MANDALA Spring 2015 CENTER FOR SPIRITUALITY & HEALING
INSIDE:
Students Discover Purpose and Meaning Living Well. Dying Well. Empowering Healthier Lives Through Integrative Nursing
the FLOURISHING issue
HUMAN FLOURISHING: If Not Now, When? There is a lot that gets in the way of human flourishing. In the world today, we face such seemingly unsolvable problems including poverty, climate change, food security, clean water, and violence, to name just a few. These profound challenges are not unrelated. Lack of education contributes to unemployment, which in turn, contributes to poverty. In communities where there is poverty and a lack of jobs, there is also a higher rate of crime and violence. In the United States, we have “failing schools” where children are graduating without the skills to advance in education or be successful in life. While it is easy to point the finger at teachers, in fact, it is much more complicated. Assuring teacher competency is of course critical, but it is also essential to look at the social and environmental factors impacting a child’s ability to learn. We must also examine the lack of funding and resources that contribute to learning delays. Whole systems thinking is critical for addressing the complex social problems we face today. In his recent State of the University address, President Kaler spoke about the role of the University of Minnesota in addressing the grand challenges that our society is facing. Our University is unique, he noted, in our capacity to bring together leading experts across disciplines that can help identify solutions, and infuse this interdisciplinary approach through the curriculum and in public engagement. To date, grand challenges being discussed include climate change, food security, world hunger, and disease. In addition to these important challenges, I would like to see the University address the issue of human flourishing. When you think about it, what greater challenge is there? How do we create the conditions that enable people to attain high levels of wellbeing in their lives? What needs to happen in schools and neighborhoods so that kids flourish and attain their full potential? What economic systems are most effective in creating opportunities and reducing inequities? What needs to happen in our workplaces so that in addition to producing outcomes needed from a business perspective, they also contribute purpose and meaning in the lives of the people who work there? What design elements are most critical in creating communities and cities that address all aspects of wellbeing? There is not an area of the University that would not be engaged in a grand challenge of this scope! The Center’s wellbeing initiative is rapidly establishing the foundation for human flourishing work within and beyond the University. In addition to working with the University of Minnesota Office of Human Resources on wellbeing and engagement, the Center is engaged locally and nationally with clinical, corporate, and community-based efforts focused on cultivating wellbeing in our lives, workplaces, and communities. We are working to advance the bold notion that wellbeing and human flourishing should become strategic priorities and policy imperatives. More to come on this in the year ahead. In this issue of the Mandala, I hope you enjoy reading about the many seeds we are planting as we advance this work.
Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, FAAN Founder and Director, Center for Spirituality & Healing
CENTER FOR SPIRITUALITY & HEALING
selves.
ty
engths Relationship Goal: I want to discuss more openly my personal life with my mother by December 2014.
on ve
r
Spiritual Goal: I do not have a goal in this area.
My Go als
ce
mandala capture the many diverse aspects of the Center’s work: reflection, transformation, spirituality, creation, and lastly, the ongoing journey that continues to shape what we are to become.
Financial Goal: I will open a savings e r m e n t o f account by the end of May 2014.
on tionships
Mandala is the Sanskrit word for “circle” and is a sacred symbol that mirrors a state of consciousness through a concrete pattern. Native Americans use mandalas as healing and
transformational art in the sand; art therapists to facilitate healing; and Tibetans as visual representation of Buddhist beliefs. As a universal symbol of healing, the respective circles of the
Community Go al: I w ant to expand my social network of supportive individu als by May 2015.
MANDALA
Check-In with My Accountability Partner
Personal Goal: I want to see Cher's D2K tour when it comes to Minneapolis in June.
Health/Wellness Goal: I would like to cut out meat from my diet by September 2014.
Summer 2014
Table of CONTENTS Fall 2014
Academic/Career Goal: I Discovering would like to Meaning and Purpose graduaCenter te ANDCourses have Offer Students Academic some soOpportunities rt of plan by to Flourish Winter 2014-2015 May 2015.
Page 4
Nature Heals International Experts Convene for Nature-Based Therapies Research Symposium
Page 6
Finding Time to PAWS S p r i n g 2 0 1 5 Animal-Assisted Interactions Support Student Wellbeing
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Empowering Healthier Lives Center grads bring integrative healing to veterans at the VA hospital
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Living Well. Dying Well. A new initiative aims to regain the language and skills needed to empower, nurture and care for people at the end of life.
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Pitching Integrative Therapies to Pediatric Patients Page 16 Innovative video series introduces families to integrative therapies Craig Blacklock Making Room for Growth
Page 18
Jon Kabat-Zinn 2005 Minneapolis StarTribune Article
Page 20
Ruth Stricker Mind-Body Lecture Survival of the Kindest
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COVER ARTWORK “Bird’s-eye Primrose,” from Craig Blacklock’s book, “Minnesota’s North Shore.” Photo courtesy of Center Senior Fellow Craig M. Blacklock. Mr. Blacklock, a renowned photographer, collaborates with the Center on our Wellscapes video series. For more information about Wellscapes, please visit z.umn.edu/wellscapes. To learn more about Craig, visit blacklockgallery.com AUTHORS: Tanya Bailey, Lynn Gershan, Elizabeth Foy Larsen, Jean Larson, Erin McHenry, Thomas Olson, Megan Voss DESIGN: Jo Penfield Illustrations on pages 6, 7, 16, and 17 by Geoffrey Anderson Mandala, a biannual publication, is produced by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality & Healing. Detailed information about Center research, events, academic courses, workshops, and more can be found on our website at csh.umn.edu. Letters to the editor must include name, address, telephone number, and email address. EDITOR: Kit Breshears kit@umn.edu EDITORIAL STAFF: Geoffrey Anderson Kyle Armstrong Pamela Cherry Marina Kaasovic Dianne Lev Thomas Olson Andrea Uptmor
Center for Spirituality & Healing Mayo Memorial Building, MMC #505 420 Delaware St. S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455 www.csh.umn.edu
JOIN THE CONVERSATION. CONNECT WITH US.
SPRING 2015 MANDALA
CENTER COURSES OFFER STUDENTS ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES TO FLOURISH
DISCOVERING
meaning
purpose
BY THOMAS OLSON
“ Finding one’s purpose in life is no longer limited to the middle-aged group. It can now strike you at any time - at any moment in your life,” says a student in Living on Purpose, a course taught by Carole Anne Broad. “…I am able to take a course about it (purpose) while I’m in college – not when I have a mid-life crisis.”
Year of Living on Purpose Map | May 2014 – May 2015 | Tim Butzen My Top Values
My Purpose Statement
Concern for others Independence Privacy Responsibility
I am successful when those around me are successful and make the most of their authentic selves.
