Of course, we all respond to different healers, and a someone who is a healer for me might not be a healer for you. It also depends on our receptivity at the time we see someone, as well as factors too complicated and mysterious to fully uncover which have to do with why something heals when it does. Nevertheless, this acupuncturist was definitely a healer for me. As I left his office, I thought “this is a true healer” and started to think about the qualities that make for a good healer and positive healing experience. Since I’ve heard other people in my area call him a healer as well, I felt it was worth exploring the qualities that are present in an effective healer.

Here are some of the things I came up with, and I’d be interesting in what others might add to the list:

• Is non-judgmental. I felt completely accepted and did not feel like I was being judged in any way.
• Makes life-supporting, positive statements. He spoke of his findings in positive terms. For example, he might say “your core issue is with this chakra and I’ll give that some attention”, rather than “this chakra is clogged up and blocked”. None of his statements created a sense of alarm or fear or discouragement. He never made me feel “broken” in any way.
• Is supportive without being emotionally reactive.
• Cares without being emotionally involved.
• Is self-confident and yet humble.
• Creates a sense of safety and trust.
• Works in partnership with you. Honors your thoughts and perceptions.
• Is not attached to the outcome of the work.
• Is open to questions.
• Listens deeply.

As I wrote this list, I realized how difficult it is to describe exactly what makes someone a good healer. There is a quality of “presence” that is impossible to describe. Something about them invokes a “healing response” in you. Perhaps the best way to identify a true healer is to tune into how you respond to someone. Healing is much more likely to happen if the healer makes you feel relaxed and safe, so that you are open and receptive to their treatments.

I’m also struck by the fact that I never mentioned this healer’s expertise in acupuncture. He is obviously very skilled both in acupuncture and energy therapy (he used hands-on energy healing as well as acupuncture). My sense is that while technical skill is very important, in many cases it will be useless if the healer’s personality does not allow you to be receptive.

I was first exposed to triphala when I was being trained as an Ayurvedic technician and walked into a kitchen where a strong smelling potion was simmering on the stove. It was being prepared for someone to take as part of a cleansing routine. I prepare it that same way for my own use, but most people would prefer to take it in tablet or capsule form as it has a very strong, bitter taste.

Although I began using triphala for its laxative properties, I have learned that it has a whole host of other uses. In addition to being a bowel regulator, triphala is said to:

• improve digestion
• reduce serum cholesterol
• improve circulation
• have a cardioprotective effect
• reduce high blood pressure
• improve liver function
• have anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties
• assist internal cleansing
• have antioxidant properties
• cleanse and strengthen the urinary tract

There has been a lot of research on triphala’s many benefits, including some which indicates that triphala may be able to help combat cancer. A BBC news article recently reported research at the University of Pittsburgh which confirms what Indian scientists have long proclaimed — triphala has been shown to have anti-cancer effects. They found that extracts of triphala slowed the growth of human pancreatic tumors grafted onto mice.

Although you need to do your own research, triphala seems to me to be one of the most beneficial formulas you can take for overall health. It’s relatively inexpensive and I haven’t found anything to indicate there’s any risk in taking it. You can consult one of the many good books on Ayurveda on how to use it.

Wishing you well!
“You don’t have a mother? Don’t worry, as long as you have Triphala in your life!”

In the past week I’ve received dozens of emails from friends and colleagues identifying the FDA as the enemy who is threatening our health freedom — freedom of access to alternative therapies and products of our choosing. The email contains a message from Rima E. Laibow, MD stating that: “The FDA is using legal maneuvering to end your access to natural health products… and natural health therapies of all sorts.” She states that this is being done through the FDA’s Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. She asks that you take action through her website using the following link: http://tinyurl.com/2u7ghc. There you can sign a message to the FDA.

I wonder how many people visited her Natural Solution Foundation’s website and signed their name to the message without reading the message and without ever reading the FDA document to which the message refers. How many were willing to take the word of the Natural Solutions Foundation at face value without ever investigating the issue themselves?

I am a passionate advocate of health freedom (freedom of access to products and therapies of our choice, whether they be conventional or alternative). I have reservations about the FDA making decisions about the usefulness and safety of many alternative therapies, and I don’t have much trust that a medication is safe because the FDA has approved it. At the same time, I don’t think the FDA is out to deprive us of all access to alternative therapies. Therefore I read the Guidance myself. (You can read the Guidance itself at this link: http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/06d-0480-gld0001.pdf.)

I couldn’t find justification for many of the Natural Solution Foundation’s statements in the FDA document. For example, they state that “their (the FDA) ploy is to declare the therapies are “Medicine” so any non-physician who uses them will be practicing medicine without a license.” I don’t see anything like that in the Guidance. People have jumped to all sorts of conclusions about the what the Guidance is saying and what the implications of it are that I simply can’t see there.

