UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
1701 Divisadero St.
Suite 150
San Francisco, CA 94115

All events are located at the Osher Center unless otherwise noted.

The UCSF Osher Center would like to thank the Mental Insight Foundation for its generous, $11,500 gift of support for the Yoga for Depression in Young People Study, a Project of the Healthy Lives, Healthy Families Program at the UCSF Osher Center.

The Mental Insight Foundation was founded by Bill Kimpton as a way of giving back to a world that had been very generous to him. Its mission is to assist people in developing healthier mental attitudes and to promote meaningful insights into the human mind. The Foundation's primary goal is to enhance people's mental health and well-being, to help make it possible for all people to lead full lives, and to assist in reintegrating isolated people back into society.

With the rising popularity of yoga in western countries, yoga-based interventions hold the potential to offer non-pharmaceutical depression treatment with low cost, high social acceptance, and few side effects. However, there have been few randomized controlled trials examining its antidepressant effects. When completed, this pilot study will help us learn more about the feasibility of yoga as an intervention for depression in the broader U.S. population.

If you would like more information about the UCSF Osher Center's Healthy Lives, Healthy Families Program, please contact: Maureen Smith.

Special thanks to the Mental Insight Foundation.

Last month, the UCSF Osher Center hosted Shi Yongxin, principal Abbott of the Shaolin monastery and the highest figure in Chinese Zen Buddhism, along with a delegation of monks from the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, China. The historic visit was only the third time that the Abbott has come to California.

The 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple, renown for its martial artists and Buddhist scholars, is the birth place of Zen Buddhism.  The monks of Shaolin have won fame and prestige for creating Shaolin Kung Fu, the most well known Chinese
Martial Art.  These practices are now taught throughout the world, with several schools and teaching centers located in California.

Legend says that more than 1,500 years ago, an Indian monk named Bodhidharma sat meditating before a wall for nine years on Mount Songshan in northern China. When he finished, he began teaching that long periods of seated meditation would lead to enlightenment-the essence of Chan Buddhism, popularly known as Zen. But the extended meditations also atrophied the monks' bodies. So Bodhidharma developed a series of calisthenics that evolved into kung fu, a form of martial art. Shaolin Monks believe meditation clears the mind, preparing it for purer action, but a weak or sick body hinders clarity of thought. Kung fu, by building the body, complements meditation to optimize one’s potential.

Mind-Body Medicine for Healthy Living

The area of meditation is of special focus to Kevin Barrows, MD, Interim Clinical Director and Director of the Mindfulness Program at the Osher Center. Most major medical institutions today use mindfulness (meditation) alongside established medical practices to advance overall health and healing for a variety of illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, auto-immune disorders, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  According to researchers, significant results over the last two decades show that mindfulness impacts health by: reducing depression and anxiety, improving quality of life in those suffering from chronic pain, helping those undergoing cancer treatment or organ transplantation, and providing many other health benefits.

“Many of us can find examples in our own lives where the mind and body influence each other. There is great potential in our capacity to transcend our outward physical circumstances, and the impact can be seen in our own healing process as well as with our patients, said Barrows. “Mind and body are not separate; we should think of it as one unit.”

Bridging East and West

This idea is shared by the Shaolin monks, who were interested in learning how the Osher Center integrates health disciplines such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and meditation into modern medical practice. The Abbot inquired about the Osher Center’s approaches to healthy living and prevention, mind-body medicine, and integrative oncology. “We see Chinese medicine and meditation as part of science,” said Yongxin. “We are interested in learning more about how the Osher Center combines TCM with Western medicine.”

The idea is that through disciplines like TCM, yoga, Tai Chi, and meditation, an individual can gain more control over their physical body. According to research, this is often particularly powerful for patients who, because of disease or illness, have lost control of some of their physical strength.

One goal of the Osher Center is to provide a space where ideas and information, like those associated with the Shaolin Monks, can be made more available to those in the Bay Area. The discussion with the monks marks one way in which knowledge is being exchanged.

A core belief of the Osher Center is that the healing power of integrative medicine lies in the whole-person approach. “Our team of health professionals works to address whole-person healing, not just treatment of isolated ailments,” said Susan Folkman, PhD, director of the Osher Center. “Our collaborative approach includes conventional and integrative practitioners working together and partnering with our patients to truly provide the best quality of care. It is an integration of modern medicine with established practices from around the world.”

A global view of health and healing supports greater health for all. It encompasses a broad range of view points, practices, and perceptions that can enrich our sense of self and our world, and by doing so, open up new ways of thinking about life that can effect a positive change.

During the Abbot of Shaolin’s visit, he told a story of three brothers living in China:

"They are all doctors. One, in particular is quite famous and world-renowned for his success and expertise dealing with highly complicated illnesses and surgeries. One brother is a family physician and the other deals with minor problems and discomforts. The brother most famous for his great work with illness and surgery feels highly inferior to his brothers. In his view, a true physician is one who prevents illness before it happens."

The UCSF Osher Center focuses on prevention, patient empowerment, early intervention, and patient-centered care.  There are many ways in which we can become our own “prevention specialists” by the life style choices we make each day.

Some of the “best practices” for health, healing, and prevention from around the world include: a healthy diet, daily exercise, a daily mindfulness practice (i.e., meditation, journaling, gratitude practice), and a sense of connection to community.

To enhance your own health today, I invite you to explore the many resources available to you at the Osher Center. The Osher Center’s Multimedia Library http://www.osher.ucsf.edu/public/multimedia.html has many free wellness lectures  available online. In the coming months, the UCSF Osher Center will also offer several free lecture programs such as the Pritzker Series on Integrative Pediatric and Adolescent Health, the Mt. Zion Healthy Living Lecture Series, and the Osher Center Lunchtime Lecture Series.

 I hope you will join us and let us become a partner in health!

-Maureen Smith

Friends of the UCSF Osher Center have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure the continued growth and enrichment of the Center. Contributions to the Osher Center priorities are growing: