Healing Tones

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As you have moved through this series of posts, you may have been surprised at how much more there is to Chiropractic in the way of its true rationale, its scope, and its potential than you have been aware of. Few know the history and the philosophy behind this healing art and science. The common perception and understanding is that Chiropractic is a musculoskeletal treatment for backaches, neckaches and headaches. I hope you will come away from this series more aware and better informed of the larger context in which this healthcare service lives as a wholistic, natural approach to resolving some of our health issues. Thank you for staying the course as I continue with my presentation and bring it to place of rest.

In this post I address my colleagues in excerpts from my booklet, Rediscovering the Soul of Chiropractic.*

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DC: DOCTORS OF CAUSE

ONE COULD THINK of our DC degree as signifying we are “Doctors of Cause.” One could go deeper and ask “What is cause?” Was the cause of Harvey Lillard’s deafness the subluxation in his neck cutting off or diminishing the communication between his brain and his hearing mechanism, or was it the physical trauma to his neck that knocked the vertebrae out of alignment pinching the nerve to his ears? Obviously the physical trauma caused the subluxation in his neck which in turn caused Harvey to go deaf. So there are causes of causes, one could say. What is the underlying cause of dis-ease? This is what all healthcare disciplines are bent on finding and treating.

Let me tell you a story that speaks to this search for the cause of the cause of dis-ease and dysfunction in the body, as well as to the larger scope of our service as healers. In one of his many inspiring symposia, the late and legendary Dr. William Bahan, dynamic speaker that he was, told of a dramatic experience he had with one of his patients . . . which portrays the essence, as well as the practical art and effectiveness, of the “whole person healthcare” he taught in his seminars.

A young lady in her twenties, diagnosed as suffering from “lethargic encephalitis” (sleeping sickness) was brought to him by her family after going the entire medical route for several weeks without any results at all. They brought her to his clinic in an ambulance. As Dr. Bahan told it and as I recorded and transcribed it:

“By then there was only a trickle of life that was coming through this particular form, so something had to be done right away if this young lady was going to be around on earth any longer. So I began to sense out what was really going on. I began to put my radar out in relationship to this young lady, to find an area where I could begin to get a handle with respect to this interference to life’s expression. It very quickly came to the surface, and l just said to her, ‘You’re holding a very strong resentment against somebody, and if you don’t change your attitude you’re going to die!’ She started to cry.

It seems that two weeks before this particular condition appeared she had had a rather violent experience with her father regarding his drinking. He was an alcoholic, and she abhorred alcohol, and she abhorred her father when he was drinking. Well, he came into her house drunk on this particu­lar day and she, in her strong self-righteousness, told him to get out. He came at her to hit her and she picked up a milk bottle and conked him on the head, knocking him out. Two weeks later she was in the hospital, diagnosed with lethargic encephalitis (sleeping sickness).

Here was a concussion of forces emotionally. And what did this do to her body? Of course that deep feeling was still there, and I told her plainly, ‘Your father doesn’t need condemnation; he needs assistance, your assistance.The first thing to do is to change your attitude. You need to forgive your father. .. like that (snapping his fingers), right away!’ She said ‘I will.’ Well, before she left the office things started to clear, life began to flow. And when life began to flow, the resurrecting power of life began to lift that form. I could have adjusted her neck from now until doomsday . . . and there was a need in the neck; it was like rigor mortis had set in there . . . but when this other interference was removed, this ill attitude, life began to flow. Not only did it begin to flow, but do you know what hap­pened? As a result of her maintaining an attitude which was consistent with life’s nature, her father stopped drinking. He needed assistance; he needed encouragement, not her self­ righteous wrath. So, many things cleared.”

SCOPE OF PRACTICE

As this story clearly demonstrates, our scope of practice, beyond the spinal column, includes the heart and mind as well, as Dr. Milton T. Morter is currently demonstrating with his “B.E.S.T. adjustment” (Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique), which addresses the deeper, more subtle levels of cause in the subconscious mind . . . and, deeper yet, in the “healing field” itself, the subtle energy body surrounding the physical body.

The scope of our practice also includes the fields of nutrition and reha­bilitation. Right out of Stephenson’s Chiropractic Text Book, we have this as part of the definition of our profession: “Chiropractic is a science, philosophy and art of things natural . . .” The words “things natural” encompass a wide rage of factors, including everything in the natural world , which currently comprise the context and environment in which human beings exist. Life flows through all its forms in the natural world, including the human nervous system, and the human nervous system is not isolated from everything else. It’s all one thing and everything is connected in a highly organized and coordinated complexity of wholeness. The human mind and heart are at least two-thirds of that wholeness with regard to our outer capacities. Then there are the inner transcendent dimensions of consciousness and spirit. We are multidimensional beings who are impacted by events at many interconnected levels.

