A young doctor experiences a new approach to health care.

Halfway through the first year of my residency, working 16-hour days for eight months, I was completely exhausted. I knew I had to do something different, so I cleaned up my diet and started doing gentle yoga. I lost 10 pounds immediately, and it was incredible how much better I felt. I wasn’t depressed anymore, and the stress seemed more manageable. That started me on the path to exploring the power of nutrition and yoga, and eventually brought me to Kripalu to experience the Reversing Heart Disease and Reversing Diabetes programs as part of my education as a second-year resident.

As an osteopathic physician, I take a more holistic approach to medicine—I was taught to see each person as mind, body, and spirit, with everything they need to inherently heal themselves. But osteopathic physicians struggle with finding colleagues and mentors who embrace that philosophy. When physicians do give lifestyle recommendations, they often lack the time and resources to provide the follow-up support to ensure successful outcomes.

Now imagine a patient who has the support of a nutritionist, a life coach, and a group of like-minded friends. This is what makes healthy lifestyle change sustainable, and it’s what Kripalu does every day in its Healthy Living programs.

I was surprised by the fact that everything I learned here has a footnote—I never expected to see so many evidence-based studies presented in support of these lifestyle interventions. It gives me hope that, even as a young practitioner working in a traditional clinic, I can change the scope of my own practice, and do it in a way that makes an impact on my mentors. Bearing witness to the courage, determination, and openness of the Healthy Living participants, and seeing the stress fall away from them after a few days here, has affirmed what I see as my place in the future of medicine—and confirmed my commitment to caring for people as a lifelong career.

—Amanda S., Lenox, Massachusetts

Back in 2002, I believed I was “Master of the Universe,” trading and earning millions on Wall Street. On April 11 of that year, I had a doctor’s appointment before work, to check out some strange symptoms I’d been having—my right pinky finger kept twitching, and I had a weird overall body stiffness. The doctor diagnosed me bluntly: Parkinson’s. Later that day, I told my boss, and he let me go.

I was taking lots and lots of pills, trying to distract myself by buying a jet boat and getting into boating, but not really living my whole life. Then I read about the Rejuvenate and Reclaim Life After 40 program at Kripalu, and I decided to go. I never sleep more than two hours together in a night but, that first night, I put my head on the pillow, and woke up seven hours later. The next day, we were sitting in a circle, taking turns describing our situations. It came around to me, and I just burst out crying. I didn’t expect it, I didn’t know where it came from. When they let me go from my hotshot job—nothing. When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s—nothing. But here I was, sobbing. I didn’t realize how much grief was inside me. It felt good to let it go.

When I came back to Kripalu for the Wellness Retreat for People Recently Diagnosed with Parkinson’s, cocreated by Kripalu and the National Parkinson Foundation, I learned ways to approach the disease that most people don’t know about—particularly through nutrition and yoga. When I was in my twenties, I used to do yoga—just a few basic positions, but I’d come out of it feeling so tranquil and comfortable. It was a skill set I’d completely forgotten about, but at Kripalu it all came back to me. Now I do yoga and qigong at home to help me relax. I’ve stopped drinking. I’m eating lots of salads!

Parkinson’s has made me focus on the quality of life, and being happy. I want to give back, too. I’m looking into how I can get involved in supporting Vietnam vets who were exposed to Agent Orange. I’m even thinking about taking yoga teacher training at Kripalu, so I can introduce yoga to people with Parkinson’s. Kripalu is the thread of happiness that runs through my life.

—Randy S., Armonk, New York

I found myself in my mid-fifties a total workaholic, overweight, completely unhealthy, lacking in energy and motivation, and suffering from degenerating joints. After MRIs on both knees indicated that I had arthritis, I decided to go to Kripalu. It was a decision that changed my life.

I had first visited Kripalu in the ‘90s, and since then, I’ve returned eight times. With each visit, my stay has lengthened, and each time, my life has changed for the better. I recently went back for the Integrative Weight Loss program. It reinforced and solidified what I had learned during other Healthy Living programs, and I was able to move deeper into healthful food preparation, deeper into my yoga and meditation practice, and deeper into my happiness.

