When the reflexologist pressing on some points and gauging my reaction, he deduced that i was a smoker with a history of low blood pressure (ever since i was little, when i tried standing up too fast, i get this “semi-blackout”), and i was constipated at the time. I thought to myself, “holy ****, he’s right”, and that changed my attitude toward reflexology. Bear in mind i haven’t smoked all day (for respect to my mom) and i didn’t tell him anything prior to the meeting.

Afterward, my digestion system is back on track. Then i used the knowledge he taught me (“just press this and this point” that’s what he said) with apparent effect (No more semi-blackout now). and all that cost me the equivalent of $1,5 (obviously it’s not in U.S).

I’ve always treat everything i read & watch, scientific or testimonial alike, with a grain of salt. However i can not deny anything that i experienced first-hand. just my two cents.

Find me some real evidence that is supported by the scientific community (not the homeopathy/alt-med-fad-du-jour community) and you’ll make a believer out of me.

Firstly, I work with healing energy. I don’t claim to cure cancer or raise the dead, but I can – and do – help with pain, both short term, and long term (as in old injuries and inflammations). Often, I am NOT told what or where the injury is, and often work remotely, without being able to see the patient. Yet, I still have successfully treated a variety of injuries and painful body traumas, by working directly on the affected part, and telling the patient what is is that is bothering them, which they then confirm is the case. Coincidence? Hardly. I can “see” the affected area very easily, and immediately work on it. The principle works the same way X rays do. Which, if you’ll think about it for a moment, is a form of energy. That stuff you um… don’t believe in, right?

I’ve manipulated bones and muscles from thousands of miles away, can easily affect peoples energy levels – upward OR downward – and general moods, and can give short or long term pain relief, as well as relieving symptoms of all kinds. I have first hand experience at helping people who actually didn’t believe I could help them. Total skeptics. Works for them, the same way it works for believers. *grins*

As for scientific evidence and links to back it up, no problem;

http://www.reiki.org/Download/OschmanReprint2.pdf

I’m not a miracle worker, and I happily admit that. But I do make a positive difference to those I am allowed to help. And for the record, I’m equally at home with science as I am with the “woo woos”.

One last thought – as for making a killing from my treatments, as a matter of fact, I don’t change for what I do. No gifts, no donations, nothing. I do, because I can – not because I’m interesting in material gain.

Now, do I expect you to suddenly open your mind and take anything I’ve said on board? Of course not. Your mind is a rusted steel trap, closed to anything “different”. No amount of evidence to the contrary will shift your position.

And there, you and scientific methodology part company. It has no bias, it merely seeks to learn what is the fundamental truth of things.

I can relate to that.

Can you?

Best wishes – Tiger

I wish I could find the reference but there was an individual that went to China to observe this so called “Qi”. What he observed shocked him and the Western world. He observed patients being cured as much as Western medicine could provide similar ailments. He even observed a patient under acupuncture anesthesia. The acupuncturist blocked the patients pain by using pins to block the flow of Qi and the patient underwent brain surgery! True the brain has no pain receptors to register pain but the process to access the brain is quiet painful! The patient also had a quicker recovery time, whether this is due to placebo or not is left to the unkown. What we are finding is that alone Western medicine and Eastern medicine do not cure all or cure completely many ailments. We are finding that a combo of the two provides much better results. One notable difference between the two forms of medicine is that Eastern tends to have more of a focus on preventative where Western is a reactive. We are only recently seen more trends toward the former.

Here is reference to an article printed in the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4493011.stm

Chiropractic like you mentioned is only good for skeletal manipulation. Many times though ailments are caused by an inpingement by the skeletal system. So by fixing the misalignment you will fix or ‘cure’ the problem. You need multiple visits due to the fact that your muscles will try and move the bones back to the state that they were in prior to treatment. The problem comes in finding a chiropractic that is truly good at what they do, as many of them are quacks. I believe that they alone have done more damage to their profession then any other skeptic.

There has been much research in the healing properties of human touch. This article focuses on massage… http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-28-touch-healing_N.htm

If we were to base all healing on whether or not it worked for everybody or a majority, then no form of healing really works and will only carry some merit. For me personnally, I have a high tolerance to pain and thus most OTC medications will not work and even some prescribed goodies (i.e. percocet) do not work for me either. When I go to the dentist I either deal with the pain or get put under completely for procedures.

Healing is subjective as well. Although the procedures and protocols for the process are set and a doctor may declare a patient cured, they may not be healed. A person who may be rid or cured of cancer may not be healed. I have had shingles. Though the actual episode is gone I still have residual pain and scars. Am I healed? I know this all plays into semantics, but it shows that healing is subjective.

So what does work for one person out of the world does not discredit that healing modality. I think that your “healthy skepticism” only blocks the possibility of you being healed but a different modality. To each their own.

Human experience is entirely subjective. I takes more than someone telling me they tried it and it worked, for me to believe its validity. Its not good enough for you to say “studies in Europe have shown” unless you can produce said studies. This is not self-righteous arrogance, its healthy skepticism.

When a Reiki practitioner cures something more substantial than a vague sense of unease or a minor niggle that would have gone away by itself in 24 hours, then I’ll sit up and pay attention. Until such time, I’ll continue to call these as I see them; unfounded, untested, unscientific woo-woo designed the line the pockets of practitioners with the potential of distracting patients from getting real treatments that could actually help them.

Scientific fact, is constantly changing and is really the opinion of whoever is speaking. No matter how credible or objective they or their data may appear.

After years of derision, about a decade ago, acupuncture was declared a cure by the AMA for high blood pressure, and as an effective treatment for a number of different conditions.

Acupressure is now being taught to U.S. military doctors for battlefield and therapeutic use. Yet, you can still find articles that claim there is “no evidence” that it does anything.

Reiki, Therapeutic Touch and similar (and more effective) methods have been proven effective in studies in Europe and Asia, but you rarely see those results published in the U.S.

There are false claims made about every modality, traditional or not, and every field has people that could use more training. But it doesn’t mean that method is not effective.

I’m not criticizing you at all with this, so I mean no disrespect. Years ago, I too had a kind of righteous scientific arrogance against non-western or non-traditional things, that I got from reading certain studies and the work of ‘professional debunkers’. I had a kind of negative “fun” criticizing things.

Until I actually had experiences with those things, that changed my entire perspective. As a person of science, I learned that what is called science, is not as reliable as I had thought.

Now, I only express something with certainty if I have adequate first hand experience with it, and state if my opinion comes from an honest objective experience or only something I read.

About half of what you are told or read eventually turns out not to be true.

Get a session with different modalities, have no bias either way, and see how it feels.

The only one which has any merit is Chiropractic, which is only useful for genuine spine and joint problems. The idea that manipulating the spine can cure eczema or allergies is absolute nonsense.

Ankylosing spondylitis is a disorder, not to seperate ones. Also known as spondylitis ankylopoëtica and, more common, Bechterew

Specifically, the potato and the vinegar one.

They’re perfectly acceptable, in contrast with the other 8 listed here.