Definitions of Alternative Medicine, Complementary Medicine, Adjunctive Medicine - Part 7

facial diagnosis: Mode of macrobiotic diagnosis whose postulate is that cheeks, nostrils, ears, and other parts of the head represent the conditions of different internal organs.

faith healing (spiritual healing): 1. Any method wherein one makes an appeal to God or a spirit to participate in healing others, typically a combination of intercessory prayer, meditation, and utilization of faith in God. 2. An ill-defined group of methods that encompasses absent healing, Christian Science, the laying on of hands, mesmerism, and shamanism.

Feldenkrais Method® (Feldenkrais technique): Mode of bodywork originated in Israel by physicist and engineer Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (1904-1984). It is a form of "movement reeducation" whose alleged results include "increased levels of vital energy" ("renewed inner vitality"). The method has two "aspects": (1) private, one-on-one instruction (Functional Integration), and (2) group instruction (Awareness Through Movement).

feng shui [foong shway, fung shway]: Ancient Chinese "art" of situating or orienting objects and towns to promote a "healthy" flow of chi ("vital energy"). Its postulate is that all areas, large and small, have a distinctive "energy" that is guidable by rearranging objects (e.g., removing an ornament from an apartment, or adding one to a particular corner of a room). No-noes include clutter, dark corners, gloomy colors, low ceilings, and sharp, pointed objects. "Feng shui" literally means "wind and water" and is translatable as "vital energy" or "geomancy."

Five Rites of rejuvenation (Five Rites, The Five Tibetans, Tibetan Five Rites): Subject of Peter Kelder's Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth, first published in 1939, published by Harbor Press Inc. in 1989, and published by Doubleday-with "The Lost Chapter"-in 1998. The "Rites" are bodily movements, reportedly of Tibetan origin, that resemble those of hatha yoga. Practicing them supposedly: accelerates the flow of "vital energy" through chakras and encourages these alleged centers or vortices of "psychic energy" to function optimally. The Five Rites are also the subject of The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power (Inner Traditions International Ltd., 1994), by Christopher S. Kilham.

Foot Reflexology: An ancient "cousin" of acupuncture. It involves pressing "reflex areas" on the feet. Its postulate is that these areas correspond to organs and systems of the body. Purportedly, Foot Reflexology "really cleanses" the mind and body and "revitalizes energy." A common theory of reflexology holds that massaging certain areas of the feet restores health by breaking up and dispersing "crystals."

Functional Integration®: Form of the Feldenkrais Method that involves private, one-on-one instruction.

Gestalt therapy (Gestalt, Gestalt Psychotherapy): "Holistic approach" cofounded by psychiatrist Fritz (Frederick) Perls (1893-1970), M.D., and Laura Perls. It shares little with Gestalt psychology (configurationism). Its theory posits five "personality layers." According thereto, one reaches the "death layer" when "blocked feelings" and "psychic energy" condense and knot, and the "life layer" through the release of "blocked energies." The purported aim of Gestalt therapy, which includes dreamwork, is to help clients achieve "wholeness."

glandular therapy: Method whose philosophy is: "Like cell helps like cells." According thereto, intake of a glandular substance quickly results in its use as nourishment for a similar gland.

Gnosis: The "philosophy of the universe," as old as the world, according to the Gnostic Association of Anthropology and Scientific Studies (AGEACAC), a bilingual (Spanish/English) organization whose National Center is in Elmhurst, New York. AGEACAC holds that humans cannot develop their faculties if they lose "sexual energy" in any way (e.g., masturbation), that religious principles are eternal and universal truths, that there are no false religions, and that "Cosmic Religion" vibrates in every atom. Gnosis supposedly permits the "harmonious" development of "infinite human possibilities."

Hakomi (Hakomi body-centered psychotherapy, Hakomi Body-Mind Process, Hakomi Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, Hakomi Method, Hakomi Method of Body/Mind Therapy, Hakomi Therapy, Hakomi work): "Refinement" of Reichian Therapy developed by Ron Kurtz in the mid-1970s. The Hakomi Method supposedly uses the "mind/body connection" to elicit nonverbal "core beliefs." It is based partly on bioenergetics, Buddhism, and Taoism. "Hakomi" is a Hopi word that means: "How do you stand in relation to these many realms?" (loosely, "Who are you?").

hatha yoga (hatha, yoga): One of the major Hindu disciplines. Akin to kundalini yoga, hatha yoga involves pranayama and the adoption of various bodily postures (asanas). The word "hatha" combines two Sanskrit words: ha, which means "the breath of the sun" (prana), and tha, "the breath of the moon" (apana).

Healing Science (Barbara Brennan Healing Science): "Spiritual" system concocted by Barbara Ann Brennan, author of the bestseller Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field and Light Emerging: The Journey of Personal Healing, both published by Bantam. Brennan, who holds a master's degree in atmospheric physics, founded The Barbara Brennan School of Healing, in East Hampton, New York, in 1982. Her system is a form of energy field work that includes "Core Star healing" and "Hara healing." "Hara" is a Japanese word that some alternativists use to denote the tanden, the alleged seat of ki (supernatural "energy") in humans, slightly below the navel. The name of Brennan's "guide," whom she purportedly channels, is "Heyoan."

Hellerwork: Combination of massage, "movement education," and dialogue invented in 1978 by aerospace engineer Joseph Heller, the first president of the Rolf Institute (see "Rolfing"). It stems largely from Rolfing and Aston-Patterning. Its theory posits "masculine energy" and holds that the body is a "vehicle," "hologram," or channel for "life energy" through which "self-expression" can "radiate."

