Holistic Medicine

Holistic Medicine exists in a   paradigm different than our contemporary medicine.

 This philosophy of health views the environmental, physical, mental, emotional , social, cultural and spiritual aspects of life as intricately interwoven, and seeks to create balance  rhythm and harmony.
 

Holistic medicine does not view disease, disorder or conditions of health distinct from other aspects of a persons life. 

We are more than the sum of our parts. Conditions emerge from the whole not solely from a specific part.

Any illness in one part of the person is connected to a vulnerability or weakness in another part.

Good health and wellness is a process that is lifelong.  Diseases, disorders, conditions and illnesses are all manifestations of Health.

The totality of all our sensory perceptions, both external and internal responds to our environment,  and is relative to this holistic viewpoint.

 Contemporary Treatment Modalities

 The treatment methods in our current medical  system  are almost exclusively designed on a much narrower perspective. In our contemporary medicine the perception is that,  “ we are our disease”  .

We become our disease or disorder and often we do just that, we become the disease in how we approach life, as a limitation.   We are low back patients, irritable bowel patients, bipolar patients, heart patients, cancer patients, etc.  We put on the symptoms of our illnesses like   a mantle,  to wear.  We are conditioned to defining ourselves as having or possessing   a particular disease. Often times we see ourselves as victims of our disease or disorder.

This perception is both dehumanizing and dis-empowering and is not conducive to whole person healing.

Oriental medicine :

An Holistic approach

 Oriental Medicine is an holistic medicine. The modalities include acupuncture, herbals, food, diet, movement therapies including  Qi  Gong and Tai Chi, and bodywork inclusive of massage. 

Each modality, however different in accessing the patient, aims to integrate body, mind and spirit as their basic principle. This is an holistic approach.

Complexity of Living Systems and Patterns

 We, as human beings are complex living organisms. We are largely self organizing, self regulating, self repairing and self evolving.  Our reactions to the environment are individualistic as well, and also somewhat unpredictable.

 We are complex and adaptive human beings. Each person has multiple vital processes interacting on a daily basis. The overall behavior of all these vital systems becomes less dependent on the actual physical materials involved and more dependent on the patterns of energy flow within and among these vital structures. It is not only the amount of energy itself, but the pattern of information it conveys communicating throughout all systems that is the key.

 We have the ability to radically alter our state of health (i.e. our balance between order and disorder) because of our complexity, with a small change in the amounts of patterned energy.

 We are complex self evolving systems  and as such we exhibit recurring patterns .

 Oriental medicine practice emphasizes the recognition of patterns of signs and symptoms, the rhythms of those energy patterns in time and our human perceptions. 

Holistic therapy gives the patient an ability to affect change by introducing new patterns or modifying existing patterns.

 As those new or modified  health patterns become entrained in ourselves, our disorder(s) and our restrictions are removed.

Technology has advanced, yet the body still knows

The mechanistic model of health is woefully inadequate. Contemporary medicine has an almost entirely physical-based perspective. The ills of the body are seen in physical terms, often analogous to the breakdown of a machine

We are unlike computes or automobiles,( ie. we are not programs or mechanisms), and the analogies like getting a tune – up,  correcting or fixing poorly operating “parts” , debugging and patching  poorly running systems,  are crude at best.

We desire a quick fix to everything.  This usually changes conditions only for the short term. Changing patterns in our bodies, minds and  emotions takes different timing to establish a solid foundation and more permanent changes to old patterns, or the creation of new patterns.

 Health Strategy

The appropriate health strategy can help  a patient with ill health move from their current situation to a state and process that will improve their health.

 The human being is  complex, with all of our vital systems  functioning together.  Each organ has both direct and indirect affects on every other system of the body.

 It is seldom possible to eat food , take herbs or medication that only effect one organ or body tissue without simultaneously affecting many other organs, tissues and systems.

 One of the goals of Holistic medicine is to improve the body’s sensory systems, including the internal sensory system (bodily awareness, soma). The sensitivity of many of our natural biological detectors ,(senses) approach or exceed that of current instrumentation technology. A person who is consciously aware of their sensory perceptions can detect health problems, many times, long before medical instrumentation will be able to detect these same problems.

 An approach that holistic health care uses to help a patient attain improved health and sense potential disorders and disease,  is the incorporation of “wellness” therapies like Qi Gong, Yoga, Tai Chi and other mind-body systems to increase that internal “soma”,  awareness.

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