Auyerveda and Family Lifestyle

Awakening and the Healing Path

The Role of Cause

Rich Newman

 

Perhaps the greatest value of identification of cause is that it lends understanding—and, thus, helps to eliminate mystery, uncertainty and fear, and to restore hope.

As you work your way toward a better understanding of health and health care questions, and toward putting together the puzzle of health and illness (unfortunately, there’s still no generally accepted Textbook of Holistic Medicine, much less Textbook of Integrated Medicine  for you to refer to), you will most likely find that a big part of the quest is comparing and contrasting natural and conventional care along with looking for ways on how they can work together.  

The importance of the role of cause makes for one of the most fundamental differences between the two overall approaches. In fact, the majority of treatment in our society proceeds as if there were no such thing as cause.Further, no one in conventional health care (some say it should be called “disease care”) usually even asks about cause.

You might ask, “What difference does it make, anyway? If symptoms or illness are relieved or corrected, what difference does it make how it was done, and why even think about it?”  

In holistic and naturalistic practices, one very common concern patients express is they want something other than just treating or covering up symptoms. Whether they’re thinking in terms of cause or not, that’s what is meant. 

Why think about cause? 

We sometimes jokingly make the point that “health is like money—you can always use a little more.” Well, how about having it both ways? 

One obvious reason to look for cause is highlighted in the American medical delivery system. For all its prestige and glorification, and despite its huge expense, our health care system leaves us behind at least 15, and possibly 25, other countries around the world. As one recent presidential candidate put it, “We’re paying for top-quality healthcare; we’re just not getting it.” A delivery system devoted to primarily treating symptoms may be somewhat good at keeping people alive (but not truly healthy), but may actually make for an end-game that becomes catastrophic. Just reflect that 2/3 of our Medicare budget is spent during the last several months of life for the elderly!

Perhaps the greatest value of identification of cause is that it lends understanding—and, thus, helps to eliminate mystery, uncertainty and fear, and to restore hope. It’s one thing to be in pain and serious incapacity as far as life activities go, it’s another to not have any idea why, or when you might get relief.

A case history

The following case illustrates just how serious this predicament can get:

Joe was a conscientious, dedicated worker who always gave the extra above-and-beyond in any employment situation he ever had (this went back to the age of 10 in his less than well-to-do family). Joe had been holding a supervisor job at a gas station for some time and began to notice that he was sick with passing colds and respiratory infections a bit more than usual. One day, after a couple of hours at work, he became extremely aware of and sensitive to the gas fumes constantly in the air. He began feeling suffocated and started to cough uncontrollably. He felt a headache, sick to his stomach, dizzy, and pain-racked over his upper body. Shortly thereafter, he went home to recover and let the situation pass. But on the next day of return to work, within a short time of being exposed to the gasoline-laden environment, the same reaction overcame him. This time he went home to bed and did not get out for two weeks. 

Joe sought help from a medical office and was referred to a specialist. He was told he might have had a bad flu. There was no other definitive diagnosis or any recommended treatment. 

On evaluation at our office, it was clear that Joe was suffering an abnormal reaction to airborne petrochemicals, in association with a toxic buildup. It was also clear that his system had suffered broad effects to justify an assessment of environmental illness, with often-associated fibromyalgia (constant, debilitating muscle and body pain) and fatigue. What was not so clear just then was how much of the “apple-cart” of Joe’s body had been upset by this last gasoline-fume “apple.” This environmental exposure and allergic reaction ultimately proved to have triggered a cascade of breakdowns in his immune, nerve and hormonal systems. 

Though he experienced some noticeable improvement in the first month or two, Joe stayed essentially disabled with fatigue and near total body pain for over a year. During that time he stood – or rather laid – face to face with not only the intense, sharp symptoms themselves, but with the pervasive, oppressive bleak sweep of his condition clouding over his life perspective, crushing out any hope or expectation of accomplishment or enjoyment. (Chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia is a condition, sometimes environmentally-related, sometimes not, which has driven some cases to suicide.) Joe daily had to contend with the associated morbid and depressive thoughts that beset him. The only light of hope Joe had to hang on to was the encouragement and enthusiasm that we continually pumped into him. This hope sprang from each visit-to-visit monitoring and correction, which, although he couldn’t yet feel it, showed continuing correction of the cause-and-effect chain that was responsible for his breakdown.

