Project Creative Vision

New Vision of Holistic Health

As regular readers of this blog know, my interest in holistic holistic health and wellness has grown over the past year.  As a student of energy medicine, aromatherapy, Reiki, and general principles of holistic health, I've come to realize that, if we want to change our lives for the better, we can't be looking at just one isolated slice of our life for the answers.  We are whole, complex human beings, and to create positive change in our lives, we need to treat ourselves as such and address the challenges we face on many different levels.

This growing interest led me last week to the Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public, put together by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.  I left the Summit inspired by the discussion and the possibilities for all of us together to build a society that fosters holistic health and honors each and every one of its members as a whole and complete human being.

To continue the discussion that started there, and extend it to those who were unable to join us, I have invited several friends who are leading the effort here in the Washington, DC area to offer their thoughts and perspectives on the Summit here on my blog.  

Below are the guest posts:

Lucrezia Mangione argues that we are part of a sea change in health care and there is room for all at the table in Creating the Culture of Wellness. 

Daphne White reports on groundbreaking Senate testimonies by Mehmet Oz, Dean Ornish, Andrew Weil, and Mark Hyman, and on Sen. Harkin's moving address to the IOM Summit.  Daphne calls upon all CAM practitioners to "put in sweat equity" to make sure that integrative health care is really part of the health care reform.

And Izabella Tabarovsky (yes, that's me) chimed in with some takeaways concerning what we, as CAM practitioners, can do to make the new, emerging paradigm a reality.

I have also just added a post on Dr. Mehmet Oz's remarks at the event and may be adding more as I go through my notes. 

In the meantime, the full webcast of the conference is now available online, so you can watch the entire event or the parts that interest you the most from the comfort of your own home.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Please share your comments under any of the posts that have caught your attention.  Let's all join in the revolution that's taking place in the way we as a society view and create health and wellness! 

IOM Summit: Opportunities Are Huge

But CAM Practitioners Must Seize the Initiative

 By Izabella Tabarovsky

Note: This post is part of the discussion on the Summit on Integrative Medicine

The 3-day Institute of Medicine Summit on Integrative Health was truly mind-broadening for me.  I came away excited about the possibilities and bursting with ideas.

The key was that we are living at a time of huge opportunities.  But no one is going to hand anything to us on a silver platter.  We must fight for what we believe in - and we must get creative about it. 

We can continue complaining how mainstream establishment doesn't recognize or accept us, that insurance companies don't reimburse us, and how the public doesn't understand what we do.  Or we can get beyond the current paradigm and think creatively about our competitive advantages vis-a-vis mainstream medicine and go there. 

Two key ideas were voiced at the Summit in this regard:  Community-based care networks and work-site CAM interventions.  Both require initiative on our part. And to become viable, both require that we overcome our tendency to get silo'ed and act alone.  Right now we will benefit from acting together, from helping each other out, from, together, creating the new paradigm in which the benefits of CAM modalities will be apparent to everyone. 

With that, here, briefly, are some of my take-aways from the Summit:

• The new paradigm is being birthed.  It seemed that everyone, from MDs to insurance reps, agreed that the old paradigm of health care is broken. We are present at the birth of the new paradigm.  No one knows yet what it will be.  The moment to contribute to the shaping of this new paradigm is now.  Each of us participating in the CAM field must now step up to the plate and do our part in making sure that integrative health care truly becomes a reality. 

• From evidence-based practice to practice-based evidence.  Pedigreed scientists such as Ken Brigham and Lawrence Green suggested that "to reject a treatment because we don't understand the mechanism is a mistake." The idea that randomized control trials don't work with CAM modalities and that practice-based evidence is "the only way to integrate practices that have hundreds of years behind them" was voiced repeatedly.  This means that if your practice shows results, that should be considered good enough evidence.  Music to the ears of a CAM practitioner.

• Shortage of primary care physicians creates opportunities for CAM practitioners.  The PCP shortage is already affecting the health care industry.  By 2025 we could be short as many as 200,000 PCPs, and, according to Richard "Buzz" Cooper, the health care reform could increase the shortfall by another 400,000.  Doctors' functions are becoming increasingly narrow and high-tech.  The offloading of tasks by physicians will accelerate, leaving physicians with increasingly narrower responsibilities, more high-tech and less relevant to the real issues affecting the health of their patients.  Other disciplines will, by necessity, be called upon to fill the gap, and this is where CAM practitioners will have their entry.

• There is room for everyone at the table to provide an amalgam of services.  This means that there will be room for everyone, from chiropractors to acupuncturists to health coaches to energy healers in creating an amalgam of care.  Because of the above, we are moving into a place where physicians will share the platform of care with a broad range of non-physician clinicians. 

