Dr. Andrew Weil has been a huge influence in bringing attention to Integrative Medicine in the US.
Recently I was reading the October 2014 Natural Awakening magazine, and he was asked, “What influence can the public have in supporting a shift” ?
Personally, I have been sitting with this question myself for quite a while. The allopathic part of medicine is so helpful and supportive in some ways, but sorely missing in regards to the connection to humanity as whole beings. It feels like one goes to a physician and is slotted a 15 minute appointment, and on to the next patient. Insurance companies don’t compensate doctors for listening to a complete history for an hour. Not to mention- have you noticed how medications are handed out a lot easier than a prescription for massage or acupuncture. They are covered by insurance easier, that’s for sure. I am not pointing my finger at physicians, as they are having to fit into something that only partially works. What I am suggesting is that the system needs to be restructured.
For me, it is nice to hear a medical doctor interested in changing the healthcare system. However, change is not going to have to be only coming from people like him. It’s up to us as patients, but more fundamentally as full human beings to create this shift.
Dr. Weil wrote, “Our dysfunction healthcare system is generating rivers of money flowing into very few pockets. Those are the pockets of big pharmaceutical companies, medical devices manufactures and big insurers;interests that control legislators. So, I don’t think any real change is going to come from the government.”
Integrative Medicine
If you would like to see changes, I’d invite you to research alternative and integrative therapies. Help make connections between these fields and western medicine. We need rainbow bridges to help bring the best qualities of all the various health protocols together. This requires a grassroots movement. I don’t always agree with all of Dr. Weil’s assessments on all things, but he does have a clear vision in bringing this about. We need to all put away the need for there only being one method to heal…instead let’s come together to create a new system that addresses holism and quality of life.
Right now, we have more people living longer, less doctors to meet their needs. Let’s work together and write to our government, but more than that… get involved and support the wellness programs that help you feel healthier and happier. Find out more about physicians who believe in integrative and functional medicine. You deserve that!
Thought for the day,
Sharon Hartnett CST