Eventually, corresponding to the accumulated corrections to restore the function of Joe’s affected systems, objective and subjective signs of improvement began to show. Joe is now taking mental and physical steps to get his life on a new track.

Among other things, Joe’s story highlights the importance of a positive mental state and willpower in healing. In fact, some surveys show that a majority of people believe that the mind is the major cause of illness (and presumably of getting well). Let’s accept this and look at it in a specific context.

The power of belief

If you accept the power of belief and the mind to affect the body, do you know of a more powerful mental suggestion than that of the medical/scientific authorities and media reinforcing the scenario of inevitable deterioration, weakening and wearing-out of the body as we age? To this scenario is almost automatically added the belief of being dependent on drugs, the necessity of surgeries and even disability as we age. This is a near 24/7 programming that bombards us all.

But isn’t it true, you might ask: aren’t our bodies supposed to wear out and degenerate? Surely our heart and circulatory system, hips and spine, digestive system and all the rest will eventually give out?

Actually, this helplessness and hopelessness is enabled by the absence of a causal outlook. With it, we find that the body-mind does not just generally wear out for no reason. There are always predisposing interferences and imbalances in function that exist before the appearance of degeneration. These interferences in body energy and control can be addressed in holistic chiropractic, nutrition, naturopathy and acupuncture. These determine why, for example, your right hip (but not your left) is experiencing trouble and may need surgery; or why your stomach is the site of an ulcer, rather than your large intestine, and so on. Causal thinking—and acting—allows us to dispel this fatalism, as the following cases demonstrate.

Vera was a 74-year-old woman who had recently been coming to our office for spinal and arthritic joint pain syndromes usually associated with aging. During one visit, Vera stared out and reflected in a dreamy, almost trancelike voice, “It’s incredible—to think that a person my age could actually have no pain.” Vera was evidently going through a major re-programming!

Another case involves John and Dolores, an active senior couple who had received many benefits from their ongoing holistic-chiropractic program over several years. As they were completing a blood-work screening at a local health fair in Anchorage, the medical doctor reviewing their results asked as a routine part of the review, “Now, what prescription drugs do you take?”  John and Dolores’s response was, “We use holistic chiropractic care for our health and sometimes take supplements and herbs, but we don’t require prescription medicine.” The doctor, according to their account, literally couldn’t believe his ears. To him, it was unprecedented and astonishing that anyone of that age would not be on some medication!

More to come:

More on the idea of cause, and how it opens up astonishing natural healing in patients’ lives, and how medicine will be reprogrammed by it, will appear in the second part of this article in the next issue of Alaska Wellness.

 

Dr. Rich Newman has been providing holistic chiropractic care in Anchorage for 25 years. He is the founder of Total Health, Inc., focusing on individualized, holistic restoration of all body systems. Call: (907) 563-2929.

Holistic Therapies for Whole Health
by Jackie Kosednar
 

“ The media is constantly trying to sell us an easy fix. But is this really the way we want to handle our bodies."

 

Illness—be it mentally, physical, emotionally or spiritually based—is something that our society is conditioned to look at as an entity that has somehow ‘gotten’ us. Even if we are good citizens and go to the doctor regularly, it can still get us. Feeling bad, we go to doctors and are given two options: drugs or surgery.

 

The drug industry came about because of our demand to ‘fix it now.’ Through media advertising, we feel entitled to the magic bullet—the wonder drugs that we have spent billions of dollars to find. Both wonder drugs and miracle surgery are designed to ‘make it all go away’ and may even give you the face and curves you want. The media is constantly trying to sell us an easy fix. But is this really the way we want to handle our bodies?

 

The truth is that there are no wonder drugs. Especially when you consider all the risks and the side effects. But, hey, if the going gets too rough, you can always take a tranquilizer.

 

The Alternative Health Movement offers so much more.  First, it is founded in learning better life skills and taking responsibility for ourselves, not only physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well. After all, each of us is a whole person—not just a body or mind!

 

Because of our fix-it-fast mentality, alternative health can be misunderstood. It doesn’t offer quick fixes—even though there are some powerful herbs that are easily proven stronger than drugs. Herbs work over time, in a natural way, by honoring the body and its amazing healing ability to heal itself. This is also a keystone to what holistic health offers: wonderful, powerful, respectful therapies that help to restore your body to health or keep it healthy.

