A Program in Contemplative Self‐Healing

Abstract

This paper reviews current behavioral health interventions and introduces a self-healing program based on the Indo-Tibetan tradition. While most work on behavior change emphasizes cognition and motivation, this review highlights stress-reactivity as a rate-limiting resistance to learning. Surveying cognitive-behavioral theories, it finds these limited in modeling stress-reactivity. Reviewing current interventions that address stress by integrating relaxation, mindfulness, imagery, or movement with cognitive-behavioral education, it attributes their limited effectiveness to the limits of their model of stress and their strategy of eclectically mixing techniques. Next, the article explores the Indic model of stress-cessation and self-healing assumed by mindfulness practice, concluding that it more fully reflects current findings on stress and learning. It reviews the theory and practice of mindfulness and of two less known contemplative "vehicles" preserved in Tibet, using more advanced techniques and insights better suited to lay lifestyles and secular cultures. It suggests that the Tibetan tradition of integrating all three vehicles of contemplative insight and skill in one self-healing practice should maximize coherence and effectiveness while minimizing confounding variables caused by eclecticism. Finally, the paper introduces an intervention that integrates mindfulness with techniques of cognitive analysis, affect modulation, motivational imagery, and reinforcing breathing, tailored over centuries into a complete, threefold path of self-healing. A pilot study of this intervention in women treated for breast and other gynecologic cancers suggests that the whole spectrum of Indo-Tibetan mind/body practices can be readily mastered and effectively used by Westerners to reduce stress and enhance learning and quality of life.

Contemplative self healing in women breast cancer survivors: a pilot study in underserved minority women shows improvement in quality of life and reduced stress

“…Lesser levels of supervised exercise or home-based physical activity were not effective. In our previous study involving primarily Caucasian patients [ 6 ], the improvement in overall FACT-G was slightly greater with an improvement of 6.4 vs. 4.6 in the current study. This is remarkable because women in this study reported a lower level of adherence regarding meditation.…”

“…The intervention program is a 20 week meditation-based stress reduction program organized in two parts [ 6 ]. The first part consists of eight weekly 90-minute group sessions focus on teaching meditation skills.…”

“…In a large pilot study of 50 predominantly white, college educated, and with higher socioeconomic status breast cancer survivors, we previously demonstrated that a contemplative self-healing intervention resulted in a clinically significant improvement in within-patient differences in quality of life, using the FACT-G, a cancer-specific scale [ 5 ]. This contemplative intervention was based on two thousand year old practices of healing visualization and lifelong health education preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions of integrative medicine and universal public health education [ 6 ]. The visualization-based health educational practice incorporates an imagery-based mindfulness practice for meditation-based stress reduction with an imagery-based contemplation practice for cognitive-affective-behavioral learning [ 6 ].…”

“…This contemplative intervention was based on two thousand year old practices of healing visualization and lifelong health education preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions of integrative medicine and universal public health education [ 6 ]. The visualization-based health educational practice incorporates an imagery-based mindfulness practice for meditation-based stress reduction with an imagery-based contemplation practice for cognitive-affective-behavioral learning [ 6 ]. Since underserved and minority breast cancer survivors have more stress and lower quality of life [ 3 , 7 – 13 ], this study was designed to assess the impact of the contemplative intervention on minority cancer survivors.…”

A Systematic Review of Spiritually Based Interventions and Psychoneuroimmunological Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivorship

“…49,84,88 MBSR has been shown to decrease depression and anxiety, 89–91 and rumination among breast cancer survivors. 92,93 Data have shown that MBSR improved sleep quality, 54,85 reduced fatigue, 21,54 improved quality of life, 52,92 and improved perceptions of life being more meaningful. 94 Although 2 studies have reported MBSR improves perceptions of spiritual growth in breast cancer survivors, 94,95 few studies have examined relationships between mindfulness-based practices and RS constructs (ie, positive and negative spiritual experiences, congregational support, and religious practices).…”