Now if you have read the previous articles on here about stress, you will now know what effects it can have on the body and ultimately health (*****links at the foot of this article if you haven't read them). I also mentioned meditation, massage and aromatherapy as solutions to stress so I now will cover Reiki, Reflexology Bach Flower Remedies and Homeopathy.
The word 'Reiki' is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life Energy and it is the name given to a natural healing system developed by Dr. Mikao Usui. It took Dr. Usui many years of study of ancient teachings to develop this system of healing and he dedicated his life to practising and teaching Reiki. Dr Usui rediscovered and developed this system of healing on a trip to Mt. Kurama, At some point in his life he became a Tendai Buddhist Monk/Priest (what we in the west call a lay priest). On several occasions he took a form of meditation lasting 21 days.He took it into hospitals in Japan. Dr. Usui died in 1926 but before he died he passed on Reiki to Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Dr. Hayashi was a naval doctor. It has been said he is probably the originator of the hand position system used here in the west. He started his Reiki training with Usui Sensei in 1925, 47 years of age. It is believed he was one of the last Reiki Masters trained by Usui.
Following his first training he left the Usui school and started a small clinic in Tokyo named "Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu-kai", which had 8 beds and 16 healers. Practitioners worked in pairs of two to a bed giving treatments to patients. Dr Hayashi compiled his own 40 page manual on how to use the hand positions for certain ailments. This manual may have been give to his students. During his work with Reiki he initiated about 17 Reiki Masters including Mrs Takata. Mrs Hawayo Takata is responsible for bringing Reiki to the west.
Chujiro Hayashi ritually ended his life by committing Seppuku' on May 10th 1940.
Hawayo Takata was born at dawn on December 24th 1900, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Her parents were Japanese immigrants and her father worked in the sugar cane fields. She eventually married the bookkeeper of the plantation where she was employed. In October of 1930, Saichi Takata died at the age of thirty-four leaving Mrs. Takata to raise their two daughters. In order to provide for her family, she had to work very hard with little rest. After five years she developed severe abdominal pain, a lung condition and had a nervous breakdown. Soon after this, one of her sisters died and she traveled to Japan where her parents had moved to deliver the news. She also felt she could find help for her poor health in Japan. Here she came in contact with Dr Hayashi's clinic and she began receiving Reiki treatment. Mrs. Takata received daily treatments twice a day and got progressively better. In four months, she was completely healed. Impressed by the results, she wanted to learn Reiki. In the Spring of 1936, Mrs. Takata received First Degree Reiki (Shoden). She worked with Dr. Hayashi for one year and then received Second Degree Reiki (Okuden).
Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii in 1937. She was soon followed by Dr. Hayashi who came to help Mrs Takata establish Reiki in Hawaii. In the Winter of 1938, Dr. Hayashi initiated Hawayo Takata as a Reiki Master. She was the thirteenth and last Reiki Master Dr. Hayashi initiated. Between 1970 and her transition on December 11th 1980, Mrs. Takata initiated twenty-two Reiki Masters. These twenty two teachers went on to teach others and Reiki spread world wide.
Being a Reiki Master teacher myself I can name the lineage from Dr Usui. My Reiki master's Reiki master was taught by one of the twenty two initiated by Mrs Takata, this makes me seventh in line from Dr. Usui.
Reiki is a form of spiritual healing using "universal life energy" channelled through the practitioner to the recipient. Reiki helps to harmonize body, mind and spirit for yourself or anyone you want to help.
Reiki treatment You relax, fully clothed, on a couch or seated while the healer holds his hands on or above you. A treatment can last an hour or longer depending on the treatment required. In the western world many practitioners use the standard hand positions and commonly a full treatment is given covering all the important organs of the body. There is no pressure on the body making it ideal for treating all ages and conditions, sometimes hands are even held away from the body. The energy flows wherever it is required (spiritually guided) and can normally be felt as a warm sensation or tingling in the body. Receiving Reiki is a very relaxing and soothing experience!
The ability to use Reiki is normally given via an attunement or initiation. There are 3 levels of Reiki: Reiki 1 and 2 and the Master level.
