COMPLEMENTS STANDARD Various Forms Focus on Holistic Concepts

BY BRIAN LUKE SEAWARD, PhD

"There is a deep yearning for a human (whole) their own expense.- Alternative medicine practi­ approach to medicine." —Bill Movers' tioners do not contend that their approach to healing is superior to conventional Western medi­ t is no secret that the American healthcare cal practices, but that it should be used to com­ system is crumbling under its own eco­ plement the current accepted standard of health­ nomic weight. Aside from prohibitive care. A combined approach that addresses physi­ medical costs, deeper concerns exist that cal, mental, emotional, and spiritual health treats treatment is less than comprehensive and the whole person. In this approach, spiritual Icomplete—even outdated. The current model of health is best defined as an evolution of higher Dr. Seaward is an Western medicine is slowly being replaced by consciousness developed through the integration associate faculty what is commonly referred to as the "holistic of three facets—a personal value system, a mean­ member of the Cen­ approach." ingful purpose in life, and nurturing relationships ter for Human Car- In this model of healthcare, the physical aspect (with self and others)—to promote connected­ huj, Health Sciences as well as the mental, emotional, and spiritual ness through a higher power, displayed through Center, University components of well-being are considered to play love and compassion. of Colorado, Den per, a crucial and equal role in one's state of health. Potential merits of alternative medicine have and director of This holistic approach includes several forms of not gone unrecognized at the legislative level. A Rocky Mountain alternative healing that are quickly gaining accep­ handful of holistic healthcare practitioners were Stress Management tance by the American public; a recent Harvard among those chosen to consult with the Clinton Seminars. Medical School study, for example, found that administration's Task Force on Health Care more than one-third of Americans partake in Reform.5 And in 1992 the U.S. Congress allocat­ some form of alternative medicine, usually at ed more than $2 million to the National

Sllllinidry Western or conventional medi­ researchers now call this "the human field." cal practices are founded on the principle of , , polarity healing, and Newtonian physics; the body is viewed as a large the healing power of touch are only a few of the clock whose broken parts are fixed or replaced. more common branches of holistic medicine that The placebo effect, hypnosis, psychoneuroim- unite body, mind, and spirit for optimal health. munology, and spontaneous remission have The U.S. Congress has appropriated more than recently inspired researchers to look beyond this $2 million to the National Institutes of Health to mechanistic model toward a new paradigm of research the validity of alternative or complemen­ greater understanding regarding the entity we call tary medicines. In light of proposed changes in the "human beings." healthcare system, alternative medicine may even­ The premise of alternative medicine, based on tually be incorporated into the American structure the paradigm of whole systems, suggests that of healthcare delivery. Proponents of holistic human beings are more than physical bodies with medicine agree that various forms of alternative fixable and replaceable parts; they are a complicat­ medicine should be used to complement, rather ed network of pulsating energy frequencies often than compete with, the current accepted standard described in terms of a human aura. Western of healthcare.

52 • SEPTEMBER 1994 HEALTH PROGRESS awfcS »

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I ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Institutes of Health fix or repair any broken (NIH) to investigate parts. Drugs and various alternative heal­ surgery became the pri­ ing practices. Aside V mary tools forged in from the more com­ the discipline of clinical mon practices targeted medicine. Prime exam­ for research (such as ^Spirituality has ples of the fix-or-re- medicine place method include and massage therapy), the prescription of other healing modali­ penicillin and the trans­ ties being examined fall begun to be recognized plantation of organs. under the domain of Many advances in spiritual healing: pray­ clinical medicine have er, the human energy been nothing less than field, and the healing as a valid aspect of astonishing, of course. power of touch. Yet, in this mechanistic Although the con­ model of reality, any­ cepts of healing and total health and wellness. thing that cannot be curing are similar but not identical (curing repeatedly measured or quantified has been virtu­ relieves symptoms, whereas healing brings about ally ignored. Moreover, anything that cannot be a sense of inner peace), what was regarded as an scientifically explained by cause and effect has esoteric, if not intangible, concept for thousands been dismissed as superstition and regarded as of years is now coming to light scientifically invalid. Such has been the case with several "alter­ through a shared knowledge from the fields of native" healing methods, including acupuncture, quantum physics and psychoneuroimmunology homeopathy, massage therapy, music therapy, (mind-body science). To understand this polarity healing, reflexology, and the healing paradigm shift and the new direction of Western power of touch. medicine, we must look backward to see where What the mechanistic medical paradigm failed we have been. to incorporate was the dimension of the human spirit, an immeasurable source of energy with a SHIFTING PARADIGMS potential healing power all its own. Recently, aliy comprehending that human beings are ener­ however, the role of spirituality has begun to be gy, one can begin to comprehend new ways of recognized as a valid aspect of total health and viewing health and illness." wellness, as reflected in the World Health -Richard Gerber, MD4 Organization's statement that "the existing defi­ nition of health should include the spiritual The Mechanistic Model For the past 300 years or aspect and that health care should be in the hands more, the Western world has adopted a mecha­ of those who are fully aware of and sympathetic 6 nistic model of reality, drawn in large part from to the spiritual dimension." the philosophical beliefs of Rene Descartes (that Whole Systems Theory Our way of viewing die uni­ mind and body are separate) and the laws of verse changed dramatically when Albert Einstein physics created by Isaac Newton. The mechanis­ introduced his theory of relativity in 1905. In tic paradigm compared the universe and all its simple terms, Einstein said that all matter is ener­ components to a large mechanical clock where gy, energy and matter are interchangeable, and all everything operates in a sequential form. The matter is connected at the subatomic level. No mechanistic (or reductionist) model seemed to single entity could be affected without all con­ logically explain nearly every phenomenon necting parts being similarly affected. In through the interpretation of stimuli by the five Einstein's view, the universe was not a giant senses.5 clock, but a living web. Strongly influenced by Newtonian physics, the This idea of a connecting web has become the field of medicine, applied the mechanistic model metaphor of a new paradigm—called the whole to the human organism, comparing the body to a systems theory—which views reality holistically, clock and focusing on symptoms of dysfunction. the whole being greater than the sum of the Like watch repairers, physicians were trained to parts.7 Similar to Einstein's view of the universe,