 

If you have a lifetime of stress in your body and your shoulders are stiff as a board, one massage isn’t going to change everything. But with regular massage therapy, your shoulders relax, stress leaves and blood pressure comes down. Now, your body works better, your health improves and you feel great. That is the wonder of any holistic therapy: everything gets better.

 

As a hypnotherapist, I get calls every week from people who want to stop smoking. And, in most cases, each individual wants to stop smoking in one session. No matter that these folks may have smoked 30 years, they know they can do it in one session. While this can happen, it is rare. Most people need time to adjust smoothly. The same goes for weight loss—we want it all off in one session: food addictions healed, totally motivated and ready to work out. Does this sound ‘real’ to you? If so, maybe you are applying the magic bullet theory to alternative health.

 

There are no quick fixes when it comes to the body. The holistic model views the body as a magnificent machine that heals itself—with a little help. Therapy is the process of helping the body to heal itself. Whether you receive acupuncture, chiropractic, herbs, magnetic therapy, naturopathy, hypnotherapy, allergy clearing or counseling, it is always a process of correcting the imbalances in the body/mind that are creating negative symptoms in your life.

 

Disease is not an entity we need to insure ourselves against. It is simply a series of imbalances that, with therapy, can be corrected. The beauty of holistic health is that if you correct the body, the mind corrects and if you correct the mind (old traumas), the body corrects, too. Healthy people are happy people.

 

I have seen people with serious diseases go into remission simply by changing their diet. I have seen people who have healed cancer, dissolved tumors and even rebuilt organs with herbs, psychotherapy and bodywork. And herein lies another secret of holistic healing: using complementary therapies that work together to support the body and provide a wealth of healing. Indeed, holistic protocols are the future health care. We will see combinations of therapy and magnetic machines and devices that can heal anything.

 

Alternative Health is not only for people who are sick or mentally ill; it is for everyone. Life isn’t always easy and sometimes the going can get tough. Support from regular bodywork, counseling or coaching and a spiritual life is incredibly helpful to overcoming life’s challenges. In addition, disease prevention and maintenance of the body with self-care works to keep people happy and healthy their whole life long.

 

Now, let’s consider the finances. Many more people cannot afford health insurance today and, besides, the old days when insurance covered everything are long gone. The real problem, however, is that fixing something after it is broken can cost a lot of money. Why not simply stay healthy through holistic therapies? One reason is that most people aren’t conditioned to pay for their own health care.

 

If we didn’t have an insurance system, we would take much better care of our bodies than we do now. But, alas, we are still living out the media conditioning of the 1950s that turned doctors into God and made us believe doctors could ‘fix anything’. We were conditioned to believe that our health wasn’t in our own hands and that everyone needed medical help. This, along with the ‘disease is out there and ready to strike’ mentality created the insurance industry to keep us safe from ourselves and our poor health habits. Medical insurance was probably someone’s good-intention idea. It seemed a way that everyone could afford medical treatment—if you were unlucky enough to get hit by the Big Disease. Fear is a good motivator.

 

Now, almost 60 years later, we see a failing health care system that doesn’t give people health and, many times, only prolongs their misery. We see very few “cures” that come from drugs, for most drugs only help manage unpleasant symptoms and do not heal the cause. What we ended up with is an insurance system that helps us manage our disease, not our health. Most medical care is, in fact, simply disease management.

 

But times are changing! People want more than that from their health care system.  The holistic health care movement is growing so fast because people are ready to pay for health—not disease management. Out of our own pockets, more of us are paying for holistic health care therapies to increase health and prevent disease.  In our toxic, changing world, holistic therapy might be the best investment you can ever make. How much is your healthy, happy life worth?

Jackie Kosednar is a hypnotherapist, energy medicine practitioner, personal growth trainer, and the publisher of Alaska Wellness Magazine. She is also the author of the book, One Miracle After Another. Contact: 272-2469 or jackie@alaskawellness.com

I was recently on an airplane flight en route to Alaska, returning from a vacation in Texas and New Mexico, when something very surprising happened. The time was about 11:00 pm and I was sporting a pair of noise-canceling ear phones, an eye mask, and a memory-foam neck cushion. Nudged comfortably into my window seat, I had been sleeping peacefully for about two hours. Suddenly, out of that calm, tranquil sleep, I awoke feeling incredibly nauseous. Not just typically nauseous but alarmingly, crazily, wildly nauseous.

