School of Tibetan medicine graduates first class today
By BOB DUNN Recorder Staff
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[ Originally published on: Saturday, October 17, 2009 ]
CONWAY -- The Tibetan Medicine School at the Shang Shung Institute in Conway will graduate the first group of practitioners of Tibetan medicine trained outside of the Himalayan region on Saturday.
According to Matthew Schmookler, 29, one of the six graduating students, Tibetan medicine focuses on restoring balance in the body through a holistic approach that examines and attempts to eliminate both external and internal disturbances.
The graduates range in age from the mid-20s to 59, Schmookler said and come from all over the United States.
Things like diet, lifestyle, the season, external conditions, constitution and age can all be contributing factors to creating imbalance, Schmookler said.
Schmookler said his parents fostered his interest in holistic healing. His mother was a mid-wife and a massage therapist and his father was a psychologist who studied Indian medicine.
Adam Okerblom, 29, a student who is scheduled to graduate in 2011, said that it was an abiding interest in traditional cultures and the healing arts that led him to the school.
“(Tibetan medicine) seemed like a very intact body of knowledge,” Okerblom said. “It embodies and is based on all of the fundamental knowledge of Tibetan culture, which is profound.”
The head of the school, Phuntsog Wangmo, said that holistic approach is at the center of the Tibetan philosophy of medicine. “Through observing daily life and behavior we can help protect the balance of the five elements (earth, wind, water, fire, and space),” she said. “If something is wrong, that creates imbalance. Too much of one thing can cause imbalance.”
The students find that many of the philosophies of Western and Tibetan medicine compliment rather than conflict with each other.
“Both have strengths and weaknesses,” Schmookler said. “Tibetan medicine is based on finding the root cause of disease, where Western medicine concentrates more on suppressing symptoms.”
“Tibetan medicine can empower people to control their own health,” Okerblom said.
Wangmo arrived in the United States in 2000 from her home in Tibet, where she worked as a healer and teacher, after being invited to the Institute to head up the new medical program.
She also finds the Conway neighborhood that surrounds the Institute and school a positive area for the work she and the students do.
“It’s peaceful, kind, and safe,” she said. “I’m enjoying it a lot, the neighbors are very supportive.”
Schmookler, who, like Okerblom, originally hails from California, never thought he’d move to the East Coast, especially after hearing stories of the harsh winters.
“I consider it my second home now,” he said.
The institute is housed in the former Conway Grammar School building of Route 116 in the Burkeville section of town.
“It’s a very healthy, beautiful place here, people are doing very positive things,” Okerblom said.
Schmookler is optimistic about his post-graduate future, especially considering he hopes to be licensed by the state in Kunye Massage Therapy.
“There’s an unlimited amount of opportunities,” outside the Western medical realm, such as translating, research, and “helping people with what we have learned,” Schmookler said.
“The work of a Tibetan doctor is service,” Schmookler said.
The graduation will be held at Amherst College today at 10am in the Earth Science Building, Paino Lecture Hall.
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