In Native cultures, health is often expressed as a balance between body, mind, and spirit or soul. At a philosophical level, physical wellness is related to cultural, political, and economic well-being. This is a philosophy that is frequently ignored, however, in theoretical perspectives and applied programs that attempt to address Native American health problems. This collection of essays examines the ways people from many indigenous communities think about and practice health care within historical and sociocultural contexts. Chapters explore solutions to the prevalence of medically identified diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, as well as Native-identified problems, such as forced evacuation, assimilation, and poverty. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Today’s medicine is spiritually deflated and morally adrift; this book explains why and offers an ethical framework to renew and guide practitioners in fulfilling their profession to heal. What is medicine and what is it for? What does it mean to be a good doctor? Answers to these questions are essential both to the practice of medicine and to understanding the moral norms that shape that practice. The Way of Medicine articulates and defends an account of medicine and medical ethics meant to challenge the reigning provider of services model, in which clinicians eschew any claim to know what is good for a patient and instead offer an array of “health care services” for the sake of the patient’s subjective well-being. Against this trend, Farr Curlin and Christopher Tollefsen call for practitioners to recover what they call the Way of Medicine, which offers physicians both a path out of the provider of services model and also the moral resources necessary to resist the various political, institutional, and cultural forces that constantly push practitioners and patients into thinking of their relationship in terms of economic exchange. Curlin and Tollefsen offer an accessible account of the ancient ethical tradition from which contemporary medicine and bioethics has departed. Their investigation, drawing on the scholarship of Leon Kass, Alasdair MacIntyre, and John Finnis, leads them to explore the nature of medicine as a practice, health as the end of medicine, the doctor-patient relationship, the rule of double effect in medical practice, and a number of clinical ethical issues from the beginning of life to its end. In the final chapter, the authors take up debates about conscience in medicine, arguing that rather than pretending to not know what is good for patients, physicians should contend conscientiously for the patient’s health and, in so doing, contend conscientiously for good medicine. The Way of Medicine is an intellectually serious yet accessible exploration of medical practice written for medical students, health care professionals, and students and scholars of bioethics and medical ethics.

This classic MUP text discusses the historical development of science, technology and medicine in Western Europe and North America from the Renaissance to the present. Combining theoretical discussion and empirical illustration, it redefines the geography of science, technology and medicine.

In Creek Indian Medicine Ways, Jordan traces the written accounts of Mvskoke religion from the eighteenth century to the present in order to historically contextualize Lewis's story and knowledge. This book is a collaboration between anthropologist and medicine man that provides a rare glimpse of a living religious tradition and its origins.

A pair of doctors team up to illuminate, through neuroscience and captivating stories from their clinical practice, how serving others—and pitching in to the world in general—is a secret superpower. If a doctor’s prescription could bring you: - Longer life - Better health - More energy and resilience - Less burnout, depression and anxiety - More happiness, fulfillment and well-being - More personal and professional success (including higher income) - And, no harmful side effects Would you take it? In Wonder Drug, physician scientists Stephen Trzeciak, M.D., and Anthony Mazzarelli, M.D., illuminate, through neuroscience and captivating stories from their clinical practices, how being a giving, other-focused person is a secret superpower. Serving others—and pitching in to the world in general—is the evidence-based way to live your life. Kinder people not only live longer, they also live better. Science shows that serving others is not just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do. Wonder Drug will make you rethink your notions of “self-care” and “me time,” and realize that focusing on others is a potent antidote to the weariness that so many of us feel in modern times. Getting outside of your own head, outside the swirl of self-concern that may dominate your mental chatter, is, ironically, one of the best things you can do for yourself. Building upon their earlier work showing that, in the context of healthcare, having more compassion for patients is a powerful way to not only achieve better patient outcomes, but also promote well-being, resilience and resistance to burnout among healthcare workers, Trzeciak and Mazzarelli now extend their research to uncover how the power of serving others reaches far beyond the medical world and can be a life-changing therapy for everyone. Wonder Drug relates to the varying meanings of giving in real people’s daily lives. The stories in this book will convince and inspire you to make simple prism changes. You don’t need a total life upheaval, just a purposeful shift in mindset. In fact, the crucial first piece of the evidence-based prescription is this: start small. Per science, the best way to well-being and finding your true fulfillment is this: scan your orbit for the people around you in need of help, and go fill that need, as often as you can.

The true spirit of Native American ways of knowing shines through in these heartfelt meditations, poems, and stories. In 364 daily offerings organised according to the cycles of the moon, Jamie Sams offers stirring and poetic insights into the spirituality of the earth, connecting with our communities, and our own soul journeys. Based on Native American creeds and legends, these meditations cut to the heart with their honesty, beauty, and authenticity. Sams teaches such grounded lessons as how to face an unknown future with confidence and conviction, how to rediscover the joy of curiosity, and how to develop a true intimacy with nature.

