Unit 7: Meeting Aesclepius

This week’s exercise, Meeting Aesclepius, was a moderately enjoyable experience for me. This exercise is very similar to one that I was assigned in Tai Chi years ago, called Avatar training. We were to find a person who was already deceased, who embodied the type of great person who we would like to emulate. There are a few differences between the two trainings, but they are based on the same concept. One thing that I did not like about the exercise was the instruction to “become” the chosen idol. In my opinion, we should not try to “become” any person, no matter how great he or she may be, because we each are individuals with our own experiences and with wisdom unique to our own lives. To attempt to become another person, we may be inclined to deny our own experiences and lessons learned (or those yet to be learned). Another flaw that I see in this instruction is the fact that the person we choose to envision is human and therefore fallible. Even if the person chosen has already deceased, there is no doubt that bad decisions were made and in connecting to that person with the intent to completely transform yourself into that person, you take on the mistakes that were made as well as any other negative characteristics of that individual. I would prefer to only attempt to emulate the positive aspects of the person chosen and incorporate them into your lifestyle and perspective.


“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (Schlitz, Amorok & Micozzi, 2005). This is a very strong and true statement that makes me think about health professionals who very obviously do not take care of their own health, but who preach to others about ways in which to lead a healthy lifestyle. How often do you see an obese physician or a group of nurses outside of a hospital smoking? Too often, in my opinion. My first Kaplan professor was a great example of leading by example. She taught nutrition (among other subjects) and was the portrait of great health. She was vegan and a marathon runner. Attending her classes was truly an inspiration to me because I felt that she was credible and that a healthy lifestyle was actually attainable because she was proof!

I do not believe in individuals (professional or otherwise) preaching about things that they do not practice themselves. Hypocrites are so annoying to me.



Reference

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness & healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. Elsevier Churchill Livingstone. St. Louis, Missouri.