In 1988 I was privileged to be part of a group of forty Western medicine oriented professionals who traveled to China as part of the People to People program founded by President Eisenhower in 1956. Our purpose was "to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences."

My belief in science as the background for medicine was deeply engrained despite a nagging in the back of my mind that there had to be more to healing than the scalpel and a variety of pills. I knew that fitness and a healthy diet was a significant contributor to preventing illness but once people got sick my rearing in a medical environment, scientific degree and marriage to a physician took over. That trip to China changed all that. In addition to learning that fighting disease and restoring health were not the same thing I could not deny what I saw in the surgical units, treatment facilities and pharmacies. I saw a woman conversing with her doctor as she had her breast removed with only a series of acupuncture needles and her faith to keep pain at bay. Doctors there talked about balance and harmony instead of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry or pathology. A severe headache that had a habit of keeping me in a dark room for most of a day was relieved in twenty minutes by acupressure delivered by a Chinese physician and, on another day, acupuncture relieved the effects of a bite that left my eye swollen shut. Twice daily one and one half hours of Chinese exercise awakened my qui ("chee") which I experienced as a unique "oneness" with the universe and a sense of contentment that became one of the peak experiences of my life.

My how things have changed in the fifteen years since I made that trip. Whether we're easing the treatment for cancer, attempting to relieve chronic pain, dancing with depression, or healing our heart what we used to call alternative therapies then complimentary medicine is now Integrative medicine that combines the best of western and eastern philosophies. U. S. medical schools are changing the way they train physicians and some of them now focus on a holistic approach to medicine that acknowledges lack of exercise, a poor diet and stress are a trigger for many diseases (dis-ease) and yoga, massage, meditation, acupuncture, herbs and hypnosis are viable tools for healing (to make whole).

Next week I'll be a featured lecturer at the Mountain Wellness Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. As I reviewed years of articles I've collected and notes I'd journaled in the fifteen since I returned from China I realized I'd achieved a goal I set then--to be able to deliver a lecture about women's health that bridges the best the spiritual and Eastern philosophical community has to offer with the best of what research and Western medicine has taught us. But most of all I'll once again get on my soap box and talk about the issue we continue to ignore "in the west". In those wise Eastern cultures aging is honored. Instead of raging against a failure to recover from illness or injury as quickly as in earlier years, that extra down time that healing requires is looked upon as a blessing that gives a person an opportunity to go inward and reflect on what they have accomplished and have yet to accomplish. I don't like that my genes keep my cholesterol high despite exercise and a low saturated fat diet, that my bunions are getting bigger, that my body is paying the price for years of dancing in bare feet on hard floors, (and more), but I am enjoying the pace of my life. Next week, as I review whassup? in women's health (Outwitting Osteoporosis and All That Jazz) I'll encourage my audience to embrace their challenges and do the same.