Faith and Treatment

“Do I need to have faith in your treatment to get better?” I get this question quite often.

The answer is “no you do not need faith as a pre-condition”. 

The forms of alternative medicine that I practice (Various aspects of Yoga, acupressure/sujok, mind-body medicine and energy healing) have a high therapeutic probability.

For example, the possibility of a headache responding to an acupressure point (Li 4) or an “Aspirin” tablet is quite similar. An acupressure point (Gb 31) can usually alleviate general back pain as quickly as a muscle relaxant gel. Some yogic practices like regulated breathing, Yog-nidra can work like a tranquilizer for almost everyone in general. 

Having said that, I would also like to add that, in my field, the treatment has to be individualized at various levels. So, the expertise of the therapist plays a very significant role. The same set of acu-points, meditative techniques etc. might not work for four different people with ostensibly similar symptoms.Many times due to a therapist’s incompetence, alternative forms of medicine are dismissed as a matter of faith.

Coming back to the question of faith - Faith as I understand, is a product of mind, a metaphysical phenomenon that has tremendous influence on our perception and response to situations and circumstances. 

Did you know that 35% of patients get better even on placebos if they have faith in their Doctor and his expertise?

Let’s call “faith” a kind of an interest, liking or keenness, an inclination, positive attitude, an assurance or a kind of open-mindedness. In our general lives if we take up something with an open-mind or with interest, our chances of achieving the goal become higher.  

Interest or inclination gives us extra momentum or motivation to work hard tirelessly, effortlessly and naturally.  

In the absence of interest, formula II, our dedication and hard-work (even if we crib about it) will help us achieve our goal.

So, whether or not you have faith in the treatment, you would need sincerity and patience to respond well to my treatment. 

I say sincerity, because my treatment usually requires one to do a bit of homework, whether that involves introspection, mind-body sensitization, relaxation exercises, self-acupressure, breathing or asanas or permutations and combinations of all these.

I say patience because some of these practices will require more time and effort than popping in a pill.

Treat meditation, asana, pranayama and an acupressure point like a non-invasive and a non-pharmacological medicine. Just like you pop in pills at regular intervals, you are required to take in the prescribed alternative medicine combination.If you follow it with interest topped with a hint positive attitude or faith, you will respond faster. 

Medically, I ask you my friend what do you base your faith on?

• A Theory which has proven itself in practice. (Most of my techniques are a combination of well researched scientific studies with a probability or p ≤0.05) 
•  A convincingly logical possible outcome/explanation. (I’ll be happy to give you one, if you have a question.) 
•  A testimony from a trusted one. 
•  A therapeutic experience which has broadened your perspective.

If you agree with one or more of these, we are on the same page. 

To Health and Wellness, Cheers!!

What I do and how I do it (NO PUN INTENDED!)

I was little more that slightly shocked to find out that many of my friends had at-best only a vague idea regarding what I do. 

Post the “upturned baby” blog, on a more personal note, I received questions like “Since when have you been doing this kind of stuff?”, “but weren’t you into yoga and all?”, “Did you turn the baby the same way you twirled a spoon?” (Yes! I’ll be uploading a spoon twirling video sometime soon). For once I had to apply my own therapy and breathe in a certain way to keep my anger down – Yes! I get angry, just that I don’t hold it for long.

So, this blog is dedicated to the best question of all -
“What do you do and how do you do it? No pun intended!” (As worded by a dear friend)

I practice complementary and alternative medicine. These therapies focus on individualizing the treatment and treating the body in its entirety.Also, the disease is understood from an alternative point of view, in the case of the therapies I practice, through the mind.

I have specialized in:

1) Yoga: It includes asanas/physical postures, pranayama/breath regulation, relaxation techniques and guided meditation. This is a long-term holistic treatment which constantly heals the body and the mind leading to an auto-correction of all that has gone amiss. Consequently, regular practice induces a sense of well-being in general.

2) Acupressure and Sujok: Treatment is done by applying pressure or magnets to certain points which work like a remote control. One experiences instant relief especially in conditions like neck-back pain, general musculoskeletal pains and headaches. I don’t practice acupuncture.

3) Acu-Yoga: It treats symptoms instantly and works on reversing them invariably through a combination of Acupressure and Yogic practices.

4) Mind–Body therapy and Energy Healing: Emotional baggage of some sort or the other is usually responsible for many chronic diseases and painful conditions. Along with the bodily symptoms, the mind needs to be skilfully tricked so that it stops producing certain reactions in the body. Energy healing is an umbrella term for many techniques that involve healing of the metaphysical aspects. I’ll write about how energy healing works another time.

Now I’ll try to describe how I do what I do, i.e. how I go about the treatment.

I treat the disease at multiple levels simultaneously-

1) Physical:The physical aspects of the disease like pain (ranging from musculoskeletal pain to pain due to fractures), stiffness, digestive troubles etc. are managed through acupressure and yogasanas. My patients learn 5, 10, 15 and 30 minute Acu-Yoga routines to delay (invariably) the recurrence of symptoms.

2) Etheric: Application of the magnets (sujok)regulates the electro-magnetic field of the body.One alsolearns to regulate the breath (Pranayama), which induces changes in the etheric layer or the layer of bio-chemical energy, Chi or Prana.

3) Mental/ Emotional: Guided meditation and other experiential mind-body techniques help trick the mind into relaxationresulting inmaximization of the self-healing capacity of the body. This aims at reversal of the disease altogether.

4) Intellectual: Counselling and guidance regarding the Do’s and the Don’ts; I call this intellectual because these sessions are more than just informative, they make one introspect and reflect on themselves.

Apart from doing individual therapy, I design a wide-variety of health oriented “experiential” workshops/training sessions tailor-made to suit the needs of various groups. These groups include, professionals with work related disorders, groups of people with lifestyle ailments such as back pain and similar musculoskeletal problems, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, stress disorders etc. These workshops simultaneously aim at inducing a sense of wellness so that one feels more functional and “at –ease”.

Click on this link to see a list of my popular workshops
http://pragatioswal.com/workshop.html

Now that you know what I do and how I do it (no pun intended!), my “well-informed” friends, let me say I love you, almost unconditionally.

That’s all folks!

The Chronicle of a Baby Upturned

Acupressure for Foetus in breech presentation

For the first time I have had an opportunity to apply and witness results of one of the rarer applications of acupressure. I say ‘rarer’ as none of my colleagues have until now had a chance to use this technique in practice.

One of the clients whose foetus was in a breech presentation in the 37^th week of her pregnancy, got in touch with me after she was suggested C-Section in a week’s time. I felt excited and intrigued, as I had, till now, only studied about the property of certain pressure points which could normalize the position of the foetus.

First attempt: 48 hours from the time pressure was applied, the client went for a check – up which confirmed that the foetus had turned head-down but its head wasn’t fixed yet. In the next two days the client felt as if the foetus had changed its position again. I wouldn’t comment on that as I am not trained to clinically determine the positioning of the foetus. However, she was very certain as she could sense foetal movements in her abdomen.

Second attempt: Three days later, in the beginning of her 38^th week, I applied pressure again. Additionally, I tied seeds to the pressure points so that the pressure would be sustained for atleast 24 hours. I also asked the client’s husband to tap the seeds tied to the points to make sure that pressure is consistent. In the subsequent check-up, the foetus had come to the normal delivery position with its head fixed.

It’s a thrilling moment when theory confirms itself with practical results. This was my first-hand experience with turning “a life” around.

That’s all Folks!!!