What is Healing What really happens QUOTE: "The cure of the part should not be attempted without treatment of the whole. No attempt should be made to cure the body without the soul. Let no one persuade you to cure the head until he has first given you his soul to be cured, for this is the great error of our day, that physicians first separate the soul from the body." PLATO Healing is the act of getting rid of all the imbalances and creating harmony with the Soul. Consequently, Medicine should be patient centered. "I AM NOT MY BODY - I LIVE IN MY BODY." Plato's quote (above) still embodies the best explanation of why the split has occurred between current orthodox medicine and the traditional or complementary approaches. But this does not explain the reality and, if you would like to reason out the problem, the following examples may help. This is another way of expressing Plato's vision. The physical body is ultimately controlled by the mind and Soul consciousness. During our lifetime on Earth, our computer like brain is programmed by every experience we have so that we react to external forces like threats, anger, danger or beauty, compassion and love. Each reaction of the mind has a direct influence on the physical body which responds in the way it has been programmed. Sometimes that programming is wrong which prevents the body's defense mechanism from functioning correctly. This allows illness and disease to get a foothold. The Healing Process Healing the whole person has traditionally been seen as part of a co-ordinated program of treatment. However, the scientific approach has tended to separate the treatment of the symptoms from treatment of the cause. Science does not recognise the common factor which unites all traditional medical approaches i.e. the vitality or spirit of the patient. Complementary Medicine is a system of medicine which treats the physical, mental, emotional and vitality of the patient together with the spirit. This central view runs through a variety of disciplines which traditionally work towards the same goal where harmony between all levels of consciousness including the vital force and spirit must be achieved if true healing is to happen. The Healing Mechanism This is difficult to evaluate. Healers channel this energy to the patient. The process begins with a sense of compassion felt by the healer for the one in distress. Mothers feel this sense for their children and "kiss the hurt better" or gently "stroke" the pain away. Every aspects of the mother's thought, physical. mental, emotional and spiritual energy is concentrated on helping her child to over come the pain. In terms of healing energy, the mother's vital force and spiritual senses are focused on helping the child to regain its balance and overcome distress. Does the healer try to heal the symptom or seek to help the patient come to terms with the cause of the problem ? It is not always easy to establish the primary need. In an ideal world both conditions need help and this is why the healers prayer is usually on the following lines - "May this patient receive the healing that they need." In this way, the appropriate energies are drawn from the healer in such a way as to begin the process of regaining the overall balance between all levels of consciousness. The process is not usually very fast and the healer will need to help the patient to realise that as it probably took a considerable time for the illness to develop so it will take time for the body to remove it. The Attitude of the Patient The way the patient views their problem is crucial and every attempt must be made to ensure that a balance between accepting the nature of the problem is balanced with expecting healing to occur. This is especially important if the condition is life threatening. There is a need to remain quietly confident that the healing processes will stimulate both the body's immune response and the determination to change, remain uppermost in the patient's mind. Recognising the possible cause of the illness is useful where it is possible to change but it must be recognised that dwelling on past mistakes can inhibit the healing. It is better to look at today as the first one of the rest of your life. By living in the present, it is possible to focus on a program of healing which will build for the future and automatically remove problems from the past at a pace which the patient can manage without adding additional trauma. Working with Healers There is a tendency for the public to think of healers as ordinary folk who have a natural gift. This gift can be from God, Nature or the Universe according to the individual belief and they give their services by the laying on of hands or prayer. Healing is certainly a gift which can be used by everyone but it is also a central part of all the ancient traditional medical treatments. Healing energy is central to all those practitioners in Complementary Medicine. Homoeopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic, herbal medicine, aromatherapy, acupuncture and the other systems listed by the Institute for Complementary Medicine, the practitioner to diagnoses and heals at all levels of consciousness. However, it is a fact that many have tried to remove the concept of healing energy from the training and focus on a more simple and symptomatic approach. Osteopathy is an example where a partially qualified practitioner may only be concerned with the structure of the body and pay little attention to the mental, emotional and spiritual health of the person. In these cases, a complete removal of the symptoms may not be easy to achieve. Joints may be realigned but the change is often not permanent because the cause has not been treated. The patient is always required to play a crucial part in their treatment but some cannot find the strength of purpose to make necessary changes in their life style and belief systems to allow healing to reach its full potential. What is Complementary Medicine? Complementary Medicine (CM) includes many different techniques of treating a patient. These are based on systems generally practiced for thousands of years and can in fact be considered to be of the original forms of medicine. They all have one aspect in common which is that they treat the patient as a whole person rather than treating a specific symptom or symptoms. It does this by treating the life force of the patient at their physical, mental and emotional levels. Some people used to refer to CM as "Fringe" or "Alternative" because they consider it to be alternative to the "Allopathic Medicine" that is practiced by the General Medical Practitioners (G.P's). But CM complements the needs of the patient and is a more accurate description as this term describes the methods of healing that treat the complete or whole person. Hence "Complementary Medicine" is the most appropriate title.
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