My Talents & Strengths
Input Intellection Deliberative Learner Maximizer
Relationship Goal: I want to discuss more openly my personal life with my mother by December 2014.
My Passions
Social Justice Financial Goal: I will open a savings Education D e v e l o p m e n t & E m p o w e r m e n t o f account by the end of May 2014. Others Success Communication Interpersonal Relationships
My Accountability Pa
Check-In with My Acco Partner
Personal Goal: I want to see Cher's D2K tour when it comes to Minneapolis in June.
Spiritual Goal: I do not have a goal in this area.
My Go als
Community Go al: I w ant to expand my social network of supportive individu als by May 2015.
Health/Wellness Goal: I would like to cut out meat from my diet by September 2014.
Summer 2014
Fall 2014
Academic/Career Goal: I would like to graduate AND have some sort of plan by May 2015.
Winter 2014-20
Spring 2015
Tim Butzen, a senior, created a “Year of Living on Purpose Map” as part of his work in the Center’s course, Living on Purpose.
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Living on Purpose was launched in 2013 with the goal of providing University of Minnesota students the opportunity to develop a holistic sense of who they are, increase engagement Carole Anne Broad, and hope, and contribute to MSW University developmental outcomes for lifelong learning. Broad feels that not only is it important for students to study purpose, but that college is a critical time to examine this topic.
artner
untability
“Students are often obsessing about their future, for good and sometimes not so good reasons,” she says. “After all, they are preparing for a future. Students need to plan, create goals, get stuff done, and earn good grades. But some of them are also scared, worried about the job market, in debt, and struggling with all sorts of challenges. Mental health issues are more prevalent than ever. Students need time to slow down and reflect. Studying purpose provides that opportunity." Student desire to engage deeply with these topics was clear when the Center began looking at offering new courses for first-year students. A comprehensive survey with hundreds of local 18-22-year-olds revealed meaningfulness as the topic they were most interested in exploring. So, following the success of Broad’s class, which has been offered to small groups of sophomores, juniors, and seniors at the University, the Center began to develop a new, online 1000-level course called Creating a Meaningful Life, designed primarily for large groups of first-year students.
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“Research shows that if you believe you are leading a meaningful life, you’re more likely to have positive outcomes,” says Andrea Uptmor, the course’s instructor. “You’re going to have more hope, a healthier psychology, and a longer lasting sense of contentment with your choices in life.” The course, which launched this spring, sends students on a path of self-discovery. “A big part of the course is looking at your own life,” says Uptmor. “The students will ask themselves many big questions. They are going to learn more about their own passions and values, and the things that are most important to them. They can discover what’s already meaningful to them, and how to create more meaning.”
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Broad’s students have responded positively to Living on Purpose. “From now on, instead of wondering ‘will I be happy later in life,’ I have learned Andrea Uptmor, MFA that I need to start living in the now, and controlling what I can,” says a student who has completed Living on Purpose. “I won’t ask myself if I am happy, rather I will ask myself if I am devoting my time to what matters on a daily basis.” Another student, senior Tim Butzen, credits Living on Purpose for his academic success two years after he completed the course. “This course helped me put my academic career back on track,” he says. “It helped me find meaning in what I had once thought to be meaningless. The Living on Purpose class fundamentally changed the way I choose how to be in this world, and what matters the most to me. Specifically, it helped me identify the academic and career paths I am now on with intention and integrity. Now that I am about to finish my degree, the ideas and reflections I took away from the Purpose class have helped me understand where I would like to go and how my values play into my next steps.” As enrollment and demand for Living on Purpose increases, Broad and her co-instructors are looking for other groups of students who may benefit from its content. “We hope to expand to three or more sections in the near future. We’ve also discussed offering sections for other groups of students such as first year and graduate students.” Other offerings for undergraduate students are currently under development at the Center. Uptmor is working with Kit Breshears, communications director at the Center, to create a Fall 2015 course that focuses on technology and student wellbeing. “This course, titled Connected or Disconnected: Technology and Wellbeing, will help students explore their relationships with technology and learn how to cultivate intentional, healthier attitudes towards their own smartphones, devices, and the Internet,” she says. “I think that these three courses have a lot of synergy. Students will benefit from taking all of them.” +++
SPRING 2015 MANDALA
Nature
HEALS
I NTE R N ATI O N A L E XPE R N AT U R E - B A S E D T H E R A
Whether you are relaxing, exercising, socializing, walking the dog, or gardening, the healing power of nature has an enormous impact on your health and wellbeing. Nature provides vitality and helps reduce stress, restore energy, direct attention, and improve mood. Furthermore, "Vitamin N" has no negative side effects. Our connection to nature is important, and a growing body of science, called Nature-Based Therapeutics, supports the idea that nature is good for you. The foundation of Nature-Based Therapeutics is built on Harvard Entomologist E.O. Wilson’s Biophilia Hypothesis, which proposes that our “love of nature” comes from the instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. Today, many scientists from across disciplines would agree that our connection to nature is essential to health and wellbeing. This fall the Center’s Nature-Based Therapeutics program has invited experts from around the world to a meeting in Minneapolis to discuss a collaborative approach to research in this field. “Nature Heals: A Nature-Based Therapeutics Research Symposium” is not, however, an ordinary conference, but a conversation with leading research scientists talking about their latest innovations. Modeling the Center for Spirituality & Healing’s goal of supporting wellbeing through interprofessionalism, this transdisciplinary symposium will bring together researchers from public health, veterinary science, social work, landscape architecture, sociology, horticulture, child development, neuroscience, and more. “With more than 80% of the US population living in urbanized areas, stress has become a constant for many city dwellers,” says Jean Larson, PhD, CTRS, HTR. “Research supports the healing benefits of interacting with nature, and suggests that being in
nature offers restoration and inspiration.” Larson is Lead Faculty and Manager for Nature-Based Therapeutics and Healing Practices at the Center and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Discussions will explore the healing power of the human/animal bond, how nearby green-space contributes to community health and wellbeing, the farm setting as a milieu to promote health and happiness, and the garden as a bridge for people to come together with similar interests and needs. The charge of the symposium is to determine how to design a collaborative approach to nature-based research that brings academics from varying fields together for greater impact.
