May 2003, Volume 3, No. 2

Healing for Multiple Sclerosis

Editor's Musings

Faith is based in logical truths and faith is based in the heart – known directly rather than deduced through reason. Our personal and collective challenge is to seek the healing balance between the two ways of experiencing an d practicing our faith.

Numerous components of can be identified within the broad contexts of faith:

A. There are three broad approaches for developing faith:

1. Accepting what we are told

2. Logical reasoning

3. Intuitive, experiential knowing

B. James Fowler identifies six stages in developing faith:

1. Basic faith (Fowler: “Intuitive-Projective Faith“)

2. Mythic-Literal Faith

3. Faith based on popular idols (Fowler: “Synthetic-Conventional Faith”)

4. Faith by personal choice (Fowler: “Individuative-Reflective Faith”)

5. Faith through inner knowing (Fowler: “Conjunctive Faith”)

6. Faith anchored in transcendent awareness (Fowler: Universalizing Faith)

C. Personality types and stages of faith

D. Societal stages of awareness parallel the stages of faith Each approach and stage has its advantages and drawbacks. None can be proven as valid beyond question without prior assumptions or. Each of these five stages can be experienced through any or all of the three broad approaches to experiencing faith. Each will be colored by our personality styles.

Basic Research

... I generated a theoretical model of a nonobservable subtle energy pulse emitted at some location in the healer's body, transduced through a series of stages to become a magnetic vector potential pulse (which is a recognized potential in current electrodynamics) and ultimately manifesting as an electric field acting to cause an electric dipole to form at some location in the body. (There is a standard mathematical connection between this electric field and the magnetic vector potential pulse.)(2, 5) Using this quantitative approach, I was able to make an analysis of the data from the 15 pulses.

In 13 of the 15 pulses, the place of origin was predicted(5) to be the lower abdomen. The dipole was predicted to extend from the ear (negative charge end) to the feet (positive charge end). Interestingly enough, there is an acupuncture meridian that extends from the soles of the feet to the shoulder region in all humans. It was also possible to show that only a very small electric current need flow (~nanoamperes) for a very short time (~0.1 second to several seconds) to achieve this result. Such a small current is much less than that typically observed (~1000 nanoamperes) when any two different acupuncture points are electrically connected.

What I deduced from this study was that (1) the healer's intention to heal can manifest ultimately as large, observable electric voltage pulses in physical reality (2) some medium exists that couples the nonobservable subtle energy pulse to an observable physical energy; and (3) a precise mathematical analysis could be generated to concretize this elusive concept...

Clinical Views

For most, true self-exploration and growth blend imperceptibly into a spiritual path, for mind and spirit resist separation just as do the body and mind. Thus, the holistic perspective of a healer’s path of growth cannot be ignored. It is a major factor in creating a positive therapeutic outcome. When we choose not to pursue the path of personal growth, our capacity as healers becomes limited. When we open in gratitude and surrender to each moment, we continue to grow...

The greatest challenge for the wounded healer lies in holding his or her actions to the light of regular self-examination. Some who explore these concepts fear that they hold practitioners to a saintly standard. – “I must be pure, selfless, and unconditionally loving.” On the contrary, practitioners are released through this mutual healing to be human and real, with inevitable failings...

Religion is a tradition-borne and faith-based organized system of beliefs, symbols, rituals, attitudes, standards, and practices. With monotheistic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the belief system is based on an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, all-knowing God, who has varying degrees of control in the believers' lives.

Spirituality is also faith-based, but it can be attained without the involvement of organized religion. Using prayer, meditation or a trance, a person tries to understand life and its meaning and to connect with God, a higher power, a universal consciousness or nature. A spiritual individual is a moral, kind, caring person who respects others, animals and nature...

With almost every individual that I have examined and every case report that I have read, no matter how intense the pain, as soon as the person has a NDE, the pain stops (Morse, 2000). Then, once the individual is resuscitated, the pain returns...

Pain and suffering have purposes within fundamentalist Christian interpretation of scripture...

Healing Applications

For over twenty years The Gentle Wind Project has been researching and developing a healing technology that alleviates mental and emotional distress in most people...

The Healing Instruments are based on the science of radiational paraphysics, the study of how something physical gives off an energy field that exists beyond its physical boundaries...

See also articles by Prof. William Tiller on imprinting intention in electronic devices, in this issue of IJHC and the January, 2003 issue; and separate report of Doris Kovalik on efects of the Healing Instruments.)

This paper describes a fitness course where yoga and mat Pilates exercise techniques are combined with opportunities for structured faith development in the students enrolled in the course. The end of semester evaluations for this course, entitled Yoga/Pilates: Spiritual Growth Through Movement, indicate that many students are experiencing strong, positive spiritual impacts that they attribute to this course. This paper explores ways in which course content may act as a catalyst for spiritual growth.

The process I describe here derives from my own faith journey and my own experiences as a lifelong learner. This work is therefore both personal and professional. It reflects the ways I bring together my spiritual life and my approach to teaching, and explicates how I endeavor to nurture the integration of faith and learning within my students' lives. This process becomes a circular one, as student feedback from assessments of physical, emotional and spiritual components before and after the course informs my teaching methods and my own faith journey. The cycles of teaching and learning, and of faith development and expression continue.

