The Total Health biofeedback pilot project in rural Africa

Getting Started

  The Himalayan Institute Total Health Center in Cameroon pioneers holistic healthcare treatments and public health outreach. Eucharia Kuoh has been the program manager there since 2009. When Eucharia was asked to select patients for the new ‘Stress Eraser’ biofeedback program in Cameroon, she looked for candidates with a variety of symptoms but with  a common interest in taking charge of their own health. “The biofeedback protocol can help people control stress,” she explains, “but it relies on the patient to practice relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing for 5-10 minutes a day. If they are not committed, the treatment will be unsuccessful.” As a Total Health Consultant, Eucharia spends much of her time advocating lifestyle changes and health supplements to ward off expensive and life-threatening illnesses later in life. Biofeedback is only the latest addition to her holistic healthcare practice.

For centuries, medical researchers have known that stress indicators, from heart rate to sweat gland activity, are influenced by voluntary mental processes. When these indicators are displayed in real time, or feedback to the patient on a computer monitor, it becomes possible to alter specific physiological functions at will. Much like learning to wiggle your ears or flare your nostrils by looking in a mirror, biofeedback provides the starting point for learning to use the body in a new way.

The Project

For the four-week biofeedback pilot project in Cameroon, sixteen candidates were chosen. On the first visit, Eucharia records heart rate and blood pressure both before and after a guided relaxation. Then she introduces her patients to the Stress Eraser. The machine measures pulse through a sensor clipped to the finger. Patients receive a score based on heart rate and consistency, and the session continues until the patient reaches a target score. In addition to their daily breathing exercises, the patients are asked to return once a week to the nearest Total Health Center for another 15-minute biofeedback session. The concept is simple, yet biofeedback may be one of the most direct routes to the plethora of health benefits associated with low-stress living, from lower blood pressure to reduced muscle tension and less susceptibility to infection. Best of all, it’s inexpensive, meaning that Eucharia can reach even poverty-stricken communities where the daily stress of finding a meal and supporting children can be crippling.

Results

At the end of the trial period, all sixteen patients self-reported an improvement in their initial symptoms, which included chronic pain, anxiety, and depression. For one patient with hypertension, Eucharia recorded a decrease in blood pressure after only four weeks of biofeedback sessions.

The ‘Stress Eraser’ pilot project has proven that biofeedback can be an effective component of holistic healthcare in the developing world. For consultants like Eucharia, biofeedback provides a concrete example of a larger preventative healthcare philosophy: by taking an interest in their health today, people can reduce the risk of illness tomorrow, sparing themselves the treatment costs which remain unaffordable for the majority of sub-Saharan Africa.

The very first step is that you make a decision that you are going to heal yourself. You are going to change yourself. You are going to transform yourself.

~ Pandit Rajmani Tigunait

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Our global humanitarian projects are driven by membership.  $30 out of every paid membership goes directly to funding our global initiatives in healthcare, education, vocational training, and gender equality.  By becoming a member, you gain access to the collective wisdom of an entire network of spiritual seekers, likeminded people around the globe who are committed to realizing personal development goals through active service.  Premium Members receive access to exclusive programming online as well as at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale.  Take a look at our three tiers of membership.

While packing bags, Jeff Abella watches Steve Odnoha try on a new pair of welding goggles. From triphala powder to solar panels, HI Cameroon will be restocked and upgraded with some specialty features.

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What we do is unique.  We operate on a fraction of the budgets of other international charities, and each of our projects is based in thousands of hours of research by our core of volunteers at home and in the communities we target.  Our successes speak for themselves. You can help us just by spreading the word.

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Himalayan Institute Africa team

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I wouldn’t trade my experience in India for anything!

~ Mary Lou W. (Madison, WI)

 

An extraordinary experience I will never forget.

~Marianne (Vina del Mar, Chile)

 

Thanks again for a wonderful trip.  It was so incredible and I cannot even imagine not going there without such a well-organized group. I feel very fortunate to have met such wonderful people! My experience was uplifting and spiritual and…will always have a special place in my heart.

~Nanette (Lyndhurst, New Jersey)

 

I really feel renewed in my body, emotions, and soul when I come back home. No other way to visit places in the world [then] the way you organize it! I always feel so happy, so safe, so deeply spiritual with you!

~Lucia P. (Colombia)

 

My visit to India has left me filled with total admiration and love for the country…In addition to the sights and lessons from Panditji, I met such awesome fellow travelers and learned many valuable lessons.

~Bob H. (Philadelphia, PA)

 

By simply being in a different culture, I was better able to understand my own culture and what has influenced who I am. The idea that certain places we visited felt very spiritually charged was also amazing.…I was reassured by the beauty that God was all around me…Thank you, thank you, thank you for such a wonderful opportunity.

~Jordan S. (Madison, WI)

 

Registration closes June 15, 2012. Register now!

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In the US and Europe, there has been much hand-wringing over the demise of the old-fashioned family doctor.  This general practitioner, the one who tends to an entire family, remembers years of patient history, and gives you a stern lecture during your checkup about the need to quit smoking and lose weight, was an authority figure responsible not just for acute illnesses, but also the long term health of you and your family.