Experts include:
& Dr. Terry Hartig – Sweden, Restorative Environments & Dr. Joe Sempik – England, Therapeutic Horticulture & Dr. Jan Hassink – Netherlands, Care Farming & Dr. Cindy Wilson – Maryland, Animal-Assisted Interactions & Dr. Agnes van den Berg – Netherlands, Green Exercise
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R T S CO N V E N E FO R
FA C I L I TAT E D
P E U TI C S R E S E A R C H S Y M P OS I U M
GREEN EXERCISE
OPPORT UNITIES
Many people know that exercise improves health and wellbeing. But did you know that there's a growing body of research which suggests that exercising outside is more effective than exercising inside? Go outside!
for Discussion with the Public On Sept. 30, the research experts will participate in a panel discussion, presentations, and a panel discussion, presentations, and a question and answer session during a special public segment of the symposium. Nature Heals: 30x30, an open invitation to students and staff to spend 30 minutes in nature for 30 days during the month of October, will also be introduced at the public event. During 30x30, the Center will host a website devoted to daily inspiration and suggested nature-based activities, as well as social media for sharing what’s happening outdoors. An art exhibit, featuring work by Lisa Rydin Erickson, will also be held at the Arboretum and Foxglove in St. Paul. +++
earn more about L the public forum at z.umn.edu/NatureForum
The Nature-Based Therapeutics Research Symposium is made possible with philanthropic support from Charlson Meadows, the K.A.H.R. Foundation, and the Oswald Family Foundation.
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Green Exercise - which is simply activity in the presence of nature - has been found to benefit emotional wellbeing by improving attention and reducing stress.
Get motivated! Green Exercise may help you become excited about physical activity by offering you a break from your busy life.
Go green. Some evidence suggests that exercise may feel easier when performed outside, and that even being in the presence of the color green while exercising will positively affect your mood.
Tips courtesy of the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing. csh.umn.edu
SPRING 2015 MANDALA
Increase Your Wellbeing
FINDING TIME TO
PAWS
t h r o u g h
N AT U R E Take nature breaks. Look out into nature and allow your mind to relax. You likely will feel refreshed and be ready for the next task with a renewed sense of energy. If at all possible, get outdoors!
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Head outside the lights of the city and gaze into the night sky to feel connected to the rest of the universe.
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Bring nature into your office or home by hanging a nature picture, installing one as the wallpaper on your computer screen, or by bringing in a plant.
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Use greenery to create a table arrangement to lift your spirits.
If you cannot get outside, purchase the Center’s Wellscapes app for your smartphone and relax to healing images of nature. This can be a way for people with allergies to plants or soil access nature’s benefits.
Visit our Taking Charge site to complete a free online assessment that examines your relationship with nature at z.umn.edu/NatureAssessment
Animal-Assisted Interactions Support Student Wellbeing BY TANYA BAILEY Humans have an affinity for, and curiosity about, their natural surroundings, and many people find spending time in nature with animals important, uplifting, and a restorative part of their day. The scope of themes in the practice literature supports the breadth of human-animal connections for human health and wellbeing parameters, and with a wide variety of domestic animal species. Entering college signals a rite of passage for many students, and provides a myriad of opportunities for discovery, learning, and growth; however, attending college also brings a high level of stress for many students. Stress is a difficult life process to manage and bring into balance, and for many students, stress opens the door to mental illness. At the University of Minnesota, mental illness is the number one public health concern, and suicide is the second leading cause of student death. Nationwide, campuses struggle to meet the high demand for mental health services and many campuses are seeking innovative solutions for student resiliency and stress reduction. A 1994 Anthrozoös article titled “Animal-Assisted Therapy and Depression in Adult College Students” found animal-assisted therapy a worthwhile option to treat college students who self-reported depression in a group format within a mental health clinic. A 2009 study by Adamle, Riley & Carlson also found 96% of the college students surveyed expressed a positive interest in an Animal-Assisted Therapy program on campus. At the University of Minnesota, during the 2013-2014 academic year, the Nature-Based Therapeutics program, through its animal-assisted interactions (AAI), piloted a program called PAWS — Pet Away Worry and Stress. Each week, members of the University of Minnesota community de-stressed by interacting with a variety of animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, and sometimes, a horse.
Tips courtesy of the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing. csh.umn.edu
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P.A.W.S. participants at a glace
76% 82% aged 19-34
41.8% 33.8% highly stressed
full time students
94%
26% male
74%
female
above average stress
number of paricipants with high stress levels strongly agreed or agreed that interacting with the animals help manage stress.
82
number of registered therapy animal teams including dogs, cats, rabbits, miniature horses, and 1 chicken.
The success of PAWS helped support its expansion into the current academic year with the added dimension of a three-phase, year-long research study. It is hypothesized that regular access to AAI will result in positive subjective wellbeing and reduced stress. In general, participants are full-time students (82%), aged 19-34 (76%) and female (74%). AAI teams are composed of 82 registered therapy animal teams including dogs, cats, rabbits, miniature horses, and a chicken. Preliminary results after phase one include a survey (n=494) that includes the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and a pre/post questionnaire measuring affect changes (n=47). Among those who completed the PSS-10, 41.8% scored with high stress and 33.8% scored with above average stress. When asked, “Did interacting with the animals help manage your stress?” those with high stress levels strongly agree or agreed (92.4%). Similar results were found among those with lesser degrees of perceived stress. Additional data analysis will include two more phases and focus groups among AAI participants and practitioners. The goal of this study is to support implementation of animal-assisted stress reduction programs across post-secondary institutions. Overwhelming responses from students, staff, and faculty suggest the PAWS program is a resounding success. PAWS clearly demonstrates, in qualitative and quantitative ways, that involving animals on an academic campus is not only “good for business” but more importantly, helps to address the alarming rates of mental health struggles faced by many college-aged students. For many students, attending college presents an overwhelming array of opportunities, and at the same time, creates a message that independence is an admired character trait. Too easily, students can find themselves utterly alone while surrounded by hundreds of other people. Animals remind us we are not alone, and in their presence, humans are able to experience connection and community. It’s in that connection that students realize they are part of a larger whole, that taking on the stress of studying, reading, writing, presenting, and testing doesn’t feel so foreign, and that each week, there is an uncomplicated, relaxing, and inspiring experience with PAWS teams to remind each student of the importance of being human. +++
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SPRING 2015 MANDALA
EMPOWERING
healthier
LIVES
T H R O U G H I N T E G R AT I V E N U R S I N G CENTER GRADS bring integrative healing to veterans at the VA hospital BY ERIN MCHENRY Sometimes, patients require more than just medical advice from their healthcare practitioners. That was the case for many of the patients Laurie Kubes, DNP, saw at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Her patients knew the information, and they were well cared for, but their chronic conditions remained Laurie Kubes, DNP constant burdens to them. She recalls patients with diabetes struggling to even check their blood sugar daily. “Often, it was the same visit over and over. The patients were tired and losing hope,” Kubes said. But years later, patients have taken control and are living more rewarding lives. “My patients finally understood, ‘this is for me, not my provider,’ and I was able to be a part of that realization," she said. Kubes had changed the way she interacted with patients. That new approach led them to take charge of their wellbeing. She was embodying the principles of integrative nursing, and with it, she saw immense improvements in not just one patient – but many. She was empowering change. Figuring out how to inspire patients wasn’t a particularly easy feat. It required guidance and education, which Kubes found through the Center for Spirituality & Healing. “My training through the Center provided me with the foundation for a life that is meaningful and matters to me,” Kubes said. “This helped me better counsel my patients about their own wellbeing.” Kubes was part of the first cohort in the University of Minnesota’s Doctor of Nursing Practice in Integrative Health and Healing program, a collaboration between the Center and the School of Nursing. A fellow VA nurse, Judy Wagner, DNP was also in that cohort, and after graduating, the two sought to apply what they learned in their own units at the Minneapolis VA hospital.
