This book aims to give a basic explanation of how holistic and complementary medicine work. We will not attempt to describe the vast range of help available; doing justice to them all would fill many volumes. There is also another reason why we do not wish to give too much guidance on particular forms of treatment and that is explained at the end of the chapter.
The word 'holistic' means regarding the patient as a whole person – mind, body and emotions as one. It is therefore quite different from the approach of modern medicine which treats the symptoms in isolation, almost without reference to the particular patient.
However the two disciplines of holistic and orthodox medicine do not have to be regarded as mutually exclusive. The term 'complementary' – often used instead of, or in conjunction with, 'holistic' – also means that the holistic therapy can benefit the patient alongside their conventional medical treatment if desired.
Holistic therapies can be regarded as disciplines which work with Nature rather than beating her into submission. As in meditation, they assist the body in releasing its own powerful medicines. They are not, however, a replacement for meditation as they cannot provide us with either the deep rest or the levels of stored energy that cumulative meditation is able to create.
Our internal medicines are at work for us all the time. For example, when we have a headache that disappears before we have taken anything for it, it is our internal painkillers that alleviate the pain. The headache does not just go of its own accord. The pain was caused in the first place by an imbalance at the energy levels and the body responds to the imbalance and attempts to correct it.
Sometimes however, the message of an imbalance is blocked from reaching our internal first-aid kit. In these instances, a good holistic practitioner can help significantly in making sure that the way is made clear for the message to be received and for the body to carry out its own repairs.
However, just as it is perfectly possible that some symptoms will disappear overnight, so it is also possible that others will barely seem to improve with holistic help. Patience is not just a virtue, it is a necessity. Frustration at what appears to be a lack of action can often lead us into great doubts about the direction in which we are going.
We live in a world where, after all, we have come to expect instant results. Holistic medicine cannot always provide this, not because of any failing on its behalf but because our bodies' inbuilt intelligence knows that an instant result would not be in our best interests. We have become ill for a reason, a reason that meditation and natural therapy can help us uncover if we give them the chance. If we 'dynamite' the illness out of our system with drugs or surgery, it is not only likely that we have caused further damage elsewhere, but more importantly we have, in all likelihood, failed to learn the lesson.
Let us return to the Russian doll. The only way to reach the doll in the middle is to take off each layer one after the other. When we start to heal ourselves, our internal guidance system, our Higher Self, is taking control and it knows in exactly what order problems need to be corrected.
This might well mean that a highly trained holistic practitioner will prescribe some treatments that will appear to do nothing. It is not because the treatment itself is ineffective, but because the Higher Self is rejecting it on the basis that there is a better course to follow. It may well be that the treatment itself was not even wrong, just that the timing of the treatment was wrong.
Losing our attachment to an instant cure is a major part of fully accepting holistic treatment. This attachment is particularly difficult to lose when we are suffering in some way and the distressing symptoms fail to disappear overnight (see Chapter 8 – Coping with Setbacks). But we must remember that we have every illness for a purpose; it is an opportunity for us to learn.
Whilst holistic medicine can help us to heal, it cannot prevent the process through which we are meant to learn; that process is being controlled by our Higher Self which is trying to guide us through the logical steps of unravelling dis-ease. The only way to bypass all of that is to follow the route of conventional medicine – cure the symptom, fail to learn the lesson and wait for the next dis-ease.
One of the main problems we face when we choose to adopt the holistic approach is peer pressure. Well-intentioned but misguided comments from family and friends can do much to undermine our confidence in our own healing. Comments such as – "You don't want to trust that witch doctor stuff", or "Shouldn't you be back at work by now?", or "Well you don't look any better", or "What do you mean, you need to have a sleep?"- do nothing to boost our confidence that we are doing the right thing.
However, if we really learn to listen to ourselves, we will get the guidance that we seek. We will know if our attitude to illness is starting to improve, even though there may still be some distressing symptoms. We will know whether we are starting to move in the right direction. It is that knowing which holds the key to our future health. Because once we believe that we are starting to heal ourselves, that belief increases, our strength increases and the dis-ease that once ruled our lives starts to lose its grip on us.
Finding the right type of holistic help is a matter for personal choice. The authors' own bias is towards those therapies which work most closely upon the energy bodies; the further we stay away from working directly upon the physical body, the less danger there is from any side effects. According to this understanding, it is the authors' belief that the safest treatments of all consist only of energy healing, which uses only the hands, flower essences and homeopathic remedies which work only on the energy body and have no physical content at all.