And how it was taught made sense to me: The instructors put the program together in such a way that it wasn’t overwhelming and I could take the information home. Their warmth and support was unparalleled, and their approach so sensible. When I started doing things differently—paying attention and living more consciously—everything changed!

These days, I feel great. My knees work and my back doesn’t ache. I walk taller and my digestive system is in good order. And I’ve lost 35 pounds! I can do things like ride a bike, play tennis, and hike—activities I thought I was done with forever. I have more energy and confidence. Life is good.

Kripalu has been a cornerstone for me, a sanctuary, and a vacation all together. In finding Kripalu, I found a place of peace.
—Lin W., Vieques, Puerto Rico

Growing up in my family, every single emotion was tied to food. If you were happy, you ate. If you were sad or frustrated, you ate. If you were celebrating, you ate. There was a strong family history of poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle.

Four years ago, when I was 38, I had a heart attack. My wife was eight months pregnant at the time, and we had a two-year-old. I improved short-term with diet modification, exercise, and medication, and I got to a point where I felt I was in a safer place. So I started slipping back—eating poorly, not exercising, skipping my medication sometimes. The Saturday before Thanksgiving last year, I thought I was having a second heart attack. We called 911 and the ambulance took me to the hospital.

I hadn’t had a heart attack, but they decided to keep me over the weekend and do a cardiac catheterization. The cardiologist told me he didn’t anticipate finding anything; he just wanted to make sure everything was okay. What he thought was going to be a 15-minute procedure ended up being a two-hour procedure. I had a 90-percent blockage in my left anterior descending artery, and a 70-percent blockage at the back of my heart. It became quite apparent that I needed to make wholesale changes, not just for me, but for my wife and children. I needed to pass new, good habits on to them so that they don’t run into the same things I was up against.

When I found out about the Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease program, I struggled with whether I could be away from my family for a week and whether we could afford it. The more important question was, Can I afford not to go? The wealth of information that doctors Mark Pettus and John Bagnulo gave us in a matter of days is easily three months’ worth of material. I now have all this incredible information and resources to improve my whole family’s life going forward.

Before Kripalu, I didn’t lend much credence to what they refer to as the “yogic lifestyle.” I’d thought about doing yoga for the flexibility, but I never considered the breathing, the meditation, or the healing aspects. I’d been dismissive of meditation, but my mind-set has shifted 100 percent. It’s about being able to take things that previously were stressors and convert them into something innocuous. During one meditation session, it was really windy outside, and instead of being irritated by the noise, I envisioned myself as the wind, going up through the trees and over the lake. Integrating the yogic lifestyle into everyday life at home is going to be awesome.

—Ron A., Morris Plains, New Jersey

And now, a train ride and time warp later, here I was in the branch-filled Berkshires, sitting in a back jack, meeting eight cancer survivors and our coleader, Maria Sirois. In that moment, “life after cancer” looked to me like throwing a rose on my friend’s coffin and hearing it thud. It looked like crying myself to sleep every night for the last two weeks. But as I settled in and heard tales of diagnosis and survival, I remembered: Oh. We’re all still here. In my fellow workshoppers—eight people from their 30s through 50s—I saw stress and fear and bravery and resilience and resistance. I saw myself. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma seven years ago at age 31, I had almost been forgetting that I was a survivor, too.

For a while, I was able to help Dara with my veteran knowledge. But she quickly surpassed me as she entered surgery after surgery, chemo after chemo. In comparison, I felt like I hadn’t survived very much at all, and started to feel like just a medical tourist who had had a chemo fling and was very, very lucky.

But here, taking turns talking while passing around a skein of rainbow-colored yarn in a circle, making a cat’s cradle of connection in the middle, I was back to me. Back to my fears about recurrence and panic about living as healthfully as possible, despite my penchant for chocolate and coffee. I shimmered with recognition when one woman spoke: “I can handle anything that comes my way, but I don’t want to.” Yeah, I thought. What she said.