CENTER FOR SPIRITUALITY & HEALING
“Everybody wants to be as independent as possible, so it’s crucial for veterans to gain confidence in their ability to take charge of their own care,” Wagner said. “We want them to recognize that they don’t have to be reliant on Judy Wagner, DNP someone else to heal. We can partner with the veteran and support them on their healing journey. As nurses, we want to offer them the tools to do that.” At the end of the DNP program, Wagner and Kubes realized that they could impact not just the veterans they worked with every day, but the hospital as a whole, too. Last winter, Kubes, Wagner, and several other nurse leaders led a session on integrative nursing at an annual training seminar for more than 900 nurses. They discussed self-care and integrative therapies that can improve wellbeing or help manage chronic conditions. “By the time the class was done, everyone had taken something away from it,” Wagner said. Today, Wagner and Kubes are co-directing a newlyformed Integrative Health Program for the entire hospital. Mary Jo Kreitzer, founder and director of the Center, and co-coordinator of the DNP-IHH program, finds it rewarding to see students initiating systems change to make integrative health more accessible for patients. “The VA is very committed to providing whole person care and our veterans deserve nothing less than that,” Kreitzer said. Each person walks away from the Center with a different perspective, but all strive for the same goal: to improve the lives of others. Not only the veterans, but their co-workers, too.
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At the end of the DNP program, they realized that they could impact not just the veterans they worked with every day, but the hospital as a whole, too.
“Taking care of ourselves makes us better nurses, physicians, therapists, etc.,” said Jackie Blood, RN, who works in the VA Oncology unit. “If we aren’t implementing integrative health and healing into our own lives, how can we apply it to our patients?”
Jackie Blood, RN
Blood, like Wagner and Kubes, is working to keep integrative healing moving forward at the VA. She writes a column for the quarterly newsletter, PRN Paper, and gives insight from what she is learning as a student in the Center's Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coaching master's degree program. She’s already seen how her education at the Center has impacted the way she cares for patients, and in turn, has impacted their wellbeing. “In the oncology unit, it can be a hard to cope with a diagnosis,” Blood said. “But when somebody is an active participant in their own healing, they become empowered to make lifestyle choices from their own inner wisdom. That could be choosing an integrative therapy that alleviates stress or pain, or whatever it may be that helps them live meaningful lives. But we aren’t telling them what to do. We just facilitate the conversation.” It’s pioneers like Blood, Kubes, and Wagner that spread the Center’s mission. Each cohort includes passionate and committed students, who continue to initiate positive systems change, said Debbie Ringdahl, DNP, RN, who is the co-coordinator of the DNP-IHH program with Kreitzer. “There are people, and nurses in particular, who work by the bedside but also in leadership positions, that have the capacity to understand both patients needs and the need for system changes,” Ringdahl said. “They have the opportunity to introduce a different option of care that looks at the whole person.” The Integrative Health Program is young, and still developing, but seeing the change these women have helped lead at the VA in the last few years leaves Ringdahl and the others hopeful for a larger, systemic change in healthcare nationally.
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“One of the students in our second cohort said that ‘DNP,’ for her, meant doors of new possibilities,” Ringdahl said. “I think about that, and that’s what these students are doing. They’re opening up new doors every day. They go back to their jobs, or they go to new institutions with new roles, and they create change from the ground up. Seeing that change in my lifetime, and the relative speed of it in the last five years… It doesn’t get much better than that.” +++
When Kubes, Wagner and other nursing leaders started educating nurses at the Minneapolis VA hospital about integrative health and healing, there were more than 900 nurses to train, and only so much time. They found a valuable resource at the Center for Spirituality & Healing. The Center produces online modules with integrative nursing scenarios as well as learning modules covering numerous integrative therapy topics. After nurses completed the educational sessions, they were then able to complete the Center’s online module on Clinical Aromatherapy as the final requirement before being able to practice with essential oils in a clinical setting. “Because it’s through the Center, we know this is high-level training,” Kubes said. “It exposes practitioners to other resources, too. There are so many modules on the site that they can use to deepen their understanding of integrative healing and become aware of the options available for their patients.” The modules are free and online, making integrative therapies more accessible for nurses and their patients. “We know this is a source where our nurses can get good, evidence-based information,” Wagner said. For those interested in furthering their knowledge of integrative healing and wellbeing, the online modules can be found at csh.umn.edu. The Center hopes to offer additional modules that explore a wide range of health conditions in the future; to contribute toward their development, contact Dianne Lev at dlev@umn.edu.
SPRING 2015 MANDALA
BY ELIZABETH FOY LARSEN When Frank Bennett was a chaplain resident at a Twin Cities hospital, he checked in on a woman who had end-stage lung cancer. She knew she had only a few days left to live, but wasn’t able to acknowledge to her husband and daughters that her time was short, much less that she had specific wishes for how she wanted to live while she was actively dying.
openly and are given some tools for how to start these conversations, they could do it without me.”
