OBJECTIVE: To provide a descriptive overview of the clinical trials assessing meditation practices for health care. DESIGN: Systematic review of the literature. Comprehensive searches were conducted in 17 electronic bibliographic databases through September 2005. Other sources of potentially relevant studies included hand searches, reference tracking, contacting experts, and gray literature searches. Included studies were clinical trials with 10 or more adult participants using any meditation practice, providing quantitative data on health-related outcomes, and published in English. Two independent reviewers assessed study relevance, extracted the data, and assessed the methodological quality of the studies. RESULTS: Four hundred clinical trials on meditation (72% described as randomized) were included in the review (publication years 1956-2005). Five broad categories of meditation practices were identified: mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, t'ai chi, and qigong. The three most studied clinical conditions were hypertension, miscellaneous cardiovascular diseases, and substance abuse. Psychosocial measures were the most frequently reported outcomes. Outcome measures of psychiatric and psychological symptoms dominate the outcomes of interest. Overall, the methodological quality of clinical trials is poor, but has significantly improved over time by 0.014 points every year (95% CI, 0.005, 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: Most clinical trials on meditation practices are generally characterized by poor methodological quality with significant threats to validity in every major quality domain assessed. Despite a statistically significant improvement in the methodological quality over time, it is imperative that future trials on meditation be rigorous in design, execution, analysis, and the reporting of results.

J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Dec;14(10):1199-213. Ospina MB, Bond K, Karkhaneh M, Buscemi N, Dryden DM, Barnes V, Carlson LE, Dusek JA, Shannahoff-Khalsa D. University of Alberta Evidence-Based Practice Center, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. mospina@ualberta.ca

by Vincenzo Altepost

The first contemplation is the easiest. Meditation lets us naturally experience a condition of deep peace. A person with problems always has a restless mind. Meditation provides us with a natural, medicine free, experience of calmness. Morning and evening meditation allows us to relax our restless mind at least twice a day. This natural tranquillity makes us gain distance from our problems, which shift to become duties. With a quiet mind, we have a higher capacity to cope with our emotions, being more and more able to face our duties. The quality of the experiencing our own life is influenced by and dependent on our identification mechanism. Our identification depends on our experiences. We tend to identify ourselves in relation to our experiences. Each experience has three aspects:

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Noted artist, author and healer, Ernesto Ortiz has devoted his life to exploring and communicating the language of the heart, primal movement and deep inner spaces. Over the past 25 years, Ernesto has taken thousands of people on a journey from physical and emotional inertia to the freedom of ecstasy, from the chaos of the chattering ego-mind to the blessed emptiness of stillness and inner silence.

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Currently, there are no neurobiological markers of clinical response for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) used in clinical practice. We investigated the neural pattern of activity to implicit processing of sad facial expressions as a predictive marker of clinical response. Sixteen medication-free patients in an acute episode of major depression underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans before treatment with CBT. Nine patients showed a full clinical response. The pattern of activity, which predicted clinical response, was analysed with support vector machine and leave-one-out cross-validation. The functional neuroanatomy of sad faces at the lowest and highest intensities identified patients, before the initiation of therapy, who had a full clinical response to CBT (sensitivity 71%, specificity 86%, P = 0.029).

Neuroreport. 2009 Mar 31. Costafreda SG, Khanna A, Mourao-Miranda J, Fu CH. Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK.

Recent research has suggested that a number of environmental factors may be associated with a tendency for susceptible individuals to report mildly anomalous sensations typically associated with "haunted" locations, including a sense of presence, feeling dizzy, inexplicable smells, and so on. Factors that may be associated with such sensations include fluctuations in the electromagnetic field (EMF) and the presence of infrasound. A review of such work is presented, followed by the results of the "Haunt" project in which an attempt was made to construct an artificial "haunted" room by systematically varying such environmental factors. Participants (N=79) were required to spend 50 min in a specially constructed chamber, within which they were exposed to infrasound, complex EMFs, both or neither. They were informed in advance that during this period they might experience anomalous sensations and asked to record on a floor plan their location at the time of occurrence of any such sensations, along with a note of the time of occurrence and a brief description of the sensation. Upon completing the session in the experimental chamber, they were asked to complete three questionnaires. The first was an EXIT scale asking respondents to indicate whether or not they had experienced particular anomalous sensations. The second was the Australian Sheep-Goat Scale, a widely used measure of belief in and experience of the paranormal. The third was Persinger's Personal Philosophy Inventory, although only the items that constitute the Temporal Lobe Signs (TLS) Inventory sub-scale were scored. These items deal with psychological experiences typically associated with temporal lobe epilepsy but normally distributed throughout the general population. Although many participants reported anomalous sensations of various kinds, the number reported was unrelated to experimental condition but was related to TLS scores. The most parsimonious explanation for our findings is in terms of suggestibility.