The next day at lunch, I went for a walk in the snow-globe world outside. Feeling the flakes land on my face, breathing that lung-scrubbing air, and sensing that this was the perfect place to be, I thanked Dara. I had decided to come here just four days after she died, and it felt like her magic had brought me to this place that’s been my spiritual home for nearly 20 years. Our afternoon session was on “thriving,” which, Maria explained, “depends on having a still enough center that you can choose wisely.” So, basically, mindfulness—focused, open attention to the world inside and outside of us—is a key to vibrant living. Regularly practicing mindfulness with a simple meditation that focuses on the breath, Maria said, has been shown in studies to decrease body tension, fear, anxiety, and depression, plus boost energy, positive thoughts, and feelings of happiness. It can even increase the sense that we’re living a more authentic life—being ourselves, speaking our truth, and reaching for our dreams.

As a longtime yogi and off-and-on meditator who’s been writing about this stuff professionally for years, I notice I’m a bit jaded to the message. I condescendingly think that freshly learning about mindful and healthy living must be so nice for the people who haven’t heard it. How life-changing for them. I catch myself. Ah, right. One of my classic distancing methods. Superior/inferior. If I feel better-than or less-than I can avoid feeling, well, anything else.

So, I dig a little. Am I practicing this, daily? Am I thinking positive thoughts more than negative ones? Am I living a fulfilled, self-actualized life? Am I indulging in my personal poison, procrastination, more often than not? I notice the answers are a string of bad news. And this sends me into a familiar freak-out mode. If I know all this stuff and yet still cannot make a fundamental shift that might free me to be who I really am, is there any hope? If none of the lifesavers do more than keep me floating, how can I get back on the boat and sail? Because floating is not sustainable. Not only am I egotistical and lazy, but I’m also hopeless. Unlovable. From my self-flagellating fog, Maria’s voice, which sounds soothingly like a more poetic version of Susan Sarandon’s, cuts through as she quotes a friend: “There’s nothing we can’t make worse by beating ourselves up about it.” It makes me smile and brings me back to center. Ha. There I go again. And here I am again, laughing at myself. Cool.

Later on in the session, bundled in purple yoga blankets, we hear that even micro-doses of meditation can help us return to this alleged center. Five minutes a day, every day. This makes sense. Just enough time to bushwhack the weeds growing around our still, core essence.

At some point, Maria shares one of her own internal battles. In her 20s, she promised to look in the mirror for 30 days and say, “I love you.” It was weeks before she could even get the words out. Eventually, she faked it. Then, she made it. Months later she was able to say the words and feel them true.

What does this have to do with cancer? Well, in my story—and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone—there’s a lot of self-blame and selfloathing. A part of me still believes that only emotionally sick people get physically sick. In New Age yoga land, there’s a lot of talk about how our thoughts create our reality—our health, our wealth. So when one of those two slips into the Dumpster, it’s almost impossible to not reflexively think another toxic thought: “I manifested this.” Followed closely by: “I am a loser.” Not helpful, but there it is.

And with my darling Dara too, I had the constant feeling that I had not done enough. That if had I done more—forced a second opinion out of my own oncologist, done yoga and foot rubs with her twice a week, tracked down some magical Amazonian healer—she would still be here. For months, I’ve had this guilt that has grown stronger with her death. I take a breath. I hear in my head the quote from Kripalu’s spiritual founder, Swami Kripalu, that I’ve memorized: “Every time you judge yourself, you break your own heart.”

At the next session, fittingly, we learn to feed ourselves. Our nutrition session teaches us that food influences genetics; we can eat ourselves healthy with a balanced mix of plants, grains, and proteins—a Mediterranean diet, almost vegan. We learn about how cancer relates to inflammation, gut bacteria, sugar, antioxidants, and, of course, the non-helpfulness of highly processed foods. “Anything that comes from a box isn’t going to heal you,” says nutritionist Annie B. Kay, who reveals things I didn’t know about low-GI carbs and the evils of isolated soy protein. I’m actually getting excited to retest my vitamin-D levels and blend up a forgotten fave: a kale-avocado-banana smoothie.

