RUNNING HEAD: UNTI 5 ASSIGNMENT 1

Heather Heuton

Unit 5 Assignment

HW499
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Course Syllabus

General Information

Instructor: Heather Heuton

Course Meetings: Classroom, TBD

Credit Hours: TBD

Course Description

This course will serve as an introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine. This
class will be dedicated to the basic understandings of yoga, meditation and massage therapy and
how they can decrease stress levels. By providing a basic understanding of how these different
CAMs are able to reduce stress levels and make us feel better in order to provide us with a
healthier lifestyle.

Course Prerequisites

None

Course Objectives

1. To understand what CAM practices are

2. To understand the benefits of each CAM practice

3. To learn the backgrounds to each practice presented

4. To understand and learn about different yoga techniques

5. To learn how meditation can have a positive impact in our lives

6. To be able to determine that massage therapy can provide many benefits to us

Required Materials

None
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General Course Outline Handout

Introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine

 Unit One: Yoga

o What is yoga?
o How to get started with yoga?
o Why practice yoga?
o Types of Yoga
o Benefits of yoga
o How can yoga help reduce stress?
 Unit Two: Meditation
o What is Meditation?
o Types of meditation
o Benefits of meditation
o How can mediation help reduce stress?
 Unit Three: Massage Therapy
o What is massage therapy?
o Benefits of massage therapy
o How can massage therapy reduce stress?
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Introduction

Complementary and Alternative medicine, also known as CAM is something that is

described as a medical treatment that is used instead of traditional therapies. During CAM, no

medication is taken. You may be wondering what is considered a type of CAM and why people

use them in instead of traditional medicine. CAM is known to be helpful in releasing tension and

stress from the body. Some examples of CAM are the following: Acupuncture, Chiropractic

Medicine, Energy Therapy, Magnetic Field Therapy, Herbal Medicines and Ayurvedic

Medicines. Acupuncture is a type of CAM that uses small needles to stimulate pressure points

around the body. Chiropractic medicine is done by using different techniques to manipulate your

spine into proper alignment. Energy Therapy used Magnetic Field Therapy to treat

musculoskeletal problems as it used an implanted cardiac device. One of the big techniques used

here is called Reiki, which involves the practitioner using their hands to hover over the body in

order to promote healing. Herbal Medicine is used throughout the air or inhaled; it is meant to

heal the body through smell. Finally, Ayurvedic Medicine used the practice of herbs and special

diets to practice healing.

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Unit One: Yoga

What is yoga?

Yoga is a spiritual discipline that includes breathing techniques, body posture and simply

meditation in order to promote health and happiness. The purpose of yoga is to train the mind

and body to be more observant and aware of what is around them.

How to get started with yoga?

The best way to get started with yoga is to first buy a yoga mat. This is the only

equipment that you will need in order to get started practice yoga. Next, you will want to

research and find out the type of yoga you want to practice. there are many types as we will

discuss later on. Next, you will want to either find a gym or a yoga video to expedite the process

of getting started. Finally, the best advice given to me as I was starting to do yoga was that, the

best way to learn more about it, is by doing it. The very first time I practiced yoga, it was a lore

more difficult than I thought it was going to be but as I became accustomed to it, the easier it

became and the more I enjoyed going to it every week.

Benefits of yoga

Practicing yoga is such a great idea because it has so many health benefits that are

associated with it. Not only is it good for the mind, body and spirit relation, it also has many

good physical benefits as well. It focuses on the “body’s natural tendency toward health and self-

healing”. It helps to build strength, awareness, and harmony from within. Some of the physical

benefits that yoga can provide are increased flexibility, increase muscle strength and tone,

improve respiration and energy, help maintain a good metabolism, help with weight loss,

improve athletic performance and help protect from injury. As yoga has many physical benefits,
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it also has many mental benefits as well. The biggest benefit that it has is helping reduce stress

(Benefits of Yoga, n.d.).

Types of Yoga

1) Anusara-This type of yoga focuses on helping us to develop a relationship with

our hearts, experience grace and let our inner goodness shine through.

2) Ashtanga-This type of yoga practices the same move over and over again and is

more focused on breathing techniques. It is one of the harder yoga’s as it can be

very sweaty and physically demanding.

