suited for those who are already
spiritual.
• Exercise: This may benefit
both body and mind. Many
people discover that they feel
empowered and relaxed through
exercise.
• Unconventional exercise:
Exercise and relaxation may
be combined in some forms of
unconventional exercise, such as
tai chi or yoga.
• Relaxation practices:
Like the placebo response itself,
relaxation techniques such as
meditation and guided imagery
tap into the potentially powerful
connection between the mind
and the body.
• Alternative medical
systems: Non-Western healing
systems, such as traditional Chi-
nese medicine and Ayurveda,
may be helpful for people who
use conventional Western medi-
cine with some degree of skepti-
cism and would like to have a
practitioner with a completely
different approach. These sys-
tems should not be used instead
of conventional therapies, but
may be combined with them.
See my column in Momentum,
Summer 2010, available on the
Society Web site.
Dr. Allen Bowling is the medical director of the Multiple Sclerosis Service
and director of the Complementary
and Alternative Medicine Service at
the Colorado Neurological Institute.
Also, he is clinical associate professor
of Neurology at the University of Colorado. Read more in his highly recommended book, Complementary and
Alternative Medicine. and Multiple
Sclerosis (2nd edition, Demos Medical Publishing), and on his Web site,
www.NeurologyCare.net.
A full list of references supporting
this article may be found
on nationalMSsociety.org/
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