• We must educate MDs and the public about our modalities. For the above point to be true, PCPs have to become educated about what we as CAM practitioners do.  83 percent of PCP practices in this country are groups of 1 or 2.  They account for nearly 50 percent of primary care.  This means that there are great opportunities to develop community care groups that could include nutritionists, dietitians, social workers, all connected to small PCP practices. The problem is that many times MDs, along with general public, have no idea what it is that we do.  So it is up to each and every one of us to take the initiative and reach out to the PCPs and educate them.  Go introduce yourself to PCPs in your neighborhood, tell them about what you do, show your credentials, build a relationship.  Begin where you are. 

• Empathy is CAM practitioners' competitive advantage.  I was floored by a slide presented by one of the speakers that illustrated the dramatic decline of empathy in medical students as they progress through medical school. This shift particularly affects men, whose levels of empathy drop nearly to zero.  (I don't have that particular slide, but here's a link to another onethat demonstrates the same point.)  What this suggests to me that we as CAM practitioners are, first and foremost, in the business of empathy.  In fact, empathy is our competitive advantage vis-a-vis the MDs - all the more so because studies show that empathy is the top quality that patients long to see in their caregivers.  Emphasize this with your prospects, let this be your selling point.

The one thing I found myself wishing for was that the Summit had lived up to the word "integrative" in its name and included the discussion of mind and spirit, not just the body. Dealing with questions of meaning and purpose is integral to whole person health.  But hey, you can't get everything right right away.  Perhaps next time.   

Sen. Harkin: Time to End Discrimination against Alternative Health Care Practices

Practitioners Must Lobby Congress to Make it Happen

By Daphne White, CHTP

Note: This is a guest post that is part of the discussion on the Summit on Integrative Medicine

It was not your usual Senate hearing.  Testifying on behalf of integrative medicine before Senators Harkin, Mikulski and Enzi at the Senate HELP Committee were four leading physicians:  Mehmet Oz, Dean Ornish, Andrew Weil and Mark Hyman.  Testifying on behalf of the status quo was … no one!  That’s an unusual set-up on Capitol Hill, where panels are usually set up to represent “both points of view.”  Lobbyists for the medical establishment were present to watch the proceedings and plot their next steps, but they didn’t have a seat at the table.  Not this time, anyway.

By any measure, it was a watershed week:   the Feb. 26 HELP Committee hearing was the second in four days to focus on integrative medicine.  And the very next day, Sen. Harkin traveled across town to the Institute of Medicine, to address the 500-strong Summit on Integrative Medicine.

“Clearly, the time has come to ‘think anew’ and to ‘disenthrall ourselves’ from the dogmas and biases that have made our current health care system – based overwhelmingly on conventional medicine – in so many ways wasteful and dysfunctional,” Harkin told both groups, borrowing some quotes from President Lincoln’s 1862 address to Congress.

“It is time to end the discrimination against alternative health care practices.  It’s time for America’s health care system to emphasize coordination and continuity of care, patient-centeredness, and prevention.  And it’s time to adopt an integrative approach that takes advantage of the very best scientifically based medicines and therapies, whether conventional or alternative.”

Speaking to the IOM Summit on Monday, Harkin said, “I have just four words for you:  Our time has come!”  He added that IOM visitors to Washington might think “it looks like the same old Washington, but it’s not.” 

Creating a Culture of Wellness

Note: This is a guest post that is part of the discussion on the Summit on Integrative Medicine

By Lucrezia Mangione, CHTP/I, CMT 

Have you ever thought about . . .

• What a healthy health care system looks like?

• What a patient or person-centered approach to health and healing is?
• A place for certified, credentialed and/or licensed health care practitioners co-existing within a system that engenders cross-disciplinary connection, discussion and collaboration? 
• What happens when all credentialed and/or licensed health practitioners collaborate together, in support of the suffering person/patient with an individualized well-care program? 
• What an honest, authentic discussion of the inherent problems with our health care industry and its' sick care model sounds like? 
• The behavioral challenges to better health?
• The class/social  issues that prevent access to health care?

Six hundred health professionals joined together for a lively discussion on these topics and more on Feb. 25-27, 2009.  It was a thought provoking and collaborative experience where I was sincerely surprised to be among peers.  We, the people who genuinely wish to alleviate suffering, engaged in dialog on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public at the Institute of Medicine and Bravewell Collaborative's Summit in Washington D.C.

It was powerful. I was positively impacted.  There were more questions than answers and there is so much to share.  In the spirit of brevity, however, I'll speak to a few points that stood out for me.