Instead of the family doctor we now have referrals and a network of specialists.  In fact, for many of the most common diseases, like diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis, our first stop is not a ‘primary care giver’ or family doctor but rather the corresponding endocrinologist or cardiologist.  We have dis-incentivized the kind of medicine that looks at the big picture and makes recommendations for staying healthy.  To put our own medical system back on track, we need new incentives.

For patients in the developing world, the same shortage exists but the stakes are higher. Develop a serious health condition in rural Africa and you may not have the option of paying for the life-saving treatment you need.

Throughout Africa and Southern Asia, doctor to patient ratios are routinely 1:2000 or worse.  To make the most of a precious resource, MD’s in these countries are often cycled from one small hospital and its string of critical cases to another.  Many have no time to connect with patients or instill in them the importance of proper diet and hygiene.

Himalayan Institute health consultants proudly posing at their center in Kumbo Cameroon.

The most cost-effective solutions to the health crises facing the developing world are public health campaigns.  We can start by targeting the health problems that are based in simple misinformation, especially around nutrition. We can also work to improve sanitation infrastructure, improve water sources and increase the capacities of local health clinics.

On mobile unit days the consultants take to the remote villages.

The World Health Organization has declared the theme of this year’s World Health Day to be Ageing and Health.  To age gracefully, patients around the world need to be empowered with greater access to preventative medicine.  Today, help us spread the word.  Write a blog post, status update or tweet about the power of preventative healthcare and let us know about it by commenting on this post.

Want to support our health projects?  Just $25 dollars brings holistic health services to roughly 3 people.  Make a donation today and help expand the Total Health program.

For years, the Himalayan Institute has been committed to planting trees around the world and that goes for here in Honesdale as well.

Keeping with our sustainable lifestyle, we planted young chestnut trees early last month on the west side of our main building. The 1954 building does not have central air-conditioning and relies on age-old methods, like shade trees, to passively cool the building during the hot NEPA summer.

“These chestnut trees will replace trees that we expect to die in the coming years. It’s good forestry. In maintaining a continuity of the ecosystem for our flora and fauna here, we contribute to the external beauty of the Institute for the next generation of visitors and residents. It’s part of our strategy for mindful consumption of resources, along with other initiatives like the solar system for hot water,” says Tom Woodson, who manages the gardens and greenhouse at HI.

“You know, in Rotary Club, we say that it’s a wise man who plants a tree under whose shade he’ll never sit. That foresight and stewardship over our natural resources is very much our practice here at the Institute,” said Brian Fulp, Director of Local Operations and Past President of the Honesdale Rotary Club.

While spending time with Mr. Woodson during the recent planting he went on to say that ”This time of year is the best for planting new trees. Some of the volunteers who helped plant these were worried the trees were dead. They’re not dead; they’re dormant.

And, that’s what helps them survive the shock of transplanting from the pot at the nursery or balled-and-burlapped at the tree farm to your front yard, you want to be sure when you plant trees that you dig a hole two-and-a-half times the size of the rootball and always make sure they are watered to help them adapt.”

“Our residents don’t commute by car to work. We donate our food scraps to local farms. We raise our own garden and eat vegetarian. We’ve been living this way since we moved our international headquarters to Honesdale 40 years ago. We were really proud to finally codify it and share it in our Sustainability Statement that we released last summer,” said Mr. Fulp.

HI calls its commitment to sustainability an expression of “yoga in action”. Their sustainability statement and showcase projects can be found at HimalayanInstitute.org/About-Us/HIEco/.

Local residents can visit the Himalayan Institute campus and its gardens anytime. Garden staff are seeding thousands of herbs and vegetables right now to be transplanted within the next two to three months. Later in the summer, thousands of pounds of this organic produce will be served in the dining hall. Meals are included in the Institute’s guest packages and cost $8 for visitors.

“And, in 20 years, we’d like to invite all of Honesdale to come for chai under our beautiful chestnut trees,” says Brian Fulp.

For more information on the gardening program at the Himalayan Institute, please visit HimalayanInstitute.org/workshops-retreats/residential-programs/organic-gardening-apprentice-program/.

The hour is drawing near for this years Buffalo For Africa conference and once again the Himalayan Institute is proud to be a part of this noble event.

The conference theme this year is “a celebration of women” and for this cause… we intend to celebrate to the fullest!

Join us as we take stock of how our humanitarian projects are supporting dedicated women entrepreneurs in Africa. We’ll have products, giveaways, and great stories to share!

Do you live in the Buffalo area? Representatives from Himalayan Institute Buffalo branch will also be around sharing information about their yoga classes and seminars.

Event Details

Date – Saturday, March 31, 2012

Time – 8:00 am – 3:30 pm

Location – Rich’s Atrium, Buffalo NY

In the midst of the Himalayan Institute’s major humanitarian initiatives in Cameroon, the remarkable stories of those responsible often go unreported. This section of the blog seeks to showcase the diverse range of backgrounds, talents, obstacles, and triumphs represented in our local staff and contacts.