54 • SEPTEMBER 1994 HEALTH PROGRESS the human body is now being looked at holisti- conventional medicine. What is coming to be cally. The aspects of mind, body, spirit, and emo­ understood, and to a lesser extent clinically docu­ tions arc seen as interacting in a way that can mented, is that the mind and the brain are two either enhance or suppress one's level of well- separate but interrelated entities, and that each being. Currently, much attention is being given body exists in an energy field of consciousness.8 to the spiritual dimension of consciousness as the foundation to health and well-being. Such phe­ THE HUMAN ENERGY FIELD nomena as spontaneous remission, the placebo aTl)e soul is a holistic concept." effect, multiple personality disorders, and the —Larry Dossey, MD' healing power of touch point to the fact that our former way of understanding human health and According to the new paradigm, a "life force" of illnesses, perceived by the five senses, is incom­ subtle energy surrounds and permeates us all. plete. The Chinese refer to this as Chi or Qi, the As with any change, this new appreciation has Japanese call it Kei, and the Hindu give it the created a wake of confusion for many healthcare name prima. In Western Christian culture it professionals dogmatically tied to the mechanistic might be more easily recognized as the Holy model of medicine. Yet several health practition­ Spirit. And where brave souls dare to tread on the ers, including Bernie Siegel, Larry Dossey, Joan fringe of Western medicine, this goes by several Borysenko, Dean Ornish, , and more technical names, including "subtle energy," Candace Pert, do not agree with the mechanistic "bioplasma," and "bioencrgy." In the Eastern mentality (see Box). A new vision of a very old culture this life force of energy is said to be that theory is slowly beginning to reshape the field of which connects everything. In its simplest under-

LEADERS IN MIND-BODY SCIENCE

Among the noted leaders in the field of Medicine; Meaning and Medicine; the coronary arteries of several patients. mind-body science are the following: Recovering the Soul; and Healing • Candace Pert, PhD, former chief of • Joan Borysenko, PhD, cell biologist Words. Brain Biochemistry at the National and clinical psychologist, was the co- • Jon Kabot-Zinn, PhD, founder and Institute of Mental Health, made the creator of Harvard's Mindbody Clinic director of the Stress Reduction Clinic scientific discovery that neuropeptides, with Herbert Benson. She also wrote at the University of Massachusetts once thought to be secreted only in the Minding the Body and Mending the Medical Center, is an advocate of mind­ brain, are synthesized by white blood Mind and Fire in the Soul. An early fulness meditation as a healing modali­ cells throughout the body and that lym­ advocate of the connection between ty and author of Full Catastrophe Living. phocytes communicate to each other mind and body, she now defines stress • Patricia Norris, PhD, psychologist without the aid of the nervous system. as a disconnection with one's higher and director of biofeedback research at • Bernie Siegel, MD, is a general self. the Menninger Foundation, Topeka, KS, surgeon who began using complemen­ • Deepak Chopra, MD, an endocri was a pioneer in visualization as a com­ tary healing techniques such as visual­ nologist trained in India and the United plementary healing modality with ization and art therapy to aid the heal­ States, has begun to integrate Auyvedic biofeedback. She also wrote (with ing process of several cancer patients. medicine as a complement to Western Garrett Porter) Why Me? Harnessing the He is founder of Exceptional Cancer medicine at the Sharp Clinic in San Healing Power of the Human Spirit. Patients in New Haven, CT, and author Diego, CA; he wrote Quantum Healing • Dean Ornish, MD, director of of Love, Medicine and Miracles and and Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. Preventive Medicine Research at the Peace, Love and Healing. • Larry Dossey, MD, internist and for­ School of Medicine, University of Cali­ • Carl 0. Simonton, MD. author of mer chief of staff of Medical City Dallas fornia-San Francisco, created a holistic the book Getting Well Again, initiated Hospital is co-chair of the Panel on Mind/ approach to cardiac rehabilitation, complementary techniques, including Body Interventions, Office of Alternative which added meditation and talk ses­ art therapy, visualization, and mental Medicine, National Institutes of Health: sions about life meaning to the exercise imagery, with terminal cancer patients an advocate of the healing power of and diet routine and clinically docu­ to discover that some were no longer prayer; and author of Space, Time and mented a reversal, of atherosclerosis in designated as terminally ill.