During the attunement/initiation process the Reiki master acts as a mirror to help the student adjust to the Reiki energy. This energy creates an open "channel" for the cosmic or universal life energy. From the top of the persons head and through this "channel" the energy flows down through the body and back out through the hands when Reiki is "given". The Reiki attunement is almost always a very special spiritual experience for the receiver and sometimes also for the Master. It is one you will never forget and is a very important milestone in your life.
The Reiki Principals taught by Dr Usui
• For today only: Value today! The present is now, life is not in the future or in the past, there is only now!
• Do not anger Realize that anger and other selfish emotions like resentment, hatred, envy are harmful, avoid such emotions.
• Do not worry Do your best, believe and trust in the universe.
• Express your thanks In this world it is easy to lose ourselves when we forget gratitude for being alive.
• Be diligent in your work, and be kind to others It is not important what we do, it is important what we learn from what we do. "Be kind to others" also means take good care of yourself, there is no difference between self and others in a universal dimension.
REFLEXOLOGY
REFLEXOLOGY dates back to ancient civilisations such as Egypt, India and China, but this therapy was only introduced to the West in the early 20th Century. The oldest documentation of Reflexology comes from a pictograph in the tomb of an Egyptian Physician Ankhmahor (2500-2330 B.C.) at Saqquara near Cairo.
It shows two men working on the feet and hands of two other men. The hieroglyphics above the scene read‘ Do not let it be painful’ says one of the patients.‘ I do as you please’ the practitioner says
In China there is evidence of some form of foot and hand therapy being practiced as long ago as 4,000 B.C., and the North American Indians have practised a form of foot therapy for hundreds of years. It was not until Dr William Fitzgerald USA 1872-1942 who was an Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon. He practiced in the USA, briefly in London and Vienna for 2 years. He was the founder of “Zone Therapy”, an early form of reflexology. But it was medical journalist Dr. Edwin Bowers who suggested his method be known as 'Zone Therapy'. Through research Dr. Fitzgerald discovered that if he exerted pressure on the tips of the toes or fingers, a corresponding part of the body would be anaesthetised. From this theory he divided the body into 10 equal zones running from the top of the head to the tips of the toes. He found that by applying pressure using tight bands of elastic on the middle section of each finger, or by using small clamps that were placed on the tips, he could carry out minor surgery using this technique only. These were very controversial ideas at the time.
However it was Eunice Ingham (1889 -1974) USA “The Mother of Modern Reflexology” who finally developed it to the form we now know and recognise. She was a Physiotherapist who worked in a Doctors practice and she used Dr Fitzgerald’s Zone Therapy method. However, she felt that the therapy could be more effective on the feet than the hands. After extensive research she evolved a map of the entire body on the feet. Hence the saying ‘The feet are a mirror of the body’. Eunice Ingham travelled around America for 30 years teaching Reflexology first to Doctors and Nurses and then to non-medical practitioners. It was in 1966 Doreen Bailey who was a former student of Eunice Ingham, returned to England and became the pioneer of reflexology as we know today in the UK
THE CONSULTATION AND TREATMENT
After a detailed consultation, asking about medical history and making sure there are no contra-indications to treatment, the therapist will make the client comfortable, this may be on a couch or a chair and foot stool and indeed, reflexology is extremely soothing and relaxing, many clients do fall asleep during treatment. There are different methods, some reflexologists like to work on both beet simultaneously others do not and if one or both of the feet are injured for example the reflexologist can work on the corresponding hand instead. The treatment generally lasts approximately an hour and generally begins with a soothing massage to relax and open the feet prior to the more detailed work on the specific reflexes. Each area of the feet when placed together mirror the body and reflexes is the term given to each area of the body mapped on the feet. e.g. the head reflex are the big toes. The type of pressure point massage we use is like finger walking using the thumb though we may use all our fingertips at certain points during the treatment. We can often tell where in the clients body there is an imbalance, this is where we might pick up a 'Reflex' and to describe what we find, its often a grainy area that dissipates when we work that area or the client may say there is a specific tender area, which may correspond to an area in the body where the client has an imbalance.
On completion the reflexologist will make a note of her findings and will often suggest a follow up treatment, the client will find that the treatment is very relaxing and its quite common for the client to state they feel as if they are walking on air.
Often many reflexologists work with doctors these days and doctors have now begun to see how reflexology is a valuable complementary therapy.