Pulling off the eye mask, I told my daughter, who was watching a film in the seat next to me, that I didn’t feel well. She woke my husband, who asked if I was okay. The last thing I said was, “No, not really…”

When I next opened my eyes, it was to a crowd of worried-looking faces. Someone was pushing on my chest and calling to me, as if from far away. For a moment, I saw a veil of black, then the faces, then another veil of black and then the faces once again.

A few seconds later I felt a rubber oxygen mask around my mouth and heard instructions to breathe deep. Doing so, I felt more alert. The woman compressing my chest was a Nurse Practitioner who had been sitting nearby. She had the stewardess bring me some water and, a few minutes later, some caffeinated cola. Less than 30 minutes later, oxygen mask removed, I felt perfectly fine, as if the event had never happened at all.

The ever anxious glances from my daughter and husband, however, reminded me that this did happen. They reported that soon after I had awoken and complained of nausea, my face went blank and became very white. My eyes were open wide, staring off into space as if “no one was home,” and I was unresponsive to their questions.

What I really wanted to do was sleep for the remainder of the flight, but my husband kept me awake. Two hours later, on landing, a group of Anchorage paramedics met us at the plane door. Though I felt fine, I understood that we’d be going through the emergency ritual. In truth, I felt a welling of deep appreciation for the dedication of these young men being present at such an hour to help others in distress.

In the ambulance on the runway, two polite EMTs did a 12-line heart test and reported that my heart rate looked “textbook normal.” Even though I looked fine and there was no other indication of any distress, they recommended a trip to the Emergency Room. But at 1:30 in the morning, having spent the past eight nights in hotel beds, the last thing I wanted was a hospital bed or a battery of tests. All I really wanted was to see my dogs and crawl into my own wonderfully comfy bed.

It’s an interesting situation to observe the dome of fear around others in the wake of an emergency situation. This is not to imply I was without fear, though throughout the incident I had the innate sense that I would be fine. I have had this same sense on other occasions in my life when events on the surface appeared to be life-threatening.

On returning home, I slept soundly for 8 hours and felt refreshed on waking. Later that day I called various medical people to get opinions, insights and suggestions. I scheduled an appointment with a highly recommended physician and, in preparation for that, wrote up the details of the entire event along with anything that I thought might be remotely related.

Symptoms are our body’s way of inviting us into deeper communication and conversation. The responsibility on our part is to listen—a simple yet powerful recommendation, though how many of us really take the time? I knew I didn’t always. Thus, another priority was to spend some quality quiet time inviting my body and spirit guides to comment about what had happened on the airplane.

In the end, I received a lot of good advice—not only from my doctor and via blood tests, but from my inner guides as well. Some of what these guides related was personal information, but much applies to humanity at large. At this time in earth’s evolution we are all undergoing massive shifts in consciousness. And this affects us on all levels of our being—from the soul all the way to the cellular, and beyond. Everything is affected—our thoughts, our emotions, our physical bodies, our personalities, our relationships—everything.

As my guides described it to me, “Imagine a number of forces of energy exerting movement or pressure upon a central axis of You. The desired outcome is a kind of balance, though at times smaller ‘individual’ aspects of energy confront one another. Where there are knots or holds of energy there is confrontation of the energetic sort. So, a twist occurs that may pull on the whole of the overall energy, creating a kind of drag or conspired twirl of energy. This may ‘shut down’ part of your physical body for a brief period of time.

“Our suggestions are to check in more often than you are used to in allowing all aspects of you to share input and offer a quick ‘who’s where’ in consciousness. The more you do this, the more seamless is your transition and the better focused the circuitry of communication throughout your being. In short, the more simple, elegant and shining the presence of You in the world.

“This is a key and crucial time for many in the world. Remember to release the old and unneeded, the toxic waste from your body and being. Human growth is an ongoing mystery in the making. The mystery grows not by shadow or obscurity or ‘not’ knowing, but by following your own clues, by being open to new awareness within and without, and by sharing your discoveries with others, just as others share with you. More and more the world is permeable—inner and outer, me and you, us and them… Borders are dissolving even as we speak.”

