What's new on the IJHC/WHR sites? IJHC/WHR Newsletter December 2005

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Research in spiritual awareness and healing, extensive references on healing studies, complementary/alternative therapies, healing resources, links.
Also books, articles, lectures and workshops by site moderator, Daniel J Benor, MD. www.WholisticHealingResearch.com
Search facility for entire WHR site www.WholisticHealingResearch.com/site_search.asp

Relaxation, a skill you can easily learn, will contribute to your health in many ways. When your body is more relaxed, your hormones will be in better balance than when you are up tight and activating your stress responses. With your body relaxed, your mind and emotions have an easier time relaxing. The reverse is also true: when your mind and emotions are at ease, your body will be more at ease.

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Wholistic healing, Complementary therapies, Integrative care, Spiritual Awareness and Healing, Research, Clients' experiences with therapy, Humor, poetry, imagery and the arts, Societal healing, Planetary healing, Networking
Editor - Daniel J. Benor, M.D.

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Image credit: Ellen Fisher-Turk DEALING WITH LIFE CHALLENGES		Editorial LIVING IN A PLACE OF LOVE RATHER THAN ANGER, HURT AND FEAR Daniel J Benor, MD Dealing with life challenges IMAGES FROM THE DAWN AND DUSK OF LIFE Meredith Jordan Research MEASURING CHILDREN’S INTUITION IN A SCHOOL SETTING Christian J. Hallman, PhD DISTANT MENTAL HEALING: Influence of intercessory prayers and qi-gong therapy Alexander P. Dubrov Poetry, Art and Humor Are Healing Aerica; and The Beauty of My Brain Tumor by Teri Goldman Ric Masten - One liners
Wholistic Approaches
THE 'PLACE OF JOY': A collaborative method of induction\| in past life regression Judith Landau, MD
BALANCE BRINGS BETTER INTUITION Cay Randall-May, PhD
WALKING THE 'SACRED LANDSCAPE' WITH A HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN: At the Crossroads of Spirituality and Medicine Dina Greenberg
Variations on the Theme of Healing
REIKI: TOUCH OF THE SPIRIT - Christina St. Clair
Creative arts for healing
PhotoTherapy - Ellen Fisher-Turk
WHOLISTIC NEWS REVIEWS TRADITIONAL, COMPLEMENTARY, ALTERNATIVE AND PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODALITIES OF TREATMENT Larry Lachman, PsyD
Books for your *Inspiration* Darwin had only a small part of the answer	for understanding approaches in healing RESEARCH IN DOWSING Systematic studies by a physicist
for your inspiration Lessons, lessons, lessons... Personal, Relational, Spiritual		Outstanding dedications to venerable trees from around the world

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From IJHC September 2005, Volume 5, No. 3

RETURN TO INTEGRATION: ONENESS WITH ECOPSYCHOLOGY AS KEY TO SAVING THE PLANET EARTH
Lana Thomas

Suggestions for healing our planet

Man has turned on himself in his attempts to conquer the environment. This literature review examines the emergence, relevance and validity of Ecopsychology -- the study of this self-destructive process and the search for its cure. Has man betrayed himself in his patriarchal pursuit of dominion? Can Ecopsychology embrace other fields of psychology, science, physics and religion to sort out how collective efforts could halt the destruction of our planet and ultimately ourselves? It seems that a revolution in ideas, positive action and especially thought is rising to help understand our behavior and to present possible solutions to our global environmental issues. The earth is our home, our mother and our lifeblood and as Ecopsychology shows, as much a part of us as we are of it.

Recently, environmental movements have created a greater awareness of the imperative of preserving our planet. In attempts to understand how our situation became so grave, some psychologists (Roszak, 1995) acknowledge the need for examination of the motivation for destroying our own home and the indifference towards this immanent destruction. It is in hopes of determining the reasons for such behavior that the field of Ecopsychology was established. It asks, "Can we understand the psychology hidden behind self-destructive patterns and create ecologically sound principles that can save our environment and thus mankind?"

...It is in within our nature to love, be loved and express community in all our daily interactions. However, accountability for our actions is [dismissed overridden] by self-serving endeavors and the pursuit of personal gain at the expense of others, adhering to Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. The costs are high and frighteningly threatening as we destroy the sacredness of the earth. Winter and Kroger (2004) shed light on some of the underlying fears that create our self-destructive attitudes. They suggest that the fear of scarcity reveals that we have little trust in our future or in the fact that our needs will be met. As fear and competition replace the belief that cooperation and trust will bring us benefits, we become neurotic in one of four ways, and these neuroses will impact our environmental behavior. The four reactions are narcissism, depression, paranoia and compulsions. Narcissism denies the value of anything beyond the self. Depression creates helplessness and apathy toward global issues. Paranoia creates fear of others and negative propaganda about foreign political systems and others, thereby fueling this neurosis. Compulsions are fed by the greed that is advocated as need based -- having set our standards for needs in some parts of the world at levels that drain the resources of other parts of the world. Boldt (1999) writes of the art of abundant living and the Tao of abundance as an alternative to fear. We can learn of our incredibly creative qualities and exercise them versus living in fear of our imminent demise...

