Native American medicine is an umbrella term that encompasses the healing beliefs and practices of all the indigenous people of North America. Its therapeutic approach combines spirituality, herbalism, and magic in treating a wide range of physical and emotional ailments–from the common cold to depression.
Myotherapy
Myotherapy (“myo” is from the Latin for muscle) is a specialized form of muscle massage and stretching that uses deep manual pressure on specific spots on the body to release trigger points. Knots of tension, trigger points usually occur within a taut band of skeletal muscle or in the muscle’s fascia (connective tissue). Because they are painful upon compression, they can “trigger,” or cause, pain in other parts of the body. Myotherapy aims to relax these muscle knots and quickly relieve muscle-related pain.
Music Therapy
Music therapy is the use of music to induce relaxation, promote healing, enhance mental functioning, and create an overall sense of well-being. Individuals doing music therapy typically listen to or perform music under the guidance of a specially trained and certified music therapist. Considered one of the “creative arts therapies” or “expressive therapies” (which include art therapy, dance therapy, writing therapy, and drama therapy), music therapy can be used alone or in conjunction with other therapies or healing treatments.
Meditation
Practiced for several thousand years, meditation is a mind-body technique in which a person engages in quiet contemplation in order to induce a state of mental and physical tranquility. Most types of meditation have come to the West from Eastern religious practices–particularly those of India, China, and Japan. It is only in the past three decades that the technique has begun to be used mainly for health purposes, particularly for treating stress and reducing chronic pain.
Massage Therapy
Massage is the manipulation of the soft-tissues of the body. It helps to ease stress and muscular tension, relieve pain from injuries, and speed healing from certain acute and chronic conditions. Today millions of people worldwide visit massage therapists as a form of regular health-care maintenance.
Magnet Therapy
Magnet therapy involves the use of a magnetic device placed on or near the body to relieve pain and facilitate healing. The magnetic products on the market today come in many forms. They can be taped to the skin, worn as jewelry or in your shoes, or slept on as pillows and mattresses. Arthritis, insomnia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and headaches are among the long list of ailments for which people have tried magnet therapy. Although no one can say how magnets work, advocates claim that they can have a profound effect on the body, particularly in relieving pain.
Macrobiotics
Macrobiotics is a philosophy embracing the idea that living one’s life within the natural order will ultimately lead to good health, happiness, and an enhanced appreciation for the constantly changing nature of all things. It is based on the ancient Chinese principles of yin and yang, which represent opposite yet complementary forces believed to exist in all aspects of life and the universe. Things that are yin are flexible, fluid, and cool; things that are yang are strong, dynamic, and hot. According to macrobiotic theory, illness is the result of an imbalance in these two forces. Therefore, macrobiotic practitioners attempt to treat ailments by bringing yin and yang back into balance through diet and lifestyle changes.
Light Therapy
Light therapy is the use of natural or artificial light to treat various ailments, but primarily depressive and sleep disorders. It may be administered by a physician, physical therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist–or done on one’s own with proper instruction from a trained professional. While exposure to the full-spectrum wavelength of natural sunlight is considered the best form of light therapy, it is not always possible for many people to get outdoors. Therefore, light therapists often recommend treatment with simulated sunlight from light boxes.
Iridology
Iridology is the study of the colored part of the eye (called the iris) to determine potential health problems. Iridologists believe that changing patterns and markings in the iris can be used to reveal emerging conditions in every part of the body and to identify inherited weaknesses that may lead to physical and emotional disorders.
Hypnotherapy
The word “hypnosis” is derived from the Greek hypnos meaning “sleep.” Actually, you’re not asleep when hypnotized, but rather are in a trancelike state of restful alertness. This is accompanied by an extreme openness and receptivity to suggestion. Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis for self-improvement and/or healing. All hynotherapy employs hypnosis, but not all hypnosis is hypnotherapy.