The following demonstrates a case where only meditation, intuitively-prescribed flower essences and homeopathy were used.
Case Study – Max
When Max came to us she was desperate for help. She had an area of thickening in her breast which had been present long enough (nearly three months) for her doctor to order more detailed investigations. The previous year Max's mother had died of breast cancer, so she was understandably very frightened.
Max is married with three young children and was permanently tired. Her own health, the loss of her mother, plus a recent serious illness suffered by her father, had combined to leave her feeling desperately low and "stressed out" to use her own words.
One homeopathic remedy and one flower essence were prescribed to start with. The homeopathic remedy was Mag Phos and part of its definition is as follows: "...most beneficial to people who are thin, dark, nervous, tired and exhausted (Max is slim and dark). It acts directly on the nerves and muscles and its chief use is for lessening or killing various types of pain, headaches and neuralgia...".
This remedy had nothing to do with her lump. It was specifically for a separate condition of chronic pain which was stopping Max from being able to focus properly on healing the lump. She had been in considerable pain for quite some time in her upper back and shoulders. When she moved, a crunching noise could be heard around her shoulder blades. She was taking frequent painkillers for relief and her doctor could find no explanation for the condition. She was also suffering from neuralgia-type pains on the left side of her head and face.
Max herself was amazed by the accurate description of symptoms of the Mag Phos. The Australian Bush flower essence, Macrocarpa, seemed equally appropriate: "For those who are tired, exhausted, burnt out and, as a result, have poor immune resistance. A tonic, quick pick-me-up which regenerates the adrenal glands, restoring energy, strength and vitality."
March 5th 1996: Max started taking her first remedies. We also taught her how to meditate.
March 10th: The next step was prescribed, an English Bach flower remedy called Rescue Remedy. Its definition is as follows: "A special combination for loss of control, unconsciousness, stress, panic/terror and shock".
March 15th: Max called to say that her back pain had completely vanished. As a result she was feeling much more optimistic. She also reported a tremendous increase in energy. She was having problems meditating, but a quick chat about the importance of it in the healing process seemed to put her back on course again.
March 17th: Max meditating again. Optimism and energy greatly increased.
March 19th: Max phoned us to say that the breast was completely normal again. She had taken some more Rescue Remedy for the shock!
A few weeks later, Max returned to the hospital for a mammogram (breast X-ray). The tests showed absolutely nothing and Max's request for a medical interpretation of what had happened resulted in a rather bemused Consultant commenting that "I can only attribute it to female hormones".
Our interpretation of events was quite different. By helping to remove the pain, we had enabled Max to start believing. Whether that was belief in the remedies or belief in herself at that stage was not so vital. As her meditations started to take effect, her self-confidence and clarity of mind started to become greater. By working with nature rather than against it, Max started to focus on what she wanted (perfect health) instead of what she was afraid of getting (breast cancer). It was this combination of natural remedies and a positive approach to her health that enabled total self-healing to take place.
As can be seen, given the right set of circumstances, holistic therapies in combination with meditation can bring about excellent results. The point of the above case study is not only to demonstrate the effectiveness of these treatments, but also to show the power that each of us holds in our willingness to take charge.
Max elected to take this approach very seriously. She specifically followed the instructions for taking the remedies (coffee and mint for instance are generally to be avoided while taking homeopathic remedies); and when she started having a problem with meditation, rather than give up, she told us so that we could help get her back on track again. It was this willingness to ask and to accept responsibility that gave Max back her ability to heal herself.
The mind is a tool that is not to be underestimated. It is through it that we are able to create what we want and so it is important that we each stimulate it in a way that pleases us as individuals. We all respond differently to different things and it is the power of our responses, our emotions, that holds the key to healing. The best form of holistic treatment for one person will therefore not necessarily be the best form of treatment for someone else.
That is why we do not wish to recommend any one type of holistic treatment above another. We can only say that a trip to the library will indicate the wide choice of holistic help that is available. We will all be drawn to specific types of help and we should let ourselves be guided in this way. If we feel very strongly about aromatherapy, for instance, then it is worth finding out information about local aromatherapists even to the point of discussing our particular dis-ease with one or two to see what they would recommend and how their treatment would differ.
This may take a little effort but this is precisely what taking responsibility for ourselves is all about. If we listen to ourselves and are prepared to do things a little differently from the way that we have been brought up and a little differently from the way that those around us do things, we will find those areas of holistic help that will benefit us most. The answers are waiting for us, all we have to do is ask.
