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SEEING MORE THAN MAY BE
IMMEDIATELY APPARENT TO THE EYE
Image source: Floco Tausin
Editorial MusingsThe Basis of Reality: What is real to you may not be real to me
Daniel J. Benor, MD, ABIHM, IJHC Editor-in-Chief
This editorial musing has been stimulated by two very thought-provoking articles. The first, by Larry Dossey (2011) discusses the confident but ignorant responses of scientists who trashed research showing that university students could make predictions about the future, such as which of two computer windows would be programmed by an automated system to display an erotic picture. The second, by Chris Mooney (Web reference), considers fascinating data showing that the more educated Republicans were, the more likely they were to reject scientific evidence for global warming. Following a discussion of these articles, I consider several important conclusions from these observations about how people form and hold onto their opinions. This is a vital issue in a world that is threatened by humanity's suicidal and homicidal behaviors, and seems unable to alter its course towards and killing every living being on our planet.
ResearchEffects of Reiki Treatment on Anxiety and Depression: A Randomized Control Trial
Vera A. Porter, ThD, PhD, David A. Eicher, PhD and Nanci Avitable, PhD
Background: The prevalence of anxiety disorder and depression are alarming and escalating worldwide. Reiki, a vibrational or subtle energy therapy, is believed to aid the body’s innate ability to regain balance and wellness and therefore may prove invaluable in reducing anxiety disorder and depression.
Objective: This randomized, controlled study examined the effects of Reiki on anxiety and depression.
Design and Setting: From June to October, 2008, seventy-six individuals were randomly divided into two groups, Treatment Group 1 (n=39) and Treatment Group 2 (n=37). All participants completed three weekly Reiki treatments given by the Principal Investigator in the office of the Principal Investigator.
Participants: Participants were a sample of convenience, from the general population.
Outcome Measures: The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory™ and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale provided data on two types of anxiety (state and trait) and depression. While both groups received Reiki treatments, the timing and data collection points differed for each.
Group 1: First data collection occurred at initial meeting, immediately before starting 3 weekly treatments, second, on completion of treatments, and third, 30 days after final treatment.
Group 2: First data collection occurred at initial meeting, then, after a three week waiting period, the second collection occurred before treatments were started. The third data collection point was 30 days after final treatment.
Results: There were statistically-significant levels of improvement in all three measures in Group 1: State Anxiety (p<.001), Trait Anxiety (p<.001) and Depression (p<.001) from Baseline to Post-test. In Group 2 change in State Anxiety was not significant for time (p=.07), however, changes in both Trait Anxiety (p<.001) and Depression (p<.001) were significant.
Conclusions: Findings indicate approximately 10% reduction in State Anxiety, Trait Anxiety and Depression after completion of the three Reiki treatments. These reductions were maintained at the 30-day Post-Intervention measure.
Remarkable RecoveriesThe Great Journey: A Dance With Cancer
Manya Lindsay
Sickness and health have fascinated me since I was a little girl in bed with the usual childhood illnesses. This was the time I had out of body experiences, explored other dimensions and what I called space. I called it time out and found it peaceful. Sickness has always been a time for reflection and understanding for me. I have had relatively good health apart from some gynecological problems. My main health challenge came with the manifestation of Cancer. I healed myself and am now in in excellent health and able to share this experience with others who may find it helpful. I travel, teach and heal others.
Living with Life ChallengesAnger
Mary Ann Iyer, MD
Anger is a universal emotion. Almost everyone experiences its ravages. It seems the more we express anger without concern for its effects, the more anger there is to express! There truly is a different way. By fully allowing ourselves to connect with and experience the sensations of anger while not acting, we find the quickest way out of self-inflicted pain. If, instead of pushing away our anger, we get curious about what we are trying to tell ourselves, we get to the matter at hand in such a way that allows true resolution.
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Variations on the Theme of HealingDew and Flower Essences
Sara Crow, L.Ac.
In many regions dew is crucial for providing nourishment and necessary moisture for countless plants and animals. It has been highly regarded around the world by many traditions as a symbol of rebirth and regeneration, and considered to have important healing powers.
Intimations of Immortality: Subtle Experiences of Birth and Death*
Geoffrey Oelsner, MSW, ACSW
Many have noticed that the veil between this world and the subtle realms is thinner at and after times of birth, as well as at death. The English poet William Wordsworth worded this most worthily in his great poem “Ode. Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” (1807):
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy.
Almost as good is the little rhyme by George MacDonald my grandmother taught me:
“Where do you come from, baby dear?
Out of the everywhere, into the here.”
Over the years, I've been blessed to experience some of luminous and subtle dynamics inherent in the deaths of relatives and friends, in a phenomenally strange miscarriage, and in the conceptions, births, and early years of my partner Leslie and my children. These thinnings of the veil have strengthened my confidence in the reality of the soul's journey. They have assuaged and healed some of the grief I've felt when dear ones have died, revealing to me hints of the eternality of the Life which lives us all, containing both birth and death within its seamless oneness.
The following is a bouquet of true stories and poems, which hopefully carry some of the fragrant, ineffable scent of that mysterious oneness.
Wholistic ApproachesFrom Prehistoric Shamanism to Early Civilizations: Eye Floater Structures in Ancient Egypt*
Floco Tausin
This article is based on the assumption that prehistoric shamanic rituals include the perception, interpretation and depiction of what we today know as eye floaters (muscae volitantes). It is suggested that, together with other shamanic symbols, floaters continue to be experienced and depicted not only in later shamanic societies up to the present day, but also entered the visual arts of early civilizations. The present article supports this thesis from the example of ancient Egypt. A closer look at Egyptian visual arts reveals geometric structures and characteristics that are typical of eye floaters. It is speculated that two central mythological concepts, the sun and the world, are directly or indirectly inspired by the perception of floaters.
Student and Healee ExperiencesWholistic News Reviews
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Poetry, Art and Humor are HealingPoetry, Art and Humor in IJHC May 2012
Book ReviewsRobert Anderson. Stories of Healing: A Family Doctor's Journal
Daniel Kahneman. Thinking Fast and Slow
Jane Simington. Listening to Soul Pain [DVD]
Linda Howe. Healing Through the Akashic Records
Jeremy Rifkin. The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis
Geoffrey Oelsner, MSW, ACSW. A Country Where All Colors Are Sacred and Alive, A Memoir of Non-Ordinary Experience and Collaboration with Nature
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