Week Nine---Towards a New Synthesis ...

My E-Prime Day .....Today, as I opted to ride my bicycle home from school despite the rather inclement weather, I got, what some might call---very wet. The rain seemed to pour in sheets and with every block I covered, the rain felt like it grew stronger and stronger. By the time I arrived home (ten blocks away), my clothing appeared so wet that it felt like I chose to shower in them! Getting warm and now wearing some dry clothing, I set about making a big pot of soup ....cranberry beans, black beans, butternut squash, garlic, onion, tomatoes and lots of cumin---chippity-chop, stir stir stir, boil, simmer, stir. I felt tempted to bake a fresh loaf of bread, but alas, I also needed to make some time to study for my quiz in class this evening. I reviewed some flashcards for what felt like a long time and decided I needed a study break. I tinkered on the internet for a few minutes (okay, maybe an hour) and then it seemed like a good idea to start in on this here post for my Physics course. =)

Can I synthesize East and West? .....In Western medicine, physical ailments are generally believed to have physical causes. Illness is less personal---each individual body is supposed to function in a similar way. When our bodies show signs of sickness, lists of symptoms are matched with a 'one-size-fits-all' treatment. But what of our emotional bodies? What role do they play in physical illness and recovery? In Western medicine, the emotional body is of lesser importance. Emotions are not viewed as 'real' causes of disease. If someone is found to suffer the symptoms of a physical ailment and lab tests can find no biological evidence, this person is referred (written-off) to a psychiatrist and diagnosed as "crazy." It is all in their minds. And perhaps it is. In Eastern healing modalities, mind and body are tightly interwoven; they are not meant to be unraveled. Emotions can be the cause of physical disease and physical disease can have an effect on emotional well-being. As social beings, we tend to respond to the expectations of our society. How we "get sick" and how we "heal" is largely influenced by culture. It can be argued that 'East and West' have long been viewed as a cultural dichotomy; the West is "best" and the East is "other." In the latter half of the twentieth-century, the blending of Eastern and Western ideals concerning health and healing have surely helped dismantle this dichotomy. These days, Westerners practice yoga, qi gong, meditation, etc... all in the name of health---the health of mind, body and spirit. And while many of us have turned to Eastern healing modalities because the Western medical establishment has failed us in ways both big and small, Western medicine---physical medicine---is still quite valuable (for example, in cases of trauma). It is one model of health and healing, but it is not the only model. We are individuals. We have personal stories. We have been shaped by our individual experiences. We store these experiences in our bodies. We call it memory. Some experiences and their memories need to be healed. They may arise in our physical bodies as illnesses. Given that the origin of disease, in this case, is not physical, physical medicine may only be able to do so much. Other models of healing---such as acupuncture or meditation---by their very nature, address the emotional causes of disease and may be more appropriate. I feel that Western and Eastern healing modalities can be synthesized, and should be synthesized, to meet the needs of each of us, as individuals.