Both doctors and patients alike are bonding with the philosophy of integrative and complementary health and wellness approaches, combining traditional and alternative treatments to achieve better comprehensive results. The partnership is designed to treat the whole person, including the mind, body and spirit–not just the specific affliction or disease. This is based upon our unique, incredibly sophisticated biology and the connection between the brain and the immune system, emotions and disease. While some of the therapies may be unconventional, a guiding principle within integrative medicine is to use therapies that have some high-quality evidence to support them. Integrative medicine got a boost of greater public awareness — and funding — after a landmark 1993 study. That study showed that one in three Americans had used an alternative therapy, often under the medical radar. The Duke Center for Integrative Medicine is a classic model of integrative care. It combines conventional Western medicine with alternative or complementary treatments, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, yoga, and stress reduction techniques — all in the effort to treat the whole person. Proponents prefer the term “complementary” to emphasize that such treatments are used with mainstream medicine, not as replacements or alternatives. According to the American Hospital Association, the percentage of U.S. hospitals that offer complementary therapies has more than doubled in less than a decade. Another 24% of hospitals said they planned to add complementary therapies in the future. Patients usually pay out of pocket, although some services — such as nutritional counseling, chiropractic treatments, and biofeedback — are more likely to be reimbursed by insurance.
The main principles of integrative medicine include:
• Appropriate use of conventional and alternative methods to facilitate the body’s innate healing response
• Consideration of all factors that influence health, wellness and disease, including mind, spirit and community as well as body
• A philosophy that neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically
• Recognition that good medicine should be based in good science, be inquiry driven, and be open to new paradigms
• Use of natural, effective, less-invasive interventions whenever possible
• Use of the broader concepts of promotion of health and the prevention of illness as well as the treatment of disease
• Training of practitioners to be models of health and healing, committed to the process of self-exploration and self-development
Many Americans have never heard of integrative medicine, but this holistic movement has already left its imprint on many of the nation’s hospitals, universities, and medical schools. While many of our new and contemporary health products, services and resources have been labeled as “alternative,” they have many real benefits when combined with traditional health practices to promote comprehensive wellness.
TITLE Boxing Club provides an alternative to the same elliptical or treadmill exercise routine that many people get stuck in. Each of their one-hour classes varies in style and intensity, but all “Power Hours” are built on intensive full body training. Anthony DiMaggio of TITLE Boxing says it may be easy to be fooled by their name, but during these workouts you don’t fight and you will never get hit. In TITLE Boxing fitness classes, you will kick and hit 100 pound heavy bags during which time their trained boxers and kick boxers will teach you fundamentals and help you strengthen and tone your entire body. Even though there is no physical contact, the classes offered at TITLE Boxing Club certainly pack a punch. Every one hour boxing and kickboxing class keeps you moving and having fun. Their Total Body Boxing workouts will have you boxing like a pro as you step into the boxing heavy bag station maneuver through a workout that will prepare you to fight for your fitness. You choose how hard or light you hit this boxing workout. Either way, you will burn a great deal of calories and have fun! Their Kickboxing workout incorporates kicking with punching for a dynamic cardio exercise routine. Once your body is warmed up, your kickboxing trainer will teach you the fundamentals. From front kicks to roundhouses to back kicks, plus jab, cross and hook punching techniques, your legs and arms will tone and strengthen with each punch and kick strike. Do you prefer one-on-one, intense training? You can also go toe-to-toe with a personal trainer inside of their regulation boxing ring! Your pro will champion your fitness goals, including nutrition and exercise. After assessing your fitness level and skills with what you ultimately desire, your personal trainer will develop a program that’s just right for you. Whichever workout you choose, everyone is welcome at TITLE Boxing Club. They are invested in making sure their training is not only unlike other workout classes, but that you see results and successfully reach your fitness and wellness goals.