Hemi-Sync®: "Brain-integrating" audiotape system developed by Robert A. Monroe (author of Journeys Out of the Body, Far Journeys, and Ultimate Journey) and promoted by The Monroe Institute, in Faber, Virginia. The institute claims that particular Hemi-Sync tapes can control pain, increase strength, lower blood pressure, reduce appetite, weaken addictive behavior, hasten recovery from illness or surgery, enhance recovery of speech and motor skills after a stroke, and control the metabolism of food by either maximizing or minimizing "the caloric value retained."

Hippocrates health program (Hippocrates program): Variation of Nature Cure developed by "wholistic health educator" Dr. Ann Wigmore (1904-1994), author of Be Your Own Doctor, The Healing Power Within, The Hippocrates Diet and Health Program, Hippocrates Live Food Program, Recipes for Longer Life, The Sprouting Book, The Wheatgrass Book, and Why Suffer?. Wigmore founded the Hippocrates Health Institute in 1957. The Hippocrates program encompasses brushing the skin, deep breathing, enemas, food combining, the Hippocrates Diet (see "Living Foods Lifestyle"), and exercises such as squatting. According to its theory, "integration of body/mind/spirit" is central to health. In Belief: All There Is (1991), Brian R. Clement, codirector of the Hippocrates Health Institute, in West Palm Beach, Florida, asserted: "[B]elief can bring you anything that you desire" (p. 41). He further stated that death is a "sham"

holistic dentistry (biological dentistry, holistic general dentistry): Form of general dentistry that may include acupuncture, biofeedback, CranioSacral Therapy, and/or homeopathy.

holistic medicine: 1. Alternative medicine. 2. That form of alternative medicine which focuses on (a) personal accountability for one's health; (b) the human body's ability to heal itself; and (c) balancing the body, mind, and "spirit" with the environment. Holistic medicine encompasses acupuncture, biofeedback, faith healing, folk medicine, meditation, megavitamin therapy, and yoga.

holistic nursing (wholistic nursing): Form of nursing that exalts intuition and may include AMMA Therapy, biofeedback, guided imagery, Healing Touch, homeopathy, iridology, massage therapy, Oriental medicine (especially acupuncture), psychic healing, tai chi, and/or Therapeutic Touch. Its purported goal is integration of body, mind, and spirit.

Holotropic BreathworkT(Grof breathwork, holonomic breathwork, holonomic therapy, holotropic breath therapy, holotropic therapy): Psychotherapeutic technique developed in the 1970s by Czechoslovakian-born psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, M.D., and his wife, Christina Grof, author of The Thirst for Wholeness. It involves breathwork (hyperventilation), sound technology (mainly loud music), and the drawing of mandalas (aids to meditation), and it may include "focused bodywork." Holotropic Breathwork is an alleged access to one's "natural healing energies." It purportedly can induce "transpersonal experiences," which, according to Dr. Grof, can provide information about any "aspect" of the universe in the present, past, and future.

homeopathy (homeopathic medicine, homeotherapeutics, homoeopathy): Form of energy medicine (vibrational medicine) developed by German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (17551843), who coined its original name. The major homeopathic theories include five that Hahnemann either hatched, or embraced and expounded: ? The law of similars ("like cures like"): According to this principle, the most effective potential remedy for a particular disease is that substance which in healthy persons has effects similar to the symptoms of the disease if the substance is applied in quantities that render it bioactive. ? The doctrine of individualization (the rule of the single remedy): According to this principle, the ideal potential homeopathic remedy for a particular ill person is that substance which induces in healthy persons all the health problems, mannerisms, and dispositions the ill person has related if it is applied in quantities that render it bioactive. ? The doctrine of the minimum dose ("less is more"): According to this principle, peculiarly selected substances trigger healing without side effects when they are applied in quantities that render them nonbioactiveor even when they are only seemingly, spiritually applied. ? The doctrine of potentization ("dynamization"): According to this principle, successively diluting and vigorously shaking a potentially therapeutic liquidor successively thinning and vigorously grinding a potentially therapeutic solidspiritualizes the substance, thus increases its curativeness, and detoxifies it. ? The doctrine of the vital force: According to this principle, the alleged vital force (for which Hahnemann coined the word "dynamis") is the source of all biological phenomena, it becomes deranged during illness, and homeopathic "remedies" work by restoring it. Hahnemann also developed "the theory of the chronic miasms," which holds that all chronic diseases resistant to homeopathic treatment stem from three alleged hereditary propensities: "psoric," "sycotic" (gonorrheal), and syphilitic "miasms." According to the "miasmatic" or "miasmic" theory, "psora," the alleged original miasm, manifests itself as scabies and other skin diseases.

Hoshino Therapy (Hoshino Therapy® Art): System of bodywork developed by Tomezo Hoshino, an acupuncture diplomate and onetime pedicurist who was born in 1910 in Atsugi, Japan. Hoshino Therapy includes a manual form of acupressure that uses 250 "vital points."

The Human Ecology Program: Purported synthesis of aerobics, biochemistry, homeopathy, naturopathy, orthomolecular medicine, philosophy, and "psycho-cybernetics" developed by artist and "research physician" Da Vid, M.D. Its theory depicts God as "The Life Force": an eternal, fundamental, omnipotent, and omnipresent--yet mysterious (indeed, indefinable)--"Power" immanent in humans. A "fundamental component" of the program is, in effect, the endeavor to become identical to "The Power." The Human Ecology Program apparently embraces: Artainment; bodywork (especially chiropractic); "communion," meditation, and/or prayer; dietary supplementation; The Freedom Aerobic Exercise ProgramT (a videotape program); homeovitics; and radionics.

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