This Is What I Learned:

"Person-Centered Care" Is the New Model for Health

Because of the efforts of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners and their holistic work over the years, the new model emerging for health care is a shift to "patient centered cared" or "person-centered care".    The individual is returned to the center of the health care wheel and s/he is the hub around which all else happens.  This shift will take time but there are models that are working already like the eight integrative centers of Bravewell Clinical Network. 

In the meantime, business is the force driving the shift.  Employee wellness centersare arising within large companies.  Why?  Because the return on investing in an employee's wellness is significant:  employees perform better. There are studies that prove meditation, fitness and health coaching are helping in "presenteeism: be here now" as Dr. Kenneth Pelletier puts it.  Businesses are bringing about the person/patient centered care and self-care empowerment.  See this article on Medtronic:

This Is What I Realized:

Integrative Practitioners Are on the Same Page

Building Sisterhood Conference & Retreat

Next month I will be speaking at an event that I'm really excited about:  Building Sisterhood Conference & Retreat.  The event is hosted by Danette Boone, Founder and CEO of D. Boone & Associates.  I will be speaking on a subject that's become near and dear to my heart: how we can manage our energy - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual - to take our lives to a whole new level. 

I'm thrilled to be collaborating with Danette, because she and I share a vision of educating, inspiring, and empowering people to live their best, most purposeful lives.  And I'm thrilled about speaking on this particular topic, because it combines my two passions:  holistic health and purposeful living.  

I had a chance to interview Danette recently and encourage you to listen to our conversation.  Danette herself has chosen to follow her passion into the life of entrepreneurship and women's empowerment, rather than following a more stable and predictable career path.  Her story fits perfectly with the theme of this blog.  You can listen to the interview here:

In the interview, Danette talks about how she came to start her company, why she believes it's so important to live on purpose, and how the most lasting change comes from within. 

So take a listen, and do spread the word about the event.  It promises to be truly exciting.  Here are the details:

Building Sisterhood Conference & Retreat

Feburary 20-21, 2009

Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel, Columbia MD

Theme:  "Beautiful Sister": Focusing on the Total Woman

My topic:  "Managing Your Energy to Turbo Charge Your Life"

New Workshop!

"Leap Toward Radiant Health, Emotional Well-Being, and Spiritual Connection with Pure, Organic, Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils"

Energize, balance, calm, purify, and rejuvenate the mind and body using “nature’s living energy”

November 3, 10, and 17, 7:00 PM-9:00 PM

Oneness Place, 962 Wayne Ave, Suite B, Silver Spring, MD 20910 Register now!

Uplifting, protective, calming, and regenerating, essential oils are a unique gift from nature. The very essence of a plant, they are aromatic liquids that have been used as natural remedies for millennia. Come to this fun and informative “playshop” series to learn how essential oils can help you:

• 
  Relieve stress, calm tensions, and promote relaxation
• 
  Boost your mood, energy and stamina
• 
  Supercharge your immune system
• 
  Boost your confidence and positive attitude
• 
  Achieve peaceful sleep
• 
  Ease muscle tension and digestive discomforts
• 
  Elevate the mind and enhance your spiritual connection

BONUS! Since this is a new venue for me, I'm throwing in a bonus:  The first three people who sign up for the whole 3-week series will receive a FREE 45-minute one-on-one consultation with me to address a specific emotional issue they are looking to resolve and a detailed, written protocol for which oils to use to help you overcome it.  
 
If you are dealing with a particular emotional pattern that you are ready to leave behind, this is a great opportunity.  Examples might be feeling stuck, being afraid to move forward, experiencing a sense of guilt over some past incident, being overly critical of oneself and others, wanting to forgive someone but feeling unable to, etc.  I am estimating the value of this freebie at $175, which makes it a pretty good deal.

Register now to receive your FREE BONUS!

Class Outline

November 3: Essential Oils Fundamentals

You will learn what essential oils are, what makes them so powerful, how to choose from the many varieties of oils available in the market, and how to apply the oils safely.  We will begin playing with the essential oils of Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon and others to see how these can enhance your well-being on the daily basis.

November 10: Supercharge Your Immune System with Essential Oils 

You'll learn how to strengthen your resistance to seasonal colds and flus and alleviate common physical ailments such as headaches, digestive disorders, sinus problems, back pain, and muscle tensions.  You'll learn now to apply the oils on the reflex points on your feet using the simple Tibetan Vita Flex technique to drive the oils precisely to the organs and systems that need them the most.  We will discuss the use of the Raindrop technique to improve your overall health.

November 17: Enhance your emotional well-being and spiritual connection with essential oils.

