The most important lesson of this post is that when your spouse invites you to accompany her and her friends on vacation, answer, “Yes!,” and don’t question the location or the theme.  I was a token male at Canyon Ranch, Lenox, MA last week and came away with two unexpected benefits: mindfulness and personal growth.

Mindfulness

I felt like I was back at camp, with a mind-boggling array of exercises and educational experiences: 

• In outdoor Tai Chi, I relearned the importance of bending my knees while standing.  The instructor asked us to visualize ourselves as trees in a windstorm- only the resilient ones survive. 
• I also learned in Basic Yoga that retracting my chin before looking down puts less strain on cervical discs, something that I wish that I had learned in surgical residency. 
• Finally, I learned in Men’s Stretching class that bending my arm at the elbow to lift up my arm put less stress on my neck than lifting from the wrist.  All are body mechanics that I had ignored since my twenties when I felt immortal.  Now, I know that the cruel definition of immortality is that the body I have abused since my teens needs to last me the rest of my life.

Personal Growth

Ken Turning Salmon

I took a cooking course, entitled, “Fabulous Fishes,”  where I gained confidence in basic maneuvers like turning a salmon stuffed with spinach.  Hint: a spatula turned upside down assists with unsticking it from the pan after one minute of grilling at high temperature.  Remember to use canola oil because the fat in olive oil becomes unstable at high heat and canola oil does not change the food’s taste, unlike other high-heat oils, like sesame or peanut.

I took home over 20 new recipes, some of which I have already tried out on my family, with great outcomes.  It is always comforting to remind oneself that senescent canines can learn new tricks.

Finally, I witnessed service recovery done by professionals.  The first night, I had a mattress problem that made it difficult to sleep.  The acting manager met with me the next morning, listened attentively, apologized for the problem, replaced the mattress within hours, and followed up with a handwritten note and a complimentary voucher for a spa service. 

In healthcare, too often we forget that we are a service business, from which people form lasting memories based on their service experience in addition to their clinical outcome.  As a cancer survivor, I learned first-hand the frustration when “surprise spits in the eyes,” and the satisfaction when someone stayed behind after rounds to apologize for the helplessness, even if it was not his or her fault.

It is important to get away, even more so for busy people.  I apologize that the demands of moving, taxes, and a few treatable health issues have taken me away from writing as often as I would like.  I will strive to make up in value for what I fall short in quantity.

Kenneth H. Cohn, MD, MBA, FACS

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I have not received any compensation for writing this content. I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.