In Reply to: Re: New Age and Holistic Health posted by OldtimerToo on July 16, 2004 at 10:07:37:
I understand what you are saying, and at the same time I'm confused.
I don't consider "holistic health" to have much, if anything, to do with the New Age movement. At the same time, I know that some New Age writers are big promoters of wholism/holism. If "wholism" means healing with crystals, then I'd say it's synonymous with New Age.
My background in this stuff is the nursing practice, which has published some very interesting research on therapeutic touch and the science of alternative healing systems (e.g., acupuncture) that are based in non-dualistic assumptions about the human body.
Acupuncture is based on a set of assumptions about mind/body integration that does not make a rigid distinction between spirit and flesh. Western allopathic medicine is based on some fairly rigid assumptions about what comprises "mind" or "intelligent energy" and the extent to which "mind" is a function of "spirit."
If "mind" is just a lot of neurochemical processes and brain structures (as Western medicine presupposes), then "spirit" is not something that has relevance to health. I'm not sure there's anything in Judeo-Christian tradition that clearly defines the metaphysics of "human spirit" or "life force" or "intelligent energy" or "mind."
We know from research that what a person believes about health, illness, and the spiritual dimensions of life has a tremendous influence on recovery from disease and injury. This is why people who pray for a return to health appear to recover more rapidly than those who do not believe in the efficacy of prayer. Whether or not they enliven their "spirit" through connection with a Higher Power is difficult to demonstrate scientifically. What we can say is this: There appear to be ways in which the human spirit can influence healing of the body.
If "spirit" is an observable entity and is analogous to what the acupuncture healing system refers to as "chi"--then perhaps there are systematic, empirical ways to work with the spiritual dimension of health and wellness. Research in nursing practice has shown how therapeutic touch activates "chi" or the "spirit" or "intelligent energy" that enlivens a human body, for example.
This is the kind of stuff I link to the term "holistic health."