According to Amanda Hebner, MS, PLMHP, BCC, state licensed clinical counselor and a Board Certified Coach for Focus C3, LLC, “With a new emphasis on ‘wellness’ it is important for people to understand that their mental state can play as big of a role in their overall health as their physical condition. We are finding more reasons why it is crucial to take care of mental and emotional health every day. At our office, we see counseling as just one part in taking care of the mental health aspect. By adding the coaching one can move past the ‘just surviving’ mode and into a thriving mode, which in turn helps them from slipping back into a struggling mode. Counseling and Coaching can address everything from difficulty with transitions to more severe things like depression and substance abuse, without a risk of side effects.” She adds, “Many people may consider counseling as a form of alternative health in that we do not follow a medical model of treatment. Counseling is also an excellent alternative to medication for some, to treat such things as depression or anxiety, or both treatment methods can be integrated. However, I consider counseling as a part of a ‘holistic’ approach to health. It can be experienced alone, as a means of treatment for numerous problems, or in combination with other more medical means of treatment. Coaching can also be considered an alternative approach to health in that those that seek out coaching are often looking for more in life than just getting by and therefore find more satisfaction. This can reduce stress and improve one’s quality of life. The overall goal of either service is to help one to change how they handle life’s situations by identifying unhealthy means of coping and replacing them with healthy ways of approaching everyday situations that can hold one back from reaching their goals and dreams and experiencing a fulfilling, healthy life.”
The brain is amazing, including its ability to link our entire body’s systems together in such a sophisticated manner. BrainWaveBalance, based in Lincoln, provides brainwave optimization, a clinically tested and proven neuro-technology that recalibrates neural oscillations. In simple terms, it trains the brain. Technically known as HIRREM, an acronym for high resolution, relational, resonance-based electroencephalic mirroring, this process empowers you to maximize your brain to overcome physical or psychological obstacles and accomplish what you desire. According to Patti Tenney of BrainWaveBalance, Brainwave Optimization stresses total individuality in a holistic content, being based on the ratios of brainwaves within an individual brain. Therefore, you can measure success against personal ratios, not that of an expected norm or a one-size-fits-all approach. Tenney states, “The system is completely non-invasive and individually tailored to bring balance and harmony to the brain. Benefits are usually recognized in the first 1 to 3 sessions, with 10 to 30 sessions generally required to create long enduring results. During your first visit the Brainwave Technologist will conduct an introductory review to discuss goals and areas in your life where you would like to see improvement. An assessment is performed on the initial visit to gather brainwave data from different parts of your brain. Our proprietary software processes the assessment and goal data to produce an individualized plan just for you. The BrainWave Optimization sessions involve computer translation of brainwaves into sounds that represent optimum patterns for YOUR brain. These sounds vary, allowing your brain a means of observing itself at optimum levels. In a private room, you relax in a comfortable anti-gravity chair and your sessions usually last about 90 minutes for adults and 75 minutes for children. During Brainwave Optimization, sessions can be done every day or multiple times per day.” Over 50,000 people worldwide have had successful and proven results utilizing Brainwave Optimization, unleashing the power of a maximized mind to support the most balanced and productive life possible. Imagine possessing the capacity to triumph over addictions, anxiety, depression, pain, PTSD, panic attacks, chronic fatigue, sleeplessness, anger, ADD/ADHD and challenges to learning and performance! This breakthrough technology also assists with relaxation, self-regulation and meditation. Ultimately, this process produces exercises to balance and optimize your brain in a way that is non-invasive and individually tailored to bring harmony to the way your brain functions.
Integrative medicine seeks to create a culture of wellness that educates and empowers people to be active participants in their own care, and to take responsibility for their health and wellness through whatever means works best on an individual level. This includes encouraging partnerships with many different types of local health sources, as well as utilizing all appropriate therapeutic approaches and evidence-based global medical modalities to achieve optimum health and healing. Integrative health seeks to, you guessed it, integrate the best of Western scientific medicine with a broader understanding of the nature of illness, healing and wellness that we have gained from new technology, research and contemporary practices that show great promise. The nature of our own health is a constant work in progress, and we learn new things about our amazing human bodies and how to best care for and maintain them every day.