“A fascinating journey into the heart and mind of a physician” that explores the doctor-patient relationship, the flaws in our health care system, and how doctors’ emotions impact medical care (Boston Globe) While much has been written about the minds and methods of the medical professionals who save our lives, precious little has been said about their emotions. Physicians are assumed to be objective, rational beings, easily able to detach as they guide patients and families through some of life’s most challenging moments. But understanding doctors’ emotional responses to the life-and-death dramas of everyday practice can make all the difference on giving and getting the best medical care. Digging deep into the lives of doctors, Dr. Danielle Ofri examines the daunting range of emotions—shame, anger, empathy, frustration, hope, pride, occasionally despair, and sometimes even love—that permeate the contemporary doctor-patient connection. Drawing on scientific studies, including some surprising research, Dr. Ofri offers up an unflinching look at the impact of emotions on health care. Dr. Ofri takes us into the swirling heart of patient care, telling stories of caregivers caught up and occasionally torn down by the whirlwind life of doctoring. She admits to the humiliation of an error that nearly killed one of her patients. She mourns when a beloved patient is denied a heart transplant. She tells the riveting stories of an intern traumatized when she is forced to let a newborn die in her arms, and of a doctor whose daily glass of wine to handle the frustrations of the ER escalates into a destructive addiction. Ofri also reveals that doctors cope through gallows humor, find hope in impossible situations, and surrender to ecstatic happiness when they triumph over illness.

Patrisia Gonzales addresses "Red Medicine" as a system of healing that includes birthing practices, dreaming, and purification rites to re-establish personal and social equilibrium. The book explores Indigenous medicine across North America, with a special emphasis on how Indigenous knowledge has endured and persisted among peoples with a legacy to Mexico. Gonzales combines her lived experience in Red Medicine as an herbalist and traditional birth attendant with in-depth research into oral traditions, storytelling, and the meanings of symbols to uncover how Indigenous knowledge endures over time. And she shows how this knowledge is now being reclaimed by Chicanos, Mexican Americans and Mexican Indigenous peoples. For Gonzales, a central guiding force in Red Medicine is the principal of regeneration as it is manifested in Spiderwoman. Dating to Pre-Columbian times, the Mesoamerican Weaver/Spiderwoman—the guardian of birth, medicine, and purification rites such as the Nahua sweat bath—exemplifies the interconnected process of rebalancing that transpires throughout life in mental, spiritual and physical manifestations. Gonzales also explains how dreaming is a form of diagnosing in traditional Indigenous medicine and how Indigenous concepts of the body provide insight into healing various kinds of trauma. Gonzales links pre-Columbian thought to contemporary healing practices by examining ancient symbols and their relation to current curative knowledges among Indigenous peoples. Red Medicine suggests that Indigenous healing systems can usefully point contemporary people back to ancestral teachings and help them reconnect to the dynamics of the natural world.

The best-selling divination system--over 1,000,000 copies sold worldwide--revised and expanded for the first time.

Today our minds, our emotions, our relationships, and our bodies are out of kilter. We know it, but we tend to ignore it until something brings us up short--a worrying diagnosis, a broken relationship, or simply an inability to function harmoniously in everyday life. When things are a little off, we read a self-help book. When they're really bad, we bring in oncologists to address cancer, neurologists to repair the brain, psychologists to help us understand our family of origin. But this fragmented approach to health is merely a stopgap. To truly heal, we need to return to the original recipe for wellness discovered by shamans millennia ago: One Spirit Medicine. Through One Spirit Medicine, the shamans found that they could grow a new body that allowed them to live in extraordinary health. They learned how to switch off the "death clock" inside every cell, and turn on the "immortality" genes that reside in password-protected regions of our DNA. Cancer, dementia, and heart disease were rare. The shamans of old were truly masters of prevention. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience as a medical anthropologist--as well as his own journey back from the edge of death--acclaimed shamanic teacher Alberto Villoldo shows you how to detoxify the brain and gut with superfoods, use techniques for working with our luminous energy fields to heal your body, and follow the ancient path of the medicine wheel to shed disempowering stories from the past and pave the way for rebirth. Using the principles and practices in this book, you can feel better in a few days, begin to clear your mind and heal your brain in a week, and in six weeks be on your way to a new body--one that heals rapidly, retains its youthful vitality, and keeps you connected to Spirit, to the earth, and to a renewed sense of purpose in your life.