aspects of health and wellbeing for children and their families.

Before I finish, I want to express my personal thanks to John Veltheim for writing the foreward to my recent book called Energy Medicine Principles for Parents. I wrote it with the intent to make it available to my own patients and families in my practice, but then it became clear that it could be useful to the larger community of parents who are looking for answers to help their kids.

Even though it is our job as practitioners to help alleviate problems and prevent them wherever possible, I have found that it is the awareness of parents and kids themselves that is the first necessary step. It is my hope that this book will serve as an introduction and a resource for parents who are exploring this new realm of medicine called BodyTalk.

I know you will enjoy tonight’s presentation by Dr Veltheim. Thank you.”

-Peter Hanfileti, MD

You can find more information about my ebook at www.principlesforparents.com

You might also want to visit the International BodyTalk Association website at www.bodytalksystem.com.

Reality Based Medicine: Part 2

Part 2 of our discussion on reality based medicine continues following up on this notion of medicine using too narrow a focus when it comes to healthcare and choices of acceptable or “proven” modalities.

Another example to illustrate this point is found in music.  Could any of us imagine if only one form of music was considered acceptable, while all the other genres were excluded?  This would never fly in our society where choice is so highly revered. 

And yet, in the world of medicine, we stick to conformity and accept what we hear on television.  They tell us, if we have a certain condition, the best and only way to treat it is to take the next greatest medication on the market.  How many times have these medications ended up harming significant portions of the population because of side effects (either known or unknown)? 

To me, this is evidence of what can happen when the mistaken assumption is made that when something is good for some it must be good for all.

I am constantly made aware of how symptom oriented our society is.  We are so fixated on naming syndromes and diseases that we’ll even make some up to sound good on commercials and thereby draw in people looking for an answer to their problem.  I’m not saying these are not real conditions but I am questioning why a description of one or a collection of symptoms is elevated to the status of a disorder or disease. 

I think this is very misleading and should not be tolerated.  It simply obscures the underlying causative issue and delays the proper treatment, or in the worst case scenario leads to the lifelong postponement of even addressing or finding out what the underlying cause is.  I don’t think most people would elect to do this if they were given proper and complete information from the outset.

I have learned through my clinical experience and my own study of energy medicine principles that this huge missing piece of the puzzle cannot be kept from the public any longer.  It is simply too easy to get this information now.  I believe we as physicians owe it to our patients to let them know they have a choice.  And the choice is to encourage them to explore their own questions on health, using their own body as a living laboratory, not the statistics of the next research study in the newspaper or on the nightly news.

Finally, I admit that I must accept a dose of my own medicine.  That is, while I may think a certain way about the need for choice when it comes to our own healthcare, I also acknowledge that there will be some people who make the choice to follow the conventional approach and only choose those treatments that have been “proven” in research studies.  I respect and honor that choice, whether or not it has been arrived at with the full knowledge of the alternatives, the consequences, and the existence of differing opinions.

-Part 2 of an excerpt from “Energy Medicine Principles for Parents: A Pediatrician’s Perspective on How Energy Medicine Can Help Your Child” published in May, 2009.

Additional comment: And so we arrive at the point where we must acknowledge that people are different; they have different needs, coping mechanisms, ways of responding to the world and other people, and yes, individual ways of responding to health challenges no matter what the statistics say. Instead of limiting our viewpoints to only those results of studies done on populations rather than individuals, I think we will all be better off taking in a bigger dose of reality based medicine.

Reality Based Medicine: Part 1

Nowadays we hear about the importance of evidence based medicine.  I believe this is an attempt by our collective left brain to hold on to its position it has held over the last couple centuries.  Even when there is “evidence” in other scientific fields like physics, the medical establishment has been slow  to accept the notion that we as human beings are much more than physical beings.  We are composed of numerous energy fields, many of which can be demonstrated and viewed with the instruments available today.

Reality Based Medicine

I propose a new term called “reality based medicine” in order to more accurately describe what’s really happening in and around us as human beings.  If one of the smallest known components of our universe is the atom (I won’t get into subatomic particles) and we know that an atom can “appear” as either a particle or a wave, then we as human beings must also have this characteristic of dual appearance as particle and wave.  Is this not logical?

The energy medicine paradigm allows for this and in fact embraces it as part of its foundational principle, which is that we are energetic beings.  All of the “alternative medicine” systems incorporate this energy component in one form or another.  Isn’t it time that we as physicians caught up with the rest of the world?

My main criticism of “evidence based medicine” is the fact that the main supposition is that we are all the same.  Of course, everyone knows this is not true.  So how can smart people like doctors and researchers make this error?  I believe it comes from microfocusing on what can be proven statistically at the expense of what can be incorporated realistically by everyday people.  It’s one thing to say a certain medication is good for your heart, it’s quite another to say that same medication is going to force your body to do something it was never designed to do.

This is one of the greatest pitfalls of modern medicine.  I believe if people have more complete information about what’s going on in their bodies and the consequences of only following the evidence based medicine route, they will be able to make more sound decisions for their own individual situation. (I want to make it clear  that I think evidence based medicine is valuable and provides useful information. I just think it should not be the only factor used in medical decision making and healthcare choices by parents and patients.)

This can be further illustrated if we look at the example of how a child learns.  It is well known that kids learn differently.  Some are more visual, some auditory, some kinesthetic or feeling oriented, and this influences how they are best able to learn.

As a practicing physician in pediatrics, I have seen countless examples of all three.  Would it make sense to make all kids conform to learning in one way only?  Of course not.  Then why would we allow the same strategy to reign in the field of medicine?  It doesn’t make sense.  We should be striving to individualize treatments, not designing one  protocol and expect it to fit everyone.