Three Heart Balancing is a method I developed together with a group of healers to accelerate the body’s healing through vibration. The three hearts begin with the third eye, the center for visioning and intuition. The middle heart is the physical heart center. The third heart is the seat of Qi located two inches below the navel. If there is a disturbance in one heart, there is an imbalance in the other two. So, if we heal one heart center, we heal and balance all three. The Wave creates the balance between the three hearts...

In 2000 I met "Lorraine,” a schoolteacher who had MS for 25 years. She and her husband took healing classes after a WCCO TV news story about my healing. Walking with two canes, she barely kept her balance. In the heat of summer she exhausted quickly. In healing classes, all participants are worked on in an experiential learning atmosphere. Several healers work together on the same person, as this adds power to the treatments. The last night of class, Lorraine was the model from whom the class learned the theory and techniques for helping people with MS. After that evening, Lorraine only needed one cane. Three months later, she enjoyed the summer and kept up a busy schedule, unaffected by the previously debilitating symptoms of MS. During her yearly exam, her doctor noted her improvement and told her that this is the first year since he's been treating her that her MRIs remained the same, not getting worse. Lorraine and her husband bought a massage table. He works on her several times a week. Monthly, Lorraine gets a team of healers together to work on her. She has maintained her gains...

Clinical Research

Part 1. (IJHC January 2003) This dissertation examines psycho-energetic (bioenergy) psychotherapy, the anthropological and scientific/medical validity of bioenergy as a construct, and three psycho-energetic therapy paradigms with mature theories and interventions. Paradigms discussed include pre-psychodynamic (Christian), psychodynamic (Pierrakos, Lowen, Brennan), and post-psychodynamic (Confluent Somatic Therapy of Steven Vazquez) psycho-energetic psychotherapy .

Part 2: A phenomenological study explores psycho-energetic experiences common across three highly advanced psycho-energetic psychotherapists. The study isolates common psycho-energetic experiences, qualifies and describes/interprets them, and recommends a technical vocabulary to formalize them.

(Part 2 published in this issue, IJHC Volume 3, No. 2, May 2003)

Healees' and Students' Perspectives

Healing with Food

Ever wonder about the disconnect between the advice that nutritionists routinely give to those who consult us about how to eat healthfully – and the food messages people get from the media and the supermarket? We, the nutrition counselors, usually say, “Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, whole grain cereals and breads, beans, small amounts of animal foods. Avoid sugared foods, fried and other greasy foods, canned or frozen foods, snacks devoid of nutrients.” Some of us say, “Be careful with the milk products, coffee, chocolate and soft drinks.” Others will point out the benefits of organically grown or raised foods.

Countering us are the TV and its myriad ads for quick foods, snack foods, convenience foods, and everything canned and frozen, as well as ubiquitous ads in newspapers and (especially) women’s magazines. Considering that a majority of the American public gets its nutrition knowledge from TV and other media, it takes little to figure out who wins in this tug of war. Is that why the public is often utterly confused?

Enter a superb analysis of this situation in a new book by Marion Nestle, Ph.D., professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University. This should be required reading for anyone involved in food, diet, and nutrition in any way.

Dr. Nestle begins with an extensive historical overview of the field of food and nutritional advice throughout the 20th Century. She points out the main dichotomy: the food and agriculture industry, concerned with profits, wants people to eat more. Healthcare professionals, concerned with obesity and other disease risks, want people to eat less. The government is caught in the middle: it needs to support the interests of the business people as much as it needs to care for the health of the public. Therefore, when the government suggests that people eat less of anything (fat, salt, sugar, meat) - as in the original 1977 Dietary Guidelines for Americans - the food industry has a fit and throws as many lobbyists and money at the lawmakers as it takes to change the wording to some variant of eat more. Dr Nestle goes on to uncover how the food companies exploit kids and schools, both through advertising and by placing soft drinks and snack foods in the schools. They actually pay for the space, so that schools find a new source of revenue by allowing the children access to these non-nutritive substances. Here is where it is good to remember that there are alternatives. An October 14, 2002, article by Jon Rappoport in the online newsletter STRATIAwire (www.stratiawire.com) describes what happened in the Central Alternative School in Appleton, Wisconsin, when the school eliminated vending machines, burgers, fries, and other fast foods, replacing them with salads, natural meats, whole grain breads, fresh fruit, and clean water. What happened? "Grades are up, truancy is no longer a problem, arguments are rare." In addition, no more dropouts, expelled students, class disruptions, student suicides, or weapons brought to school.

Those of us who are in this field, just trying to help people to eat NORMAL FOOD, have an uphill battle. However, it‚s worth fighting it. Food Politics gives us good background knowledge to know what we are dealing with.

Wholistic News Reviews

Results of back and neck pain survey

Breast cancer and life stress

How cancer patients make medical decisions

Humor

Book Reviews