"Ceremonies work at multiple levels, but primarily they heal the mind, which helps to heal the body,”
Arviso Alvord, M.D., chief of surgical services and a practicing general surgeon at Banner Health Page Hospital in Page, Arizona, near the Utah border. “Chant, song, prayer, and guided imagery are used, in an elaborate form of mind-body medicine.”
Not only do these ceremonies help heal their human participants, Arviso Alvord argues that they also encourage the health of the planet.
“Subsistence living and environmental sustainability principles are also found in ceremony teachings,” she said. “[They] are examples of how interconnection can promote sustainability theory and teach humans a way of living that honors and protects our natural world."
Arviso Alvord also holds an appointment as associate faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for American Indian Health in Baltimore, Maryland.
Raised in Crownpoint, New Mexico, Arviso Alvord is a member the Tsinnajinnie (Ponderosa Pine) and Ashi’hii’ Dine’ (Salt) clans.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1979, received her doctorate of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in 1985, and completed her residency in general surgery at Stanford University Hospital. In addition to other medical practice and teaching positions, she served as a member of the National Advisory Council of the NIH Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine from 2008 to 2010. Her research has focused on surgical outcomes and health disparities in Native American populations. Additional interests include Native American health, Native American healing, integrative medicine, and the creation of healing environments.
Arviso Alvord has been awarded honorary degrees from Albany Medical College, Drexel University College of Medicine and Pine Manor College, and she has been a commencement speaker at five medical schools. She is featured in the National Library of Medicine exhibit, “Changing the Face of Medicine,” honoring pioneering women physicians over the past 150 years.
Arviso Alvord, M.D., chief of surgical services and a practicing general surgeon at Banner Health Page Hospital in Page, Arizona, near the Utah border. “Chant, song, prayer, and guided imagery are used, in an elaborate form of mind-body medicine.”
Not only do these ceremonies help heal their human participants, Arviso Alvord argues that they also encourage the health of the planet.
“Subsistence living and environmental sustainability principles are also found in ceremony teachings,” she said. “[They] are examples of how interconnection can promote sustainability theory and teach humans a way of living that honors and protects our natural world."
Arviso Alvord also holds an appointment as associate faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for American Indian Health in Baltimore, Maryland.
Raised in Crownpoint, New Mexico, Arviso Alvord is a member the Tsinnajinnie (Ponderosa Pine) and Ashi’hii’ Dine’ (Salt) clans.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1979, received her doctorate of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in 1985, and completed her residency in general surgery at Stanford University Hospital. In addition to other medical practice and teaching positions, she served as a member of the National Advisory Council of the NIH Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine from 2008 to 2010. Her research has focused on surgical outcomes and health disparities in Native American populations. Additional interests include Native American health, Native American healing, integrative medicine, and the creation of healing environments.
Arviso Alvord has been awarded honorary degrees from Albany Medical College, Drexel University College of Medicine and Pine Manor College, and she has been a commencement speaker at five medical schools. She is featured in the National Library of Medicine exhibit, “Changing the Face of Medicine,” honoring pioneering women physicians over the past 150 years.
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