INTRO. In America, doctors follow the Western belief in using medication and doing various testing procedures when treating patients, while the Hmong shamans believe in treating the spiritual ailment of the person through elaborate traditional practices. Shamans who themselves are epileptic try communicating with “a malevolent spirit called a dab” (Fadiman 1998: 4). The Hmong shaman is “believed to have the ability to enter a trance…and negotiate for this patients’ health with the spirits who lived in the realm of the unseen” (Fadiman 1998: 4). The differences between the two cultures pose many problems for Hmong refugees who seek medical help in America. However, American doctors taught to have an open mind and to have respect towards other…
My personal favourite holistic method of healing is that which incorporates crystals and chakras into the healing process. Energetic healing has been practiced in almost all civilizations throughout history (Shore 2004:42) and it has been shown that practicing spirituality, crystal healing, and chakra healing do actually contribute to overall calmness and healing of the body and mind (Friedman 2012:2). Using the proper crystals in combination with the chakras related to and on the physical body is said to align that chakra back to its original state, and each chakra is typically associated with certain characteristics and a colour. I learned in a crystal meditation class that the colours of the chakras associate with the colours of the crystals that are best used to balance each specific chakra, and that the characteristics of each chakra will allow you to know whether or not they are in alignment. As everything in the world is made up of vibrating particles, it seems sensible to believe that these crystals, which are made of the earth’s pure elements, can have an impact on our energies through the different frequencies of vibration in combination with our conscious thought that it is healing us. Incorporating spirituality into medicine makes sense as spirituality refers to wholeness of life, be it with…
This article informs the reader that healthcare professionals are more involved than ever with the treatment of patients. This places a lot of responsibility on the provider and therefore they should be armed with spiritual tools if they are going to effectively and holistically help with spiritual needs of a patient. Healthcare workers treat all types of people of various cultures and religious backgrounds. Many clients participating in various religious cultures have their own worldviews regarding how they will…
(3) What is important to people of a particular faith when cared for by health care providers whose spiritual beliefs differ from their own?…
The practice of healing restores the body, mind and spirit to a balanced state of nature. It is practiced in many forms and its manifestations are found worldwide. Healing practices emerged from the ancient times, and with the entwining of cultures, it has evolved into the intricate traditions they are today. Some of these practices include those of the Greeks, Indians, Igbo people, and the Chinese. Overtime, these healing practices have become well respected. Healing traditions are an important part of the community we live in, and have been implemented into many parts of our society (Bokur).…
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that has been around since the beginning of mankind. At one point in history, it could be found on every continent in the world. It is classified as an animistic religion, which is more of a belief or perspective than an actual practice. Animism is the belief that all people have souls, and animals and objects have spirits. Shamanism is very similar to the Animism beliefs, but only Shamanism is practiced. The date that Shamanism started isn’t agreed on, there has been rock art in Siberia that have evidence of Shamanistic practices that goes back 5,000 or more years; but others think that it has been around even longer than that. The practice was believed have been started by the Tungus tribe, which…
In the story “the Curing Woman” by Alejandro Morales, draws on the traditional Mexican folktale, it has the elements of social realism and magical realism. The story describes the life of women by the name of Doña Marcelina and Trujillo Benidorm. Marcelina leaves her home at a young age, at the age of thirteen years old, so that she could be with her mother. Marcelina mother was a healer. Marcelina became widely known for her art for curing people. The story was all about the cure of a particular young boy by the name Delfino, who had malady that could not be cured by doctors. The story is more of a myth then reality. To be a doctor we have to go to school. But to cure people like that was in the story Marcelina had no schooling. This is where the spiritual comes in, this is something I believe in. For the young boy to be healed he had to have faith. When we talk about the spirit what I take from it is the Holy Spirit that Jesus left for us and this gives us the power to heal just like Marcelina did in the story. The person that is being healed has to believe in the Holy Spirit in order for them to be healed.…
Eric Chapman, founding president and chief executive officer of the Baptist Healing Trust in Nashville, Tennessee, envisioned a healing hospital that wound not only tend to an individuals’ physical aspect of healing but to the spiritual component of the mind, body, soul connection (Chapman). This paper will describe the healing hospital paradigm and how spirituality influences it. In addition, the barriers to the implementation of the Healing Hospital Paradigm will be discussed as well as Biblical scriptures that support the concept of compassion, love, and faith as influential cornerstones to health.…
References: Albert, M. (1998) Spirituality and Healing in Medicine Retrieved March 15th, 2013 from: http://www.learningplaceonline.com/illness/hope/spirit-medicine.htm…
Puchalski, C. M. (2001). The role of spirituality in health care. Proceedings Baylor University Medical Center. 14(4): 352–357 PMCID: 16369646[PubMed] PMCID: 1305900. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1305900/…
Another type of healing surrounds religious beliefs known as faith healing. This uses the power of suggestion, prayer, and faith to promote healing. Some healers reject medical treatment as incompatible with their beliefs…
From this course, I have discovered a plethora of different types of spiritual care that involve religion and some that do not. Things such as: biofeedback, chakra, alderian therapy, theraputic touch, reiki, hydrotherapy, and music therapy. The main two spiritual therapies that I learned the most from, was music therapy and aromatherapy. I truly had no idea that these types of things could have such a profound affect on patients physically, such as decrease in vital signs and pain, and mentally by calming and reducing anxiety. Both can easily be incorporated in the care of my patients as well as in the patient’s…
Religion and spirituality are two very different things that people often mistakenly categorize as the same, but to learn to understand the two you first must know the meaning behind them both.…
In past societies, healers were deemed to be the most genuine and heart-filled people in their villages, and all that they wanted to do was help make their people better, without any reward necessary. But in today’s society, our healers or so to speak doctors want nothing more than money before and money after our desired healings. Then when people come in with just the littlest of an illness, they give that person a prescription for a certain medicine, that we have no idea what it actually pertains to, and yet they take it anyway in hopes that it will cure them as soon as possible.…
He stated that he was a form of guidance for the person and he claimed to do this by providing the individual with the pieces/opportunities to put things back into perspective. He stated that “Nobody could heal you but acknowledgement brings healing” and that’s what he used to support his practice because in his practice he’s not healing you, he’s just helping you heal yourself. He believes that people can only receive guidance when they are healing but they are the ones who heal themselves. The next presentation I attended went against the whole idea that an individual is the only one to have the power to heal themselves. The next presentation was done by someone named Astarius Miraculii, he claimed that the sounds of his Didgeridoo helps people find themselves as well as helps heal people. His Didgeridoo (the instrument that he uses to conduct his music) can perform a prayer through sound (harmonic alignment), which is how he started off his presentation. According to Miraculii, the didgeridoo has the ability to clear negative energy, help heal, and remind people of who they are. He states that there is power in words and sounds, which is why he is allowed to help people…