Frank Bennett, MDiv, BS
Her family wasn’t blind to her condition. In fact, they’d told Bennett that they could see her “shrinking before their eyes.” They wanted to talk about it, but worried that bringing up the specter of death would frighten her. So they said nothing. Bennett was early into his career as a chaplain, but he could tell everyone was suffering from not being able to have a difficult but crucial conversation. “I was amazed that the patient, family, and providers felt like they couldn’t talk to each other,” he says. So, with the patient’s encouragement and the permission of everyone involved, he convened a meeting in her hospital room. The patient was the first to speak. She told her husband and daughters that she knew she was dying and wanted to go home and be with her family. She hoped to work up enough energy to be able to get out of bed and make pies, an activity that had always made her happy. “There were tears of both sadness and love all around the room,” says Bennett, who is now an associate minister at large for pastoral care at Wayzata Community Church. “Then she went home, made her pies, and died.” Since that experience, Bennett has facilitated numerous conversations in a variety of settings to help the elderly and terminally ill communicate with their loved ones and healthcare providers about what really matters as life winds down. He stresses, however, that he is not a miracle worker. “I have no magic,” he says. “It’s just that, as a culture, we’ve gotten out of the practice of talking openly about dying. If patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers are empowered to speak
Providing those tools to a broad range of people— individuals facing serious health challenges, elderly citizens, family members, caregivers, doctors, nurses, hospital aides, hospice workers, and others— is the goal of a new initiative that’s launching this fall at the Center for Spirituality & Healing. Called Living Well/Dying Well, the program will combine university-level coursework, community forums, workshops, and pilot programs in senior living settings to help us regain the language and skills needed to empower, nurture, and care for people at the end of life. The program is a natural fit for the Center for Spirituality & Healing. “We want to support wellbeing at every stage of life,” says Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, FAAN, founder and director of the Center. “Focusing on the whole aspect of living well and dying well is an exciting new program area for us.” The initiative aims to reframe end-of-life reflections from focusing only on death and dying to looking at life values, hopes, and plans in the hope of making a conscious, comfortable, and loving death the norm. That’s no small task when you consider that at a time when medicine has forestalled death, Americans are so skittish about the D-word they put off talking about it for as long as possible. While an estimated 1.5 to 1.6 million Americans receive hospice care each year, more than 35 percent of those patients are there for less than seven days before they die, according to a 2013 report by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Experts say that’s evidence these conversations are happening much later than they should, and that waiting so long actually diminishes the quality of a person’s death. What’s more, research shows that the comfort care and symptom management provided by hospice actually prolongs life, sometimes for months. In fact, honest conversations actually facilitate the emotional work that can happen when a person is close to dying. “There are some deep questions that get asked as a person enters the very last stage of life," according to Louise Delagran, MA, MED, education specialist and instructional designer at the Center, who is developing the program’s first continued >
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Living well.
well.
A new initiative aims to regain the language and skills needed to empower, nurture, and care for people at the end of life.
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SPRING 2015 MANDALA
What makes life meaningful to me? When are the tradeoffs too great to want to stay alive? At what point can I no longer stand the pain?
Elizabeth Foy Larsen is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer and the co-author of Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun.
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LIVING WELL. DYING WELL. continued > course, “Empowering Patients in Living Well/Dying Well: Providing Humane Care at the End of Life.” What makes life meaningful to me? When are the tradeoffs too great to want to stay alive? At what point can I no longer stand the pain?
patient’s family wanted her to be comfortable,” says O’Conner-Von. “But some family members were worried that morphine would hasten her death. The novice nurse felt she needed to advocate for the patient so she could lessen her pain.”
Answering those questions can provide important guideposts to make a person’s death as comfortable and meaningful as possible. Take Bennett’s lung cancer patient. Like most people who are dying, she wasn’t thinking about work or unrealized ambitions. She was primarily concerned with being at home with her family and enjoying simple pleasures, in her case, making pies. If she hadn’t discussed what she wanted with her family and caregivers, chances are she would have died in the hospital. “If you talk to enough healthcare providers, most will tell you a story about a person who is at the end of their life and how once they were able to communicate about what they wanted and clean up unfinished business, they were able to have the death they needed,” says Bennett.
With O’Conner-Von’s coaching, the novice nurse was able to talk with the family, who all agreed that they didn’t want their loved one to suffer from pain. She was given morphine, which made her comfortable enough to relax and realize that she desperately wanted to phone a family member and ask them for forgiveness. She died within 24 hours after the phone call. “The family was so appreciative for this nurse’s guidance,” says O’Conner-Von. “They were too afraid [of what was happening] to call the physician to help with her pain management.”
The 5000-level course Delagran designed is open to anyone, from individuals who are ill or elderly, to families needing communication tools as their loved ones age. It’s also geared toward healthcare professionals—including students studying medicine, nursing, and social work—who often have little to no training about how to facilitate these conversations. “Nurses at the bedsides of people who are dying often witness a lot of suffering and want to provide holistic care, but can’t because of the [protocols] of our healthcare system,” says Susan O’ConnerVon, PhD, RN, an associate professor in the School of Nursing, who teaches palliative care and pain management at the end of life. Sometimes that system prioritizes a doctor, who wants to try another treatment, even if the patient is ready to die. Or it can be that families, in their grief and fear about a loved one’s death, want to push death off for just a few more days. Navigating these dynamics without training and ongoing support can cause burnout for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers who can struggle to make the best decision when they are in the face of something as frightening and emotionally fraught as death. O’Conner-Von remembers a hospice nursing student calling her cell phone, worried because a patient who was actively dying didn’t have adequate pain management. “The
Living Well/Dying Well will build upon a growing cultural awareness about the value of having a “good death.” Not only are Baby Boomers advocating for more control of their healthcare at all stages of life, but the popularity of surgeon and public health researcher Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End—which reached No. 1 on The New York Times Nonfiction Best Seller List — signals that people are hungry for these conversations.
On September 18, the Center’s Wellbeing Lecture Series will feature Atul Gawande, MD. For this event, we are pleased to partner with The Minneapolis Foundation Center as part of TMF’s Centennial Futurist Conference. There are a number of opportunities for the public to support the program, either through donations or pro-bono work. During this first stage, there is a need to fund scholarship (research assistant), as well as pilot programs, including work at The Waters Senior Living communities throughout the Twin Cities. As the program grows, so will the demand for online, interactive learning experiences, and a public awareness campaign. “2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the Center,” says Dianne Lev, the development director for the Center. “This initiative is a perfect example of how we are maturing.” “Dying isn't a medical or even spiritual condition” says Bennett. “It's a human condition.” +++ Visit the Center’s website at csh.umn.edu to learn more.
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SPRING 2015 MANDALA
Pitching INTEGRATIVE
THERAPIES TO PEDIATRIC PATIENTS BY MEGAN VOSS, DNP, AND LYNN GERSHAN, MD When a child is sick in the hospital, finding ways to help families participate in the healing process can be transforming. However, introducing integrative therapies to children and families in ways that are accessible and fun can be challenging given different learning styles, varying ages, degrees of illness, and time constraints. PITCH — Pediatric Integrative Therapies in Children’s Hospitals —is a series of teaching videos that introduces families to integrative therapies. This idea grew out of a need for cost-effective, sustainable resources that could help children cope with the physical, mental, and emotional side effects of serious and prolonged illness. The first video in the series featured the ‘M’ Technique, a guided method of touch similar to massage. Unlike massage, however, it is simple to learn, and gentle enough for the sickest child.
