Article: The Holistic Path to Healing and Health

Traditional Chinese Medicine gets to the core issues of disease
By: PAUL GERST

WE ARE VERY COMPLEX beings living, at times, in a very complex world. Because of this so many people with chronic health problems aren’t finding the answers they seek. As a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and one who has been studying medicine for almost two decades, I would like to share some insight into what I’ve learned about symptoms, the treatment or medicine we choose to combat these symptoms and what it means to follow a holistic path.

It is interesting to me that we in the United States, have the most money and resources, yet we have widespread chronic disease. There are many factors that cause chronic disease, including pathogens (bacteria, virus, fungi, yeast), parasites, inappropriate and prolonged thought-patterns, spiritual imbalance (not doing what you are saying…or, “living a lie”), bad diet, not enough and/or poor quality sleep, to name a few.

My belief is that many of us have become detached from our body, mind, and spirit. Every day I see this in my practice; many patients have a lack of understanding of who they are and why they are sitting in front of me. All they know is that something started hurting bad enough to get them to pick up the phone and this is all too often months or years after it started! And to top it off, when challenged to make changes to re-establish balance and harmony, those challenges are often met with resistance and rationalizations.

Symptoms are messages from the body and brain that there is an imbalance or disruption in function. These messages should be interpreted as signals that it is time to make a change. Oftentimes addictive behaviors perpetuate the procrastination to take care of one’s health and then one needs serious intervention.

Whether this intervention comes from an allopathic physician or an alternative health practitioner, true healing must occur at the necessary level of the body, mind, and/or spirit. This means that whether the causes are physical, mental, or emotional, they need to be appropriately addressed. One of the reasons there has been a tremendous shift away from the “traditional” doctor visit is that our local doc doesn’t address the body from an energetic standpoint. Energy medicine not only deals with the energy systems of the body but also the metaphysical aspects—dis-ease of the mind and spirit. Getting to the root of the problem ensures lasting change and the TCM practitioner can help with this.
To take a holistic approach is to look at all the known causes of disease, get as deep an understanding of the individual or patient, consider all the possible contributing factors (physical signs and symptoms, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) and address them with appropriate treatments. Holistic is not using as many natural treatments as possible to treat your symptoms; it is using logic and reason to get to the root cause of the symptom profile and patient presentation.

The key to success is to examine this equation and see where practitioner and patient error can enter, thus deterring the desired outcome. The practitioner must ask: Did I sense all that was there for me to see, feel, hear, etc? Did the patient tell me everything? Did they follow the treatment that was laid-out for them? Are they doing other things that may interfere with the treatment? Are they ready to make the necessary changes? What does it mean to find the appropriate treatments for a patient?

This is what is called the Zen aspect of health; it is a simple list of factors that cause disease, but figuring it all out in relationship to the individual and making the proper decisions and changes can be challenging and complex.

Maybe it is time we Americans take some of the external toughness we are so good at emitting and turn it on ourselves. Maybe it is time we address our personal issues, emotional wounds, fears, etc. Maybe the answer to our health problems is closer than we think.
 

Paul Gerst of Gerst Acupuncture in Rice Lake, Wisconsin has been practicing acupuncture for 11 years and is also a Certified Neurolink Practitioner and Certified Hypnotherapist. He owns Dragonfly Seminars and travels the country doing workshops on health and spirituality. He may be reached at: 715-736-1014.