by annette pinder
James Pilc, M.D., has been a well-respected physician board certified in obstetrics and gynecology for 16 years. A self-proclaimed workaholic, he maintained a private practice in Williamsville, worked more than 80 hours a week, treated 5,000 patients, and delivered 3,000 babies. By all accounts, Dr. Pilc was a success, and his patients loved him.
What Dr. Pilc’s patients didn’t know about was his diagnosis of bone marrow cancer in 2005. While undergoing radiation therapy at Roswell, he found additional healing through massage therapy and meditation. He says, “While conventional and alternative therapies promoted partial healing, I realized there was a spiritual and emotional component missing.”
What continued post-cancer treatment was a laundry list of other illnesses: struggles with anxiety, depression, fatigue, hypertension, food intolerances, and abdominal pain. “On my journey to find complete healing, I experienced a process I’ve coined meditative self-healing where you can discover physical, energetic and spiritual healing,” says Dr. Pilc.
According to the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NICAM), mindful-meditation is a technique where people learn to become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and sensations while attempting to observe them in a nonjudgmental way. People who meditate say that it improves their overall wellbeing, and helps with anxiety, pain, depression, stress, insomnia and physical or emotional symptoms associated with chronic illnesses and their treatment.
The growing body of evidence supporting the beneficial health effects of meditation has prompted NICAM to investigate the effects of meditation on specific illnesses such as chronic back pain, asthma, and hot flashes in menopausal women. And a recent study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain and France reports the first evidence of molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation.
Meanwhile, Dr. Pilc says he has never felt better. He’s been cancer-free for eight years and enjoying the happiest part of his life – being a dad. His book, Unstuck: The Enlightenment of Medicine, recounts his journey and the importance of integrating Eastern Medicine, Western Medicine with meditation and spirituality. He teaches group meditation classes and conducts private meditative self-healing sessions. He has just released his first CD—Guided Meditation: A Path to Peace, and leads meditation sails aboard the Spirit of Buffalo during the warmer months.
Dr. Pilc hopes to open a fusion center that brings together health providers who practice traditional medicine, alternative therapies and meditative self-healing. He is also careful to tell people that meditation should not be used as a replacement for conventional care or as a reason to postpone seeing a doctor about a medical problem. He says, “It’s important to tell your provider about any complementary and alternative practices you use so that they have a full picture of how you are managing your health.”
To learn more about Dr. Pilc and to sign up to attend one of his classes visit www.jamespilcmd.com, and follow James Pilc, M.D. on facebook and twitter.
