By Beth Netter, M.D.
The Sanskrit word ahimsa means non-injuring, non-harming, non-violence. It is kindness. In Holistic Mind-Body Medicine, ahimsa is the number one tenet. All thoughts, words, and actions must be based on ahimsa in order to be in the highest and greatest good for all.
Ahimsa helps us navigate the world of our mind and our relationships (and isn’t our primary relationship with our mind?) with loving-kindness. Ahimsa helps us act skillfully when our habits or our desires try to lead us into actions which would potentially create pain, fatigue, inflammation, or some sort of emotional, mental, or physical di-ease.
During this holiday season we have many relationships appear in our awareness asking for our attention, time, and action. These relationships could elicit questions/choices such as:
“How much time do I spend shopping at any one round?”
“How much money do I spend on gifts?”
“Which events do I attend and how late will I stay at them?”
“What foods do I eat?”
“Do I choose to drink alcohol and how much at any one time?”
“What do I choose to do with my ‘free’ time during the holidays so I will feel rested, less stressed, healthier come January 2nd, 2010?”
“Am I going to worry about or hold onto anger vis-à-vis friends/family members/other people i.e., in traffic or in a line at the store?”
By going within to your Inner Intuitive Wisdom and asking yourself: “Is this thought/ word/ action in the highest and greatest good at this moment? Is this thought/word/action in alignment with ahimsa?” you will be able to make clearer, more creative, and health-promoting choices.
Holistic Mind-Body Medicine helps people know how to do this with greater ease and skill. It offers in depth understandings of how to use the mind and the body to create the life, health and happiness each person longs for. For example in it you would be offered the following practice: Check in with and thentrust your Inner Wisdom. Acknowledge any thought/word/action which feels out of alignment at that moment and offer it up to the universe from where it came. And then Go Within to see what else may be possible that would be in alignment with ahimsa and give it a go.
Experiment with this loving and simple practice of ahimsa and see if it helps to make this holiday season one of greater peace, happiness, and health for you and those around you. And always remember: Ahimsa Begins at Home. Care for yourself and others will receive the benefits of this ahimsa as well.
A new study out of the University of Rochester shows that meditation and the opportunity to share emotions in a non judgmental way helps decrease physician stress while enhancing an experience of connectedness between physician and patient. The study, recently published in 