Personally, I found this input to be very helpful—and to coincide with the doctor’s medical diagnosis. Throughout all my talks about the incident with a wide range of individuals—nurses, doctors, specialists and family—I felt myself led by an ever deepening sense of intuition awakening throughout my body. I felt the lessening of fear and the increased joy of trust—for myself, the events in my life, the interconnected web of all beings, and our communal evolution.

As my guides noted, “Fear is a great and awesome teacher, though there is no need to go into fears that do not affect you. Indeed, all are well advised to release the mass fears that keep one stuck in the group hold of dementia and limited visions/versions of consciousness and presence in the world.

“Allow yourself some time each day to follow your inner guides and feel your body more fully and wholly. It is one of your greatest teachers and has all the clues necessary to help you on your way. Thank and praise the body for its extreme intelligence as it helps you to become more of who you fully and truly are.”

That is great advice for us all, of course, and normally I would stop this incredibly long Editor’s Notes here. However, there is one last thing I would like to share with you, especially since so many of us travel via airplanes both within and outside Alaska. It is not intended to stir worry or fear, but rather to highlight certain information as a heads-up for the next time you fly.

One of the possible causes I researched for what might have happened to me is a condition called Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). DVT is basically a blood clot that forms deep within one of the veins of the leg. The clot may then break away and travel to the lung, where it can cause some major problems, even leading to death. What surprised me about DVT is that although it can be caused by many different things, it has been linked—very closely—to air travel. Further, many people show no symptoms of DVT while it happens and may not be affected by the movement of a clot until a week or two after their flight.

Although there are not many in-depth studies, a 2001 analysis by The Lancet estimated that 1 million cases of DVT related to air travel occur in the United States each year, and that 100,000 of these cases result in death. Other estimates indicate that DVT affects 2 people in every thousand. Several researchers point out the surprising detail that air travelers are more likely to die of a DVT-related incident than in an airline crash.

One of the big problems with blood clots, especially in travelers, is that you often don’t know you have one until it is too late. Researchers have found that 94% of all blood clots are “silent and symptomless.” For this reason, one doctor refers to DVT as the Stealth Disease since symptoms often don’t show up for a few days or more after the flight. One researcher found such symptom-free blood clots in 10% of air travelers.

The good news is that being aware of DVT, especially in relation to airline travel, can help us to prevent it. These easy measures include the following while flying:  

	Avoid alcohol
	Stay hydrated. Interestingly, several studies suggest that water may not be your best choice; rather, a good quality sports drink (high in potassium and sodium) has been shown not to increase blood viscosity or urine output as water does during air travel.
	Avoid constrictive clothing and do not cross your legs.
	Do not take sleeping pills.
	Do not nap or sleep for a long period of time. (The exception is brief periods of sleep in first-class seats that recline to a near horizontal position.)
	Stretch and flex your legs in your seat at least once every half hour, and get up to walk through the cabin once every two hours. The best ways to increase leg circulation while seated is to flex and rotate the ankles and to wiggle toes for several minutes every half hour. Also, change positions frequently while seated.
	Wear compression stockings. Some researchers indicate this is the single most important preventative measure. Be sure they are graduated compression stockings (tighter at the ankle and less ‘compressed’ on the calves) and not simply support hose.
	Some studies indicate that low-dose aspirin (162 mg) may help with clotting.
	Other nutritional supplements that may help are Vitamin B6 (in the form of pyridoxine hydrocholoride) to reduce platelet stickiness, Vitamin E (400 to 800 IU) daily for some days before and after flying, and Pinokinase, a compound made from fermented extracts of pine bark and soybeans that has shown to be very effective in preventing clots.

Although many factors (including heredity) influence the development of blood clots, we are all at some risk for clotting while flying. This is due mainly to aircraft cabin altitude, determined by pressure within the plane. Recent studies indicate that it is altitude (not necessarily immobility) which is the key precipitating factor in increasing one’s likelihood to blood clots. While we certainly do not need to add to the stress of air travel by worrying about DVT, being aware of it and following the simple precautions listed above may dramatically decrease any chance of problems. As we find in most aspects of life, education is power.  

For more information, see:

www.yourhealthbase.com/DVT.htm

www.airhealth.org/index.html

www.mayoclinic.com/health/deep-vein-thrombosis/DS01005

Dawn Brunke is the editor of Alaska Wellness and author of Animal Voices, Awakening to Animal Voices, and the upcoming Shapeshifting with Our Animal Companions, to be published in August 2008. See www.animalvoices.net for more.