Go to A17: Holistic Healing - The Whole Human Approach
Go to A18: Color Therapy - How Does it Work? A Holistic Healing Approach
Go to A19: Holistic Healing - A New Paradigm?
Go to A20: Holistic Healing - Five Reasons to Inform Your Doctor About Your Use of Complementary Therapies
Go to A1: Aromatherapy - Ancient Holistic Healing
Go to A6: Holistic Healing Centers - Teaching Healing Arts
Go to A11: Careers in Holistic Healing



Holistic Healing Approaches

Do you know how healing occurs? Is it magic? If you break a bone, how does it heal? While an Orthopedist can realign the fracture, isn't it your body actually doing the healing, fusing the two broken ends together again? And if you cut your finger, how does it heal? While a doctor can stitch up the injury, isn't it nature that heals the cut - within. Science and medicine refers to this phenomena as the body's inner wisdom. It is an accepted fact. This inner intelligence is intangible. You can't see it, but you may sense it.

All of us, breathe, think and love through an unseen " life force." The Chinese call it Chi, the Hindus call it Prana. We call it simply, Energy. And it is this unseen " life energy " within you, that is responsible for all healing. When Energy is obstructed, healing is impeded. The intention in healing is to "unblock" this subtle Energy through very gentle techniques, restoring the body's self-healing mechanisms.

The challenge of healing is: understanding that you are very unique, multi-dimensional, and constantly changing. That pain and symptoms are often due to several reasons, not just one. There is the individual memories and spirit to consider in healing, plus the mind-body connection. And it is important to include nutrition. With 25 years of clinical experiences, I believe utilizing everything that works, is smart.
The holistic healing techniques I find effective are:

NAET - allergy care
NET - emotional release
EMDR - traumatic memory release
BEST - stress release
Nutrition - optimal absorption of all vitamins & minerals
Soft tissue mobilization - correct muscle imbalances

By "combining" clinically proven therapies, I've been able to get excellent results. Traditional medical care focuses on disease and symptom reduction using drugs or surgery. Prevention is your responsibility. I would suggest utilizing standard medical procedures and be open to utilizing complementary approaches.

For 20 years in Los Angeles, Dr. Mike treated many well-known celebrities, such as Josie Bissett, Julie Moran, John McEnroe, Quincy Jones, Rod Stewart, Amy Irving, Dean Cain, Dylan McDermott and Barry Bostwick to name a few. He has toured the country treating colleagues and has been a participating healthcare provider in 4 Olympic Games. Dr. Mike and his family then moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles. Despite his former patients plea to return to L.A., Dr. Mike has chosen to join forces with Millennium Healthcare. Millennium is an all inclusive healing facility, offering each patient the best of both conventional and holistic medicine. To contact Dr. Mike: http://www.millennium-healthcare.com

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Holistic Healing - The Whole Human Approach

"Treat the person, not the disease. The cause, not the effect." These words of Dr. Edward Bach (who developed the Bach Flower Essences) describe the essence of holistic healing. It's not the easiest course we might choose as humans. Yet many today find it the most satisfying and effective.

Here's how it goes. A person living the best life they know how somehow makes a mistake. Big deal. We all do it. But actions have their consequences. And some mistakes cost more than others.

Acting on the thought "I'm too scared to let my partner know what I'm really feeling" turns into a divorce.
Internalizing the feeling "I feel isolated from my family and community" becomes heart disease.
Repeatedly living the lie "My needs aren't as important as everyone else's" may result in breast cancer.
"I'm not worth the trouble" can lead to personal and financial ruin, as well as a wide assortment of chronic and degenerative health problems.


They're big mistakes.

Yet when the average person arrives at the average doctor's office to deal with the results of those mistakes, it's unlikely that the exploration would go that deep. If it did, the average person would most likely be embarrassed. They might even change doctors.

"What business is it of theirs?" average Joe or Jane would ask, affronted. "I just want the pill."

Our Western medical system, effective as it is in dealing with emergencies, has a less stellar reputation when it comes to dealing with conditions that develop over time. It doesn't think holistically. It thrives on handing out the pill.

Fortunately, we are living in a time when that model is sometimes challenged. It's not always comfortable, but it is what works. I don't know about you, but if I have a choice between protecting my comfort zone or dying of some nasty disease, alone and broke, I'd take the temporary discomfort.

Holistic approach? You betcha! Bring it on!

Sure, it makes me feel vulnerable to let my partner know what I'm really feeling. But am I ready to die to avoid the feeling? Absolutely not! I don't want the heart disease, don't want the cancer, don't want the varied assorted health problems, don't want financial ruin, and don't want the divorce. Sign me up and bring on the healing!