The other day a friend expressed her upset about what the FDA is supposedly doing — “no one will be able to do Reiki if they aren’t a doctor”. As complicated as the FDA Guidance is, it’s quite clear to me that it does not mean that. There is specific reference to bodywork practitioners who manipulate the bodies of their clients without use of equipment not being subject to the FDA’s jurisdiction. If bodywork is exempt, certainly Reiki, in which the practitioner doesn’t even manipulate the body, would be exempt. Having not read the Guidance herself, my friend had jumped to conclusions based on a message in an email containing someone else’s interpretation of the Guidance.

The point of my post is not to try to analyze the FDA Guidance or Laibow’s position. To do justice to that I’d have to do a lot of reading and study. What I want to focus on is my concern that the same bipartisanship that we see in national politics is being reflected in the realm of health politics. There’s a tendency in many of us (including myself) to want either alternative or conventional medicine to be all right or all wrong. This kind of thinking doesn’t allow us to work together to find the best solutions. These issues are very complex and not subject to simplistic solutions.

There is also a tendency to rely on the opinion of experts and authorities. What’s interesting is that even those of us who feel we’re liberated because we don’t follow the advice of a doctor blindly, are still willing to follow the advice of an alternative “expert”. We find a new authority and don’t even recognize that we are still not thinking for ourselves. The willingness to look into the complexities of an issue and form ones own opinions, as well as the willingness to live in the “grey area” where there are no simple solutions, isn’t easy. But I feel we need to develop this willingness to really progress.

What happens when the emotions cannot be experienced in this way? My sense is that not only would the obstructed energy impact the body, but we would also experience it subjectively in the form of “moods”. For example, I feel that depression can sometimes be accounted for by the inability to feel sadness and grief fully. The energy that would have been felt as sadness accumulates when it is repressed and is then experienced as depression. In this model, sadness would be a primary human emotion and depression would be a mood.

I first began to think in terms of moods and emotions when I attended a workshop several years ago with a physician who studied with David Berenson, MD. Berenson trained as a psychiatrist and family therapist and has spent many years developing what he calls the “Map of Emotions”. He distinguishes between true human feelings and moods which are thoughts permeated with feeling. The Map of Emotions details which emotions are the foundation for which moods and names the various moods and emotions we experience in great detail. The essence of the workshop was that healing requires that we be able to experience the pure emotion all the way through in order to allow the moods to be resolved. We worked with a simple process in pairs to allow this to happen.

I haven’t been able to find anything in writing about Berenson’s work and certainly don’t feel I can represent his thinking. The distinction between moods and emotions, however, has stuck with me.

It can be very useful to learn to distinguish emotions and moods in ourselves. The mood can be resolved by locating the raw emotion within it. If moods are “thoughts permeated with feeling”, we can disentangle the feeling from the thought by bringing our awareness to the feeling. Simply experiencing the feeling all the way allows it to move through and the mood can be resolved.

Moods extend in time and they color our perceptions and evaluation of things. Mental involvement with the emotion keeps the energy from being released. The key to a healthy emotional life is the ability to allow the emotions to be experienced freely. To do this, we need to let the mind take a back seat and trust the natural flow of life as it expresses itself in emotion.

(I’ve created a guided meditation on my Meditation Oasis podcast called “Emotional Ease” which is designed to help the emotions to flow freely. You can hear it at iTunes or by following this link.)

I saw a tee shirt once that summed up this shift in perspective so perfectly. It depicted someone in a crowd of people who was obviously startled by the revolutionary thought — “What if I’m not the main character?” When we become aware of how our entire understanding of life and its meaning revolves around the sense that we are the main character and it really dawns on us that obviously we are not, it can create a radical shift in our perspective.

What if, instead of being the owner of planet earth, we are owned by her. What if we are simply cells in the larger organism of the planet? What if my individual preferences are actually draining the energy and vitality of the whole? Certainly the phenomena of global warming is challenging us to look at the impact our individual choices are having on the life of the planet. Hopefully it is causing us to recognize that our own individual well-being is dependent on the health of the whole.

It’s become obvious to me that to be truly holistic, holistic healing needs to expand to include the consideration of the health of humanity and the planet as a whole. In the more narrow consideration of upgrading our health care system, the addition of the holistic approach is an important step, but it doesn’t go far enough. To lead truly healthy lives, we need to experience see own well-being as inextricably bound up with the well-being of others. It can’t just be a concept, it has to be something we feel. It’s something that goes far beyond just what happens in the offices of doctors and holistic practitioners. It involves our choices and strategies on all levels — politics, economics. It’s about our choices in every aspect of our lives in every moment.

I wonder how well we will be able to thrive, or even survive, without an evolutionary leap in consciousness and perspective. Some feel this is happening. I hope so. I don’t really know. I do, however, find some peace in the realization that my one life and even the life of this planet is a tiny blip in space and time. I can’t pretend to understand how my life and that of this planet fits into the whole. It’s a mystery and surrendering to that brings peace. Nevertheless, my passion for healing will undoubtedly continue and so will the prayer in my heart that this wonderful planet will grow and thrive.