Later, a journaling class has me facing my slackerness—even though I’m a writer I haven’t been writing, really, for me. The instructor’s prescription is 20 minutes a day. She shares a study in which people who wrote about the facts and feelings they had each day improved their lives—emotionally and situationally. She had us write a dialogue with our bodies, which is dangerous ground for cancer survivors. Our bodies hold secrets, even from us. When I got sick, I thought I was just detoxing. For months I wrote off coughing and fevers and nausea as allergies, a cold, an emotional response to stress. So did my doctors. Finally, my body’s toxic secret was revealed by scans, blood tests, and a biopsy. So now, seven years later, asking, “Dear Body, what’s up?” is a scary question. If it’s stealthily sick, I’m not sure I want to know. But apparently, what’s up is that my body wants me to wash my hair. And eat less sugar. And breathe. Take naps. Lay off the technology. Be in nature. Do slow, chill yoga.

That day, my body sends one of its frequent but still mystifying messages: I get a thundering migraine and vomit for six hours. Maria brings me mint tea and ice. The next morning she says, “It looks like you crossed over something.” I’m not sure exactly what she sees but I suspect I glean it. I feel cleansed and much more calm.

Then a session on happiness gives us the basics of Positive Psychology: Happiness is a balance of pleasure and meaning. We’re told of 12 happiness boosts, including practice gratitude; cultivate optimism; avoid over-thinking; do acts of kindness; learn to forgive (especially self-forgiveness); and more. There’s also the importance, says Maria, of merging intention with action no matter how small the motion may seem. “In order to change anything, you have to change something,” she says.

I find myself doing this in a tiny but significant way. I had dreaded one element of the program: sharing. I’ve got Post-Traumatic Sharing Disorder from past sharing circles gone wrong. But I’ve taken to our coteacher Aruni Nan Futuronsky’s share circles like a golden retriever to water. I forgot that I process by speaking. And by listening. One day Aruni shares a haiku from the Japanese poet Masahide: “Barn’s burnt down—now I can see the moon.” A circle of nods. As survivors, we’ve all seen our barns—our bodies and more—burn down. And we’ve all glimpsed a grace obscured.

After only four days filled with sharing, listening, making expressive art, eating more legumes than we thought possible, hot-tubbing, dancing, doing gentle morning yoga, and being given permission to have our souls come forth and play, we are all glowing. Looking around our closing circle of gratitude, we all say how shiny everyone looks. We have been using glitter in some of our exercises and now it appears to be in our eyes, on our faces. There is a definite glow and I want to explode into a giant hug for these fellow warriors. One woman says she will start living her life outside diagnostictest-to-test increments, but as a flow; she will make plans. Another commits to daily journaling; someone else will be mindful about food. I decide to meditate 10 minutes a day. I also realize I want to celebrate the milestones in my life (getting married recently, having essays published) while enjoying the process in between them (not beating myself up for all I haven’t done or impatiently wanting to fast-forward my life).

Aruni invites us to lovingly see each other practicing our promises—at home, away from this bubble of allowed health, in the world. We do.

—Valerie Reiss

People with Parkinson’s disease are hungry for both information and empowerment. To address these needs, Kripalu’s Healthy Living faculty collaborated with the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) to create the immersion program, A Wellness Retreat for People with Parkinson’s and Their Care Partners. Here, Joyce Oberdorf, NPF’s CEO and president, describes what the program provides for those dealing with a diagnosis, and for their loved ones.

Q How did this collaboration get started?
I had come to Kripalu a few times. After I became president and CEO of the National Parkinson Foundation, an individual in our chapter here in Florida mentioned to me that he had been to Kripalu, and it was his dream to have a program for people with Parkinson’s at Kripalu. It seemed like an absolute no-brainer. He came to the first one and loved it.

