Abstract
September 26, 2022
It is a delight and an honor to serve as President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. I became a member of this organization about a decade ago, and I attended my first ACLM conference in Nashville in 2015. I was hooked by the end of the first day of that first ACLM meeting. The passion was palpable, and it was coming from every corner of the conference. The speakers, the ACLM members, the staff, and even the participants who were there to experience lifestyle medicine for the first time were filled with curiosity, excitement, and the desire to connect. There is something about ACLM that is exhilarating!
The ACLM in-person conferences are times when we can walk the talk of all six pillars. The social connection pillar is paramount at these times. Colleagues who we’ve heard about, read their articles or books, studied their research, met through an email, heard in a podcast, or saw speak at a Ted Talk event are all there in the same room with you, available to talk to face to face. Having the opportunity to meet the people who have inspired you for years is one of the biggest perks of the ACLM meeting. At my first conference, I took the elevator with Dr Dean Ornish. I had never met him before, but I had been following his work for decades. It was such a thrill! In addition, I met Dr Jim Rippe for the first time and had a delightful conversation that led to many different projects.
Meeting new people from across the country and globe is another huge highlight of the ACLM conference. Making friends and connecting about the subjects in the excellent talks, the delicious food (which is guaranteed to be whole food plant based), the posters on display, the 5K run, or the Awards Dinner festivities become memories that last for years. There’s usually an abundance of positive energy and laughter between talks that serves to both relax and inspire you. I can vividly recall each ACLM conference that I have attended. At these meetings, I have made many high-quality connections that are an important part of my daily life today both professionally and personally.
Making friends and feeling connected can be fostered by participating in physical activity together like the annual 5K walk or run. Walking meetings are a great way to connect and get some physical activity into the day. Before the conference starts or between talks, there is the opportunity to enjoy a walking meeting. Sometimes there are yoga classes offered before or after the talks. Some groups gather for meditation or mindfulness activities. This can bring the stress reduction pillar into the conference. Apart from learning about stress reduction, we can practice some of the techniques together and share best practices. Sitting during meditation is often ideal but sitting for 3 hours in a row at a medical meeting is tough. Getting up each hour to stand or walk around is key. One fun idea is to give all speakers a standing ovation at the end of each talk. This allows participants to stretch their legs and energizes speakers, especially if they are not aware that this is a routine practice for the conference. It feels good to stand, and it feels good to receive a standing ovation. It’s a win-win!
The conferences are usually held in beautiful locations in the United States at lovely hotels that offer quiet rooms that are conducive to a good night’s sleep. Sleep is essential, as we all know. (Although sometimes we may be so excited to see friends and colleagues that we are tempted to stay up late talking and brainstorming.) It is easy to get the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep when you are not responsible for any clean up or other household duties prior to bed and you can relax in the quiet comfort of the hotel room. These hotels and the conferences are smoke-free areas which enables everyone to enjoy a smoke-free experience.
We all long to belong. At ACLM, you can belong. We are here to serve our members and our communities. We welcome all people interested in empowering others to live a healthy lifestyle. ACLM strives to accomplish the academic missions of providing opportunities and insights for education, research, clinical practice, and service to communities in need of support. Since I joined ACLM, we have grown in size to over 9000 members. We have added educational CME courses, webinars, and workshops. We have convened healthcare providers to address reimbursement issues and offer solutions. We have focused on providing resources that all those in the healthcare space can use with patients who have a variety of chronic conditions and are from a wide array of backgrounds to empower them to make the healthy option the easy option. In addition, we are dedicated to evaluating and sharing the research as it grows in this burgeoning field of medicine.
And we have been working in advocacy on behalf of ACLM members to influence policy on lifestyle medicine in medical education, reimbursement, health equity, and military health. Policy is something that Past-President Dexter Shurney initiated years ago, as well as now Past-President Cate Collings, who represented ACLM on September 28, 2022, at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.
Sharing the good news of lifestyle medicine is a joy. With every member in our community here at ACLM, there is a treasure trove of information, wisdom from lived experience, passion for healthy living, and dedication to the purpose of providing people with the tools they need to add life to their years and years to their life. Thank you for being part of the lifestyle medicine community.