Cortex. 2009 May;45(5):619-29. Epub 2008 Jun 5. French CC, Haque U, Bunton-Stasyshyn R, Davis R. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, London, UK.

by Barbara Goulding, RM

I would like to start off by talking about touch healing with Reiki energies. There are various positions used by the healer or practitioner to use in a healing session. Many practitioners would choose to use the touch method as it's more personal and gives the energy a direct contact with the client. The typical session starts out at the top of the client's head and works it's way down the body as directed by the energy needed by the client and sometimes by the practitioner. The typical session lasts 45 minutes for a full body healing session. How long the sessions are would be determined by the practitioner and considering the needs of the client involved. There are sessions that can be done from a chair with the client in an upright position and the healer works at the shoulder level during that session. Other sessions are done on a Reiki or massage table where the client is laying down on their back and the healer works from the top of the head and down the length of the client to the feet. In either case it is up to the client to decide what is most comfortable for them.

I prefer to use the hands-off method of healing as it's good for those who have a fear of another person being in their body space. The energy works with the body's auric system or etheric body and flows to where it is needed most anyway. The healer then works their hands two inches above the client and is guided either by the energies or intuition as to where to move the hands to next. The method does not matter in either case because the healing energies go to where they are needed by the client and that is what is done in all sessions.

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Full Title:The effectiveness of a stress coping program based on mindfulness meditation on the stress, anxiety, and depression experienced by nursing students in Korea.

This study examined the effectiveness of a stress coping program based on mindfulness meditation on the stress, anxiety, and depression experienced by nursing students in Korea. A nonequivalent, control group, pre-posttest design was used. A convenience sample of 41 nursing students were randomly assigned to experimental (n=21) and control groups (n=20). Stress was measured with the PWI-SF (5-point) developed by Chang. Anxiety was measured with Spieberger's state anxiety inventory. Depression was measured with the Beck depression inventory. The experimental group attended 90-min sessions for eight weeks. No intervention was administered to the control group. Nine participants were excluded from the analysis because they did not complete the study due to personal circumstances, resulting in 16 participants in each group for the final analysis. Results for the two groups showed (1) a significant difference in stress scores (F=6.145, p=0.020), (2) a significant difference in anxiety scores (F=6.985, p=0.013), and (3) no significant difference in depression scores (t=1.986, p=0.056). A stress coping program based on mindfulness meditation was an effective intervention for nursing students to decrease their stress and anxiety, and could be used to manage stress in student nurses. In the future, long-term studies should be pursued to standardize and detail the program, with particular emphasis on studies to confirm the effects of the program in patients with diseases, such as cancer.

Nurse Educ Today. 2009 Jul;29(5):538-43. . Kang YS, Choi SY, Ryu E. Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute of Health Science, School of Medicine, Gyeong-Sang National University, 92 Chilam-dong, Chinju 660-751, Republic of Korea.

by Ernesto Ortiz LMT, CST

Bamboo is one of the must multifaceted plants in our planet. It has earned its reputation from its noble and soft appearance as well as its perseverance under harsh conditions. In the Orient, bamboo symbolizes strength, fertility, youth, prosperity and peace.

Bamboo is certainly one of the most versatile plants. It has spiritual, mythological and many practical applications. It is eaten, used in home construction and decoration, as well as for the creation of utensils and herbal remedies.

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Although the systematic study of meditation is still in its infancy, research has provided evidence for meditation-induced improvements in psychological and physiological well-being. Moreover, meditation practice has been shown not only to benefit higher-order cognitive functions but also to alter brain activity. Nevertheless, little is known about possible links to brain structure. Using high-resolution MRI data of 44 subjects, we set out to examine the underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation with different regional specificity (i.e., global, regional, and local). For this purpose, we applied voxel-based morphometry in association with a recently validated automated parcellation approach. We detected significantly larger gray matter volumes in meditators in the right orbito-frontal cortex (as well as in the right thalamus and left inferior temporal gyrus when co-varying for age and/or lowering applied statistical thresholds). In addition, meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the right hippocampus. Both orbito-frontal and hippocampal regions have been implicated in emotional regulation and response control. Thus, larger volumes in these regions might account for meditators' singular abilities and habits to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability, and engage in mindful behavior. We further suggest that these regional alterations in brain structures constitute part of the underlying neurological correlate of long-term meditation independent of a specific style and practice. Future longitudinal analyses are necessary to establish the presence and direction of a causal link between meditation practice and brain anatomy.

Neuroimage. 2009 Apr 15;45(3):672-8. Luders E, Toga AW, Lepore N, Gaser C. Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7334, USA.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Although the literature on complementary therapy, including music, is vast, there are few studies conducted in a scientific fashion exploring physiologic mechanisms. This review summarizes recent evidence on the effects of music on the hypermetabolic response of critical illness. RECENT FINDINGS: Music may restore some of the distorted homeostasis observed in ICU patients, as well as reducing pain and the need for sedation. Music likely reduces alterations in the hypothalamic-anterior pituitary-peripheral hormone axes that produce cortisol and growth hormone. Music may also increase growth hormone levels, which can induce decreased production of cytokines such as IL-6 by white blood cells. Further, ovarian steroid secretion may paradoxically protect women by increasing baseline circulating stress hormones, providing an opportunity for music therapy to intervene effectively. Dopaminergic neurotransmission has been implicated as a means by which music can modulate the central nervous system. SUMMARY: Music may play an important role as an adjunct therapy in critical care. However, further studies are necessary to elucidate how music can be further integrated clinically and the precise underlying mechanisms of its beneficial effects.

Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Nov;11(6):790-4. Nelson A, Hartl W, Jauch KW, Fricchione GL, Benson H, Warshaw AL, Conrad C. Tufts University, School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

by Deidre Madsen, OM

TGI (TRANSFORMATIONAL GUIDED IMAGERY) = QUANTUM ENERGETICS - TODAY'S HEALING TOOL OF CHOICE!

Are you ready to become pain-free? Do you suffer from any of the following?

Body Aches and Pains
Deep-Set Fears
Withdrawing from the World
Emotional Unbalance
Dis-ease
Menopause and Peri-Menopause
Emotional Scarring
Childhood Traumas
Confused or Overwhelmed in Life
Addictions
Lost and Abandoned
Out of Balance or Out of Sync with Life
Phobias
Unchecked or Out-of-Control Anger
Traumatic Loss and Grief
Depression
Disconnected from Self/Spirit/Soul
Other? Fill in the blank _________

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The neural mechanisms underlying the antinociceptive effects of hypnosis still remain unclear. Using a parametric single-trial thulium-YAG laser fMRI paradigm, we assessed changes in brain activation and connectivity related to the hypnotic state as compared to normal wakefulness in 13 healthy volunteers. Behaviorally, a difference in subjective ratings was found between normal wakefulness and hypnotic state for both non-painful and painful intensity-matched stimuli applied to the left hand. In normal wakefulness, non-painful range stimuli activated brainstem, contralateral primary somatosensory (S1) and bilateral insular cortices. Painful stimuli activated additional areas encompassing thalamus, bilateral striatum, anterior cingulate (ACC), premotor and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. In hypnosis, intensity-matched stimuli in both the non-painful and painful range failed to elicit any cerebral activation. The interaction analysis identified that contralateral thalamus, bilateral striatum and ACC activated more in normal wakefulness compared to hypnosis during painful versus non-painful stimulation. Finally, we demonstrated hypnosis-related increases in functional connectivity between S1 and distant anterior insular and prefrontal cortices, possibly reflecting top-down modulation.

Neuroimage. 2009 May 19. Vanhaudenhuyse A, Boly M, Balteau E, Schnakers C, Moonen G, Luxen A, Lamy M, Degueldre C, Brichant JF, Maquet P, Laureys S, Faymonville ME. Coma Science Group, Cyclotron Research Center, University of Liège, Belgium.

by Ligia M. Houben, MA,CT,CG-C,ACCP, CH

In life we encounter many transitions. Some of them involve losses and therefore grief. But....what is grief? It is the expression of our suffering when someone or something dear to us is no longer at our side. So what happens to us? Is it normal to grieve? For how long? Although I would like to tell you exactly how long your grief will last....I can't....each person has his or her own "clock" and each grieving process is unique. What I can tell you is that your attitude toward what has happened to you can really make a difference in your life and the lives of others.

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Dr. Siegel, who prefers to be called Bernie, not Dr. Siegel, was born in Brooklyn, NY. He attended Colgate University and Cornell University Medical College. He holds membership in two scholastic honor societies, Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha and graduated with honors. His surgical training took place at Yale New Haven Hospital, West Haven Veteran's Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He retired from practice as an assistant clinical professor of surgery at Yale of general and pediatric surgery in 1989 to speak to patients and their caregivers.

In 1978 he originated Exceptional Cancer Patients, a specific form of individual and group therapy utilizing patients' drawings, dreams, images and feelings. ECaP is based on "carefrontation," a safe, loving therapeutic confrontation, which facilitates personal lifestyle changes, personal empowerment and healing of the individual's life. The physical, spiritual and psychological benefits which followed led to his desire to make everyone aware of his or her healing potential. He realized exceptional behavior is what we are all capable of.

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by C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.

In 1973 when I met Jack Schwartz, one of the best known intuitives of that time, he introduced me to his I.S.I.S, a pair of half egg-shaped eye cups with blinking lights, alternating left to right. Jack assured me that using these flashing light goggles regularly would enhance one's ability to see the human "aura." He had arranged frequencies in the beta, alpha, theta and delta range. I bought a dozen devices and had an electronic expert convert them to simultaneous flashing for both eyes, as I recognized the potential benefit for deep relaxation in my chronic pain and very stressed patients.

Over the next few years I explored a wide variety of methods of applying the photostimulator and in 1975 I encountered the Schneider Brain Wave Synchronizer (BWS), introduced in the early 50's. There were half a dozen articles from that decade on the benefits of BWS on labor, decreased need for anesthesia in surgery, and even on lowering blood pressure. Nothing had been published since those days, as tranquilizers had taken over! Incidentally, the BWS was developed to assist hypnotherapists induce a trance.

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The growing acceptance of consciousness as a legitimate field of enquiry and the availability of functional imaging has rekindled research interest in the use of hypnosis and suggestion to manipulate subjective experience and to gain insights into healthy and pathological cognitive functioning. Current research forms two strands. The first comprises studies exploring the cognitive and neural nature of hypnosis itself. The second employs hypnosis to explore known psychological processes using specifically targeted suggestions. An extension of this second approach involves using hypnotic suggestion to create clinically informed analogues of established structural and functional neuropsychological disorders. With functional imaging, this type of experimental neuropsychopathology offers a productive means of investigating brain activity involved in many symptom-based disorders and their related phenomenology.