There are any number of books on the market that offer up their wisdom on the connections between certain life events and their resulting disease manifestations. Authors like Louise Hay and Caroline Myss offer incredibly valuable insights. I recommend them wholeheartedly!

Ultimately, though, each person's situation is unique and personal. You are not an example in a book. You are you. Your intricate situation is not to be replicated. And the person most qualified to diagnose your imbalance ... uncomfortable as this may be to hear ... is you.

Yet most of us won't undertake this process well alone. For good reason. It's incredibly difficult to be objective about our own stuff! The ideal situation, then, is to find a coach. A mentor. A guide. Someone to sit with you through the process, nudging a little when you need it. In essence, a "healing doula" to surf along as you glide toward that next level of conscious awareness.

Some things we do well alone. Other times we need the company. Holistically, it just makes sense!

Elizabeth Eckert coaxes, cajoles, and gently guides the creation of healing intent. She's the founder of http://www.wordcures.com and author of Word Cures: How to Keep Stupid Excuses From Sabotaging Your Health. Align your whole self for health ... starting today! Share "Arielle's" real-life story: The power of positive healing intention.

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Color Therapy - How Does it Work? A Holistic Healing Approach

Vibrations

Everything vibrates. From the planets rotating around the sun to electrons rotating around the nucleus of an atom, everything vibrates. Different organs and parts of our body vibrate at different frequencies. Each color also has its own frequency and vibration. In some natural healing schools of thought, different colors are associated with different parts of our body. As sunlight, which contains all color frequencies, benefits our health, different colors frequencies applied to our body could benefit specific organs and energy centers. The field of color therapy utilizes this information in its holistic health approach.

How Does Color Therapy Work?

When disease or injury disturbs the vibration and energy of an organ or area of our body, applying the associated color frequency could help restore the body to health. This is accomplished by the process of entrainment.

Simply put, entrainment is when two vibrating objects which are near each other begin to vibrate at the same frequency. If two mechanical clocks with the same length pendulum are next to each other, the pendulums will begin to swing in sync. The scientific explanation for this is that a when they are out of sync, a small amount of energy is transferred between the two systems and produces negative feedback. As they gradually adjust their swing, the negative feedback reduces until it is eventually gone.

Color therapy says that introducing a specific color frequency to your body will cause your body to adjust its frequency to match that of the color which can help bring things back into balance and allow healing to occur.

Color does not heal. Rather, it enables the body to heal itself.

Color Therapy Glasses

One simple and inexpensive way to benefit from color therapy is to wear glasses with colored lenses. Simply put them on for 10-30 minutes a day or more and you will have the light entering your body at the specific frequency associated with that color and area of your body.

Read more about the possible medical benefits of color therapy, including associations of each color to specific areas of the body at Color-Medecine.com. Find color therapy glasses at ColorGlasses.com.

Written By: Barbie_Bowen

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Holistic Healing - A New Paradigm?

What do you think of when you think of Holistic Health or Alternative Medicine?

You may say acupuncture, reiki, nutrition or herbal remedies. And you are correct, in part. The above represent just a few of the many holistic modalities familiar and available to many people.

Traditionally, holistic healing is generally defined as a philosophy of health care that focuses on the whole person and uses natural and/or spiritual methods to bring about a cure. Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects are explored so that the cause of the imbalance can be addressed.

As with allopathic medicine, the primary reason people turn to holistic methods are physical concerns. But focusing on the physical alone is not enough. Researchers have now begun to prove what was believed to be true for some time. According to the Center for Disease Control, the Mayo Clinic and other leading health authorities, at least 90% of diseases are stress related. They have found that people process stress differently based on the "programming" in our cellular memory, much of which is put in place in early childhood.

When we hold on to negative emotions such as fear and anger, consciously or subconsciously, it weakens the immune system and creates a disruption in our energy system. Although it may take years, this fosters an environment ripe for disease. Some of these stressors are forgotten as they were formed and stored in early childhood. To the adult mind, little issues like a dropped candy or broken toy now appear to be non-issues. But if they were traumatic to the "child you" and not released, they are now part of your programming and cellular memory.

The good news is that this research is coming from the allopathic community. Although there is still much progress to be made, complementary modalities are making their way into the mainstream. There are Holistic Nurses, Naturopathic Doctors and psychologists who routinely use energy psychology techniques such as EFT with patients. Energy workers are welcome in some operating rooms. Some insurance companies cover acupuncture and massage.

A New Paradigm?

In light of this integration, and the fact that both models have so much to offer, I would like to suggest a slightly different definition and model of Holistic Healing.

"A philosophy of health care focusing on the whole person (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual) using natural, allopathic and/or spiritual methods to restore health based on the needs of each individual."