The idea for a video project began when Megan Voss, DNP, Integrative Therapy Program Manger for Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, reached out to ‘M’ Technique creator, Jane Buckle, PhD, RN. Voss and Buckle began to discuss opportunities to work with the Center for Spirituality & Healing to create a video that would benefit the pediatric population. Together, Voss and Lynn Gershan, MD, Medical Director of Pediatric Integrative Health and Wellbeing at The University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, enlisted the help of John Hallberg, CEO of Children’s Cancer Research Fund, to create PITCH. Hallberg’s dedication to bringing integrative therapies to children with cancer had
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resulted in many important connections with community leaders, including the ADS Group, and Karl Demer, owner of Atomic K Records & Productions. These partners donated time and resources to produce the first volume in the PITCH video series, which was completed in January 2015. “We are delighted to be a part of the PITCH initiative,” says Hallberg. “The integrative therapies program is an important new effort at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, and we believe it will improve outcomes for these young patients and enhance their care experience. We look forward to participating in future projects with the integrative therapies team.” Already, the impact of this video is being felt by patients, caregivers, and children who are experiencing ‘M’ Technique and other integrative therapies together. “I am delighted that this collaborative venture will allow the ‘M’ Technique to help soothe children in hospitals,” says Buckle. “I hope this DVD can be made available to as many hospitals as possible. As an ex-nurse (and now a doting granny) taking care of children is very close to my heart.”
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The second video of the PITCH series, which will focus on Yoga Calm, is being developed in collaboration with the Center and Kathy Flaminio, owner of 1,000 Petals, LLC. The work is made possible with generous support from Julie and Ken Riff, friends and advisors of the Center, as well as teachers of yoga. “Yoga Calm connects mind to body through movement and breath in a way that is simple yet effective. It can help children and adolescents cope with stress, gain confidence, and build resiliency,” says Flaminio, who has worked extensively with children who suffer from various forms of trauma in schools and hospitals. Yoga Calm is a child and adolescent-specific yoga program that focuses on five core principles: strength, stillness, grounding, listening, and community. The goal for PITCH is to create a full collection of pediatric-focused instructional videos that empower children and their families to engage in healing practices in hospitals and at home. Several evidencebased integrative therapies that soothe pain, worry, isolation, and sadness in children and their families have been selected as future PITCH video topics. Patients and their families, including the hospital’s Parent Advisory Board and KidCouncil, have also offered suggestions based on their own experiences, and have been important collaborators in this process.
Social workers, clinicians, chaplains, nurses, physicians, and other staff at Children’s Hospital have all PITCHed in to provide guidance and support for this important initiative. This project is a wonderful example of collaboration between the hospital, clinicians, the university. academics, and several community members. +++
A note from Megan Voss and Lynn Gershan: Our hope is that these videos will touch the lives of many families affected by childhood illness, not just in Minnesota, but around the world. We have an overwhelming amount of gratitude for Dr. Mary Jo Kreitzer and the Center for Spirituality & Healing, John Hallberg and Children’s Cancer Research Fund, the patients, families, and staff, at Masonic Children’s Hospital, and all those who are helping produce this series.
Interested in learning more about ‘M’ Technique and PITCH? Visit z.umn.edu/PITCH to see a short video.
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SPRING 2015 MANDALA
Making Room for Growth BY CRAIG BLACKLOCK Whether in a forest, or in our own lives, dead wood and choking undergrowth eventually accumulates, stagnating growth. Ecologists recognize the value of fires in removing this clutter, allowing sunlight to penetrate down, energizing vibrant, new life. For a brief time, charred wood dominates the landscape with an iridescent beauty. Areas burned down to bedrock are soon covered with pioneering lichens, mosses and fungi, and green plants sprout wherever a bit of soil remains. The long process of forest succession will have started over, providing diversity within the larger landscape. Having brought our daughter into her somewhat selfsufficient teenage years, and my having turned 60, my wife, Honey, and I realized it was time to examine the clutter in our lives. Rearing a child, as wonderful as that experience has been, had changed what we had been able to share, and we both realized we had been suffocating beneath piles of debris — physical and emotional. It was time to light a metaphorical wildfire. Our initial discussions had nearly the same positive impact we hoped the actual changes would deliver. We were happier, looking forward to each day and our future, and that energizing tingle of discovery and new love, which had lain dormant under layers of life’s daily deposits of litter, put out new shoots. Then, for a minute or two, on November 16th, all of that, and my life, was about to come to an abrupt end. I was trapped in a sauna being consumed by a very real fire, and unable to open the door to get out. After an initial panic, I rationally went through my options, realizing if I didn’t solve this quickly, I’d die. Then I remembered a back door. I clearly recall crawling along the floor, staying under the smoke, and opening the door. But, I have no memory of the flames that awaited me on the other side (we later learned it was an electrical fire that started outside the back door) — only waking up 20 feet outside the now-fully-ablaze sauna, face down in the snow. I was able to get up, get help, and call home before being taken to a hospital burn unit, where I would spend the next three weeks.
I’d received 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my hands, and 2nd degree burns on my face and ears. I was told that I’d likely make a full recovery, but that I had to continually stretch my hands to regain and retain flexibility as the tissue healed. Besides my photography, I play piano and guitar, and was terrified of losing that part of my life. I became the poster child of burn recovery — working so hard the therapist stopped overseeing my recovery process. I was amazed when she told me most patients don’t work at their own recovery. So what attitude did I have that made my outlook and behavior different? I’ve always been self-motivated and had demonstrated to myself over and over that hard work brought a feeling of self-worth, and happiness at the achievements it brought forth. Even before being burned, I’d thought about doing nature videos with the Center for Spirituality & Healing, specifically to help burn patients. I now had extra motivation and new insights. I spent a lot of time selfobserving what I was feeling, doing, and what helped me. Whenever possible, I’d look out a window at Lake Superior. It was very cold, and sea smoke was rising from the water. I envisioned the steam as my dead skin being lifted away, and the water as the fresh new skin replacing it. A separate meditation vision was the rhythm of Superior’s waves washing the shoreline, as a heart beat bringing nourishment to the healing tissue, and carrying away the debris. Not only was I finding solace in this, but I was also energized at beginning the creative process of planning videos I now knew I would make to help others. So despite the situation I was in, I was flourishing. I was almost euphoric in what I envisioned these videos would be, and could not wait to film them. Honey provided positive, cheerful support, and for a long while, served as my hands. Friends stepped in to spell her, and to provide her with needed help. After all, she had suddenly become both a single parent, and my caregiver. Through my contacts at CSH, I was connected to the Phoenix Society, and others, who offered me help both in my present condition, and to work with me on creating the videos. The roots of our new growth continued to reach out, drawing nourishment from a whole new community. While the immediate life plans Honey and I had made got a bit singed, our commitment to cleansing, periodic prescribed burns remains strong — so long as they remain metaphorical! +++
Craig Blacklock’s photos and books, featuring images from Lake Superior, the Apostle Islands, and more, can be seen on his website at www.blacklockgallery.com
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Charred white pine and lichen growth following 1971 Nina-Moose burn in the BWCAW. From the book, Border Country, Photographs from the Quetico-Superior Wilderness.
