Holistic Health

What if I told you that you can avoid deseases and stay healthy without medicating yourself ?
You might not think this is possible, but I kindly encourage you to read on. Wellness is mainly a frame of mind. Most illnesses come from the psyche, when a virus attacks or infection would spread from bacteria, some of us would seem immune to infection while others get sick. This is because some of us think with clarity and purpose and we will away disease.

Of course, I’m not proposing to avoid doctors or modern medicine entirely. This would be irresponsible. With the same token I warn you to take every advice you hear from a doctor as the gospel. They are just people, with flaws and follies, ask for a second opinion. Be critical in evaluating remedies from doctors, especially medication. Doctors love to prescribe medicine, it is because pharmacies wield great influence among doctors. There is an unholy alliance between Big Pharma and the AMA i.e. the medical establishment.

Take medication when all other venue fails. Google and research every prescription you take and research the side effects and dangers in taking that medicine. This is especially important with chronic medication, that you suppose to take for life. For example blood pressure medication can sometimes be replaced by Niacin (vitamin B). Niacin is often less dangerous and intrusive as the medication prescribed by the great doctor.

Alleviate stress from your life. Stress is the number one killer in the rat-race we turned our society into. Stress can cause heart problems, hypertension, cancer etc. Slow down. Look around, enjoy life. Use holistic approach to health and nutrition.

Holistic Medicine is a term used to describe forms of therapy that aim to treat the patient as a whole person. Instead of treating just an illness, holistic forms of medicine look at the individual’s overall mental, physical, and emotional well being.

Practitioners who believe in holistic principles, treat the symptoms of illness, but also look for the underlying causes, and attempt to prevent illness by putting the emphasis on overall health. Each person’s body is seen as a series of interdependent parts, and illness is due to an imbalance in the body’s systems. Holistic therapies are used to help return the body to its properly balanced state in a noninvasive way, without the use of pharmaceuticals. The following are the ideas one can seek for better health.

Acupuncture

Developed over 2,000 years ago in China, acupuncture can help to cure diseases and relieve pain. It involves inserting very thin needles into specific locations, or “meridians” on the body through which the life energy, “qi,” flows. This practice therapeutically manipulates circulation.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy involves the use of “essential” oils that are extracted from plants, flowers, herbs, and fruits to directly stimulate the brain through the sense of smell. These plant oils are used to affect the physical and psychological wellness of the patient. The oils are also used as massage oils to be absorbed into the skin and the bloodstream. In this manner, they can promote healing and a sense of well being for the entire body through a calming, soothing, and stimulating feeling, which helps to rebalance the systems of the body.

Art Therapy

Art Therapy involves using art materials, like paint, chalk, clay, or markers, to create a visual representation of emotions and thoughts. It combines traditional psychotherapy with psychological aspects of the creative process.

Aquatic Therapy

Aquatic Therapy is physical therapy that is done underwater, often in a heated pool. Warm water provides an easier environment for exercise. It reduces body weight by over 90% and decreases impact and stress on the joints. The physical properties of the warm water help patients to heal by relaxing the muscles and allowing them greater mobility without much pain.

Patients get all the benefits of weight-bearing exercise, without the compression and stress that similar exercises on land would cause to the body and the joints. This therapy is especially suited to those who suffer from joint injuries, nerve damage, and arthritis.

Ayurveda

Pronounced, “ah-yur-VAH-dah,” this is the alternative medical system developed in India, and it evolved without the influence of Western medicine. Ayurveda’s process is to integrate mind, body, and spirit with a comprehensive holistic regimen that emphasizes diet and exercise, meditation, herbal preparations, breathing, and physical therapy. Some of the Ayurvedic methods are also used independently, such as the use of massage, herbs, and Yoga.

Ayurvedic medicine has been growing in popularity due to the very popular Deepak Chopra, M.D., who combines traditional medicine with Ayurveda, and frequently talks about it on television.

Bowenwork

Bowenwork is a manual therapy that consists of gentle moves performed over tendons, nerve bundles, and muscles. These movements stimulate the nervous system to activate and send signals to the brain, overriding conscious thoughts and movements, and directly stimulating the body’s healing mechanisms.

Unlike massage, Bowenwork uses minimal touch. The practitioner makes gentle and precise moves to reset the body’s systems, and bring it into balance.

Breathwork

The last 30 years has seen a rapid increase in the blending of ancient breathing techniques with therapeutic practices like massage therapy, psychology, and physical therapy. Breathwork has long been known to optimize health and spiritual awareness. But nowadays, it is also used to clear negative thought patterns, discourage bad habits, and release energy blockages. It is also a completely integrated part of other nonwestern techniques, such as Yoga, Tai Chi, and Pranayama.

Colon Hydrotherapy (Colonic)

Colon Hydrotherapy is the process of flushing out the colon by use of a sustained flow of warm water. The warm water flushes the fecal matter into a closed system. The process is also called colonic irrigation, and is similar to an enema, though much more extensive. The FDA regulates production of the equipment used in Colon Hydrotherapy, but doesn’t regulate their use

CranioSacral Therapy

CranioSacral Therapy involves manipulating the cranial bones–the spine, the skull, and its cranial diaphragms, sutures, and fascia. Practitioners say this removes restrictions in the nerve passages and allows free movement of cerebrospinal fluid through the spinal cord, optimizing the spinal bones, and their realignment. The therapy is most often used in conjunction with chiropractic, massage therapy, occupational therapy, and osteopathy. Treatment for TMJ syndrome, fibromyalgia, neck and back pain, migraines, and mental stress is often done with CranioSacral Therapy.

Feng Shui

Pronounced, “fung schway,” this ancient Chinese art teaches a person to create harmony in their life through awareness of surroundings. Instruction offers efficient and practical guidance to adjust both internal and external environments for balance, and harmony, for overall physical and emotional wellbeing

Herbalist

Herbalists use natural substances, like herbs, spices, and plant materials to treat diseases and medical conditions.

Holistic Nutritionist

Holistic Nutrition uses alternative methods of keeping patients healthy, including herbs, organic methods, and sometimes supplements, as needed. People with the knowledge to provide advice on eating and living holistically can provide guidance to those who need it, and demand for them is increasing.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnosis is often used to address a variety of physical, mental, and emotional issues by inducing a state of concentration and relaxation. Hypnotherapy can modify a person’s behavior, attitudes, and a wide range of conditions such as dysfunctional habits, stress-related illnesses, anxiety, pain management, and personal development.

Iridology

Iridology is the analysis of structures and patterns within the eye’s iris, which is the part of the eye that controls the diameter and size of the pupils and the amount of light reaching the pupil. This analysis will help to identify areas of inflammation and stages of weakness, or inflammation throughout the body.

Massage Therapy

Massage Therapy involves kneading or rubbing a part of the body. Massage is used to increase circulation, to make joints and muscles more flexible. A massage can reduce blood pressure, boost the body’s immune system, and help relieve pain and stress.

Meditation

Meditation is an elevated state of awareness and the actual word comes from a couple of Latin words: meditari (to dwell upon, think, and exercise the brain), and mederi (to heal.) The Sanskrit derivative of the word, medha, translates, literally, to “wisdom.”  Researchers have discovered that meditation can lower blood pressure and alleviate stress.

Reiki

Pronounced, “ray key,” this is a Japanese therapy for relaxation and stress reduction that promotes healing. The word “Reiki” is composed of two Japanese words–Rei meaning “God’s wisdom” or the “higher power,” and Ki meaning “life force energy.” So the word actually means “spiritually guided life force energy.” Reiki is a simple technique to learn, and the ability to use it is transferred to each student during a Reiki class. The Reiki Master passes on the ability during an “attunement,” which allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of “Ki” when needed to improve health and quality of life.