Bali Tobias works as a driver and night watchman for the Himalayan Institute in Kumbo, Cameroon.  Behind the wheel, he has braved the height of the rainy season and some of rural Africa’s most treacherous roads in order to bring the Total Health Mobile Unit to villages as far north as the Adamawa Region, some nine hours away.  Back at home, he stands guard over the Institute campus and helps with maintenance.  He is married with four children.

Bali was born in Kumbo.  His family compound is in Sar-Ntoh, in the shadow of the Fon’s palace where the extended royal family lives.  He attended primary school in the relatively prosperous coastal city of Buea, but his parents lacked the funds to finish his education.  Even as a boy, Bali earned money doing small jobs in a mechanic’s shop.  He was taught to drive, but was never able to pay the fee for his license.

When the first representatives of the HIC arrived in July 2007, the local king sent Bali as part of the original welcoming party.  He was asked to stay on and has been with the Institute ever since.  “I enjoy very much working here because my job has given me so many opportunities,” says Bali.  “I never had the driving license, but it was provided to me, and now I am paying my fees on time.”

Bali has endured many setbacks in his life, but when asked about the prospect of furthering his education, he does not dwell on what-ifs.  “At my age, it is my children who need to be helped in school.  I would rather I send them all to secondary school.”  He is proud that his eldest daughter, now 15, has already gone farther in her studies than either of her parents.

Francis is also a night watchman at HIC.  Together with Bali, they make a formidable team.  Francis was born in Kumbo and has lived here for most of his life.  His night watchman career started in 1985 in the city of Bamenda but Kumbo soon called him home where he continued guarding other people’s property.

Guarding the HIC community center isn’t new for Francis.  He was watching the same building during its previous incarnation as an abandoned coffee cooperative office.  Like Bali, Francis heard about HIC through the local king and was one of the first to join us. “Since I’ve started working here, I’ve done so many different things, especially during the day.  Working here allows me to buys farming supplies to feed me and my daughter.”

A woman that is educated and empowered will have more chances to improve her society because it is the women that often teach the family values at home.  This can have a quick effect at fighting poverty in the developing world.  Making this happen will require better education, economic freedom, and political representation for women.

Education and knowledge can empower a woman to understand and change her situation in the face of discrimination.  Today a higher percentage of girls are enrolled in school than ever before, but it is not enough.  In 2007, UNESCO reported that of the 774 million adults who are illiterate, 64% are women, an improvement of only 2% since the early nineties.  Education is especially important for women in countries like Cameroon, were a lack of knowledge of her rights often corners women into the old repressive systems.

These problems can be tackled and change can begin in a short time by focusing aid initiatives on empowering women to have more participation in politics.  Women’s participation will help amend unequal legislation, and create a legal definition of sexual discrimination.  Women coming together can have a great impact in steering votes that support these.

The Himalayan Institute’s community center in Cameroon has been committed to improving gender equality since its inauguration in 2007. This year we have plans to do more:

• Offering adult literacy classes at the Kumbo Public Library to help women understand their civic and property rights.
•  Sending more girls to primary and secondary school on scholarships.
•  Expanding our Sacred Link Jewelry program to help more women generate income through jewelry making.
•  Improving women’s nutrition with seminars and demonstrations of organic home gardening.
• Building political solidarity by connecting geographically isolated women with our jewelry and agricultural programs.
• Providing free health consultations to rural women with our Total Health mobile unit.Share your thoughts:Join the International Women’s Day discussion.

Share a story in the comments section of this post or tell us what you’d like to see done to improve women’s rights in the developing world.

Country Director, Jeff Abella details the specifics of the new partnership and the importance of collaborating to increase overall impact.

The challenges facing the youth of Jonotla, a town of 3000 in southern Mexico, are only too common.  For the last several decades, the focus of university agronomy programs across the developing world has been on chemical-heavy fertilizers and pesticides.  These methods, which have allowed corporate-backed farms to produce huge volumes of crops at the cost of long term health to the land, water and the consumer, have also been adopted by small-scale farmers. Decades later, adolescents in Jonotla see their parents struggling under agricultural debt-burdens that only increase with time, and many choose to leave in the hopes of finding work in Mexico’s cities.

Program Leader, Ariszandy Calderon passes out workbooks to begin his class.

“The new generation’s interest in agriculture and our agronomy programs is dying and the community is suffering because of the loss of students studying and remaining in Jonotla,” laments Jonotla University’s College Director. “This means that the knowledge of farming is also leaving and people are relying on packaged food, resulting in increased health problems here. We need to introduce a more progressive and sustainable method of farming into our curriculum, the kind that the new generation is interested in.”

Students working together at HI Mexico's training campus

That’s where Himalayan Institute Mexico comes in.  The university brings its undergrads to HI Mexico’s Energy Farming campus for hands on training in sustainable farming practices.  The new curriculum adds value to the Jonotla University’s agronomy program and is already attracting environmentally conscious young people.  Farmers who grow organic have a valuable commodity to bring to market, one whose value is increasing as Mexico’s rising business class becomes more concerned with diet and health.