HEALTH PROGRESS SEPTEMBER 1994 • 55 ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

standing, it is the "^B-^^ for the universal energy "glue" of the universe. . to restore harmonic From a divine perspec- fr^^ equilibrium and clear tive, to be filled and il"l^T*P"V inCl energy' disturbances in equilibrated with this -^^^^™ &./ a person's energy field, energy is to be at peace which surrounds and with oneself, to be . t permeates the physical "one with the uni- COHSClOUSneSS may DC body. This process is verse." From this siiri- similar to starting a car pie description one can battery with jumper see that subtle energy t*p1cit"Prl \r*\ rCkQP-Q. \X/T1PrP cables. Ironically, heal- I has a strong spiritual wdLCU. HI tdoCo WlIL.IC jng can takc p|ace quality. regardless of the pa- For more than two tient's belief system; millennia, various heal- llCaiiTlS tcLKCS Ol3.CC several studies con­ ing practitioners around C * ducted on babies, the globe have insisted plants, and animals that the human entity is show significant results more than just a physical body. From their descrip- without any indication of faith or belief in the tions in the esoteric literature, we learn that human healing process.12 beings comprise layers of energy- (vibrational fre- The process of restoring harmonic equilibrium quencies) of which the physical body is the most through energy transfer is described in physics as dense. The less dense energies, invisible to the "entrainment."" In physics we learn that when naked eye, superimposed on yet able to permeate two or more objects produce oscillations in close the physical body, are described as pulsating fre- proximity, the dominant frequency prevails, quencies that make up the human aura. These lay- Eventually, the objects "entrain" (or oscillate) ers of the auric field are identified as the etheric together in a unified frequency.14 (that closest to the body), the astral (the next layer Apparently, the human body is greatly influ- associatcd with emotional thought), the mental enced by various subtle vibrations, produced (three tiers of consciousness, including instinct, either by one's own emotional energy field (anger intellect, and intuition), and the causal (the outer- and fear) or by that absorbed through clectromag- most layer, which is associated with the soul). In netic fields, such as high-tension wires." We are turn, each layer of the auric field is associated with now learning from various research studies that a specific realm of consciousness.10 distortions in the human energy' field can be posi- In a state of optimal health, all frequencies are in tively affected by individuals who are trained in harmony, like a finely tuned piano. A disruption in the healing power of touch—a healing process that the harmony of frequencies is said to lead to illness seems to employ some form of consciously direct - and disease. The interface uniting these human fre- ed energy." This energy is acknowledged by some, quencies to the physical body is a combination of but its mechanism is not entirely understood by two systems referred to as "chakras" and "meridi- Western researchers in the fields of physics and ans." Perhaps the most recognized among these is psychoneuroimmunology. As depicted in Bill the "crown chakra," often represented as a halo Moyers's television special and best-selling book, over one's head. Currently undetectable by scien- Healinjj and the Mind, where he devotes consid- tific instruments, these chakras act as "transducers" erable time to the study of Chinese medicine and between the various layers of subtle energy. Chi, the answers to questions that arise may ini- Similar to the chakras is the meridian system: a tially be found in the Eastern culture.1" network of interrelated points throughout the body allowing for the passage of energy between HEALING: A NEW FRONTIER the physical and subtle bodies of energy. In "Consciousness, we will discover, has many quan- bioenergy work, healers such as Mictek Wirkus, turn properties.* Ethel Lombardi, Barbara Brennan, Dolores —Deepak Chopra, MD" Krieger, and others apply the healing power of touch to restore the integrity of each patient's In the Chinese philosophy, illness is not necessar- auric field." They do this by acting as a channel ily a surprise encounter with a virus or bacteria,

