By: Luke Frankel
Chapter 15 is all about health care, how we can attain it, how much it costs/is given, what we can do to figure out the best health care we need, and also what types of health care are necessary versus what types are truly elective.
“As the health care industry has become more sophisticated in seeking your business, so must you become more sophisticated in purchasing its products and services. Acting responsibly in times of illness can be difficult, but the person best able to act on your behalf is you” (Donatelle 350). This is important to note, you are always your biggest supporter. You need to stand up for your own issues and figure out the type of help you need, if you need any at all. Some times there are situations like with Covid 19 where you may be feeling ill, but not severely in danger. So in that case, you should stay home and take care of yourself while leaving the dangerously ill people, space in hospitals. This is only one example of self understanding when you are sick, but it is an important lesson that we are seeing a lot of this year. Another important point the chapter makes is about assessing the type of health care and health care provider you need. For instance, if you have issues with your stomach but you go to see a doctor who is a special in ear, nose, and throat problems, your issue will see no improvement.
There are different types of medicine, the kind we think of when we go to the doctor is allopathic medicine or western medicine, however, there are also other types called homeopathic medicine which is a little less defined. However, there have been many eastern practices for years that have seemed to help people, like balancing your Qi using herbal medicines and such. We need to keep an open mind when dealing with illness or injury, and not assume that only allopathic medicine works.
There are also therapies like hypnosis, which is considered a mind therapy. But among other therapies, called energy therapy, there are practices like acupuncture. Acupuncture is an old art where an acupuncturist places needles all over the patient’s body in certain areas to increase flow of Qi over certain energy “meridians” (Donatelle 362).
Lastly, and my most favorite version of mindfulness and recovery, is meditation. Every day I try to meditate for 10 minutes, where I think about everything going on in my life. The good, the bad, and what my hopes for the future are. If I can compartmentalize all of these factors and think about what they mean to me and how they make me feel, I have complete clarity and happiness, at least for a few moments. I think everyone should meditate once a day.
As for my health and wellness goals, this week I have done every single workout I planned to do. I also started playing music again on my guitar. It has been about a month or so since I had the optimism and creativity to just jam and play like I used to do. I have to say it is a really nice feeling that I greatly missed. I had a great time learning in this class, despite all of the issues concerning this pandemic. In a way however, I feel like I learned a lot about myself and the chapters in the book somewhat coincided with helping me feel better.
Luke's Wellness Blog 