3) Bikram-This type of yoga is done in a heated room as you are walked through

about 26 different poses. It follows the same sequence of poses each time. This is

one of the most popular types of yoga.

4) Hatha-This type of yoga focuses more on the physical postures through a gentle

introduction. When done with this class, should leave feeling more relaxed and

looser.

5) Hot yoga-This type of yoga is also done is heated too and is very similar to

Bikram yoga.

6) Iyengar-This type of yoga focuses on finding the proper alignment in a pose. It

uses props such as block, blankets, steps, chairs and bolsters to do such a thing.

This type of yoga is more demanding as it can be both physically and emotionally

challenging. This is best for those who have an injury or chronic pain as it will

help to relieve sore, tight muscles

7) Restorative-This type of yoga focuses on ways to relax and is known to be very

rejuvenating. It also uses props.

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8) Vinyasa-This type of yoga focuses on a sequence of poses and is known for their

fluid, movement-intensive practices. It also incorporates music and connects the

use of breath and movement together. Each class is also different, so if you are

looking for a variety, this is class to be in. (Gaiam, n.d.).

How can yoga help reduce stress?

Stress can be reduced through yoga as it helps with relief of back and neck pain, sleeping

problems, headaches, drugs abuse, and an inability to concentrate. Yoga can help with the

development of coping skills by helping us create a positive outlook on life. Yoga does this by

helping to create mental clarity, increase our awareness, relax the mind, improves our attention

and helps with concentration (Benefits of Yoga, n.d.).

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Unit Two: Meditation

What is Meditation?

“Meditation isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better

person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective”. (What is

meditation?, n.d.).It is learning to turn off our thoughts and feelings and just to focus on

something that makes us happy. This could be anything, a friend, family, loved one, the beach,

the mountains, your favorite song or vacation spot. Just something that makes you feel like you

are on top of the world and nothing can stop you when you are there. These are the types of

moments that we live for, it gives a sense of purpose and we can be mindful of our thoughts.

Practicing meditation is something that takes time, as it can be very time focused. It is hard to get

rid of our thoughts and feelings in a given moment when our mind is constantly going 100 mph.

We must train our minds to meditate. (What is meditation?, n.d.).

Types of meditation

1) Loving-kindness meditation- This type of mediation focuses on attitude towards love

and kindness towards good and bad relationships in our lives. By doing this, it can

help to relieve tension from anger, frustration, resentment and interpersonal conflict

as it is focused on increasing positive emotions.

2) Body Scan/Progressive Relaxation- This is the type of mediation that really focus on

people scanning areas of the body where they feel the most tension.

3) Mindfulness Meditation- This type of meditation is the easiest and most common type

of meditation. It focuses on the emphasis of one image or thought that comes to mind

and allows us to be present in the moment with that one specific thought. Mindfulness
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meditation is known to improve focus and memory, reduce negative emotions, and

improve relationship satisfaction.

4) Breath-awareness meditation- This type of meditation focuses on breathing

techniques. It focuses on deep, slow breaths though counting each one as we inhale

and exhale. The goal is to let your mind loose and just focus on your breathing

technique.

5) Kundalini Yoga-This type of mediation focuses on movement, deep breathing and

mantras. It is said to improve physical strength, reduce pain, anxiety and depression.

6) Zen Meditation-This type of meditation focuses on finding a comfortable position to

focus on breathing and observance of our thoughts. It is very similar to mindfulness

meditation, but with more of a focus discipline and practice.

7) Transcendental Meditation-This type of mediation focuses on spirituality as one

focuses on one word or a series of words (Villines, n.d.).

Benefits of meditation

There are many benefits of mediation as it can lead to happiness and better health. When we

meditate, it leaves us with the feeling of positivity after just one 15-minute session. It helps us to

focus on decision making resulting in less feelings of fear and stress. When we shift the way to

think about things and how we approach things, our stress levels come down because we are

learning to handle things form a different perspective. Studies have been shown to decrease

symptoms of depression, anxiety and pain that is related to stress. It has also been shown to

decrease cortisol levels, which is good as cortisol is the hormone that is most related to stress.

Finally, the last study that was done was shown states that meditation also improves

relationships, which is another problem that can be associated with stress. If things are not going
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good in our relationships with family and friends, we tend to be more stressed out (What is

meditation?, n.d.).
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Unit Three: Massage Therapy

What is massage therapy?

