I write this article on behalf of myself as an alternative healer, as well as for healers all over the world.
As a healer, there are many things we do that may seem unconventional, and to some it may even appear to be too "woo woo".
Often a healers' role is undermined, criticized, made fun of and most people do not see the value of what healers offer.
OK, we know that there are snake oil healers out there who have given alternative healers a bad rep.
But there are also many unethical money driven conventional doctors in practice who have abused the doctors' code of ethics and yet many still turn to conventional doctors when the going gets tough.
In Asia, even though traditional medicine has been around for a long time - Chinese Traditional Medicine has a history of more than 2,000 years, Ayurveda is known to have been around for more than 3,500 years, Jammu Medicine as well has a very long history, more and more people who are 'better educated' and have better opportunities in life compared with their ancestors have long ditched the traditions and the ways of the old to live a life that is more appealing with a faster pace complete with quick fix remedies for any and all problems.
This is not a debate on whether the old is better than the new.
But a reminder not to forget that some good old traditional remedies can do an equally good job in some health challenges.
On social media platforms we see many postings on natural remedies for somecommon and chronic illnesses and people are actually interested in them and sharing them with their friends.
But how many people are really trusting of these remedies? More frequently than not, people would automatically reach out to what they know to be 'more real' and what gives them a sense of security.
When people tell me that western medicine is real medicine, while alternative medicine seems like hocus pocus, I feel they could not be more wrong.
Patients are subjected to tests upon tests in western medicine to determine what is wrong with them.
In alternative medicine, the healer usually asks questions about their physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual well being to get a more holistic view of what is going on within the person's being.
In order to do a good job of receiving a holistic view, the healer must be able to practice what they know, including making sure that their own well being on the physical, emotional and mental levels are at the best levels they can be, and to hold that to their highest ideals as much as possible.
If one's focus is only on the physical well being of one's client, then one certainly cannot see the bigger picture of giving the client the best possible care.
Inevitably one will only be treating the symptoms but not the cause.
I observe that people do not realise how much self and internal training a healer has to go through to become an effective healer.
And most of the time the training becomes part of the lifestyle of the healer, because the healer understands what it takes to become whole on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.
When people ask for evidence, they often forget the human experience.
Explaining the work of alternative healers can be likened to the experience of explaining what love is.
We know it is there, yet it is hard to prove with evidence that it exists.
Because it is about the human experience.
So take the examples of having butterflies in the stomach, having a lump in the throat, feeling a certain emotion and why we feel love in the centre of our chest area when our physical heart is located on the left side of our chest, and why we experience anger more often than not in our stomach area.
Can there be any hard evidence to prove these experiences are real other than just trusting the evidence of the human experience? Alternative healing work is about the human experience and how to allow the clients to experience themselves as whole again.
And it is also about finding where the imbalances are on the whole being that are not allowing the client to feel whole on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.
As a client of an alternative healer: you are not a statistics, you are a person.
You are not an experiment, you are given the best care possible that suits your unique needs.
You are not just a responsibility between a senior and junior staff, your healer actually looks you in your eyes and communicates with you.
You are not just a medical staff's patient in name only, you are truly a client of a healer who knows your history and is open to listen to your intimate details of your well being.
There is another way for your healthcare, because you are not a number, you are a human being.
As a healer, there are many things we do that may seem unconventional, and to some it may even appear to be too "woo woo".
Often a healers' role is undermined, criticized, made fun of and most people do not see the value of what healers offer.
OK, we know that there are snake oil healers out there who have given alternative healers a bad rep.
But there are also many unethical money driven conventional doctors in practice who have abused the doctors' code of ethics and yet many still turn to conventional doctors when the going gets tough.
In Asia, even though traditional medicine has been around for a long time - Chinese Traditional Medicine has a history of more than 2,000 years, Ayurveda is known to have been around for more than 3,500 years, Jammu Medicine as well has a very long history, more and more people who are 'better educated' and have better opportunities in life compared with their ancestors have long ditched the traditions and the ways of the old to live a life that is more appealing with a faster pace complete with quick fix remedies for any and all problems.
This is not a debate on whether the old is better than the new.
But a reminder not to forget that some good old traditional remedies can do an equally good job in some health challenges.
On social media platforms we see many postings on natural remedies for somecommon and chronic illnesses and people are actually interested in them and sharing them with their friends.
But how many people are really trusting of these remedies? More frequently than not, people would automatically reach out to what they know to be 'more real' and what gives them a sense of security.
When people tell me that western medicine is real medicine, while alternative medicine seems like hocus pocus, I feel they could not be more wrong.
Patients are subjected to tests upon tests in western medicine to determine what is wrong with them.
In alternative medicine, the healer usually asks questions about their physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual well being to get a more holistic view of what is going on within the person's being.
In order to do a good job of receiving a holistic view, the healer must be able to practice what they know, including making sure that their own well being on the physical, emotional and mental levels are at the best levels they can be, and to hold that to their highest ideals as much as possible.
If one's focus is only on the physical well being of one's client, then one certainly cannot see the bigger picture of giving the client the best possible care.
Inevitably one will only be treating the symptoms but not the cause.
I observe that people do not realise how much self and internal training a healer has to go through to become an effective healer.
And most of the time the training becomes part of the lifestyle of the healer, because the healer understands what it takes to become whole on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.
When people ask for evidence, they often forget the human experience.
Explaining the work of alternative healers can be likened to the experience of explaining what love is.
We know it is there, yet it is hard to prove with evidence that it exists.
Because it is about the human experience.
So take the examples of having butterflies in the stomach, having a lump in the throat, feeling a certain emotion and why we feel love in the centre of our chest area when our physical heart is located on the left side of our chest, and why we experience anger more often than not in our stomach area.
Can there be any hard evidence to prove these experiences are real other than just trusting the evidence of the human experience? Alternative healing work is about the human experience and how to allow the clients to experience themselves as whole again.
And it is also about finding where the imbalances are on the whole being that are not allowing the client to feel whole on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.
As a client of an alternative healer: you are not a statistics, you are a person.
You are not an experiment, you are given the best care possible that suits your unique needs.
You are not just a responsibility between a senior and junior staff, your healer actually looks you in your eyes and communicates with you.
You are not just a medical staff's patient in name only, you are truly a client of a healer who knows your history and is open to listen to your intimate details of your well being.
There is another way for your healthcare, because you are not a number, you are a human being.
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