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is the use of water to maintain health or promote healing. Ice, steam, and hot, tepid, and cold water are all used in a number of different ways–some widely accepted, others controversial. For example, external treatments, such as the application of ice to a sprained ankle or soaking in a hot tub to soothe sore muscles, have become common remedies and some are universally prescribed by both conventional and alternative practitioners, particularly naturopaths. However, internal therapies such as colonic irrigation are considered suspect and even dangerous by most mainstream doctors.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a comprehensive system of medicine in which practitioners use solutions containing minute amounts of animal, vegetable and/or mineral substances to promote healing. Homeopaths believe in what they call the “law of similars.” This means that “like cures like” and that illnesses can be treated by giving patients a small dose of a substance that produces similar effects to those of the illness. This is the same principle used in allergy treatments and immunizations.
Hellerwork
Hellerwork is a type of bodywork created by Joseph Heller, a former NASA aerospace engineer. Like Rolfing, Hellerwork uses deep-tissue massage to help reduce stress and ease mobility.
Heller was originally taught Rolfing by Ida Rolf, Ph.D., a Columbia University trained biochemist, who created the therapy in the 1930s. In 1976 he became the head of the Rolf Institute, now located in Boulder, Colorado, which oversees the training of Rolfing practitioners. Two years later he developed his own variation on the method, which added verbal dialogue and movement exercises to the hands-on work.
Feldenkrais Method
The Feldenkrais method is a form of “body education” that teaches students how to move their bodies more efficiently, improve coordination, expand range of motion, reduce stress on joints, and increase flexibility. (It is often referred to as “bodywork,” but this is a misnomer because the intention of the Feldenkrais instructor is to teach rather than perform direct structural manipulation.)
Fasting
Strictly defined, fasting is abstinence from all food and drink (except water) for a limited period of time to maintain or improve health, or treat a specific illness. Juice fasting, a popular variation, is abstinence from all food and drink except water, vegetable juices, and fruit juices. A modified fast includes small amounts of solid food, usually raw fruits as well as raw and steamed vegetables. Some advocates of fasting include other modifications as well, such as vegetable broth, herbal teas, and nutritional supplements. Most of the research into the therapeutic value of fasting has explored the water-only method.
Energy Psychology
Energy Psychology is the name of a family of therapeutic methods that address personal, psychological, emotional, and increasingly, physical, issues by working with the human vibrational energy matrix. Typically, energy psychology treatment focuses on disturbances on the meridian, chakra, or biofield level. One of the more popular forms of energy psychology looks like psychological acupressure.
Detoxification Therapy
Detoxification therapy includes a variety of techniques designed to assist the body in removing the buildup of potentially harmful chemicals and toxins. Practiced by many naturopaths, as well as some chiropractors, osteopaths, nutritionists, and holistically trained M.D.s, the purpose of the therapy is to improve the body’s overall well-being through internal cleansing and purification. Diet and lifestyle changes–such as giving up caffeine and fast food, cutting back on sugar, and quitting smoking–are considered key to the treatment. In addition, other techniques, such as hydrotherapy, colon therapy, chelation therapy, or even a supervised fast, are often suggested as part of detoxification.
Dance Therapy
Dance therapy (also called dance/movement therapy) is the use of choreographed or improvised movement as a way of treating social, emotional, cognitive, and physical problems. Throughout the ages, people of many cultures have used dance to express powerful emotions, tell stories, treat illness, celebrate important events, and maintain communal bonds. Dance therapy harnesses this power of movement in a therapeutic setting and uses it to promote personal growth, health, and well-being.
Crystal and Gem Therapy
Crystal and gem therapy is the use of semiprecious and precious stones to enhance mental, spiritual, and physical healing. It is based on the belief that certain crystals and gems possess a powerful energy that can positively affect imbalances in human energy fields and thus promote health and well-being. Practitioners believe that some stones direct their energy toward emotional states, while others affect certain organs through contact with the body’s related energy centers (known as meridians in traditional Chinese medicine and chakras in Indian Ayurveda).
Craniosacral Therapy
A gentle form of manipulation, craniosacral therapy is a hands-on healing technique typically practiced by physical therapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors. Craniosacral therapists manipulate the craniosacral system, which includes the soft tissue and bones of the head (cranium), the spine down to its tail end (the sacral area), and the pelvis. They also work with the membranes that surround these bones and the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord. Although the therapist uses a touch so light that many patients don’t even notice it, most people report feeling profoundly relaxed after a treatment.