Q How is the program structured?
A great deal of emphasis is put on weaving together hard information on what Parkinson’s is and what it might be in the clinical-trial pipeline, to more experiential parts of the program, from sharing your story with your partners to the noon dance session. Whether someone was diagnosed in the last year or five, or a couple of weeks before the program, everyone has a tremendous desire to know more. There’s also a tremendous desire to share stories, process emotions, look for a way to cope with the diagnosis, and tap into that deep reservoir of resilience that allows us to overcome whatever we deal with in life.
I hear frequently that people say this program has changed their life. The next thing I hear is, “When will you have a follow-up program?” Our June program will be for people farther out after their diagnosis.

Q What do people take away from the program?
A tremendous sense of connection. They form friendships and stay in touch through online sharing groups long after the program ends. They also get a framework for an emotional and physical approach to the disease. We offer them a range of tools to explore, including an introduction to meditation; an introduction to yoga philosophy that helps them understand a little bit about where emotional suffering might come from; an understanding of the importance of movement and physical exercise; and an understanding of how their nutritional needs might be different from those of people without Parkinson’s.

Q How do you help caretakers?
For the caregiver, the emphasis is on emotional healing. There are separate sessions for them to share their stories. Often, they haven’t been able to talk about the very basic issues they’re going through, their fears, how their relationship with their loved one has changed. There’s an amount of grieving that goes along with that, looking into a future where they know that their relationship is never going to be the same. Experiencing, listening, and weaving together their stories is a tremendous experience.

Joyce A. Oberdorf has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Parkinson Foundation since March 2008. For the past four years, she has focused on transforming NPF into a technology-enabled, 21st century foundation focused on the mission of improving care through research, education, and outreach aimed at better treatments and better care now.

Find out more about the National Parkinson Foundation.

Right away, Carolyn got on the Internet and said, “Mom, Kripalu has a weeklong program for people recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s and their care partners. Do you want to go?” I said, “Yes, if my daughters come with me.”

I had been to Kripalu 11 years earlier with my daughter, Elizabeth, before she underwent her seventh surgery for a bullet wound that had grazed her vocal cords and had taken out her voice. We spent the weekend doing yoga, attending group sharing sessions, meditating, and becoming centered. The surgery she had after our stay was successful and gave her a voice. She credits her time at Kripalu for her healing, as do I. So I signed up to return to Kripalu for the Parkinson’s program last fall.

The medical experts were so accessible. They made themselves part of the group, participating in our daily discussions and yoga and dance classes. I was able to ask a neurologist about a specific medication that had been recommended to me. I was resisting taking it because I was feeling healthy. But he told me that I’d feel younger if I took it. When I got home, I started it, and he was right—I feel 10 years younger. The improvement is amazing, and I lost my fear of the medication.

In the program, I gained a better understanding and acceptance of my symptoms. I learned adaptations, and I no longer struggle with buttons and zippers because I gave myself permission to buy pants with elastic waistlines.

Noon dance was the most fun of all, and the teacher had me moving across the floor in a way that was exhilarating. Since then, I’ve found ways to stay active with exercise that I enjoy. I now take three movement classes a week and do light resistance training at the gym.

Being at Kripalu was a transformational experience. And it was helpful for my daughters to participate in breakout sessions for care partners to address their own concerns. And we all took advantage of the wonderful Healing Arts massages and facials. Kripalu, for our family, is a healing, restorative place.

—Emily S., Evantson, Illinois

Due to overwhelming popularity, the remaining lectures are sold out.

Thank you for your support!

Raffle! Each registered participant will be entered to win a free five-night Healthy Living Program of their choice in 2013.

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Tuesday, April 3
Achieving Health for Life: A New Paradigm for Wellness
Mark Pettus, MD

Mark Pettus, MD, presents a new paradigm for understanding the origins of health and disease. He explains groundbreaking research in the fields of epigenomics and nutrigenomics. In these fields, health is examined as a by-product of gene-environment interactions over the course of one’s life. The importance of lifestyle and behavioral interventions is reviewed, and participants learn information such as:

• DNA is not our destiny—in fact, it can be expressed in various ways, depending upon our environmental inputs
• Optimal health can be achieved by aligning one’s lifestyle and behaviors.
• Most chronic c diseases emerge from inflammation.