Trends Cogn Sci. 2009 Jun;13(6):264-70. Epub 2009 May 8. Oakley DA, Halligan PW. Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK; School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK.

Full Title: EEG dynamics of experienced Zen meditation practitioners probed by complexity index and spectral measure.

Changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics in experienced Zen meditation practitioners (n = 23) during 40 minutes of meditation were compared with those in the matched controls (n = 23) taking a rest for 40 minutes. Averaged complexity index ([image omitted] ) evaluation and spectral analysis were measured in three intervals: the first, middle and the last 5-min segments of Zen meditation or relaxing rest. Significant increase in frontal alpha-1 (8-10 Hz) and occipital beta power was found during meditation as compared with the EEG under the rest, whereas an average increase of theta power was observed in the controls. In meditation, brain dynamics exhibited high [image omitted] , which correlated with more beta activity. Control subjects showed no significant change in [image omitted] level. This distinction became more significant during the last 5 minutes of meditation over most electrodes. Deeper meditation state has been reported as having implications of increased beta power that can be more prominent by the approach of [image omitted] estimation. Our results substantiate the idea that long-term training with Zen-Buddhist meditation induces changes in the electro-cortical activity of the brain.

J Med Eng Technol. 2009;33(4):314-21. Huang HY, Lo PC. Department of Electrical and Control Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China. hsuany.ece88g@nctu.edu.tw

Original Title: Pediatric oncologists' views toward the use of complementary and alternative medicine in children with cancer.

Pediatric oncology patients commonly use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), yet approximately only 50% of these patients discuss CAM with their oncologist. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess barriers to CAM communication in pediatric oncology. DESIGN/METHODS: A 33-question survey was sent via electronic mail to 358 pediatric oncologists in the United States. RESULTS: Ninety pediatric oncologists completed the survey. Ninety-nine percent of pediatric oncologists think it is important to know what CAM therapies their patients use. However, less than half of pediatric oncologists routinely ask their patients about CAM. This is primarily because of a lack of time and knowledge. Many physicians think some forms of CAM may improve quality of life, such as massage (74%) and yoga (57%). Over half of physicians thought that dietary supplements, herbal medicine, special diets, vitamins, and chiropractic might be harmful to patients. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric oncologists believe it is important to know which CAM therapies their patients use; however, they are not asking about them owing to lack of time and knowledge. To improve communication about CAM, increased physician education is needed. In addition, physicians should identify patients using potentially harmful CAM therapies. Furthermore, CAM research in pediatric oncology should focus on those modalities physicians believe may improve patient quality of life.

J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2009 Mar;31(3):177-82. Roth M, Lin J, Kim M, Moody K. Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY 10467, USA. mroth@montefiore.org

In this article, we describe the clinical applicability of loving-kindness meditation (LKM) to individuals suffering from schizophrenia-spectrum disorders with persistent negative symptoms. LKM may have potential for reducing negative symptoms such as anhedonia, avolition, and asociality while enhancing factors consistent with psychological recovery such as hope and purpose in life. Case studies will illustrate how to conduct this group treatment with clients with negative symptoms, the potential benefits to the client, and difficulties that may arise. Although LKM requires further empirical support, it promises to be an important intervention since there are few treatments for clients afflicted with negative symptoms. (c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 65: 1-11, 2009.

J Clin Psychol. 2009 Mar 6;65(5):499-509. Johnson DP, Penn DL, Fredrickson BL, Meyer PS, Kring AM, Brantley M. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

by Jevon Dängeli

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is well established as a powerful method to develop your potential and enhance performance. It can help you create order from chaos and encourages resourceful ways of thinking while expanding awareness of choices.

We're all born with the same basic neurology. Our ability to do anything in life, whether it's learning a new skill, cooking a meal or doing business, depends on how we control our nervous system. So, much of NLP is devoted to learning how to think more effectively and communicate more effectively with yourself and others.

Neuro is about your neurological system. NLP is based on the idea that we experience the world through our senses and translate sensory information into thought processes, both conscious and unconscious. Thought processes activate the neurological system, which affects physiology, emotions and behaviour.

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Although many complementary therapies are promoted for the treatment of obesity, few are truly therapeutic. Evidence suggests that food containing diacylglycerol oil, acupuncture, and hypnosis are the only evidence-based complementary therapies for the treatment of obesity, and, at best, these should be used as adjuvants to the more conventional therapies of calorie restriction and exercise.