Massage therapy focus on the painful areas in the body by using our hands and other

techniques to help relieve pain and increase relaxation.

Benefits of massage therapy

The benefits of massage therapy are the following: Reduce stress, improve circulation,

reduce pain, eliminate toxins, improve flexibility, improve sleep, enhance immunity, reduce

fatigue, reduce post-surgery and post-injury swelling (10 Benefits of Massage Therapy, 2014).

Types of massage therapy

1) Swedish massage- This type of massage focuses on the emphasizes

of a full body massage. It is good for those who are new to

massages, have a lot of tension and are sensitive to touch. This is

the best source of massage when you are wanting to relax and

unwind.

2) Hot Stone Massage-This type of massage focus on the use or hot

stones. It is best used for those who have muscle pain and tension.

It also helps to improve blood flow and relieve stress.

3) Aromatherapy Massage-This type of massage is best for those who

want to focus on emotional healing as it can boost your mood,

reduce stress, help with depression and relieve pain. Essential oils

are also used in this type of massage.

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4) Deep Tissue Massage-This type of massage is good for those who

have chronic muscle problems, soreness, injury or imbalance. This

type of massage is also more intense due to the deep finger

pressure of the therapist.

5) Sports Massage- This type of massage is good for sports related

injuries as most injuries from sports are repetitive as they are more

prone to an injury. This type of massage also helps to increase

flexibility and performance.

6) Trigger point massage-This type of massage is best for those who

have injuries, chronic pain, or needing to focus on a certain type of

tissue. It can focus on the trigger point on that one specific area

that is causing the pain.

7) 7) Reflexology-This type of message focus on those who are

looking to relax and restore their energy. It focuses on the different

pressure points in our hands, feet and ears.

8) Shiatsu Massage- This type of massage helps with headaches,

muscle tension, anxiety, depression and promotes emotion and

physical relaxation. It is one that mainly focuses on the whole

body, but the therapist can focus the attention on a specific area.

9) Thai Massage-This type of massage focuses on flexibility,

circulation and energy levels. It is more active in a sense of

reducing and relieving pain.

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10) Prenatal Massage-This is for women who are pregnant. It can help

reduce body aches, stress and muscle tension.

11) Couple’s Massage-This is the type of massage that is meant to be

done with someone else such as a partner, friend or family

member.

12) Chair Massage- This type of massage is meant to be done quick

and easy. It focuses on the neck, shoulders and back (What Type of

Massage Should You Get?, n.d.).

How can massage therapy reduce stress?

Massage therapy can help reduce stress by releasing the “feel good” chemicals in our

body. That simple feeling of calmness and relaxation in itself makes it easier to relieve stress and

learn how to overcome stress much easier. Studies show that one and half hours of massage

therapy has the benefits to lower heart rate, cortisol levels and insulin levels. All of which, are

related to stress. Getting a massage on a regular basis is essential for making us look better and

feel better, which again can help in the reduction of stress (Ways of Treating & Relieving Stress

with Massage Therapy. (n.d.).

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Assignment

Before each lecture begins, have the class answer the following question:

How are you feeling right now?

Present the lecture, then proceed to do each activity for 20 minutes (the most common type of
each)

At the end of the activity, ask the following question:

How do you feel now?

Do you feel different now than you did at the beginning the class?
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References

10 Benefits of Massage Therapy. (2014, October 29). Retrieved from

https://www.urbannirvana.com/10-benefits-massage-therapy/

Benefits of Yoga. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://osteopathic.org/what-is-osteopathic-

medicine/benefits-of-yoga/

Gaiam. (n.d.). A Beginner's Guide to 8 Major Styles of Yoga. Retrieved from

https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/a-beginners-guide-to-8-major-styles-of-yoga

Ways of Treating & Relieving Stress with Massage Therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.massageenvy.com/massage/massage-benefits/relieves-stress/

What is meditation? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.headspace.com/meditation-101/what-is-

meditation

What Type of Massage Should You Get? (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.healthline.com/health/types-of-massage#cost

Villines, Z. (n.d.). 7 types of meditation: What type is best for you? Retrieved from
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320392.php