-This is Part 1 of an excerpt from “Energy Medicine Principles for Parents: A Pediatrician’s Perspective on How Energy Medicine Can Help Your Child” published in May, 2009.  Part 2 will be posted soon.

Use Awareness to Help Your Child

I’d like to expand upon this theme of awareness taken from my free ebook called Paradigm Shifting Principles for Parents, which is available as a download on my website called PrinciplesForParents.com.

Awareness is key

I spend a lot of time in my practice emphasizing the importance of awareness. I believe this is the starting point for you, your child, and for me when it comes to beginning the process of helping your child to truly reach their potential.

Going back to the idea that energy has to become our common currency or common denominator, it is true that awareness itself has its own energetic signature or feeling associated with it. This in turn is detectable by your child, no matter what age they are. I find this is detectable by those outside of your family, including me, when interaction is taking place in my practice environment.

This is not surprising when you think about it. We are taught and learn early on, how to key into this awareness state and use it to our advantage and to help us navigate through the world and over the course of our lifetimes.

As the parent in your household, your own awareness of your child’s situation is the predominant factor that your child will key into. This is why it is important to have things squared away in your own mind so that you are not transmitting a sense of insecurity, doubt, despair and the like, to your child if at all possible. Once again, the energy explanation makes this clearer and readily understandable so that we can move forward to solutions for your child.

Age Reciprocal Resonance

Another concept I have written about previously which relates to this topic is something called age reciprocal resonance. This describes the relationship between parents and their children from an energy perspective and brings to our awareness the overlap between the child’s experience and their parent’s experience when they were that age.

This is a wide open, two way street so to speak, and it deserves our undivided attention in real time. The influence of this energetic process can be large or small, depending on the child, the parent, and the family history. I get into more details in my book called “Energy Medicine Principles for Parents”. You may want to read more about what is in the book, or download an excerpt of it that I have made available on my website.

Awareness is the Starting Point

One final thought on awareness I want to impart to you is this: Becoming aware is the starting point in the healing process for you, your child, and your family. When subjects remain in the unconscious or hidden realm, they are very difficult to change or to get a handle on them. By bringing things into your awareness and your child’s awareness, the recognition by itself will jump start and accelerate the process of balancing your child’s situation no matter what it may be.

I have seen this play out many times in my practice, and I have been fortunate to get feedback from parents, in some cases many years later, and their comments have been that a small change in awareness perhaps many years ago resulted in the start of a process which eventually led to understanding and resolution for their child.

I am very grateful for the opportunity I have been given to participate in this process with many parents, kids, and their families. So, work on your own awareness in order to help your child. It just may be the starting point toward helping your child move toward a more balanced state of being, and helping them to get in synch with their own underlying blueprint.

Paradigm Shifting Principles for Parents: Individualize for Your Child

Individualization strategy for your child

I’m going to discuss this topic of individuality taken from my free ebook called Paradigm Shifting Principles for Parents. Perhaps the most important information I can give you is to pay attention to the context your child’s situation fits into. What I mean is, your child’s individual nature is unquestionably the most important factor in their learning, your parenting, and my general advice-giving in my supporting role to you as a pediatrician.

What most parents don’t realize is that although their own child is unique, our current medical system considers them to be the opposite. This is a shocking realization for everyone involved, including myself as a practicing physician! While we in the medical community pay lip service to the laudable goal of treating your child as an individual, the fact is, very few practitioners have the time, the understanding or the framework within which to work to accomplish this goal. It is my view that you as the parent are the only one who can possibly attain this outcome for your child. No practitioner or medical system can do it for you or for them. All we can hope to do is point you in the right direction. This has been and will continue to be my goal in my interactions with you, either in person or indirectly through my writings.

How Does Your Child Absorb Information?

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about to make this more clear. In my practice, I place a lot of importance on how your child takes in information, and how they assimilate it. Some kids are very feeling oriented and kinesthetic or sensitive to their surroundings including other people. Some kids are much more verbal and talkative, and they show an ability to communicate their wants and needs to you in a flurry of words and phrases. Still other kids are more auditory, and they need to hear instructions, encouragement, and/or reinforcement, sometimes repeatedly and numerous times before it will finally “sink in”. As you can see, the logical strategy is to match the method with the easiest way your child can absorb the information you are trying to get through to them.

Pigeon Holing is Not Logical

If I am called upon to give advice to help parents with a child with a particular problem, it is imperative that I know which of the above methods will most likely result in the most efficient way to address the issue. Is it logical for me to arbitrarily choose one method for all kids of a certain age group, knowing that there is wide variability in how kids take in information? This is what I call pigeon-holing and I see it constantly cropping up in the medical field in particular. As a physician, I am just as much to blame for this unfortunate tendency because I used to think and practice in that way. Now I am trying to reverse the trend and begin the necessary dialogue to find common ground between parents and practitioners for the benefit of your kids.

Individualize Your Approach to Your Child

Now if we come back to your role as the parent. There is no doubt that you have the most influence and hold the most important position when it comes to your child, period. What I want you to know is that there is nothing wrong with individualizing your approach to all things related to your child, and I would include the medical or health related decisions you make. I can only make this statement now, after many years in practice, because I have arrived at an understanding that includes the energy medicine view of your child and your family. I do not believe we can ignore the very important contribution energy influences make during your child’s growth and development years. You can read more of my perspectives on this in other posts I have made in the energy medicine category here.

If you’d like more information, go here to download the full version of the free ebook: Paradigm Shifting Principles for Parents.

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