The primary focus of such care would be to remove the cause, not just the effect (symptoms). In other than emergency and critical situations, patients/clients are first educated and supported as they make necessary lifestyle changes and use natural means of healing before resorting to synthetic drugs or unnecessary surgery. Yes, compliance is a big issue and will also have to be addressed. This too is part of our "programming" and may be a good place to start.

Let me share an example of how this holistic model worked in my own experience.

After my teenage son had jaw surgery, he needed and took strong painkillers, yet he would repeatedly ask me for Therapeutic Touch treatments to help him handle the pain. At home I continued the treatments along with strong nutritional support (since I controlled his liquid diet). Healing was supposed to take six to nine months. Ten weeks after surgery, in total disbelief of the X-rays, the doctor released him, saying he had never seen anyone heal so fast.

For illustrative purposes I am providing a breakdown of the four levels of healing and a few modalities and practices often associated with each one. In reality, the lines are much more blurred. Aromatherapy, for example, can be used to address issues at all levels. In addition, these four energetic levels, although separate, do intermingle. What affects one layer affects all, sometimes imperceptibly, other times noticeably and dramatically.

The four levels:

Physical- physical therapy, chiropractic, reiki, herbal remedies, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, supplements, exercise, massage, acupuncture.
Emotional- Emotional release techniques such as EFT and Z Point Process, Flower Essences, support groups.
Mental- Homeopathic medicine, change our thinking and belief systems, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), aromatherapy, education.
Spiritual- Meditation, forgiveness, gratitude, practicing presence, connecting to Source, loving ourselves enough to heal.


Until the system catches up with this holistic view, I hope you consider incorporating a "whole self" approach as part of your individual health care regimen. Your "whole self" will thank you.

If you would like to learn more about holistic health and the four levels of healing, Val invites you to sign into the free Holistic Healing Learning Center when you visit http://www.tapinfinity.com

Written By: Val_Silver

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Holistic Healing - Five Reasons to Inform Your Doctor About Your Use of Complementary Therapies

Are you one of those people who practice "mums the word" when asked about use of herbs, supplements and other types of alternative medicine" by your physician. You are not alone.

People have a tendency to keep their doctors uninformed about their use of complementary therapies. Perhaps they are afraid their doctor will think they are silly or might be offended. They might worry they'll be refused treatment or have to find another doctor who will support them. Sometimes they don't even think of it because the information seems irrelevant. There are compelling reasons to start "telling all" so your doctor can provide you with the best possible treatment.

It's important to tell your doctor about:

changes to your diet and eating habits
exercise routines and habits
mind/body practices such as yoga or meditatio
acupuncture, reflexology or acupressur
energy therapies such as Reiki, EFT, hands on healing
use of herbs (tinctures, teas, capsules), supplements, vitamins, homeopathic remedies
body work, chiropractic, massage, rolfing
any other complementary therapy


Why does my doctor need to know about my alternative therapies?

1. Doctors need to know what you are taking because vitamins, supplements and herbs can interact with certain drugs. Interactions can cause the body to process the drug differently, or cause unpleasant side effects. Some supplements can cause surgical complications. Your doctor may need to prescribe a different drug or dosage based on the information you provide.

If you take many oral remedies, it would be helpful to give your physician a printed list containing the names and amounts of supplements you take. You can include other treatments and how often/ long you have used them on the list as well.

2. Sharing complete information gives your doctor an idea of what you have been doing to help your condition and improve your health. It's important to note if you have noticed improvements and how long the results last. Also note which recent changes, if any, are responsible for causing or aggravating your symptoms.

3. Doctors are aware of holistic modalities, but may not be knowledgeable about them. If you share your experiences about a modality, especially when it proved helpful, he or she may be motivated to learn more or suggest it to another patient. Likewise, if your experience was negative, that also gives valuable information.

4. Doctors realize that non-compliance is a big issue and that most people just want a quick fix. They are not motivated to make lifestyle changes and will "fall off the wagon". If your doctor realizes that you are serious about pursuing a holistic approach, she or he may be willing to monitor and alter your treatment plan to accommodate and support your program.

5. You may also find that your doctor or health care facility is a valuable resource for referrals to a nutritionist or other resource such as hospital-sponsored meditation or yoga group.

Please keep in mind that your physician or licensed health-care provider is bound to treat you according to set guidelines. They have also been trained in a system using methods other than those favored by the alternative medicine community. Regardless, they are highly trained individuals with expertise in your condition. Most have your best interests at heart and probably share your frustrations with the system. By keeping them informed of your involvement with complementary methods, you help ensure that they provide you with treatments that are safe and appropriate for you.
If you enjoy learning about complementary therapies and holistic healing, Val invites you to sign into her free Holistic Healing Learning Center when you visit http://www.tapinfinity.com

Written By: Val_Silver

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