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SPRING 2015 MANDALA
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2005
HEALTH
Researchers found that meditators developed a significantly stronger immune response.
Could you spend 30 minutes study before eating it – O H , S O It is one of thousands of exercises in “mindfulness,” the ancient practice of focusing on the present moment without judgment, that has become a mainst ay of alternative medici ne and – increasingly – part of the American way of health. “There’s someth ing concrete about realizi ng how powerf ul it is to be totally engaged in a single moment. And how rare a thing that is,” says Emmons.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.
Sound silly? What if you knew that by focusing on that raisin – or on any moment you are in – you could experience more delight in your life? In this what-have-you-done-for-melately culture, we rush to cram more into every minute. Our minds spin from thought to thought, racing to the next task or worry. There’s no time to savor the food we’re eating, enjoy the company of people we’re with, or be at our creative best. And it’s making us sick. “People want to reclaim a little more control over their lives and find more effective ways to handle the stress that’s inherent in people’s lives,” said Dr. Henry Emmons, a psychiatrist in Northfield, Minn. He uses the raisin exercise with patients and doctors at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality &
The practice is used in many clinics and hospitals. Time slows down. The mind quiets. Students tell Emmons they feel like they’re tasting for the first time. While mindf ulness has been around for centur ies, it was brought into currency recent ly by MIT-trained molecular biolog ist Jon Kabat-Zinn, who has written four books on mindf ulness meditation and was seen by 40 million viewers of Bill Moyers’ 1993 public TV series “Heal ing and the Mind.”
Salve for chronic pain Kabat-Zinn started a stress reduction clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center 25 years ago. He asked doctors to send him chronic pain patients who hadn’t been helped by conventional medicine. After just eight weeks of mindf ulness meditation, he claims, patients found that their physical and psychological symptoms
decreased by 30 to 50 percent. They had less anxiet y, tension, worry, sadness, and depression- benefits that lasted up to four years. “Some people experience less pain,” Kabat-Zinn said. “Others change their relationship with the pain and suffer less from the pain they have.” Since the first experi ment, Kabat-Zinn’s clinic has trained 16,000 people- 40 percent of them doctors- who today are employing mindf ulness in 250 clinics, hospit als, and university medical centers worldw ide. Kabat-Zinn, will speak tonight at the University of Minnesota on the healing power of mindf ulness.
Healing in Minneapolis.
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ying a single raisin
S LOW LY ?
“He’s transformed the face of American medicine,” Emmons said. “It really has made a difference in the quality of people’s lives, particularly people who are strugg ling with chronic conditions that don’t respond to modern medicine.” None of that would have happened but for the growing body of scienti fic literature documenting the healing power of meditation. Emmons is involved in a study at the university where mindf ulness is taught to transplant patients. These patients often suffer chronic pain, insom nia, depression, weight gain and brittle bones
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In 2005, the Center welcomed Jon Kabat-Zinn to the University of Minnesota. This year, we are honored to announce his return in November for the culminating event of our 2015 Wellbeing Lecture Series. The lecture and a full-day retreat will serve as our 20th Anniversary celebration. Special sponsorship opportunities for the Anniversary events are available; for information, please contact Dianne Lev at dlev@umn.edu. Visit z.umn.edu/JKZ for registration and information.
from the anti-rejection drugs they must take. “We teach them the same techniques that Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches,” Emmons said. “The results people are describing are really amazing, in terms of improvements in quality of life, sleep, and less need for extra medications like sleeping pills and antidepressants.”
meditation while they were in the light box. A control group got only UV light therapy. “We found that meditators heal at least four times the rate of non-meditators,” Kabat-Zinn said. “Something they’re doing inwardly is influencing the healing process at the
Calmer, happier
How does this work?
Patients say they’re more present with their children. They’re able to listen more effectively to their spouses. They’re calmer, happier. They enjoy simple things more. Some of the most provocative findings on mindf ulness came in research Kabat-Zinn did with people who had the skin disease psoriasis. Large areas of their bodies were covered with red, flaky, inflamed skin. Stress made it worse. There’s no cure. Typically, psoriasis patients are treated three times a week in cylindrical light booths that
A 2003 study of high-tech workers in Madison, Wis., suggests that that meditation physically changes the brain, shifting thoughts to the left prefrontal cortex where feelings of happiness and well-being register. At the end of eight weeks of meditation practice, researchers gave the tech workers flu vaccinations. They found that the meditators developed a significantly stronger immune response than did workers in the control
emit ultraviolet light. “It’s quite stressf ul to be standi ng naked in the light box, like a rotisserie, being fried by these very intense lights,” Kabat-Zinn said. “It’s not like lying out on the Riviera. It’s like being cooked with a pillow case over your head and black goggles on.” Researchers taught half of the psoriasis patients mindf ulness techniques and gave them audiot apes to guide
cellular level.”
group, Kabat-Zinn said. Those who have made mindf ulness a regular practice tell Kabat-Zinn it has awakened them to their lives. “We worry about the future all the time, but the present moment is the future of all the moments that have come before. So, in a sense, this is it,” Kabat-Zinn said. “Your life becomes a real adventure when you’re living it now, as apposed to schem ing how to live better later.”
SPRING 2015 MANDALA
Dr. Dacher Keltner will be speaking at The Marsh in Minnetonka on April 29, and at the University of Minnesota on April 30 as part of this year's Ruth Stricker Mind-Body Lecture. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit z.umn.edu/Stricker
S U R V I VA L OF T H E
Kindest
BY DACHER KELTNER Two hundred years ago, Adam Gopnik writes in Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life, two pebbles — Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln — were dropped into the sea of life. Their ideas and forms of eloquence have redirected the currents of humanity. One current of Darwin’s thought is well-known. His theory of evolution by natural selection would require new genesis stories about the origins of life forms, less arrogant notions about man’s place in the great chain of being, and a rethinking of our species as one in flux—and with rather hairy relatives. Less well-known is a second current of Darwin’s thought — his conception of human nature. Think of Darwin and “survival of the fittest” leaps to mind, as do images of competitive individuals — collections of selfish genes — going at one another bloody in tooth and claw. “Survival of the fittest” was not Darwin’s phrase, but Herbert Spencer’s and that of Social Darwinists who used Darwin to justify their wished-for superiority of different classes and races. “Survival of the kindest” better captures Darwin’s thinking about his own kind.