Variations on the theme of healing

REIKI: TOUCH OF THE SPIRIT
Christina St. Clair

     Reiki healing from a Christian perspective

Reiki is a healing art that hails back to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism, and was originally developed by Mikao Usui in Japan. This article presents the importance of its use for all people, regardless of their belief system, as a means of healing and involvement with other people. The author talks about her own experiences with Reiki, relieving pain for others, and helping her become more hands-on and less aloof. She also explains the basic Reiki tenets, briefly describes the seven major Chakras (energy centers in the body), and how Reiki attunements begin the process of healing self and others through a mysterious source of interconnectedness, which might be likened to the Oneness in Christ that begins with the ritual of baptism.

        (Read more in IJHC September 2005, Volume 5, No. 3)

Creative arts for healing

PHOTOTHERAPY
Ellen F. Turk

     Profound transformations through self-acceptance

I call my work PhotoTherapy. PhotoTherapy combines black and white photography and journal writing as tools for changing women's negative self-image. I ask women to keep a journal when they decide to be photographed through six weeks afterward. Women start the photographing clothed and disrobe during the session. Everywhere we look , in magazines, on television, the images are retouched They look perfect How should we feel ?

This article is about how women take back the appraisal of WHAT IS BEAUTY. PhotoTherapy uses a woman's multiple images to shift her negative self-perceptions. By being seen and not judged, by being photographed nude and seeing what they're most afraid of seeing, women have had the opportunity to reconstruct how they see themselves.

I remember photographing Camilla six years ago. When she called to set up an appointment, she said, "I must be crazy to do this, but my body image is terrible. I can't keep getting up in the morning being disgusted with what I see."

The morning after we photographed, Camilla called to tell me that when we were photographing she looked in the mirror and saw that she was beautiful. She'd never noticed before.

I photograph all women. Some suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. Others are overweight. Some have negative feelings about their bodies caused by rape, incest, sexual abuse, or surgery. The rest are, perhaps, like you and me ®¢ ordinary women who have been spared trauma, but not the reality of aging or having expectations of being more perfect.

During the past ten years, I have worked with over 100 women and have seen my use of photography transform their self-image and the way they perceive their bodies. It has also empowered their lives. I've seen them change their way of dressing, their friends, their partners, their jobs. The photography seems to jump start their lives.

        (Read more in IJHC September 2005, Volume 5, No. 3)

Wholistic News Reviews

Traditional, Complementary, Alternative, and Psycho-Social Modalities of Treatment
Larry Lachman, PsyD

Poetry and Humor are Healing

ONE-LINERS
Ric Masten

            NO SLAM DUNK
            in a candid moment mother once said
            "Show me a man
            who thinks he's in control
            and I'll show you a clever woman."
            and certainly
            she was the sovereign head
            of the kingdom I came from
            I didn't go to college.... I was sent!
            off to study optometry
            groomed
            to step into my step father’s shoes
            another "sight for sore eyes" she'd joke
            another professional man
            she assumed
            thank god
            I was learning disabled! ...

            NATIONAL CONFERENCE
            ON PROSTATE CANCER, 2005
            — THE SET UP — The setting was the
            Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington,
            DC. And as an actor in this cast of
            characters I played my part as best I
            could. This is not meant to be poetry
            but rather a poetic summery of two
            days a week ago.

            in Baltimore International
            I wait to fly home to my wife
            having just spent what arguably
            has been the two best days of my life
            dubbed the “Poet Laureate of Prostate Cancer”
            I’m probably the only poet ever invited
            to address a medical convention
            but for me advanced PC is the subject
            that gets all the ink these days
            this is not to say
            I didn’t have hidden agenda — I did
            in due time I will need a master navigator
            to guide me through the treacherous waters
            that lie up ahead

            not an easy task as the panel of speakers
            were the best of the best
            but to be totally honest
            the technical talk sailed over my head
            but preparing and reading nautical charts
            is what the navigator is paid to do

            so it wasn’t so much what they said
            rather the manner in which they said it
            all were informed and knowledgeable
            but one had a quiet thoughtful style
            a sweet gentle smile — someone who
            was in the same boat as the rest of us
            finding him was like coming home ...

See Ric Masten’s new Words and One-Liners 2, below, under Books.

NEWSLETTER of
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December 2005, Volume 5, No. 12

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December 2005, Volume 5, No. 12

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NEWSLETTER of
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