The people of Switzerland have voted!
"In May 2017, health insurance plans in Switzerland will be covering a variety of healing modalities, including homeopathy, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine and holistic medicine.
In this way, Switzerland will be bringing back the many healing arts that were used successfully in the past." Learn more HERE

WHO global report on traditional and complementary medicine 2019

Excerpt: Traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) is an important and often underestimated health resource with many applications, especially in the prevention and management of lifestyle-related chronic diseases, and in meeting the health needs of ageing populations …
This report reviews global progress in T&CM over the past two decades and is based on contributions from 179 WHO Member States. It clearly shows that more and more countries are recognizing the role of T&CM in their national health systems. For instance, by 2018, 98 Member States had developed national policies on T&CM, 109 had launched national laws or regulations on T&CM, and 124 had implemented regulations on herbal medicines.
Countries aiming to integrate the best of T&CM and conventional medicine would do well to look not
only at the many differences between the two systems, but also at areas where both converge to help tackle the unique health challenges of the 21st century. In an ideal world, traditional medicine would be an option offered by a well-functioning, people-centred health system that balances curative services with preventive care.
WHO is halfway through implementing the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014–2023…
Download full report (pdf)

Both Chinese and Indian medical traditions, originating over 3000 years ago, remain trusted methods.

“The five elements demonstrate how all aspects of human health, [like] diet, movement, and emotions, are interconnected with nature and our environment.” - Teresa Biggs, AP, DOM

China

"The Chinese word, or character, for medicine actually comes from the character for music."
- Gao Yuan, composer, conductor, and pianist.
Gao Yuan is steeped in both the Chinese classical and Western classical music traditions, giving him a rare sensibility very suitable for Shen Yun.

Interview excerpts:
....
Q: There is an old belief, now being revisited, that music has the power to heal. Where does this idea come from, and how does it apply to traditional Chinese music?
GY: Our ancestors believed that music had the power to harmonize a person’s soul in ways that medicine could not. In ancient China, one of music’s earliest purposes was for healing. The Chinese word, or character, for medicine actually comes from the character for music.

During the time of the Great Yellow Emperor (2698–2598 B.C.E.), people discovered the relationship between the pentatonic scale, the five elements, and the human body's five internal and five sensory organs. During Confucius's time, scholars used music’s calming properties to improve and strengthen people’s character and conduct.
Today, scientific research has also validated music’s therapeutic ability to lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, enhance concentration, stabilize heart rate, and more. ... >>>more

Selected References

(1)
What is Chinese Medicine?
American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM)
Chinese medicine is a rich medical system that has existed in some form for more than 3000 years. ... Ill health is understood as stagnation, deficiency, or the improper movement of qì or xuè, and may result in an imbalance of yin and yáng. >>> ACTCM

(2)
The Five Elements:
What Science Has to Say About This Chinese Medicine Theory
- Beth Ann Mayer, Oct. 2021, Healthline
"...is this theory supported by science? Can the scientific approach and five element theory live side by side?
Here’s what experts and scientists say about the five elements, plus what they can and can’t teach you about your health.

What is the five element theory?
Five element theory, also referred to as Wu Xing or the five phases, has been a part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for centuries.

According to a 2008 report (Trusted Source), an early mention can be found in the ancient text Huangdi Neijing, which likely dates back to 300 B.C. Even so, this theory still has many believers today.

“The five elements are used in pretty much every different style of TCM to some extent [to] diagnose and differentiate between different illnesses, dysfunctions, and people,” says Tiffany Cruikshank, licensed acupuncturist, experienced registered yoga teacher, and founder of Yoga Medicine.

The five elements are each associated with an aspect of nature, a connection that runs deep. >>>more

(3)
My Kidneys Are What?
- ChadD, 2009
"ChadD" is an American-based acupuncturist with schooling from the New England School of Acupuncture at MCPHS.
"... the kidney system in Chinese medicine goes far beyond the role of the physical kidneys as defined by western medicine. The kidney system provides the root of our overall energy and has a large influence over our development. This begins while we are still in the womb and continues to influence how well we age throughout our life." >>> more

(4)
A brief history of acupuncture
– A. White, E. Ernst, 2004
"… During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion was published, which forms the basis of modern acupuncture. In it are clear descriptions of the full set of 365 points that represent openings to the channels through which needles could be inserted to modify the flow of Qi energy [7]. It should be noted that knowledge of health and disease in China developed purely from observation of living subjects because dissection was forbidden and the subject of anatomy did not exist." >>> more

India
One of the oldest of the Traditional Systems of Medicine, originating in India around 3,000 years ago, Ayurveda medicine evolved with the ancient schools of Hindu Philosophical teachings known as Nyaya-Vaisheshika School of logic: Nyaya (literally “rule or method of reasoning”).

"In ancient India, the schools of Nyaya and Vaisheshika focused on logic and atomic approach to matter. In this paper, the idea of atomicity and other physical ideas given in Vaisheshika are reviewed in light of the central role the observer plays in Indian thought" – R. H. Narayan (2007), Nyaya-Vaisheshika: The Indian Tradition of Physics (pdf)

Key concepts of India's ancient Ayurvedic medicine include universal interconnectedness (among people, their health, and the universe), the body’s constitution, and life forces, which are often compared to the biologic humors of the ancient Greek system. >>> more

“With the enormous knowledge of nature based medicine, the relationship of human body constitution and function to nature and the elements of the universe that act in coordination and affect the living beings…” >>> NCBI

From the archives:
A legendary 1903 tome from the Yoga masters, now in the Public Domain.