Prim Care. 2009 Jun;36(2):395-406. Steyer TE, Ables A. Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 9228 Medical Plaza Drive, Charleston, SC 29406, USA. steyerte@musc.edu

OBJECTIVE: This report presents selected estimates of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among U.S. adults and children, using data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Trends in adult use were assessed by comparing data from the 2007 and 2002 NHIS. METHODS: Estimates were derived from the Complementary and Alternative Medicine supplements and Core components of the 2007 and 2002 NHIS. Estimates were generated and comparisons conducted using the SUDAAN statistical package to account for the complex sample design. RESULTS: In 2007, almost 4 out of 10 adults had used CAM therapy in the past 12 months, with the most commonly used therapies being nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products (17.7%) and deep breathing exercises (12.7%). American Indian or Alaska Native adults (50.3%) and white adults (43.1%) were more likely to use CAM than Asian adults (39.9%) or black adults (25.5%). Results from the 2007 NHIS found that approximately one in nine children (11.8%) used CAM therapy in the past 12 months, with the most commonly used therapies being nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products (3.9%) and chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (2.8%). Children whose parent used CAM were almost five times as likely (23.9%) to use CAM as children whose parent did not use CAM (5.1%). For both adults and children in 2007, when worry about cost delayed receipt of conventional care, individuals were more likely to use CAM than when the cost of conventional care was not a worry. Between 2002 and 2007 increased use was seen among adults for acupuncture, deep breathing exercises, massage therapy, meditation, naturopathy, and yoga. CAM use for head or chest colds showed a marked decrease from 2002 to 2007 (9.5% to 2.0%).

Natl Health Stat Report. 2009 Dec 10;(12):1-23. Barnes PM, Bloom B, Nahin RL. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Interview Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD 20782, USA.

A three-stimulus auditory oddball series was presented to experienced Vipassana meditators during meditation and a control thought period to elicit event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in the two different mental states. The stimuli consisted of a frequent standard tone (500 Hz), an infrequent oddball tone (1000 Hz), and an infrequent distracter (white noise), with all stimuli passively presented through headphones and no task imposed. The strongest meditation compared to control state effects occurred for the distracter stimuli: N1 amplitude from the distracter was reduced frontally during meditation; P2 amplitude from both the distracter and oddball stimuli were somewhat reduced during meditation; P3a amplitude from the distracter was reduced during meditation. The meditation-induced reduction in P3a amplitude was strongest in participants reporting more hours of daily meditation practice and was not evident in participants reporting drowsiness during their experimental meditative session. The findings suggest that meditation state can decrease the amplitude of neurophysiologic processes that subserve attentional engagement elicited by unexpected and distracting stimuli. Consistent with the aim of Vipassana meditation to reduce cognitive and emotional reactivity, the state effect of reduced P3a amplitude to distracting stimuli reflects decreased automated reactivity and evaluative processing of task irrelevant attention-demanding stimuli.

Int J Psychophysiol. 2009 Apr;72(1):51-60. Cahn BR, Polich J. Medical School, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. rael.cahn@gmail.com

Experience has shown that therapy using music for therapeutic purposes has certain effects on neuropsychiatric disorders (both functional and organic disorders). However, the mechanisms of action underlying music therapy remain unknown, and scientific clarification has not advanced. While that study disproved the Mozart effect, the effects of music on the human body and mind were not disproved. In fact, more scientific studies on music have been conducted in recent years, mainly in the field of neuroscience, and the level of interest among researchers is increasing. The results of past studies have clarified that music influences and affects cranial nerves in humans from fetus to adult. The effects of music at a cellular level have not been clarified, and the mechanisms of action for the effects of music on the brain have not been elucidated. We propose that listening to music facilitates the neurogenesis, the regeneration and repair of cerebral nerves by adjusting the secretion of steroid hormones, ultimately leading to cerebral plasticity. Music affects levels of such steroids as cortisol (C), testosterone (T) and estrogen (E), and we believe that music also affects the receptor genes related to these substances, and related proteins. In the prevention of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, hormone replacement therapy has been shown to be effective, but at the same time, side effects have been documented, and the clinical application of hormone replacement therapy is facing a serious challenge. Conversely, music is noninvasive, and its existence is universal and mundane. Thus, if music can be used in medical care, the application of such a safe and inexpensive therapeutic option is limitless.

Med Hypotheses. 2008 Nov;71(5):765-9. Fukui H, Toyoshima K. Department of Education, Nara University of Education, Takabatake, Nara 630 8528, Japan. fukuih@nara-edu.ac.jp

by Fred P. Gallo, Ph.D.

Imagine visiting a therapist and coming away completely relieved of the trauma, depression, phobia, anxiety, or whatever your malady may be. Imagine if that could be accomplished within one or a very few sessions--or even possibly within a few minutes. Wouldn't that efficiency be more to most people's liking? No doubt!

Over the past seventeen years, I have found that usually I can assist clients in achieving this ideal. People enter my office with a psychological problem and leave without it. Frequently similar results can be achieved with some physical problems such as headaches, back pain, and even jaw pain. While a certain amount of talking is involved, the curative aspect of the therapy is not the talking at all, but rather through the activation or correction of an increasingly coming-to-be-known bodily energy system. This is the same system that brought you acupuncture and that makes regeneration and physical healing possible. But more on that later--first a few brief cases to consider.

