What is Holistic Medicine?
Whether you are a person or a pooch, at certain times during life the pinnacle of health can become a puddle of concern. During these times of dis-ease we have sought out multiple methodologies in order to relieve our pain and suffering and that of our beloved pets.
For definitive purposes in the west, most people know standard allopathic medicine as the way to treat themselves or their animals. You know white coats, x-rays, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and all sorts of chemical treatments. In alternative medical circles the door to therapeutic options open up to: nutrition, nutriceuticles acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, Aryuveda, energy medicine in the form of healing frequency generators (machines like the vibe machine), sound and light therapy or hands on human healers using such methods as Reiki, Shamanism, Tuinia, Quantum touch, Satnam Rasayan or Essene healing techniques and of course there are others.
Over the years I've had the opportunity of treating my animal friends with most of these therapies for a host of ailments with very good success. I was originally trained in allopathic medicine and after a few years of practice I became frustrated by the more chronic cases that did not respond to standard allopathic medicine. The book seemed to close on these cases and hope quickly dropped. Looking for alternatives I studied acupuncture and this opened up the door to other healing modalities. What always amazed me was that the same diseases could be treated by so many different therapies with good success even if the theory of how it worked was contradictory. There seemed to be more than one way to fix the skin on the cat.
I always wondered what was really behind the success of different often opposing treatment plans. This brings us to the more esoteric part of this article; the common denominator of healing therapies. What I've found over the years is that it is focused intention on an ideal outcome that is behind all the healing arts success. Faith in our beliefs and belief systems shape reality and power our intentions
Several Chinese studies on acupuncture have shown that in order for a patient to get better the following criteria need to be met:
1. The doctor had to believe the patient/pet could get better using the treatment method they had chosen for the patient/pet.
2. The doctor had to want the patient/pet to get better.
3. The doctor had faith and believed that the patient/pet could get better.
4. The patient/pet owner believed that the therapy and doctor chosen could make them/their pet better.
5. The patient/pet owner wanted themselves/their pet to get better.
In the case of animals there is an energetic bond between the pet owner and pet and they function as one energetic system. This would adequately describe what goes on in this instance.
If you look at the 5 statements above you'll notice the common denominator above is:
1. Faith in a particular treatment method by physicians and patient/pet owner.
2. Belief in a particular outcome by physicians and patient/pet owner.
3. Strong focused attention on a desired intension or outcome by the physician and patient/pet owner.
If you noticed the physician/pet owner/patient are not separate but enter into an energetic system coupling of combined belief and intention. I have found that in most cases the patient/pet owner will project their will or energy onto the physician, some call it faith and this helps to empower the system or in the case of more conscious patients/pet owners they keep their energy and focus their intention directly on a desired outcome with the help of the health care provider. Both methods work, they only vary as to the degree of consciousness of both the physician and patient/pet owner.
In the Essene and Yogic model of Healing (explained in western terms for clarity), the left brain/right side of the body is masculine and the right brain/left side of the body is feminine. The masculine left brain thinks in pictures and numbers and is very logical. It's the one that needs to understand how a specific treatment method would work in order to heal. If it sees the logic of the method and understands how it will work then it can have faith, even if it's "the size of a mustard seed" and believe that the treatment will work. The feminine right brain doesn't care about how a treatment works, it is more interested in the emotional feelings surrounding the healing. If it feels it can get better (a belief), then it begins to feel better emotionally and begins to heal. In some cases, this first feels like surrender; later, on like gratitude. The healing process is accelerated if both of these sides of the brain are in balance. If the left side of the brain sees the treatment as possible and the right brains focuses on feeling better, things move quickly.
The classic sabotage pattern to this beautiful system is fear and doubt. These two faces of the same coin work by focusing the belief and attention on what is not wanted. Since beliefs shape our reality the sum total of these beliefs shape the outcome. More fear and doubt tilt the balance to the side of dis-ease and suffering and more faith in a positive outcome tilt the balance toward health or a peaceful transition in the face of terminal illness.
Although there are fundamentalists in all religions, and medical treatment camps, what really matters is the belief or faith in the treatment or combined treatments, and that it will be effective for the desired result; such as health or peace. Healing energy may be raised by the vibration of source, which is silent pure awareness in the present moment. In order to raise the frequency of the attention and awareness which is the energy that heals, the requirement is intense present moment awareness. I usually use one or a combination of techniques involving the body in order to do so: such as full attention on the breath using different types of breathing patterns (Pranayam); intensification of body awareness by the use of intense isometric exercises like tensing all body parts with a full or empty breath and then feeling the wave of relaxation that follows the release of tension as I focus on the stillpoint in the center of the skull; listening for silence underneath all the sounds in the room and using my whole field of sight not just binocular vision but taking in my whole peripheral visual field; being aware of my whole tactile sense on the surface of the body and include the sense of taste and smell if they are present.
I will use these techniques alone or all at the same time in order to get my mind to go into awareness mode and shut off mental chatter. This has been referred to as witness consciousness. I have found that the best healing energy comes from this silence and stillness that is pure awareness.
From this space it does not matter what modality is used. What matters is the faith that the method used can work and the focused attention on the desired outcome. This is the energy of source which has no opposite. From this space all life and healing comes and goes.
Dr. Albert J Nunez is a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist and Holistic practitioner. He practices complimentary medicine at the Animal Hospital of Lake Mary 3609 Lake Emma Road in Lake Mary, FL 407-833-8868 and at Animal Hospital at Baldwin Park 946 Lake Baldwin Lane in Orlando, FL 407-897-8555.