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Tuesday, April 10
The Origins and Evolution of the Human Diet
John Bagnulo, PhD

This lecture outlines the development of the human diet over the past several thousand years and describes how some of these changes have been responsible for numerous chronic diseases. Participants learn suggestions on how to base their nutritional choices on foods that are compatible with their unique physiology. Some of these suggestions include:

• Ways to experiment with going flour-free and tips for limiting grain consumption
• How replacing meat and dairy with fish, nuts, and seeds can bolster your health.

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Tuesday, April 17
Sugar: America’s Favorite (and Most Dangerous) Drug
Lisa B. Nelson, MD

This talk provides a brief history of this country’s love affair with sugar, and explains the damaging effects of sugar on the body. In particular, we explore the role of sugar in the development of chronic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and mood disorders. We also discuss simple strategies to overcome our addiction to sugar, and learn how exercise and stress- reduction techniques can be powerful tools in reversing sugar’s toxic effect on our lives. Participants learn:

• How sugar creates the craving for more sugar, and undermines our ability to feel satisfied after eating
• How exercise can regulate blood sugar and prevent sugar’s damaging effects in the body.

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Tuesday, April 24
Healing the Gut Naturally
Kathie Madonna Swift, MS, RD

Are you troubled by stomach problems? Searching for natural solutions to an irritable bowel? Join us for a guided tour of digestion and learn some sound nutritional strategies for digestive health. Discover how

• Sleep has a beneficial effect on your “gut clock” and influences hormones that make for a healthy belly
• Certain foods can help or hinder your digestive wellness, and how keeping a food journal can be useful for exposing foods that trigger digestive distress.

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Tuesday, May 1
Alive and Thriving: Mindful Living for Busy People
Susan B. Lord, MD

The secret to living a balanced, sustainable lifestyle is learning how to change negative patterns and bolstering healthful habits. If will power hasn’t worked for you, try mindfulness.  Mindfulness can change your brain, change your thoughts, and change your life.  In this lecture, you

• Discover how your “second brain” has just what you need to break the cycle of stress
• Learn the practical steps of mindful living to bring more joy into your life.

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Tuesday, May 8
Natural Weight Loss
Annie B. Kay, MS, RD, RYT

Finding a natural, healthy weight doesn’t have to mean sacrificing foods you love. The key is to work with your body by enjoying whole foods that support lifelong health—and help you find peace in your struggles with weight. Some of the things you learn in this lecture are:

• Fruits and vegetables are healers, and most of us consume well below the 9–13 servings recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations. Begin where you are, and ease your way up by adding one serving at a time.
• Plant-based proteins also contain fiber, which animal proteins don’t. The combination of fiber and protein is paramount in maintaining a healthy weight, so begin by replacing some of the animal protein you eat with nuts, beans, and whole grains.

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Tuesday, May 15
The Science of Mind and Body: Allostatic Load and Health Outcomes
Mark Pettus, MD

Mark Pettus, MD, reviews the provocative science of neuroplasticity, which focuses on how our brains can transform structure and function throughout life. He introduces the concept of allostatic load, which emerges from an accentuated fight-or-flight response and how this response can be modulated through mindfulness-based stress-reduction strategies. The tips participants leave with include:

• Ways to connect health and quality of life with greater balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
• Lifestyle and behavioral strategies to achieve balance and reduce allostatic load
• The “freeze-frame” meditation technique.

Unfortunately, for many of us, this won’t be how it happens. In my experience as a practicing physician, it’s increasingly common for people to live too short and die too young. In fact, despite a doubling of the life expectancy over the last 150 years, the sobering reality is that that this trend will begin to reverse itself, and life expectancy for future generations will be lower than for their parents. From a community health perspective we confront an unprecedented “burden” of chronic complex disease.

What’s going wrong?

