Reiki (pronounced “ray-kee”) is a therapeutic technique in which healing energy is channeled, or conducted, through a practitioner’s hands into the person receiving the treatment. It is believed that Reiki brings the body into emotional and spiritual balance, supporting the body’s natural ability to heal itself.
Reflexology
Reflexology is a technique in which pressure is applied to specific points on the feet (and sometimes the hands) to promote relaxation and improve overall health. Proponents of reflexology believe that the foot surface contains a coded map of the entire body and that particular points on the feet correspond to particular organs, glands, and body systems. Pressing these points with the fingers and thumbs is thought to encourage healthy functions in the corresponding areas of the body.
Qigong
Qigong (pronounced “chee gung”) is an ancient Chinese discipline that uses breathing, meditation, visualization, and repetitive physical exercises to cleanse and strengthen the body. Translated from the Chinese, qigong literally means “working with energy.” It is believed that this form of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) promotes health and vitality by strengthening the flow of qi (energy) throughout the body.
Prayer
Prayer is an address to an entity thought to be greater than oneself (the word “prayer” comes from the Latin precarius, which means “obtained by begging”). The practice is rooted in the belief that there is a power larger and wiser than our human selves that can influence our lives.
Polarity Therapy
Polarity therapy is a method of healing based on the concept that life-giving energy permeates every part of the human body. This force is thought to be governed by opposite “poles” of positive and negative electromagnetic energy–hence the therapy’s name. When a person’s energy becomes misdirected or blocked due to stress, trauma, or other factors, disease is believed to result. Peak health can be achieved when opposite poles are balanced and the flow of vital energy can proceed unimpeded.
Osteopathy
Osteopathy is a holistic approach to the practice of medicine. It emphasizes that all systems of the body are interrelated and that any adverse changes in one part of the body may impair the functioning of other systems or organs.
Naturopathy
Naturopathy is a distinct system of medicine that is based on a belief in the healing power of nature–and especially in the body’s innate ability to fight disease and heal itself. Practiced by naturopathic doctors (also known as naturopaths or N.D.s), it uses a wide range of natural treatment methods, rather than drugs or surgery, to stimulate the body’s own healing powers. Among the therapies many naturopaths frequently prescribe are diet and lifestyle modifications, nutritional supplements, homeopathy, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, detoxification, spinal manipulation, and more.
Native American Medicine
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.