The Hindu-Yogi SCIENCE OF BREATH
by Yogi Ramacharaka
(Download pdf)
A wonderful historical document shared by a friend who said,
"VERY VERY USEFUL and hilarious in the way he talks about the ‘occidental’ view of things! It was written over 100 years ago and is so pertinent and useful, and I find if I breathe properly my body can go way beyond what I think it can do (eg riding 60 km after not having ridden much for 2 years! And people keep saying ‘how do you do it’!!)"

Excerpt:

"We may be pardoned if we express ourselves as pleased with our success in condensing so much Yogi lore into so few pages and by use of words and terms which may be understood by anyone. Our only fear is that its very simplicity may cause some to pass it by as unworthy of attention, while they pass on their way searching for something "deep", mysterious and non-understandable. However, the Western mind is eminently practical and we know that it is only a question of a short time before it will recognize the practicality of this work."

"Untilled Fields of Irish History"
On 29 August 1998, Peter Beresford Ellis presented a lecture to the annual Desmond Greaves Summer School on the history of Irish medical literature, "Untilled Fields of Irish History" which was published in the September 1999 edition of the legendary Irish journal An Phoblacht.

Excerpt:
Before the turn of the 19th Century, the Irish language contained the world's most extensive collection of medical literature in any one language. Just think about that fact. The great medieval Irish medical books are scattered in many repositories. These books survive from the 13th and 16th Centuries.

One would have thought that within the modern vogue for alternative medicine, these books would be examined by scholars and students producing their countless works on the ancient medicines of the world and medical histories. They are not.

There are many Irish medical works that are not even catalogued. From the time of Charlemagne, Irish medical men have spread through Europe. Niall O Clacán (c. 1501-1655) trained in medicine in the old Gaelic tradition and became not only physician to Louis XIII of France but Professor of Medicine at Toulouse and Bologna, writing some of the leading medical works of his day, such as Cursus Medicus. The University of Bologna, where he taught, holds several Irish manuscripts and even printed books from his personal library. ... Until we can rescue all of the material that has been neglected in these European repositories, covering over 1,000 years of Irish history, we will only have glimpses of Irish historical reality and never a total picture.
>>> more

Part 3
Back to top

BACH Flower Remedies

“Healing with the clean, pure, beautiful agents of nature is surely the one method of all which appeals to most of us.” Edward Bach

Between 1930 and 1936, English pathologist & bacteriologist Edward Bach (1886-1936) developed the Bach Flower Remedies.

Nora Weeks, in "The Medical Discoveries of Edward Bach" (1940), explained: Edward Bach closed down his London practice "to seek and find herbs which would heal the sick, but from which no ill effects could be derived."

The story goes, that Bach placed his mortars and pestles in one suitcase and his shoes in another, and accidentally took the case with the shoes, only to discover that he needed the shoes because he walked the fields and forests before dawn every day collecting the first dew from wild flowers. While testing their impacts on himself, he experienced the potency of each flower and then developed his systematic dilutions of the "mother tincture' of each plant.

"We are all healers, and with love and sympathy in our natures we are also able to help anyone who really desires health. Seek for the outstanding mental conflict in the patient, give him the remedy that will assist him to overcome that particular fault, and all the encouragement and hope you can, and then the healing virtue within him will of itself do all the rest." – Edward Bach

In 1934, Bach described how Flower Remedies work:

"The action of these remedies is to raise our vibrations and open up our channels for the reception of the Spiritual Self; to flood our natures with the particular virtue we need, and wash from us the fault that is causing the harm. They are able, like beautiful music or any glorious uplifting thing which gives us inspiration, to raise our very natures, and bring us nearer to our souls and by that very act to bring us peace and relieve our sufferings. They cure, not by attacking the disease, but by flooding our bodies with the beautiful vibrations of our Higher Nature, in the presence of which, disease melts away as snow in the sunshine." – Edward Bach

"The Twelve Healers and Other Remedies" 1941 (Free PDF),
by Edward Bach, places the 38 remedies under the following 7 headings.
The group names are based on the general emotional characteristics Bach identified for each of the seven Bach nosodes. The Bach nosodes were a set of homeopathic remedies made from bacteria, which Bach worked on between 1919 and 1928.

1. For Fear
2. For Uncertainty
3. For Insufficient Interest in Present Circumstances
4. For Loneliness
5. For those Over-sensitive to Influences and Ideas
6. For Despondency or Despair
7. For Over-Care for welfare of others

In his Introduction, p. 12, Bach explained,

. . . As the Herbs heal our fears, our anxieties, our worries, our faults and our failings, it is these we must seek, and then the disease, no matter what it is, will leave us.

There is little more to say, for the understanding mind will know all this, and may there be sufficient of those with understanding minds, unhampered by the trend of science, to use these Gifts of God for the relief and the blessing of those around them.

Thus behind all disease lie our fears, out anxieties, our greed, our likes and dislikes. Let us seek these out and heal them, and with the healing of them will go the disease from which we suffer. …

In treating cases with these remedies, no notice is taken of the nature of disease. The individual is treated and as he becomes well the disease goes, having been cast off by the increase in health.

All know that the same disease may have different effects on different people: it is the effects that need treatment, because they guide to the real cause... (Edward Bach, 1941, p. 12)

See Nora Weeks, "The Medical Discoveries of Edward Bach" (1940),
CH. V & VI.

Visit The Bach Centre