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We administered suggestions to see a gray-scale pattern as colored and a colored pattern in shades of gray to 30 high suggestible and eight low suggestible students. The suggestions were administered twice, once following the induction of hypnosis and once without an induction. Besides rating the degree of color they saw in the stimuli differently, participants also rated their states of consciousness as normal, relaxed, hypnotized, or deeply hypnotized. Reports of being hypnotized were limited to highly suggestible participants and only after the hypnotic induction had been administered. Reports of altered color perception were also limited to high suggestibles, but were roughly comparable regardless of whether hypnosis had been induced. These data indicate that suggestible individuals do not slip into a hypnotic state when given imaginative suggestions without the induction of hypnosis, but nevertheless report experiencing difficult suggestions for profound perceptual alterations that are pheonomenologically similar to what they report in hypnosis.

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Jun;18(2):494-9. Mazzoni G, Rotriquenz E, Carvalho C, Vannucci M, Roberts K, Kirsch I. University of Hull, Department of Psychology, Cottingham Road, Hull HU5 3EY, United Kingdom.

The effectiveness of massage for postexercise recovery remains unclear, despite numerous studies on this issue. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of massage on endocrine and immune functions of healthy active volunteers after intense exercise. After repeated Wingate tests, the effects of whole-body massage and placebo on salivary cortisol, immunoglobulin A (IgA), and total protein levels were compared using a between-group design. Sixty healthy active subjects (23 women, 37 men) underwent 2 exercise protocol sessions at least 2 weeks apart and at the same time of day. The first session familiarized participants with the protocol. In the second session, after a baseline measurement, subjects performed a standardized warm-up followed by three 30-second Wingate tests. After active recovery, subjects were randomly allocated to massage (40-minute myofascial induction) or placebo (40-minute sham electrotherapy) group. Saliva samples were taken before and after the exercise protocols and after recovery. In both groups, the exercise protocol induced a significant increase in cortisol (p < 0.001), decrease in salivary IgA (sIgA) (p < 0.001), and increase in total proteins (p = 0.01) in saliva. Generalized estimating equations showed a significant effect of massage on sIgA rate (p = 0.05), a tendency toward significant effect on salivary total protein levels (p = 0.10), and no effect on salivary flow rate (p = 0.55) or salivary cortisol (p = 0.39). The sIgA secretion rate was higher after the recovery intervention than at baseline among women in the massage group (p = 0.03) but similar to baseline levels among women in the placebo group (p = 0.29). Massage may favor recovery from the transient immunosuppression state induced by exercise in healthy active women, of particular value between high-intensity training sessions or competitions on the same day.

J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Mar;23(2):638-44. Arroyo-Morales M, Olea N, Ruíz C, del Castilo Jde D, Martínez M, Lorenzo C, Díaz-Rodríguez L. Department of Physical Therapy, University of Granada, High Performance Sports Center at Altitude, Sierra Nevada, Granada, Spain. marroyo@ugr.es

Jevon is a Certified Trainer of NLP, HNLP (Humanistic Neuro-Linguistic Psychology) and Hypnotherapy as well as a Certified Coach. He is also the developer of The Authentic Self Empowerment^™ Method.

His background is seated in his extensive experience as a Personal Fitness Trainer and Judo Coach with a keen interest in health and wellness. Later he became increasingly curious about how our internal beliefs, values and states influence our outer perspective of reality and create our experiences. Thus his desire to achieve a life of authenticity and wellness became an exploration of more holistic approaches which he also integrates into his Training and Coaching style.

Jevon continues to explore and study various personal and professional development methodologies, scientific and metaphysical healing modalities, as well as spiritual systems around the world as he has done over the past twelve years. He especially enjoys keeping up to speed and on par with the latest developments in the NLP, Hypnotherapy and Coaching fields.

For more information visit www.neuro-linguistics.net

To explore the nature of past-life memories in hypnosis, 64 normal male adults aged 21 to 23 were selected using the Korean version of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS:K) and a simple belief in past-life scale. They all received hypnotic past-life regression 3 times. The influence of HGSHS:K scores on the production rate of past-life memories was statistically significant; however, the influence of belief was not. The percentage of subjects who responded to hypnotic past-life regression increased with hypnotizability. Content analysis showed that cultural background and religious concepts influenced past-life memory production. Animals as past-life identities, for example, were reported whereas all past-life identities were human in a Canadian study.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2009 Jul;57(3):269-78. Pyun YD, Kim YJ. Pyun Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Seoul, South Korea. pyunyd@naver.com

BACKGROUND: Solid organ transplant recipients must take immune suppressive medications that have side effects, cause complications, and lead to distressing symptoms that reduce health-related quality of life (QOL). Mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce these symptoms in other patient populations, and it is unlikely to interfere with the immune suppressive medication regimen. PURPOSE: This article describes the design and rationale of a clinical trial to determine whether training in mindfulness meditation can reduce depression, anxiety and insomnia after transplantation, and summarizes baseline characteristics of the participants. METHODS: Transplant recipients were randomized in equal numbers to one of three arms: a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program consisting of 8 weeks of group instruction, home practice and telephone monitoring; a time and attention control Health Education program; or a waitlist arm. After serving 6 months as waitlist controls, these participants were re-randomized to MBSR or Health Education. Evaluations were obtained at baseline (prior to the active interventions), 8 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year (after randomization to MBSR or Health Education only). The primary analysis will compare composite symptom scores between MBSR and Health Education, initially or after serving in the waitlist. Subsequent analyses will compare these two groups on depression, anxiety, and insomnia symptom scales and secondary outcomes of health-related QOL, actigraphy, and health care utilization. A separate analysis, using only data collected before re-randomization, will compare short-term outcomes between the waitlist and active treatment arms. RESULTS: One hundred fifty recipients were randomized and 72% of waitlist participants (31/43) were recycled to an active intervention after 6 months. Patient characteristics were balanced across trial arms after initial and secondary randomizations. LIMITATIONS: Transplant recipients are a very select population. Their adherence to the intervention and willingness to serve as waitlist controls prior to re-randomization may be atypical. Participants were not blinded to treatment and primary outcomes are self-reports. CONCLUSION: The innovative design used in the trial enabled the waitlist group to directly contribute to the number in the primary analysis of active arms, and to also serve as an internal validation test. The trial may be a useful model for trials involving very small target populations.