After a detailed consultation, asking about medical history and making sure there are no contra-indications to treatment, the therapist will make the client comfortable, this may be on a couch or a chair and foot stool and indeed, reflexology is extremely soothing and relaxing, many clients do fall asleep during treatment. There are different methods, some reflexologists like to work on both beet simultaneously others do not and if one or both of the feet are injured for example the reflexologist can work on the corresponding hand instead. The treatment generally lasts approximately an hour and generally begins with a soothing massage to relax and open the feet prior to the more detailed work on the specific reflexes. Each area of the feet when placed together mirror the body and reflexes is the term given to each area of the body mapped on the feet. e.g. the head reflex are the big toes. The type of pressure point massage we use is like finger walking using the thumb though we may use all our fingertips at certain points during the treatment. We can often tell where in the clients body there is an imbalance, this is where we might pick up a 'Reflex' and to describe what we find, its often a grainy area that dissipates when we work that area or the client may say there is a specific tender area, which may correspond to an area in the body where the client has an imbalance.
On completion the reflexologist will make a note of her findings and will often suggest a follow up treatment, the client will find that the treatment is very relaxing and its quite common for the client to state they feel as if they are walking on air.
Often many reflexologists work with doctors these days and doctors have now begun to see how reflexology is a valuable complementary therapy.
HOMEOPATHY
Origins of Homeopathy, the word “Homeopathy” is derived from two Greek words meaning“similar suffering”. History tells us that it was the Greek physician Hippocrates, who, in the fifth century, first wrote of the medical practice of treating like with like. So far as is known he was the first doctor to treat an illness with a substance that produces, in a healthy person, similar symptoms to those displayed by the person who is ill. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the principle “similia similibus curentur”, (let likes be cured by likes), was quoted by many physicians, including Paracelsus, often regarded as the ‘father’ of holistic medicine. Homeopathy is therefore not new but the form we know today is attributed to Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755 - 1843), a German Physician who in 1796 prove his "Law of similars". The basic principal of homeopathy is "Let like be cured by like". There is no scientific proof as to how Homeopathy works and although individual trials have positive results, some researchers have suggested this is down to a placebo effect. However that argument falls down when it comes to work on animals and many vets use homeopathy on animals.
Homeopathic remedies are prepared by serial dilution, the term used for this is calledsuccession, (succession means shaken) this is known as potentisation. For example the original solution, known as a mother tincture and one example is a plant or herb, though homeopathic remedies are made from a variety of substances, and the herb is placed in a solution of alcohol. This is left to potenize and the liquor strained off and this is known as 'Mother Tincture'. In the "C" system of potency or '100', one drop of this mother tincture is placed with 99 drops of alcohol and succussed and this makes '1C'. To make 2C, one drop of 1C is added to 99 drops of alcohol, succussed and this makes 2C and so on some remedies go on being diluted well into the millions e.g. 2M. The medicines are often given in tablet form, though they can be powders or even applied topically as in a cream. To make the tablets/powders a few drops of the appropriate remedy tincture is added to a bottled or phial of lactose tablets/powder and these pills are to be allowed to dissolve in a clean mouth, that is a mouth not tainted with strong flavours such as mint or coffee as they would neutralise the effect of the remedy as homeopathic medicines are very gentle and delicate. Generally 30 mins should have elapsed since eating etc.
Homeopathy works on an energy/vibrational level and treats the whole person i.e.holistically and not just a specific disease or symptom but takes into account of how the patient is feeling mentally, emotionally as well as physically. The homeopath taking the case will want to know, if the weather affects the condition in anyway, does food for example does eating cold food make the patient feel worse or better and taking a case history a patient can expect an hour long consultation as the homeopath is looking for the correct remedy to match the homeopathic drug picture. The homoeopath, views the symptoms as a direct manifestation of the body’s attempt to heal itself therefore a substance is given capable of producing similar symptoms if given to a well person. Homeopathy does not treat diseases but, rather, individuals with specific symptom pictures.