56 • SEPTEMBER 1994 HEALTH PROGRESS since these surround us constantly. Disease and NOTES illness are a result of congestion or blockage of Cbi, a disruption of the flow of energy at that 1. B. Moyers, "Healing and the Mind," the Diane Rheem Talk Show, WAMU, American University, March 14, point of the energy-matter interface, which in 1993. turn may be a function of some type of "spiritual 2. D. Eisenberg et al., "Unconventional Medicine in the crisis" (involving values conflict, purpose in life, United States," New England Journal of Medicine, or disconnected relationships). As professed in vol. 328,1993, pp. 246-252. the healing art of acupuncture, when the meridi­ 3. D. Ornish, "Opening Your Heart: Anatomically, Emotionally, and Spiritually," Institute of Noetic ans are blocked, "energy" becomes congested, Sciences 2d annual conference, Arlington, VA, June flooding some body regions, while denying ener­ 26, 1993. gy to other areas. The result is a compromised 4. R. Gerber. Vibrational Medicine, Bear & Company. immune system, which makes the individual more Santa Fe. NM, 1988. susceptible to foreign invaders. 5. Gerber. 6. World Health Organization, Health Promotion and Western researchers are learning that the Chronic Diseases, WHO Regional Publications, immune system is not confined solely to the Geneva. 1992. white blood cells circulating throughout the 7. L. Dossey. Space, 77me and Medicine, Bantam body, but in fact may be a much larger network Books, New York City, 1982. directly united to the human energy field. It is 8. Gerber. 9. L. Dossey, Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and well documented that various conscious states Spiritual Search, Bantam Books, New York City. can significantly enhance or suppress immune 1989. 1 function. "' Researchers like Candace Pert even 10. Gerber. suggest that these distortions originate at a 11. M. Wirkus, personal conversation, Second conscious level outside the body.'" New research International Society for the Study of Subtle Energy studies focus on understanding the healing rela­ and Energy Medicine Annual Conference, Boulder. CO, June 26-30,1992; B. A. Brennan. Hands of Light: tionship between consciousness and the human A Guide to Healing through the Human Energy Field, energy field. Healers from around the world, Bantam Books, New York City. 1987; D. Krieger, The regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity, Therapeutic Touch: How to Use Your Hands to Help describe this energy channeled through the or to Heal, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs. NJ, 1979. body as a function of the healing power of love. 12. Gerber. 13. J. Goldman, "Sonic Entrainment," in D. Campbell, It is now speculated that this healing energy ed.. Music: Physician for the Times to Come, Quest and consciousness, also thought to be a form of Books, Wheaton. IL, 1990, pp. 217-233. energy, may be directly related, if not identical 14. S. Halpren with L. Savary, Sound Health: The Music in cases where healing takes place. Perhaps one and Sounds that Make Us Whole, Harper & Row. San of the most interesting forms of alternative Francisco, 1985. medicine being studied is the healing power of 15. R. 0. Becker. Cross Currents: The Perils of 21 Electropollution, Tarcher Press, Los Angeles, 1990. prayer. 16. Gerber; International Society for the Study of Subtle Western medicine is on the verge of a transi­ Energy and Energy Medicine Proceedings, Fourth Annual Conference, Boulder, CO, June 16-21,1994. tion, where the conventional means of treating 17. B. Moyers. Healing and the Mind, Anchor Press, New patients with drugs and surgery is slowly giving York City, 1993. way to a more comprehensive system that 18. D. Chopra, Quantum Healing, Bantam Books, New includes alternative therapies based on the inte­ York City. 1990. gration, balance, and harmony of the mental, 19. J. Kiecolt-Glaser et al., "Psychosocial Modifiers of physical, emotional, and spiritual components of Immunocompetence in Medical Students." Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 46, no. 1, 1984. pp. 7- well-being. While the intent to investigate various 14; D. C. McClelland and C. Kirshnit, "The Effect of types of alternative medicine has been well Motivation Arousal through Films on Salivary received by practitioners in holistic medicine, it Immunoglobin A," Psychology and Health, vol. 2, may be that current limitations in both language 1989. pp. 31-52: C. B. Pert. "The Wisdom of the and technology make Western science unable to Receptors: Neuropeptides, the Emotions and Bodymind," Advances, vol. 3. no. 3,1986. pp. 8-16. measure the spiritual aspects of healing. Perhaps 20. C. B. Pert, "Neuropeptides: The Emotions and as more sound research is conducted, combining Bodymind," Noetic Sciences Review, vol. 2,1987, pp. the expertise of individuals in the fields of 13-18. physics, psychology, medicine, and psychic heal­ 21. R. C. Byrd. "Positive Therapeutic Effects of ing, a clearer understanding will emerge, making Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Unit Population," Southern Medical Journal, vol. 81, no. 7, the shift to this paradigm a peaceful one. D 1988, pp. 826-829.

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