We will discuss how essential oils impact our entire energy system and how you can use this knowledge to shift yourself into a more positive and connected place.  We will discuss which oils can help you reduce stress, alleviate mood swings and anxieties, and help you relax and achieve peaceful sleep.  You will learn how essential oils of Frankincense, Sandalwood, Myrrh, and others can propel you toward greater spiritual connection.  You will also learn a simple Reiki technique that can be used in conjunction with essential oils to help you achieve peaceful sleep in the evening and re-energize yourself in the mornings.

See here for detailed class description

Come ready to laugh, share, learn, have fun, and enjoy the invigorating aromas of Lavender, Peppermint, Frankincense, Lemon, Myrrh, Ylang Ylang, and a whole series of magnificent blends with unique healing properties!

Price: $75 for the entire session, or $30 per individual class.

Register now!

For more information, please email Izabella or call Izabella at +1 202 558 7481.

Finding Clues to What You're Passionate About in Your "Righteous Indignation"

I've been thinking a lot about passion again lately, perhaps because it's a question that's coming up for a lot of my clients, and also because I myself am in the process of incorporating some new things I'm passionate about into my life and work.  At the moment, I have a front-row seat to passion in career, so it's time I shared.

(It's a long post, but that's what happens when you get into a subject you really care about...  Feel free to skip to the end of the post, where I'm offering some questions that may help you figure out how the things that are causing you some "righteous indignation" may provide clues to what you're passionate about.)

I became a career coach because I couldn't believe how many of us wasted our precious lives dying slow deaths at jobs that numbed and drained their spirit.  Once I knew the difference between barely living and being fully alive and inspired by my work, I couldn't believe that everybody else didn't live that way.  Suddenly I was struck by the thought of how different the world could be if everyone channeled their energy into something truly meaningful and purposeful.

Result: My personal frustration with multiple careers that paid the bills and fit conventional notions of success and prestige but did nothing to nourish me and help me fulfill my life's potential transformed into something bigger:  it became a career in itself.

Today, I am still driven by this vision.  And I am also discovering a new source of frustration (read: passion) within me.   

Upcoming Workshops!

Drawing on the Power Within:  Achieve a Life of Energy, Effortless Prosperity, and Purpose.
Complementary, 45-minute, individual, in-person coaching consultations with Izabella Tabarovsky on August 5 and 6 at Anya's Spa in Lexington, MA. 

Leap Toward Radiant Health, Beauty, and Vitality with Pure, Organic, Therapeutic-Grade Esential Oils. 
A "playshop" at Anya's Spa, in Lexington, MA.  Wednesday, August 6, 7:00-8:30 PM. 

For more information or to sign up, please email Izabella [at]ProjectCreativeVision [dot] com
or call 202-558-7481.  I look forward to seeing you there!

New Tools in Helping You Overcome Blocks to Career Success

In an earlier post I wrote about the new directions in which my practice is evolving and promised to elaborate in a follow-up post.  Here it is.

Over the past months, I've been increasingly integrating my life and career coaching techniques with additional healing methods to enhance the results for my clients.  The specific techniques I've been developing have to do with the use of therapeutic-grade essential oils to enhance and accelerate the removal of emotional blocks that frequently stand in our way, including in our pursuit of an authentically satisfying career path.

The truth is that, even with the best coaching tools, many of us continue to experience the same patterns that have in the past prevented us from getting to the next level of our lives and careers.  In career transition especially, we can be affected by fears of all kinds, including the granddaddy of them all, the fear of change.  We may also fear that our loved ones will abandon us if we pursue what we love, or we may fear that we'll fail if we try.  Persistent negative thinking is also something that weighs us down and prevents us from creating the lives that we really want.

As helpful as traditional coaching techniques are in addressing these - shining the light of awareness on a particular pattern, accelerating insight through empowering questions, providing a structure of support and accountability - they frequently are not enough to overcome these deep-seated emotional patterns.

Embracing New Directions

Those of you checking in with this blog on a regular basis have probably noticed that the flow of posts here has slowed down a bit.  This is not because I've taken off for the summer - I'm still here working hard and, in many ways, harder than ever. 

What's slowed me down lately is the realization that my business is evolving in new directions. 

My focus until now has been on helping my clients figure out their authentic career path.  Lately, however, I'm finding myself broadening my focus significantly.  Clients who'd come to me for career advice are increasingly asking me to help them with their relationship conundrums, money issues, and health and wellness concerns.  I'm finding myself coaching communication skills, helping people break through barriers to financial empowerment, working with clients to help them clear emotional patterns that have kept them stuck, and to kick-start and maintain a healthier way of living.