I recently had a phone call from a woman who sees that people are somehow affected by her hands as she works as a hairdresser. Her perception that something is happening on the level of energy has become undeniable and she felt prompted to explore this experience. At the same time, she was apprehensive about it. There is a reluctance to acknowledge this experience and even more reluctance to share it with others. If we acknowledge it to ourselves, we are opening up to a whole new way of perceiving life, to a whole new understanding of what “reality” is. If we share our perceptions, we run the risk of being considered crazy or flakey. And yet opening up to the existence of that which lies beyond the reach of the five senses gives us not only a greatly enriched experience of life and living, but can provide us with useful information and abilities.

How many people can honestly say they’ve never felt someone staring at them from across the room? How many can say they haven’t felt someone approaching them from behind even though they don’t hear them? We feel these things but we ignore the implications of these perceptions. How would you explain them? What actually is happening?

The tendency to ignore what we actually perceive is what causes us to take so long to embrace the latest understandings of physics, as well as the value of many alternative healing approaches such as energy healing. It’s what causes us to ignore one of the most valuable resources we have — our own intuition.

As I explore the field of energy healing more and more, including developing more of my own subtle sense perception, I realize that what I now experience with such clarity and certainty is something I had always experienced. It had always been there in the background, but I had learned to ignore it. When I’ve taught inroductory energy healing classes, it was never a matter of teaching anyone how to do anything. It was always about holding a space for them to acknowledge and own what they were already experiencing.

So, how do you sense energy? Do you see it, hear it, feel it? Is it simply a “knowingness”? Do you have a sense of what others are feeling or thinking? Energy can be experienced in so many different ways. The skeptical part of you that asks “am I making this up?” is useful in keeping an overactive imagination in check, but it’s usually working overtime. My rule of thumb in my classes is “if you sense something, it’s real”. Then the task is to understand what it is and how it can be useful.

In some ways it’s easier to stand in only one camp, since the two approaches actually represent completely different worldviews. It can be challenging to integrate the two, both for individual consumers and for healthcare professionals who want to offer the “best of both worlds”.

Over the years I’ve come to use holistic approaches as a first resort, and conventional medicine as a last resort, quite the opposite of many people. That doesn’t mean I recommend my choice to others. It’s a very individual decision and one that might change over time. There’s no perfect system or practitioner or formula that we can rely on for everything all of the time, but unless we choose one system exclusively, we are in the position of finding a “middle way”, a way to integrate the two.

It’s been tempting at times to throw out conventional medicine completely, particularly since I find interacting with my physician around my choices difficult. I continue to use both systems, however, because they clearly both have something to offer.

To be able to use both approaches has taken a lot of study and the willingness to be my own authority and take responsibility for my choices. I’ve had to unlearn the old kneejerk response to accept the “doctor’s orders” and be willing to refuse certain recommendations and state my choices. Of course, to do this, I’ve needed to find a physician who is able to accept that stance at least enough to keep working with me. (In medical parlance, I am often a “noncompliant patient”.)

Our medical doctors can’t be expected to be knowledgeable about holistic systems and modalities which take years of study to master. (It takes an enormous amount of time to keep up with allopathic medical knowledge.) We also can’t rely on them to make our choices for us. I don’t think we can even rely on them to be straightforward with us if they do agree with some of our unconventional choices because they need to adhere to accepted medical protocol to protect themselves legally. I know a physician personally in a popular HMO who definitely has a holistic orientation but is constrained by the policies of the HMO with regard to what he can recommend and do.

No system can guarantee a cure of everything all of the time. The idea that our western medical system is “scientific” and therefore accurate is a misnomer. It represents a way of approaching life and seeing things which constitutes a philosophy or worldview. It’s research and methods are very much influenced by economic and political forces. Yet it is the system which is supported by our government and legal system. In some ways, freeing oneself from the sense that it is the authority for our healthcare decisions is similar to freeing oneself from deeply ingrained religious beliefs that no longer serve us.

Holistic healing approaches require more of our time and participation in our own self-care. They generally take time to work and are not quick fixes, but they can not only solve problems but do so in a way which promotes greater strength and health, rather than treating a symptom with a drug or surgery that can weaken overall health. I’ve found it to be well worth the time to investigate and use alternative methods of healing and promoting health.

If you are just beginning to look into alternatives, the number of choices can seem overwhelming. It can be challenging to find the right approach for your particular problem, and to know which approaches are safe and worth pursuing. A search on the web will bring up any number of offers of help and cures! One thing to be wary of is anything that offers a quick, simple fix, and certainly be careful in pursuing anything that is very expensive. For chronic, non-life threatening problems, there are a whole host of things you can do that don’t cost a lot of money.

While the “middle way” is probably the best way for most of us, there certainly is no “easy way” to put together a good healthcare program for oneself. Hopefully in the future we will have a healthcare system that has fully embraced the best of holistic medicine. Since that is probably a long way off, my sense is that those of us who want the best of both worlds will need to find a middle way for ourselves.