Just for an example, I noted that throughout the Iranian hostage crisis back in the 1970’s, there was a virtual epidemic of shoulder problems in our office, a symptom of being bound and deprived of one’s freedom. The phenomenon made itself evident to us when everyone’s symptoms seemed to magically disappear immediately following their release. Of course, we adjusted spines and applied appropriate therapies, but what a real blessing we were able to offer our people by sharing with them this perspective of the whole picture. They understood their bodies from the standpoint of the whole in which they played a part. I’ve taken note of similar manifestations during global crises.

During a crisis of war there is a nonspecific drain of energy in people everywhere as the international community struggles in disagreement. Lack of energy, labeled “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” by the medical community, is naught but a classic symptom of adrenal exhaustion, brought on by a long-sustained engagement of the fight-or-flight reflex. We are a world divided and we cannot sustain this state for long. People are simply tired of the threat to their peace and security, and in that state of chronic stress the human immune system cannot function well and, at best, may simply shut down. In the worst-case scenario, it attacks itself and sets off an “Auto-Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),” which simply means that it has gone MIA. We are obviously impacted by everything that goes on in the larger body of mankind in which we are all individual cells.

A CONSCIOUSNESS OF WHOLENESS

The way I see it, what Chiropractic was ordained to bring to the arena of healthcare is a consciousness of wholeness. Just as it is true that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so is it true that the parts are not exempt from the experiences of the whole. What one part does affects the whole. We can, however, shield ourselves from being overtaken by these “disturbances in the Force,” to borrow a phrase from the movie STAR WARS. We can maintain a radiant stance of non-judgmental understanding and compassion, as distinguished from a reactive posture of judgment and condemnation relative to events occurring in the world. One can simply assume an attitude that says “These things do not move me. But by my radiant expression of love, I move them towards resolution.” This works by reason of the truth of oneness in the Whole. The natural forces of healing at work throughout the Universe respond immediately to the commands of love whenever and wherever they are released.

To heal means to make whole; to restore one to a consciousness of being part of the Whole. Where does such an awareness come from? It comes “from above, down and inside out.” It comes from life. The human vertebral column is but one small link in the chain of the flow of life. The chemical realm, for example, comprises a large part of both the internal and external terrain in which life works its magic in our bodies. The bones, muscles, glands and organs comprise another terrain, yet they are all connected.

In the chemical terrain, nutrition and hormonal response play key roles, while in the systems of organs, muscles and bones, nerve and blood supply, along with physical exercise are key factors to consider. One cannot provide a complete healing service without considering all factors present in the total terrain of healthcare.

Then there’s the invisible, vibrational terrain, where mental, emotional and spiritual factors impact health and wholeness. All of these levels of potential interference to Innate Intelligence’s transmission fall within the scope of whole health care as they fully embrace the founding principles and practice of Chiropractic.

Part of Chiropractic’s forte rightly lies in providing vision. “Where there’s no vision the people perish.” This implies where there is vision the people thrive. People are not thriving health-wise in America. We are forty-five down on the list of health levels of nations. Vision is obviously lacking. One of the ways we may provide vision is by instilling in people the insight to see “things natural” in their wholeness and to assist them in aligning with Life’s spirit, attitude and character, which operates intelligently and wisely within this wholistic context. The role of a doctor is one of teacher. Another way is assisting them in discovering and removing the interferences in their whole complex body-mind-emotion-spirit continuum to free up the “tiny rivulets of force” so that they might experience not only the health of Innate Intelligence but its spirit and character as well.

Historically, this is what people have looked to chiropractors for: a safer, more natural approach to their healthcare . . . as well as that certain “something” BJ Palmer talked and wrote about, and dynamically exemplified, that will help lift them up mentally and spiritually so they can find and walk a healthier path in life. This is what “wholistic healthcare” means and encompasses.

As a healer ordained by Life, I have enjoyed the assurance and potency of my calling to the greatest profession on earth. My privilege as a Doctor of Chiropractic has been to serve at this level of Cause. By the spirit I have expressed and the attitude I have conveyed through my service and my living, where I’ve come from has been plainly evident to those who have been drawn to my service. As a healer who makes the experience of wholeness available to the fragmented state of human suffering, my scope of service has been the whole person. The scope of my practice has been to remove the interference to life’s expression in the whole human being, to the end that people in my world may stop perishing. I am forever thankful for those who have played a role imparting this noble vision to me. It has been an honor and a privilege imparting it to others.

And now you know the whole story of Chiropractic’s origin, history and rationale as I have experienced it in my career as a Doctor of Cause. Thank you for listening and staying with me through this series. I welcome any thoughts you may have and wish to share. Until my next post . . .

Be Love and be loved.

Anthony Palombo, DC

Email: tpal70@gmail.com

* Rediscovering the Soul of Chiropractic can be purchased from Health Light Publishing in St. Augustine, Florida, http://healthlightbooks.com