Clin Trials. 2009 Feb;6(1):76-89. Gross CR, Kreitzer MJ, Reilly-Spong M, Winbush NY, Schomaker EK, Thomas W. Dept of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA. gross002@umn.edu.

Dr. Kawchuk holds the Canada Research Chair in Spinal Function, University of Alberta. His work has already created the only model in the world able to study the mechanisms of how the vertebral artery may or may not be injured by manipulation. He has developed several new devices to measure spinal stiffness which are now undergoing clinical trials. His future work will look at the link between mechanical back pain and the role of environment and genetics.

Public speaking anxiety (PSA) is a common phobia. Although cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is preferred, difficulties arise with the exposure component (lack of therapist control, patient's inability to imagine, self-flooding, loss of confidentiality resulting from public exposure). Virtual reality CBT (VRCBT) enables a high degree of therapist control, thus overcoming these difficulties. This study examined whether VRCBT is an alternative to CBT. Participants with PSA were randomly assigned to VRCBT (28 participants), CBT (30 participants), and wait list control (WLC; 30 participants). VRCBT and CBT were significantly more effective than WLC in anxiety reduction on four of five anxiety measures, and on subject's self-rating of anxiety during a behavioral task. No significant differences were found on observer ratings of the behavioral task. However, twice as many participants dropped out from CBT than from VRCBT. Our results demonstrated that VRCBT is an effective and brief treatment regimen, equal to CBT.

Behav Modif. 2009 Mar 25. Wallach HS, Safir MP, Bar-Zvi M. University of Haifa.

Many studies find racial differences in prayer and religious practices, but few reports examine factors that help explain the effects of Hispanic ethnicity or African American race. A national survey conducted in 2002 collected data on 10 non-religious spiritual practices as well as on prayer for health reasons in 22,929 adults aged 18 years and over. We found marked racial and ethnic differences in the use of prayer and other spiritual practices for health reasons. Greater proportions of African Americans and Hispanic Americans than European Americans reported prayer for health reasons. Sociodemographic variables and health status could not explain these differences. Further, among those who reported prayer, African Americans were more likely than European Americans to report being prayed for by others. However, African American women and Hispanic women and men were significantly less likely than European Americans to use other spiritual practices such as meditation and Tai Chi. Surprisingly African American men were just as likely to report these practices as European American men. Sociodemographic variables and health status could not explain these differences.

J Relig Health. 2009 Mar 31. Gillum F, Griffith DM. College of Medicine, Howard University, 1112 Nora Drive, Silver Spring, MD, 20904, USA, Frank.gillum@gmail.com.

This investigation assessed the effectiveness of a self-help, self-hypnosis treatment in a primary-care setting in Edinburgh, UK. A partially randomized preference (PRP) study design was used, with benchmarking results to trials of CBT and counseling. Patients seeing their general practitioner for depression were offered randomization to, or their treatment preference of, either self-help (self-hypnosis) or antidepressant medication. Evaluation measures were Becks Depression Inventory, Brief Symptom Inventory, and SF-36. Of the 58 patients recruited, 50 chose self-hypnosis, 4 chose antidepressants, and 4 were randomized. The preference groups demonstrated similar demography, baseline measurements, and outcome effects to benchmarked trials. This feasibility study of a self-help, self-hypnosis program for depression showed promise for its future use in primary care. Benchmarking improved validity and reliability. A PRP study design appeared useful in a primary-care setting, where past studies have experienced problems of recruitment, concordance, and compliance.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2009 Jul;57(3):293-318. Dobbin A, Maxwell M, Elton R. National Health Service, United Kingdom. alastair.dobbin@lothian.scot.nhs.uk

This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), a treatment combining mindfulness meditation and interventions taken from cognitive therapy, in patients suffering from chronic-recurrent depression. Currently symptomatic patients with at least three previous episodes of depression and a history of suicidal ideation were randomly allocated to receive either MBCT delivered in addition to treatment-as-usual (TAU; N=14 completers) or TAU alone (N=14 completers). Depressive symptoms and diagnostic status were assessed before and after treatment phase. Self-reported symptoms of depression decreased from severe to mild levels in the MBCT group while there was no significant change in the TAU group. Similarly, numbers of patients meeting full criteria for depression decreased significantly more in the MBCT group than in the TAU group. Results are consistent with previous uncontrolled studies. Although based on a small sample and, therefore, limited in their generalizability, they provide further preliminary evidence that MBCT can be used to successfully reduce current symptoms in patients suffering from a protracted course of the disorder.