Homeopathy do not have side effects as they work in a totally different way from orthodox medicine however if a remedy is not quite right the patient could end up proving a remedy, where symptoms may show up but no harm will come to the patient. Occasionally, on first taking a Homeopathic medicine, the symptoms become worse. This is one of the "Laws of Cure" and called an ‘aggravation’, and should be regarded as a good sign as it shows that the remedy is working you should stop taking the remedy until the aggravation has passed and only resume if necessary. Aggravations are most common with skin disorders, as the body “throws out” the disease. Higher potencies work at a much deeper level. Occasionally patients may exhibit symptoms of conditions suffered prior to condition under treatment, or their symptoms may manifest in other parts of the body. For this reason only trained homoeopaths should prescribe high potencies because only they can properly monitor such situations. Other users should limit themselves to the 6th and 30th potencies. When you think about how homeopathic medicines are made in effect it can be quite difficult to ascertain how they do work for when the remedies are succussed theres no actually remedy in the solution especially when it comes down to the very high potencies. There are different theories to how this may be one is that the liquor used in making the remedies retains a memory or the original substances and this is transmuted in an energy.
The "Laws of Cure" from a more important organ to a lesser one i.e. an internal organ to external like the skin, from above down i.e. from pains in the abdomen the pain travels down the legs to the feet then out of the body. And ailments in reverse order, symptoms from old ailments may manifest themselves before leaving the body. You will feel better in yourself, even though you are still suffering from the ailment and the aggravation, where the ailment worsens before getting better.
Homeopathic remedies are made from a large variety of substances minerals, plants and animal substances and the first stage in making a homeopathic remedy is to 'prove' it. The original homeopathic remedy was 'proved' by Hahnemann. Homeopathic medicine, as we know it today, was produced by Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755 - 1843). He was a doctor who, after qualifying in 1779, soon became disenchanted with medicine as it was practised at that time. Hahnemann advocated much that is far from revolutionary nowadays: proper diet, regular exercise and improved social conditions. He was also very concerned about large doses of noxious substances that were prescribed as medicines.
In 1790 Hahnemann became interested in an eminent Scottish doctor’s explanation as to how a Cinchona Bark extract worked to cure ague, or malaria as we know it today. Cinchona Bark, having been used for centuries in South America for the treatment of malaria, was introduced into Europe by missionaries and was proving successful. The Edinburgh doctor, William Cullen, accredited this success to its toning action on the stomach. Hahnemann did not agree, and was prompted to undertake an experiment on himself. As a healthy person he took a substantial dose of Cinchona Bark extract and found that he developed symptoms similar to malaria, the very disease the drug was used to treat. Hahnemann then went onto test many other substances in this same way; administering doses to healthy people, noting the symptoms that developed - and then using the substance to treat a disease when the substance picture matched that of the “poison” picture.
Many of the substances Hahnemann used were indeed highly poisonous, and this prompted him to spend many years experimenting in order to find the smallest possible effective dose. He eventually developed the method of “potentising” the starting substance, and, by administering infinitesimally small doses, he found that he not only cured without undesirable side effects but also that the curative properties were enhanced. Such was Hahnemann’s success, particularly with endemic diseases, that Homeopathy quickly spread throughout Europe and across to America. Dr. Frederick Harvey Foster Quin introduced Homeopathy into Great Britain in the late 1820’s and 1849 founded the London Homeopathic Hospital. Homeopathy is recognised by Act of Parliament and widely accepted as a safe alternative form of medical treatment. It is practised by fully qualified doctors who are recognised by the General Medical Council and homeopathic medicines are available within the National Health Service.
BACH FLOWER REMEDIES
What are Bach Flower Remedies? Well they are a very gentle and natural remedy for dealing with stress. They were devised by Dr. Edward Bach he studied medicine first in Birmingham and later at the University College Hospital, London, where he was House Surgeon. He also worked in private practice, having a set of consulting rooms in Harley Street. As a bacteriologist and pathologist he undertook original research into vaccines in his own research laboratory.
In 1917 Dr Bach was working on the wards tending to soldiers returned injured from France. One day he collapsed and was rushed into an operating theatre suffering from a severe haemmorhage. His colleagues operated to remove a tumour, but the prognosis was poor. When he came round they told Bach that he had only three months left to live.
As soon as he could get out of bed, Bach returned to his laboratory. He intended to advance his work as far as he could in the short time that remained. But as the weeks went by he began to get stronger. The three months came and went and found him in better health than ever. He was convinced that his sense of purpose was what saved him: he still had work to do.
Homoeopathic research
His research into vaccines was going well, but despite this Dr Bach felt dissatisfied with the way doctors were expected to concentrate on diseases and ignore the whole person. He aspired to a more holistic approach to medicine. Perhaps this explains why, not being a homoeopath, he took the offer of a post at the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital.
