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member, Human Development and Harmony Cluster, Pamayanang SanibLakas ng Pilipinas
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1. Total Human Development and Harmony Through Synergism 2. Holistic Health Care and Medicine 3. Deep Ecology and Harmony with Nature 4. Sense of History and Sense of Mission 5. Civics and Democratic Governance 6. Culture as Community Creativity 7. Light-Seeking and Light-Sharing Education 8. Gender Sensitivity, Equality & Harmony 9. Reconstructive/Restor-ative Justice 10. Associative Economics, Social Capital and Sustainable Development 11. Synergetic Leadership and Organizations 12. Appropriate/Adaptive Technology 13. Mutual Enrichment of Families and Friendships 14. Human Dignity and Human Harmony: Human Rights and Peace 15. Aesthetics Without Boundaries: 'Art from the Heart' . |
Healing Energies of Love By Sylvia O. de Guzman (The author, Sylvia O. de Guzman, is a human development specialist, writer, and educator who has studied and practiced natural health and healing techniques such as Tai’ chi and meditation over the past 11 years, and is affiliated with several organizations teaching and disseminating such techniques. The following is a short excerpt from her Principles and Techniques of Natural Health and Healing) Science has established the physiological effects of love, hope, joy, and peace of mind, as well as of depression and despair. The healing energy of love is very powerful; love is a potent medicine and cosmic force that heals, renews, and keeps us young. Psychologists have shown that the effects of love on the body can be measured: the unloved infant will have retarded bone growth while the stroked infant grows faster. Pregnant mothers beset by fear, worry and irritation release chemicals to the womb that keep the fetus in a state of arrested development. The effects of peace of mind are also measurable: people who meditated on or confided traumatic experiences to diaries rather than repressing them were shown to have enhanced immune function. Dr. Bernie Siegel achieved increased rates of remission in cancer patients by incorporating the potent healing energies of love in his healing program. Other Natural Health and Healing Practices Exercise and sauna are detoxifying since toxins are released as we perspire. Exercise also perks up blood circulation, invigorates the body’s physical and physiological processes, and stimulates the release of endorphins which have an uplifting effect on one’s spirit. There is also the healing energy of color. Being of varying wavelengths, different colors emit different vibratory rates of energy, and affect our emotions and moods differently. Pastel colors such as light blue and pink are used for their calming influence in psychiatric wards while vibrant colors such as red and yellow are used to stimulate activity in factories and workplaces. Sleep not only has physical value in affording rest to our body; it also has a psychic contribution to our well-being. Stimulation of Energy Centers Stimulation or activation of the chakras is also crucial in maintaining and enhancing health and vitality. These are energy centers in the subtle body corresponding to the glandular systems in the physical body, that act as control centers and transformers converting higher forms of energy into energy that the body and mind can productively use. By stimulating the chakras, we can release great stores of energy for the development of human capacities. Scientists have long established that, on the average, human beings only utilize less than 10 percent of their innate abilities, while more than 90 percent lie dormant and untapped. Techniques such as Tai’ chi chuan, meditation, and hatha yoga activate energy centers, stimulate unimpeded energy flow, and foster inner harmony. Natural Cycles of Health Another useful knowledge not yet fully explored is the knowledge of natural cycles as these affect our health and vitality. Periodicity or rhythmic patterns commonly occur in nature – there are the natural cycles of the seasons, of alternating day and night, high tide and low tide, the rotations and revolutions of the planets, the regular pulsations and vibrations in different crystals and elements, and the regular progression and stages of growth of different life forms. The human body is also subject to natural cyclical functions as seen, for instance, in regular pulse rates and EEG wave patterns. Periodic cycles in the health and vitality of people have been observed and studied, leading to intricate knowledge of strong phases when a person’s health and vitality is at its highest and critical phases requiring greater caution when the person’s health and vitality is at its lowest, when the body’s defenses and immune system are down and, consequently, the body is more prone and vulnerable to disease. There are also periods when we have a greater predisposition towards particular diseases of specific body parts, organs, and systems, such as when we are more susceptible to nervous strain or ailments of the digestive system, or when the blood pressure has a greater tendency to rise. We could use knowledge of these natural cycles of health to our advantage, for instance, by undertaking strenuous activities requiring much energy at the period when our health is at its peak, and by exercising greater caution and avoiding unnecessary exposure to the elements when it is at its ebb. Power of Mind Over Matter There is much we can do to control our health and to improve it by employing the power of the mind. Proponents of the mind over matter principle have traditionally been mystics. But now, according to cellular biologist, Dr. Bruce Lipton, there is considerable scientific evidence to show that individuals have the ability to control their own well-being and to reprogram their cells by changing their beliefs and attitudes. Many cases have dramatically demonstrated the stupendous powers of the human mind. In the archaeological diggings at the pharaoh’s