There are many factors contributing to the decline in American health, including the growing epidemic of obesity, poor nutritional choices, inactivity, unprecedented toxic exposure, and unrelenting stress. Lifestyle Syndrome, characterized by abdominal fat, elevation of blood pressure, pre-diabetes, high insulin levels, and abnormal blood fat, affects 30 to 40 percent of adults. Alarmingly, Lifestyle Syndrome signals a trajectory that leads to many of the age-related diseases, diminished quality of life, and shorter life expectancy.

Several years ago, I was on this trajectory. I had little physical activity, I ate plenty of sugars and processed foods, and I lived a fast-paced life in which I always felt that there wasn’t enough time. My blood pressure and weight were up, and my cholesterol panel was as high as it had ever been. When we began discussing medications to control some of my risk factors, I realized I needed to take stock.

A critical issue we are facing is that our systems of health care are designed to address diseases once they manifest more than they are to promote optimal health and prevent diseases from occurring in the first place. We spend our time dealing with the smoke and do little to address the fire. In truth, many devastating conditions, like heart attacks, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease, have multiple contributing risk factors that are treatable and reversible—but silent—by their very nature. And tragically, nearly all age-related diseases—high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol imbalance, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular diseases—have major lifestyle, behavioral, and stress components to them.

Unfortunately, in our current medical model there is insufficient time and resources to appropriately educate, inspire, and motivate the necessary lifestyle and behavioral changes people need. In my case, I realized that my underlying assumption was that a decline in some aspects of my health and quality of life as I aged was inevitable. I thought that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a drop-off in my conditioning, a few inches more around my abdomen, fatigue, and an inability to stop and smell the roses were irreconcilable manifestations of my genetic legacy and aging. My passive approach to self-care was certainly contributing to making that happen. I decided to get active.

I took inventory of my life and targeted the “low-hanging fruit”—those things that would be easiest to change. I cut out sugar-sweetened drinks. I started walking and chose daily push-ups and abdominal exercises for light resistance work. And I learned some simple—and portable—breathing and relaxation techniques. I began to broaden my knowledge about integrated health, the science and philosophy of Eastern approaches to health, and how people create effective and sustainable change.

What’s the solution?

It’s clear that many of the health issues can be prevented or reversed with greater attention to self-care. Therefore, the single most effective medicine that health care has to offer today is education—about how the body works and how the beliefs we hold in our mind play out in our lives; about nutrition, how food affects the body, and how to cook for maximum nourishment and pleasure; about physical fitness, exercise strategies, and enjoyable ways to combine getting active and getting outdoors. We need to learn to take care of ourselves. Healthy living does not occur at the doctor’s office or at hospitals or clinics. The road to healthy living is paved by the choices we make in each and every moment.

This can be easier said than done. Even when health-care professionals provide the health-promoting messages of exercise and good nutrition, the advice is heeded less than five percent of the time. Most people don’t lack knowledge about what they need to do; what they lack is the bridge to effective execution. What people need is practice in living in healthy, life-promoting ways that lead to optimal vitality and fulfillment—which is exactly what Kripalu specializes in.

The care model of the future

Education at Kripalu is experiential, which means that people learn by doing, by experiencing what they are learning. The immersion offered in Healthy Living immersion programs enables people to fully live and realize the benefits of healthy living. This is the only way many of us can transform our underlying beliefs and overcome the challenge of creating critical lifestyle changes. The most effective models for inspiring behavioral change do so in a both a personal and a social context. The Kripalu experience fully leverages both.

We live on the cusp of a new frontier of understanding the natural processes that promote and maintain health, longevity, and quality of life. The science of the mind has opened a window into the biological underpinnings of thought, feeling, and behavior and their connection to health and the experience of life. And the implications are extremely compelling. As it turns out, we are not prisoners of our DNA.

When I began to reclaim my health—and my life—I was astonished by three things: The first was how quickly I began to feel better. The second was how effective small changes actually were. And the third was how addictive these changes became. I run 20 miles a week, I crave green, leafy vegetables, and I have cultivated a lifestyle that has less stress and includes more of the things that I value—family time, friendships, and community. Helping others to become better stewards of their precious gifts is my unrelenting calling, and I have also become a better doctor, one who is walking his talk.