Once there he soon noticed the parallels between his work on vaccines and the principles of homoeopathy. He adapted his vaccines to produce a series of seven homoeopathic nosodes. This work and its subsequent publication brought him some fame in homoeopathic circles. People began to refer to him as 'the second Hahnemann'.
The flower remedies
Up to now Bach had been working with bacteria, but he wanted to find remedies that would be purer and less reliant on the products of disease. He began collecting plants and in particular flowers - the most highly-developed part of a plant - in the hope of replacing the nosodes with a series of gentler remedies.
By 1930 he was so enthused by the direction his work was taking that he gave up his lucrative Harley Street practice and left London, determined to devote the rest of his life to the new system of medicine that he was sure could be found in nature. He took with him as his assistant a radiographer called Nora Weeks.
Just as he had abandoned his home, office and work, Dr Bach began to abandon the scientific method and its reliance on laboratories and reductionism. He fell back instead on his natural gifts as a healer, and more and more allowed his intuition to guide him to the right plants.
Over years of trial and error, which involved preparing and testing thousands of plants, he found one by one the remedies he wanted. Each was aimed at a particular mental state or emotion. He found that when he treated the personalities and feelings of his patients their unhappiness and physical distress would be alleviated naturally as the healing potential in their bodies was unblocked and allowed to work once more.
His life followed a seasonal pattern from 1930 to 1934: the spring and summer spent looking for and preparing the remedies; the winter giving help and advice to all who came looking for them. Most winters were spent in the coastal town of Cromer. Here he met and became friends with a local builder and healer, Victor Bullen.
The Bach Centre
In 1934 Dr Bach and Nora Weeks moved to a house called Mount Vernon in the Oxfordshire village of Brighwell-cum-Sotwell. In the lanes and fields he found the remaining remedies that he needed to complete the series. By now his body and mind were so in tune with his work that he would suffer the emotional state that he needed to cure and try plants and flowers until he found the one that would help him. In this way, through great personal suffering and sacrifice, he completed his life's work.
A year after announcing that his search for remedies was complete, Dr Bach passed away peacefully on the evening of November 27th, 1936. He was only 50 years old, but he had outlived his doctors' prognosis by nearly 20 years. He left behind him several lifetime's experience and effort, and a system of medicine that is used all over the world.
He left his work in the hands of his friends and colleagues Nora Weeks and Victor Bullen, with instructions that they should carry on his work and stay true to the essential simplicity of what he had done. In a letter to Victor dated 26th October 1936, a month before his death, he wrote:
"People like ourselves who have tasted the glory of self-sacrifice, the glory of helping our brothers, once we have been given a jewel of such magnitude, nothing can deviate us from our path of love and duty to displaying its lustre, pure and unadorned to the people of the world."
Nora and Victor stayed true to those ideals of simplicity and sharing, as does the Bach Centre today.
"Healing with the clean, pure, beautiful agents of nature is surely the one method of all which appeals to most of us"
- Dr Edward Bach, 1936
INFORMATION SUPPLIED © copyright 2009 The Bach Centre
THE REMEDIES
The 38 remedies are divided into seven emotional states and are prescribed for each individual:
Fear (Rock Rose, Mimulus, Cherry Plum, Aspen, Red Chestnut)
Uncertainty (Cerato, Scleranthus, Gentian, Gorse, Hornbeam, Wild Oat)
Insufficient interest in present circumstances (Clematis, Honeysuckle, Wild Rose, Olive, White Chestnut, Mustard, Chestnut Bud)
Loneliness (Water Violet, Impatiens, Heather)
Those over-sensitive to influence and ideas (Agrimony, Centaury, Walnut, Holly)
Despondancy and despair (Larch, Pine, Elm, Sweet Chestnut, Star of Bethlehem, Willow, Oak, Crab Apple)
Over-care for welfare of others (Chicory, Vervain, Vine,Beech, Rock Water)
There is one composite remedy which is often used: and one that I highly recommend and as a good introduction to the Bach System
Rescue Remedy
This contains five of the 38 remedies and as the name would suggest, it is the remedy for emergencies and calming in traumatic situatuions such as visiting the dentist, before an exam, after a shock
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