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    Mind/Body Medicine
    Sutter Center for Integrative Holistic Health

    Many Sutter Center for Integrative Holistic Health practitioners offer care, classes, in-home support, and coaching for the maintenance of wellness and management of stress.

    This term is as much a philosophy as an umbrella term including many important therapies based upon the complex interconnections between mind and body.

    Inherent in this approach are the principles recognized by most complementary practitioners: consciousness affects the body, each person is unique, every person is seen as a whole person within the context of their environment, the body is innately capable of healing, the final responsibility for healing is with the person being healed, and the client and healer form a powerful healing partnership.

    Harnessing the power of the mind is a very important and useful approach when someone is dealing with stress. Chronic stress has a negative impact on emotions, mood and behaviors. It also eventually causes wear and tear of multiple tissues in the body, including the heart and immune system. Some signs and symptoms of stress include headaches, jaw clenching, tremors, neck and back pain, light headedness, frequent colds and other infections, stomach pain, insomnia, forgetfulness, irritability, rashes, and itching to name a few.

    In addition, many medical disorders have been linked to chronic stress including depression, anxiety, heart attacks, stroke, high blood pressure, immune system disturbances, viral disorders ranging from the common cold and herpes to AIDS and certain cancers, and autoimmune diseases like asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The American Medical Association reports that 80% of all diseases are caused or exacerbated by stress.

    The key to managing stress is to maintain wellness and to avoid or reduce the impact of the sources of stress in your life. Getting enough sleep and exercise, consuming whole foods, avoiding excess stimulants and toxins, taking time out to laugh and relax, and living a purposeful life are a few practices associated with wellness lifestyle.

    If you need help in reducing the sources or symptoms of stress in your life, you have many options to choose from these days. Many Mind-Body therapies are offered by the Sutter Integrative Medicine Team, including meditation, the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR), Qigong, Tai Chi, massage therapy, music therapy, guided imagery, cognitive behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization retraining (EMDR), spiritual care, acupuncture, biofeedback, craniosacral therapy, dance movement therapy, nutritional supplementation, and yoga. Other Mind-Body approaches include self-hypnosis, progressive muscular relaxation, other types of bodywork and postural techniques, autogenic training, and breathwork to name a few. And of course, aerobic exercise is a great stress reducer too! It is important for stress reduction and wellness strategies to fit the individual. Aerobic exercises, meditation, and yoga may be effective for some but boring to others.

    Many Sutter Center for Integrative Holistic Health practitioners offer care, classes, in-home support, and coaching for the maintenance of wellness and management of stress.

    Sutter also offers an 8-week stress management class that is free to all Sutter patients. In this class you will learn:

    1. How stress affects your health and emotional well being
    2. What you can do to manage stress
    3. How you can build skills to improve mind/body health
    4. How you can become more stress-resilient

    The class meets once a week for eight weeks, and the series includes lectures, discussions, and experiential exercises such as deep relaxation and meditation. Open only to Sutter patients. Please see the Mind/Body Health and Stress Management class listing for information about Sutter's free Stress Management class.

    Practitioners: