| For at least the last sixty years, Western medicine | | | | or techniques are more appropriate to some people, |
| has been dominated by pharmaceutical medications. | | | | while other approaches are needed for other people; |
| And regardless of your views on prescription drugs, | | | | clients of holistic practitioners should feel comfortable |
| no one can really call that a holistic approach to | | | | with what is being done and should have as much |
| medicine. The whole concept of pharmaceuticals is to | | | | mental understanding as they want to have about |
| manipulate a chemical response in the body without | | | | what is happening. No one should be pressured by |
| concern for what is causing that response. | | | | friends or practitioners into trying a technique.) |
| This is why people seldom get well when relying on | | | | Finally, most holistic practitioners and clients will |
| prescription drugs, and why the drugs themselves are | | | | believe a spiritual aspect to the individual, and this also |
| often more dangerous than the chemical response | | | | needs to be considered as part of the holistic |
| they are attempting to correct. In some instances, of | | | | approach. A few things need to be said on this, |
| course - as with antibiotics - we have seen some | | | | however. First, a balanced holistic practitioner would |
| life-saving results. But even in these cases, the | | | | never feel the need to force a certain spiritual |
| approach by definition is not holistic. | | | | viewpoint on a client because of the negative effect |
| Holistic health refers to considering the body as a | | | | this would have on mind and emotions, and thus |
| whole when trying to maintain health or use | | | | potentially on physical health. |
| corrective health solutions. Now, I don't know that | | | | Second, a practitioner who doesn't believe in |
| any holistic health treatment, remedy, nutritional | | | | spirituality still needs to be open to the client's beliefs |
| solution, and so on, could ever address every aspect | | | | if only because those beliefs affect the person's |
| of the body at once. You might deal with | | | | mental and emotional well-being. To ignore these |
| inflammation present throughout the body, or might | | | | beliefs is to not look holistically at the person. |
| get a broad spectrum of nutrients into cells | | | | Third, we need to be careful in talking about "spiritual |
| throughout the body, but these or any other solution | | | | healing" and "energy healing" in the same way. They |
| wouldn't provide all things needed by the body. | | | | are different. Reiki, for instance, is an energy healing |
| So a holistic solution doesn't mean providing | | | | technique in which the "life force" energy (ki, or chi) |
| everything needed at once, and it doesn't mean | | | | of the client is manipulated in order to bring about |
| correcting everything at once. It only means that | | | | self-healing. The force that Reiki is supposed to work |
| you're considering the needs of the whole body at | | | | with is the pervasive quantum field (an aspect of |
| once. So when you're providing a holistic service, | | | | which is an individual's biofield), which is part of the |
| remedy, nutritional, etc., it will benefit certain aspects | | | | physical world. (This is why it's studied by quantum |
| of the body and will do no harm elsewhere in the | | | | physicists rather than theologians.) |
| body. And of course by correcting one aspect of the | | | | Spiritual healing, on the other hand, is meant to be |
| body, that aspect then starts to do its job correctly, | | | | based on spiritual life from God and/or the soul |
| which affects other aspects of the body, and there | | | | passing into the quantum field and thereby vivifying |
| is a positive spill-out effect. | | | | one's health. This would include techniques such as |
| Again, comparing this with pharmaceuticals, an | | | | esoteric healing, and should be used for those clients |
| antibiotic may kill certain bacteria in the body that are | | | | with the appropriate belief system. |
| causing symptomatic problems; but it's also going to | | | | Just as any one technique for the physical (chemical) |
| kill beneficial life in the body, which leads to other | | | | body will not directly address all aspects of the body, |
| problems. A holistic approach to bacteria would be to | | | | but will indirectly affect many, any physical technique |
| find the cause of the bacteria and to remove that | | | | will affect the quantum field, the emotions, the mind, |
| cause (while possibly strengthening the body's ability | | | | and perhaps the soul. Any emotional technique will |
| to kill off the harmful bacteria in its own way). | | | | affect the physical, quantum, mental, and perhaps |
| A true holistic approach would also recognize the | | | | the soul aspects. |
| body as more than a mechanical device. It would look | | | | A holistic viewpoint, then, understands that every |
| at physical health from both the chemical and | | | | object and every event affects every other object |
| quantum perspectives, as the quantum (sub-atomic) | | | | and every other event in some way, no matter how |
| biofield directly affects chemical interactions occurring | | | | subtly. When we keep this in mind, we better grasp |
| in the body. It is also my belief that this biofield is the | | | | the extensive power of each choice. And when we |
| medium through which our thoughts and emotions | | | | look to holistic health techniques, we can know that |
| affect our physical bodies - and both thoughts and | | | | every positive choice is simply a step in the overall |
| emotions need to be considered in the holistic | | | | scheme of things. But it's a step toward better health |
| approach. | | | | in the end. |
| (This is one reason, incidentally, why certain remedies | | | | |