which we would agree on the following:
• A concept of the human being as a fully integrated, self-healing organism that can, at times, be treated like a mechanism and survive
• A concept of health and disease as outlined in this book: briefly, health as the optimum functioning of human beings on physical, emotional, social, and spiritual levels; disease as information and an initially positive attempt to preserve function
• Our respective areas of true competence, ineffectiveness, and overlap
• The value of anecdotal evidence— what the patient feels and describes— because of the infinite amount of uncontrollable, scientifically unknowable variables that comprise a human being
• Declaring allegiance to the uncertainty of practice rather than the certainty of theory
• The fact that the patient’ s subconscious knows whether his or her condition is dangerous or not; that this subconscious can be consulted regularly through precise questioning and the“ focusing” technique; and that, if its responses are carefully considered, it can be the healing professional’ s best ally both in choosing treatment and in evaluating its effectiveness
• The fact that the healer’ s most valuable tool is intuition rather than knowledge— although knowledge and practice are absolutely essential to sharpen and focus the intuition
• The fact that no one has The Answer, but that each healing method will solve part of the puzzle; and that serious professionals in any healing field have the obligation to know about others in related fields, so as to be able to refer patients to them
• The need to educate the public about the different healing methods available, so that each“ health consumer” may in fact pick among them as he or she now picks among the different foods in a supermarket Once we had some sort of consensus, we would establish which conditions should be treated with which healing method first. I cannot begin to enumerate all of the many variations of diseases afflicting human beings, nor present a full listing of all the healing systems. But here is a tentative and sketchy list of what I think would work:
• All conditions, but especially fatigue, mental fuzziness, colds, skin eruptions, recurrent infections in any part of the body, respiratory and digestive ailments, and other adjustments and discharges, as well as chronic conditions such as arteriosclerosis, arthritis, allergies, cancer, and so on, should first be treated by dietary management.
• Exercise should be routinely prescribed, especially for conditions of stagnation, sluggishness, and accumulation, such as cardiovascular diseases, slow digestion, overweight, malabsorption.
• All minor problems such as headaches, fevers, colds, and digestive disorders would best be treated with medicinal foods, herbs, and drinks.( See chapter twelve for some simple approaches to such conditions.)
• Problems with absorption and transformation of food can be treated with herbs and dietary supplements.
• Malfunctions such as diabetes and hypothyroidism, after dietary treatment has done all it can, could possibly benefit from chemical medications, moderately used.
• Backaches and problems with the skeleton are probably best handled initially by chiropractors and osteopaths, rather than surgeons.
• Pregnancy should be treated as a normal event and not a disease, and should be managed by midwives in homelike settings. Only in the event of abnormal conditions or special risks— the mother’ s illness, or structural defects— would it become a medical affair.
• Female complaints would first be treated by removing all hormone-related foods from the diet( dairy products, hormone-treated chicken or beef). Whatever complaints remain after ten or twelve months could then be treated by other methods.
• Malfunctions of cycles and movement( menstrual irregularities, glandular misfirings, sluggishness in any organ) could benefit from energy manipulations such as acupuncture, polarity, bodywork treatments, shiatsu massage, or psychic healing.
• Structural problems and mechanical traumas, such as multiple fractures or tumors that impede the functioning of some organ, will need to be treated with surgery when indicated.
• Psychological disorders, including depression, would first be treated by removing sweets, sugar, milk products, and ice cream from the diet; by ascertaining that the patient is not protein starved or overmineralized; by investigating the possibility of chemical allergies; and additionally by talk, inner reflection, vigorous exercise, therapy, psychic healing.
• Physical problems that resist diet, supplements, medicine, or other material manipulations could be dealt with by the same methods as the nonmaterial ones applied to psychological disorders. If technological medicine admits its limits and makes room for other healing systems that in many cases are more successful; if the naturalistic / holistic movements accept and recognize the value of the vast knowledge and extraordinary craftsmanship of modern medicine; and if we can integrate the two approaches to healing,