An extract from Energy & Vibration – A basis for a new paradigm by Julian Perry (1996)

This s one of the few articles looking at Complementary therapies within the current health care frame work that hooked me from the off set. I believe it is as relevent today as it was in 1998 and hope that over the next decade western and complementary therapies continue to join together for the greater good of the individual.

“The current practice of medicine is based upon the Newtonian model, one that sees people and things as intricate mechanisms which can be repaired in order to restore health. However, this approach to human life is increasingly being seen as inadequate and wanting in depth and meaningfulness. The public’s growing demand for complementary practices clearly indicates a dissatisfaction with the traditional allopathic process to the extent that many health centres are surveying this interest in alternative healing modalities.

On the other hand the complementary therapist has explored their art within the framework of an holistic paradigm, one that sees individuals as multi-levelled wholes existing within a great whole and where working with one part affects others. Equally, they acknowledge that the real power in their therapies lies in the capacity to access and to treat causes rather than effects and symptoms.

From outside of this framework one could be forgiven for wondering if the wide array of complementary practices operated under a single paradigm or indeed, had any common foundation. It is as a result of the impetus towards an expanded view of human nature and of disease, that links are being sought between diverse practices. As strength lies in unity and cohesiveness, then by employing individual therapies as part of a larger approach to the patient we are better able to treat them effectively and to allow them to recover their own inner power and stability. It is this search and for the common foundations of complementary practices that is the basis of this article.

 

 

 

Models of Man

The current Newtonian model of medicine and man sees no further than the biomechanics of the system while acknowledging the complexity and adaptability of the parts assumed to be completely controlled by the brain and the central nervous system. All the organs of the body are described as units that carry out specific functions. For example, the heart is a powerful pump that carries oxygen and nutrient rich blood to all parts of the body; the kidneys are a toxin filter. It is no coincidence that at a time when technology in the seventeenth century was able to produce clocks of intricate design that also the structure of man’s anatomy was being explored in unprecedented depth. The analogy seemed obvious – we could model man on an intricate clock, a wonder of biological machinery. Something goes wrong then we simply remove and replace the offending part.

To deal with disease within this framework requires a detailed knowledge of each part and how they form part of the complex mechanism. Further, the way to deal with illness is to identify the malfunctioning part, system or subsystem and to either replace it or correct its malfunction with drugs or other therapies. In effect, one is working with the manifestation of exterior symptoms and assuming that dealing with them will correct the initial problem. Admittedly the level at which the problem is seen to occur can be very deep within the body’s biochemistry and molecular biology allows us access to the most intricate aspects of cellular function. However, this particular model of man does not acknowledge deeper frameworks of reality that might underlie these micro processes. This model still sees us as an intricate clock which we can now study at a more sophisticated level.

On the other hand, what is being referred to as an Einsteinian model, recognises that there are processes and forces that operate within and around the human being, indeed in all of nature, and which are not readily discernible by gross material detection systems. Further, it sees human beings as networks of energy fields that interface with the cellular and physical levels. The reference to Einstein derives from the famous expression of the equivalence of mass and energy which has been party to the revolution in our paradigms of the physical world during this century.

The potential that this model gives us is almost infinite. Instead of conventional drug and surgical approaches to treatment, we can address any problem through the subtle energy systems that make up the individuality. Couple this to a growing understanding of consciousness and its causal role in the world, and we can see a whole new basis for therapy within an holistic rather than fragmentary model of health and disease.

The New Paradigm

Central to this whole issue of complementary therapies is the recognition of the role of energy. Knowing this, however, does not necessarily illuminate us because as yet there is no consensus agreement as to the nature of energy itself. Ask any physicist the question “What is energy?” and they will probably start out talking about how it is involved in physical processes such as the falling of objects, chemical reactions, radioactive decay and so on. At this point they should have paused in realisation that this is not what energy actually is but ways in which it manifests. The late Richard Fenyman, the much respected physicist, was keenly aware of this deficit and purposefully wrote that: “Scientists fail to admit that they do not have the slightest idea what energy is.”

If the modern consensus does not agree on this matter then where can we look for understanding on this matter? The Greeks seemed to have enjoyed better insight into the nature of energy by virtue of the very root from which the word energy derives, ‘en ergos’ meaning ‘in motion’. From this awareness of energy as somehow linked to motion and change, we might form a more useful definition of energy as that which induces a change of state. This covers its function in all domains of reality, from the physical interactions that science is so familiar with to changes in mental and emotional states and deeper levels of consciousness. Energy then is the process of change itself, masquerading under various forms that relate one state of a structure to another. Now we can talk about healing and spiritual energy without being accused of dealing in abstractions and the indefinable. If a change of state has occurred, at any level of being or reality, then energy must have been involved in the process.” 

 

 

Read the whole article: http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=2388

You can also read my previous post on  Ki (energy) http://tfootitt.wordpress.com/2007/09/29/ki-or-qi-what-is-it/ and  a response to a post related to this articles discussion http://tfootitt.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/response-to-what-is-alternative-medicine-anyway/

An Extract from Shiatsu, Yoga and Breath by Rosamund Jordan (1998)

“Shiatsu is a word that seems vaguely familiar to a great many people: ‘That’s under dogs, isn’t it?’ said the young lad who searched for the appropriate section for my advert; or the people who signed up for the staff development workshop expecting a martial arts session. A sharp reminder to a practitioner who would like to feel that Shiatsu’s value as a complementary medical discipline is universally known and understood.

Tracy Footitt, Shiatsu

Shiatsu works on many levels; physical, psychological, emotional. Its effects can be quite subtle. These are few examples. One client with a stressful job felt that since they started coming for treatment they were coping better with the pressures at work. A young mother, who had had a bereavement, had problems at home and was always ready to respond to any cry for help when at work, found she was unable to let go to stop or to sleep. She came for one treatment and afterwards went home and slept for most of the week and during it began putting her needs first.

It can be a useful aid for women going through the menopause. Another client was a single mother approaching 50. Originally she attended to see if treatments could help with general tiredness and debility. She travelled a great deal and at some periods of the year her work could be very demanding. The diagnosis indicated that there was an imbalance in her water element (kidneys, this is an oriental diagnosis that has a broader interpretation than the kidney in western terms) that resulted in her feeling tired. This was exacerbated by the fact that she ate irregularly, had an up and down diet and was usually only able to get coffee to drink whilst working. As it was part of the social side of work it tended to be rather a lot of cups of coffee. Through the treatments I worked to redress the imbalance of energy.

Recommendations at the end of the sessions included encouraging her to think about what she was eating and to remember to feed herself. Over several treatments her energy level improved. She cut down on her coffee intake and began to think about when and what she was eating. Clients experiencing hot flushes have found Shiatsu treatments helpful in reducing or totally relieving the hot flushes. Sometimes this can be linked to a change in diet.

Shiatsu is particularly good for stress and helping people to relax. I recently saw a woman whose original reason for making the appointment had been a problem with stress. In the meantime she had had a minor car accident. Checked by her Doctor and the hospital she was told that she had not sustained a whiplash injury. However, her head rest had not been properly aligned and she had been left with a constant thumping headache at the back of her head. The diagnosis was the meridian associated with shock. I worked to balance the effects of shock and the accident. By the end of the treatment her headache had completely gone. “

Read the whole article at:

http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=2331