This treatment consists of the practitioner placing hands on or near the client’s body in a series of positions, usually around the head or shoulders, feet, or stomach, or more specific areas if needed. Positions are held for three to twelve minutes, based on how much “Ki” the person may need.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is a traditional form of Chinese mind/body exercise and meditation. Tai Chi uses slow sets of body movements, as well as controlled breathing, combining mental concentration, slow and even breathing, and dance-like movements to increase chi (life energy). Tai Chi can be used to improve flexibility, balance, muscle strength, and overall health. Tai Chi is often called “moving meditation” due to the series of slow, gentle, and aware moves, along with deep breathing.

Yoga

Yoga is more than just an exercise; it is a mind-body practice with its origins in ancient Indian philosophy. With many different styles used for health purposes, they have a few commonalities. Each typically combines physical postures, meditation, and breathing techniques. They involve using a conscious mental process and a set of techniques, like focusing on a specific object or maintaining a certain posture for a period of time. This is to relax both the mind and body by suspending the endless stream of thoughts. The practice of Yoga is growing dramatically in the United States. It is becoming more commonplace to use it for a variety of health issues, and to help achieve relaxation and fitness.

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How to Fight your Daemons

Liber Novus (The Red Book) from CG Jung

We all had them. Addiction to cigarette, food, sex, or chocolate; you name it. How you fight physical and physiological addiction is not easy. Even being spiritual or walking on this path, as I prefer to say, is not enough. There is stress all around us, meditation may not be enough but it is the best and only tool for developing self-discipline.

It was Carl Jung who believed that the psyche can be healed and controlled by some level of spiritual involvement.

When there is the need for short term pleasure in the brain, from food or alcohol, we can gather strength from our higher self, which is ever present and ever guiding. The short term physical need for the fix thereby is overridden by understanding of moderation and healthy lifestyle is the long term gain trumping the short term benefit of the pleasure seeking brain. But how do we do this? It is simple, you must be in control. When the brain dictates you how to live, then your sprit is not in control and your body suffers. First off, you must be void of destructive tendencies or acknowledge them if they are present.

All destructive and addictive behaviors have an element of self-destructive tendencies.

Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) or mesmerism (self-hypnosis) could be used to reprogram your brain to associate pain with overeating (or over drinking, or indulging in drugs, sex or any other destructive addiction). When we live our animalistic lifestyle we have associated the addictive behavior with pleasure. We must break this link, and associate the right values with indulging, PAIN. This is the only way to regain control of your life.

Jung once treated an American patient (Rowland Hazard III), suffering from chronic alcoholism. After working with the patient for some time and achieving no significant progress, Jung told the man that his alcoholic condition was near to hopeless, save only the possibility of a spiritual experience. Jung noted that occasionally such experiences had been known to reform alcoholics where all else had failed.

Rowland took Jung’s advice seriously and set about seeking a personal spiritual experience. He returned home to the United States and joined a Christian evangelical Re-Armament movement known as the Oxford Group. He also told other alcoholics what Jung had told him about the importance of a spiritual experience. One of the alcoholics he brought into the Oxford Group was Ebby Thacher, a long-time friend and drinking buddy of Bill Wilson, later co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Thacher told Wilson about the Oxford Group, and through them Wilson became aware of Hazard’s experience with Jung. The influence of Jung thus indirectly found its way into the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous, the original twelve-step program, and from there into the whole twelve-step recovery movement, although AA as a whole is not Jungian and Jung had no role in the formation of that approach or the twelve steps.

Addiction usually torments the patient until the patient sinks to a low point. This is the bottom, where he or she faces the abyss. At this point he/she must make a determination to turn back and fight or to give up and perish. Either choice is acceptable, as in life we are free to make the choice. Our decision making process however is influenced by loved ones and family and friends. If the patient has nobody, often he will succumb to the illness and perish.

We are herd creatures after all these millions of years. We need each other.

The Red Book –  inscribed by Jung with the title Liber Novus (The New Book). The folio size manuscript, 11.57 inches (29 cm) by 15.35 inches (39 cm), was bound in a red leather binding, and was commonly referred to as the “Red Book” by Jung. Inside are 205 pages of text and illustrations, all from his hand: 53 are full images, 71 contain both text and artwork and 81 are pure calligraphic text.