tomb in Egypt, for example, it was only when the hieroglyphic markings were deciphered and understood by the workers that they succumbed to the curse contained in the markings, for they had by then allowed the mental poisoning of the curse to gain entry into their consciousness and wreak havoc in their system. Psychology has long acknowledged the power of auto-suggestion. Studies of biogenics or autogenics, such as those conducted in Europe and the former Soviet Union, show that human beings are capable of controlling and regulating even such automatic physiological processes as blood circulation and glandular secretion, and of consciously directing themselves into states of optimum physical performance. In a famous series of experiments at the Menninger clinic in the early 1970s, a noted spiritual adept from India, Swami Rama, demonstrated remarkable control over bodily functions that were thought to be totally automatic. He displayed the ability to raise his heartbeat at will from 70 to 300, a rate far beyond the normal range and yet he was unaffected by this cardiac event which cause heart arrest in others because it was under the direct control of his awareness. In one instance, Swami Rama caused the skin temperature on one side of his right hand to grow warmer while the other side became colder, the rate of change proceeding at about 4 degrees Fahrenheit per minute, until one side was flushed red with warmth and the other pale with cold, with the total temperature difference being 10 degrees. Such principles of mind over matter are at play in the incredible feats of yogis in regulating and controlling their metabolic processes to such an extent that they are able to have themselves buried alive underground for several days. Around the world, practitioners of Tantra, Tibetan Buddhism, shamanism, Native Americans, and Sufis teach practices for controlling involuntary body responses. In Tibet, young monks training in kundalini techniques are expected to demonstrate their bodily control by such feats as sitting on a frozen lake and melting the ice around them with the warmth they generate in an intense meditative state. Use of Visualization in Healing Using the energy of thought, natural healing employs techniques of visualization or mental imagery for health and healing. There are even techniques of distant healing wherein healing energies are radiated or projected to persons who are geographically distant. The principle behind visualization or mental creating is that everything that manifests on the physical or material plane has first manifested in some higher plane, such as the mental or psychic plane, and “what the mind can conceive, we can achieve.” Thus you can help recreate yourself into a healthy person through visualization. Medical doctors today recommend the use of visualization, in coordination with standard medical procedures, to treat a broad range of common, chronic, and even terminal diseases. Numerous studies have shown how forming mental pictures can affect body physiology and even electric fields. Visual imagery has been found to be an effective technique for relieving headaches, allergies, and for general pain relief, vitality, and restful sleep. More critical conditions of cancer and tumor have shown great improvement when the mind was used to bolster the immune system. Examples of these are the highly successful cancer programs of Dr. Bernie Siegel and the Simonton medical couple who achieved up to double the average number of remission cases in cancer patients by incorporating visualization techniques such as affirmation techniques and graphic paintings depicting the patients’ successful battling of their illness. Another area where visual imagery has been extensively applied is in sports training. Olympic athletes in various fields, such as skiing, golf, and track and field, have demonstrated the value of mental rehearsals in enhancing sports performance. Not only does visualization increase an athlete’s confidence, it also affects his muscle movement. Because of creative visualization’s powerful effects on the body, it has been used in practical applications relating to body regulation, such as weight control and in eliminating detrimental habits such as smoking. Psychologist, Robert Ornstein, and co-author, David Sobel, in The Healing Brain document research studies on the use of creative visualization or visual imagery in support of conventional medical remedies to hasten the removal of warts, and even to sculpt the human body, such as for breast augmentation. Mental Reprogramming As explained by Dr. Bruce Lipton, consciousness resides in our cells. Although our cells are programmed to respond in certain ways while we are young or still in the womb, they can be reprogrammed to act differently. Correcting our thinking, feeling, attitude, and behavior, and adopting a positive attitude can eliminate the root cause of many diseases that plague us. A change in personality can change the body’s physiology. Disease can be brought into existence by the mind. Similarly, it can be cured by the mind. Diseases with Karmic Roots We should note, however, that there is a class of diseases that may be difficult to heal, except to alleviate some pain and suffering, because these diseases may be attributed to deep-seated karmic causes, being the result of some actions we did or the adjustment of conditions we created in the past, perhaps in a previous lifetime. Such ailments, for example, as congenital deformities, may be meant more for us to derive certain important lessons in life and to accept with grace, humility, and philosophical understanding. In health and healing, as in all life, self-knowledge and self-mastery are of crucial importance. In much the same way that we can control and shape our destiny by our actions today and at each moment, so also can we do much to control and improve our health and well-being. |
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Synergism and the Cosmic Human-- in Cosmology, Philosophy, &
Spirituality
