Homeopathy Tips Newsletter

Inspirational Healing and the Tong Ren method.

By David Holt DO, HMD

In the Fall of 2009 I encountered a method of healing which appeared to be both peculiar and fascinating:  Tong Ren.  In the previous four years or so I had been emphasizing the practice of integrative medicine in the care of folks with a diagnosis of cancer.  This was a tremendous opportunity to explore the limitations of both orthodox and alternative healing methods and there were many cases where the best we could do was provide relief and comfort until their passing.

The Tong Ren method was devised by Tom Tam, an acupuncturist in Boston Massachusetts over a decade ago.  He is well known for getting very good results in a wide variety of challenging cases and a large portion of his clientele are diagnosed with cancer.

The technique is disarmingly simple and based on a system which sees that meridian and other blockages in particular patterns are responsible for a given illness.  Rather...

The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan is old news now. After over two and a half years the situation is still about the same and growing more precarious everyday. All of the power generating nuclear reactors are damaged. There are reports that three of them are in uncontrolled meltdown. The location of the radioactive material may not be clearly known because the radiation levels are so extreme there is no way to get close enough to the melting blob. This material has most likely melted through the containment vessel made of very thick concrete.

This disaster is far worse than the Chernobyl nuclear power disaster. When the hydrogen explosion blew the top off of the reactors there was an incredible fireball sent high into the sky. With it was a release of highly radioactive particles that have drifted into our atmosphere. 8 days after the explosion the radioactive fallout made it to the North American continent where it has been distributed....

Do you ever wonder why things work out the way they do? Why we suffer the myriad of ways in life aside from our health. Or why things seem to work out despite our fears? I know that the universe is not just a random chaotic accident. I do not believe in accidents. Everything has its purpose and the universe is always reflecting to us exactly what we need.

In homeopathy we focus mainly on health and the relationship to the body. But what if one considers the entire realm of a persons experience an extension of his/her body. Then things outside of our sphere and control seem to have a different effect.

It is never about the "outer world" of our life experience. Our outer world can not exist without our inner worlds interpretations. Often though we feel victimized by life circumstances and events seem out of our control. Often they are out of our control but they may also have significant meaning to us. If we look at a person's life story as an extension...

The skin being the largest and least vital organ of our bodies has probably the very most symptoms for people in general. There are hundreds of diagnosed skin conditions and you would have to be a dermatologist to even begin to recognise their differences. But the most common skin conditions are urticaria and eczema. These effect more people than any other conditions and are usually acute and self resolving.

Eczema is sometimes referred to as dermatitis. The word derives from Greek meaning to boil over and is quite descriptive of the condition. Principle symptoms are redness, swelling, sensations of heat and itching.  The causes of eczema may be internal, external or a combination of the both. As with urticaria the causes are usually an allergic response that the body is finding a way to resolve. Food allergies, detergents, plant or mineral contact can all play a part in the development of allergic responses. Most common are foods including milk products, eggs, nuts, wheat...

Maybe all of you have heard of Qi or Chi. It is the name of our energy in Chinese Medicine. Qi is an energy that circulates in our being and is throughout our being. It is not just in our physical body but also a part of our being. Wei Qi is a particular kind of Qi that amounts to our defensive Qi. It is somewhat akin to our ability to ward off psychic attack as well as our immune system defence being able to ward off a viral or bacterial attack. Homeopathic healing provides a similar support when we are inspired through our response to a remedy.

During recent international travel I found that there was a cough that was epidemic in Northern Europe. Many people in public places had a very wet cough with much mucous rales. This cough was deep and persistent. After many days of exposure to this cough I was being challenged to keep my Wei Qi up.

People were not at all courteous or practicing good hygiene. They would not cover their face or even turn away. I was amazed at...

The last time I wrote about influenza was back on May 5, 2009; Influenza Pandemic?  Since then we have heard much about the influenza pandemic. One of the comments I had then and still do today is if there is a pandemic, meaning mass populations around the globe of people who are suffering from the flu symptoms, why haven't I seen any cases of influenza locally? Well in the last two weeks there have been 7 cases of influenza that I have seen. This does not seem like a particularly high number of people suffering, compared to any previous year. But I must say the fear around the suffering has been extreme. It seems the media blitz is having it's effects.

There have been 3 remedies that have been most useful so far. Two cases required Arsenicum, two cases Bryonia and 3 cases needed Gelsemium. This is about average in terms of common remedies necessary during the flu season. I differentiated the remedies based on their symptoms. One thing common to all of the cases was the...

Some responses to the last newsletter left me very encouraged about who we are as homeopath's. Sometimes it is easy to get lost in our "role" as health care providers and miss the bigger task at hand. There is a model I teach all of my students that I want to share with all of you that helps define who we are as homeopaths.

     Every science is based on a primary assumption. The primary assumption in homeopathy is there is a vital force that is non-material; spiritual. If we recognize this as the foundation for our healing art then a spiritual model becomes necessary for a greater understanding of our part as the homeopath. 

     Another assumption is that there is a creative energy animating and bringing all things into existence. This creator we have historically given the name G-d. So if G-d is creating all things then I (homeopath) and my client (suffering client) are an extension of G-d's creation. In essence there is really no...

Morgellons disease is the name for a new unexplained skin disorder that seems to be effecting more people all of the time. I have seen 5 cases of this in the last few years but I have an observation that may shed some light on this strange disease.

Morgellons disease is characterised by sores and lesions on the skin that itch intensely. This is accompanied by a crawling sensation on and under the skin. Often this is described as like a worm or a bug. The most recent case described it like a particular starfish with many tentacles extending all around the body. Every person has also claimed there are worm like threads or fibers that come out of the lesion. They each brought these fibers to the appointment for inspection. Each of them looked like a human hair.

Other symptoms include confusion and lack of concentration. It effects short-term memory, but interestingly the patient can remember intimate details of the disease. Often there is severe fatigue.

The...

Homeopathy is at a crossroads. The future looks bright, but I have some deep concerns also. It seems there is a growing divide between those who want to see homeopathy legitimatized by standards and regulation and those who recognize the individual uniqueness of the homeopath, client and remedy. This I do not think can be standardized.

The group that wants to see homeopathy become mainstream medicine strives for a standard model of education as well as competency. This effectively lowers the standard of homeopathy to the lowest common denominator. In this model, every school must teach a standard minimum curriculum and testing. This is the same model that we have seen in the education of children in America. Much emphasis is put on testing with the individual who excels, being ignored. I think we have an educational vacuum in America as we are losing our brightest individuals to a standardized process. Read this very well written article. It is the same for homeopathy as with our...

In modern medicine we have many treatment modalities. Some end in -pathy. I want to explore what each of the pathy's are and how they differ. We all know something about Homeopathy, but there are several other sub-modalities and other systems of medicines carrying the same" pathy". First it is good to understand what "Pathy" means.

"Pathy" means suffering. It is a state of being that is not harmonious with our divine state. We are made in the image of G-d but suffering is inherent to our worldly existence. The "pathy" in all of the modalitites of healing is a suffix to the form of healing system. Homeo-pathy is similar - suffering. It is based on the law of Simila similibus curentur or "like cures like". We apply the law of similars to acheive the healing response. It recognizes the vital force and aims to treat the whole person and cause, not just the symptom. It is a completely different approach than some of the other "pathy's".

Allopathy or hertopathy is the treatment of disease...