Behav Res Ther. 2009 Feb 5. Barnhofer T, Crane C, Hargus E, Amarasinghe M, Winder R, Williams JM. Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK.

A Review

by Tim Brunson DCH

Transitioning from qualification to practice in an alternative health field to offering services to the public is a gigantic step. Theodore W. Robinson's book How to Open or Improve a Successful Alternative Health Care Practice is probably the best guide on the market for navigating the business world. While he targets a specific audience, any MBA or business school professor will quickly realize that Mr. Robinson's thorough advice is applicable to just about anyone who desires to start any type of practice. This includes allopathic medical licensees, psychologists, and even attorneys.

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Mindfulness meditation training has stress reduction benefits in various patient populations, but its effects on biological markers of HIV-1 progression are unknown. The present study tested the efficacy of an 8-week Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) meditation program compared to a 1-day control seminar on CD4+ T lymphocyte counts in stressed HIV infected adults. A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted with enrollment and follow-up occurring between November 2005 and December 2007. A diverse community sample of 48 HIV-1 infected adults was randomized and entered treatment in either an 8-week MBSR or a 1-day control stress reduction education seminar. The primary outcome was circulating counts of CD4+ T lymphocytes. Participants in the 1-day control seminar showed declines in CD4+ T lymphocyte counts whereas counts among participants in the 8-week MBSR program were unchanged from baseline to post-intervention (time x treatment condition interaction, p=.02). This effect was independent of antiretroviral (ARV) medication use. Additional analyses indicated that treatment adherence to the mindfulness meditation program, as measured by class attendance, mediated the effects of mindfulness meditation training on buffering CD4+ T lymphocyte declines. These findings provide an initial indication that mindfulness meditation training can buffer CD4+ T lymphocyte declines in HIV-1 infected adults. Clinical Trials Registration: clinicaltrials.gov, Identifier: NCT00600561.

Brain Behav Immun. 2009 Feb;23(2):184-8. Creswell JD, Myers HF, Cole SW, Irwin MR. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, 300 Medical Plaza, Suite 3109, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. creswell@cmu.edu

Twenty-two patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and chronic pain we recruited into a quasi-experimental trial comparing the effects of self-hypnosis training (HYP) with progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) on pain intensity and pain interference; 8 received HYP and the remaining 14 participants were randomly assigned to receive either HYP or PMR. HYP-condition participants reported significantly greater pre- to postsession as well as pre- to posttreatment decreases in pain and pain interference than PMR-condition participants, and gains were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Most of the participants in both conditions reported that they continued to use the skills they learned in treatment and experienced pain relief when they did so. General hypnotizability was not significantly related to treatment outcome, but treatment-outcome expectancy assessed before and after the first session was. The results support the efficacy of self-hypnosis training for the management of chronic pain in persons with MS.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2009 Apr;57(2):198-221. Jensen MP, Barber J, Romano JM, Molton IR, Raichle KA, Osborne TL, Engel JM, Stoelb BL, Kraft GH, Patterson DR. University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195-6490, USA. mjensen@u.washington.edu

Massotherapy, the therapeutic use of massage, is used to treat various chronic pain syndromes. One type of massotherapy, pressure stimulus applied over trigger points (TPs), is reported to have excellent therapeutic effects. Its effect is possibly mediated through changes in the autonomic nervous system although little research has been conducted to assess autonomic activity during TP compression. We have investigated how compression applied over TPs affects the autonomic nervous system. Six healthy young adult females whose daily working routine was carried out predominantly in a standing position were enrolled in the study cohort. After a day's work, the subjects were asked to rest supine, and electrocardiograms (ECGs), instantaneous lung volume (ILV) and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP, DBP) were measured before and after pressure application over the TPs in those lower limb muscles where the subjects felt muscle fatigue or discomfort. The subjects were also asked to coordinate breathing with the beeping sounds. The therapeutic effects of TP compression were assessed by a subjective fatigue scale. Parasympathetic nervous activity was also assessed by spectral analysis of heart rate (HR) variability. The transfer function from ILV to HR was evaluated using linear analysis. The results indicated that TP compression (1) decreased HR, SBP and DBP, (2) increased parasympathetic activity, (3) increased the gain from ILV to HR, and (4) improved the fatigue scores. These findings suggest that an increase in parasympathetic nervous activity after the TP compression induced a reduction of fatigue. The therapeutic mechanisms of TP compression to enhance parasympathetic nervous system are discussed.

J Physiol Sci. 2009 Feb 21. Takamoto K, Sakai S, Hori E, Urakawa S, Umeno K, Ono T, Nishijo H. System Emotional Science, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Sugitani 2630, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.

Michael Watson is an internationally known trainer of NLP and hypnotherapy who has been practicing since 1980. He has trained extensively with the original creators and developers of NLP and is recognized for his pioneering work in Generative Hypnosis. A former Benedictine monk, Michael is known for his light-hearted and caring style. He maintains a private practice in Orlando, Florida.