SYMPATHETI FILLED WITH INDIVIDUALS SURVIVAL AN
In Darwin’s first book about humans, The Descent of Man, and Selection In Relation to Sex from 1871, Darwin argued for “the greater strength of the social or maternal instincts than that of any other instinct or motive.” His reasoning was disarmingly intuitive: in our hominid predecessors, communities of more sympathetic individuals were more successful in raising healthier offspring to the age of viability and reproduction — the sine qua non of evolution. One year later, in The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals, Darwin countered creationists’ claims that God had designed humans with special facial muscles to express uniquely human moral sentiments like sympathy. Instead, drawing upon observations of his children, animals at the London zoo, and his faithful dogs, Darwin showed how our moral sentiments are expressed in mammalian patterns of behavior. In his analysis of suffering, for example, Darwin builds from pure empirical observation to a radical conclusion: the oblique eyebrows, compressed lips, tears, and groans of human suffering have their parallels in the whining of monkeys and elephants’ tears. To be a mammal is to suffer. To be a mammal is to feel the strongest of Darwin’s instincts — sympathy. The expression of sympathy, Darwin observed, was to be found in mammalian patterns of tactile contact. Inspired by this observation, Matthew Hertenstein and I conducted a recent study of emotion and touch that was as much a strange act of performance art as hardheaded science. Two participants, a toucher and touchee, sat on opposite sides of a barrier that we built in a laboratory room. They therefore could not see nor hear one another, and could only communicate via that five digit wonder, the hand, making contact on skin. The touchee bravely poked his or her arm through a curtain-covered opening in the barrier, and received
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Charles Darwin photograph by Oscar Rejlander, circa 1871
12 different touches to the forearm from the toucher, who in each instance was trying to communicate a different emotion. For each touch, the touchee guessed which emotion was being conveyed. With one-second touches to the forearm, our participants could reliably communicate sympathy, love, and gratitude with rates of accuracy seven times as high as those produced by chance guessing. Sympathetic touches are processed by receptors under the surface of the skin, and set in motion a cascade of beneficial physiological responses. In one recent study,
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The Ruth Stricker Mind-Body Lecture Since 1991, the Annual Ruth Stricker Mind-Body Lecture has brought world-renowned leaders in mind-body medicine to the University of Minnesota. As founder and executive director of The Marsh: A Center for Balance and Fitness in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Ruth is a pioneer and international spokesperson for the mind-body connection. The lecture, now in its 24th year, came to the University of Minnesota in 1999, and is nationally known for helping attendees find new and invigorating ways to flourish. “The lecture grants permission for people to be their own proponent for their health,” Stricker says. “It’s blending the science and soul so that people can begin to think, ‘I don’t always need a fix-me by the medical community. There are things that I can do for myself.’”
IC ENVIRONMENTS — THOSE WARM TOUCH — CREATE S BETTER SUITED TO ND REPRODUCTION.
Ruth has been a master of mind-body balance for more than 50 years, and is a mentor to many who share her philosophy. The Marsh, under Ruth’s dedicated leadership, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and has hosted a luminous array of speakers and guests. Past speakers in this innovative lecture series have presented ideas that still resonate. “I’ve had many conversations where people say, ‘I remember when a speaker talked about a topic,” Stricker says. “The lectures have quite a great reputation, and have been lauded nationally.” Stricker also maintains warm relationships with past speakers. “Kelly McGonigal, who was last year’s lecturer, referred me to Dacher Keltner, who is this year’s lecturer. I wanted to find someone who could talk about societal ills and how they impact our hearts, our minds, our souls. It’s important to address anxiety, anger, polarization, and stress.” Ruth Stricker
The lecture is funded by the Henry L. Taylor Professorship in Exercise Science and Health Enhancement in the University of Minnesota’s School for Kinesiology in the College of Education and Human Development. Story originally appeared on greatergood.berkeley.edu
female participants waiting anxiously for an electric shock showed activation in threat-related regions of the brain, a response quickly turned off when their hands were held by loved ones nearby. Friendly touch stimulates activation in the vagus nerve, a bundle of nerves in the chest that calms fight-or-flight cardiovascular response and triggers the release of oxytocin, which enables feelings of trust. Research by Darlene Francis and Michael Meaney reveals that sympathetic environments — those filled with warm touch — create individuals better suited to survival and reproduction, as Darwin long ago surmised. Rat pups who receive high levels of tactile contact from their mothers — in the form of licking, grooming,
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and close bodily contact — later as mature rats show reduced levels of stress hormones in response to being restrained, explore novel environments with greater gusto, show fewer stress-related neurons in the brain, and have more robust immune systems. Were he alive today, Darwin would likely have found modest delight in seeing two of his hypotheses confirmed: sympathy is indeed wired into our brains and bodies; and it spreads from one person to another through touch. Darwin, the great fact amasser that he was, would no doubt have compiled these new findings on sympathy and touch in one of his many notebooks (now a folder on a laptop). He may have titled that folder “Survival of the kindest.” +++
SPRING 2015 MANDALA
www.csh.umn.edu Mayo Memorial Building MMC #505 420 Delaware St. S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455
Upcoming CENTER EVENTS RUTH STRICKER MIND-BODY LECTURE with Dacher Keltner
FIRST INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATIVE NURSING SYMPOSIUM Reyjkavik, Iceland
WELLBEING LECTURE SERIES
NATURE HEALS:
WELLBEING LECTURE
November
30
featuring Atul Gawande, MD as part of The Minneapolis Foundation’s Centennial Futurist Conference
19-20
September
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September
May
April
18-20 29-30
FEATURED
Nature-Based Therapeutics Public Discussion
Nov. 19-20: 20th Anniversary Celebration with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD Nov. 19: Meditation Retreat | Nov. 20: Wellbeing Lecture
MINDFULNESS PROGRAMS including Mindful Eating, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Mindfulness in Motion begin regularly through summer and fall in various Minnesota locations.
SUMMER & FALL 2015 ACADEMIC COURSES are now open for registration. Courses are open to students and the public. Visit z.umn.edu/cshevents to learn more.