Alternative Therapies E-F

Emotional Freedom Technique
Described by Gary Craig, founder of Emotional Freedom Techniques, as "an emotional version of acupuncture except needles aren't necessary. Instead, you stimulate well established energy meridian points on your body by tapping on them with your fingertips. The process is easy to memorize and is portable so you can do it anywhere. It launches off the EFT Discovery Statement which says...
"The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy".

Further claims include-
"Once you have seen how well EFT clears out emotional debris, your next step is to notice how physical ailments start to fade. Headaches, back pains and other discomforts tend to improve or vanish. Your vision may become clearer and everyday stress takes less toll on your system".

The claims are supported by an impressive number of case studies covering a wide variety of emotional and physical conditions, as well as by medical practioners and researchers. The World Centre for EFT provides a free downloadable package to enable those interested in learning the techniques for themselves.
www.emofree.com

Energy Healing
A holistic therapy which treats the person rather than the symptoms. It involves tracing the cause of ill health or suffering through the physical and emotional symptoms to its roots deep within the human mind (psyche).

The philosophy is that health is promoted by the natural flow of energy through our bodies. When faced with difficult situations in our lives, this energy flow can become blocked or disrupted leading to ill health and suffering. The energy field (aura) is said to have four dimensions which include seven levels and chakras all of which have a part to play in the promotion of good health.

With the assistance of the energy healer, healing can be brought about by bringing the blockages to light and releasing them, and/or guiding the client through a process of inner enquiry that focuses on the cause of their condition. At this deeper level, the client is encouraged to create and take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. Some of the techniques used include chakra balancing, emotional clearing, clearing ancestral patterns (patterns of negative behaviour adopted from ancestors), and past life regression. For further information and directory of energy healers:
www.energyhealing.co.uk

Feng Shui
An ancient chinese discipline dating back thousands of years with its philosophy said to be based on the teachings of I Ching who lived some 6000 years ago. Originally used to determine the best sites for tombs and later for important buildings such as palaces and government buildings. As time passed, its practice grew to include whole cities.

Feng Shui literally means wind and water - the two containers for Qi (a kind of life force or spiritual energy) considered by its practioners to be the two most powerful forces in nature and the fundamentals of life. Since life exists within either air or water, qi is said to be the life energy that flows within these two environments. The goal of feng shui guidelines is to locate and orient dwellings, possessions, land and landscaping, etc, so as to be attuned with the flow of qi. Location is considered to be of far greater significance than orientation. Feng Shui is used to explain how the environment affects the lives of the people who live within it and in turn to use the environment to influence the quality of their lives. The closer they get to a natural form of life the better balanced their lives become, and is the real meaning of harmony. The integration of the external world and internal environment is believed to be important in maintaining a healthy mind and body. Practitioners believe that Western cultures have lost this connectedness with the earth and their environment and this lack of balance is a cause of much physical, mental, emotional and spiritual disease. Feng shui offers a means to reconnect and regain balance, health and good fortune. It involves the use of aesthetic, geographical, psychological, philosophical mathematical and astrological concepts in relation to space and energy flow. It is not simply a decorating style, but a discipline with guidelines compatible with many different techniques of architectural planning.
A few basic Feng Shui principles:-
When lying in bed, the entrance door should not be directly facing the soles of one's feet.
Straight lines and sharp corners are to be avoided, and especially should not point where people tend to sit, stand, or sleep.
Clutter in all rooms should be avoided including on tops of tables. Objects, clutter are said to represent piles of stress and bad luck to house dwellers. Sitting at a table, they should have an open view in front of them.
Stairs should never face the front door.
Some objects are believed to have the power of redirecting, reflecting, or shifting energy in a space. These include mirrors, crystals, windchimes, and pools of flowing or standing water.
For further information about the principles of Feng Shui:
www.fengshuisociety.org.uk