Confessions of a Recovering Posture King

The Culture

I always enjoy a good parade.  The floats are often amazing and there is always a great display of talent.  I like to see the various people as they pass by.  What tends to strike me is the way the people in each of the groups all try to look the same.  The Military people stand erect with stomachs in and shoulders back and they stare straight ahead.  The dance school groups come by and have a very characteristic posture that just can’t be missed.  The people watching are often just as entertaining as the actual members of the parade!

We often see people or even look in the mirror and comment on how good or bad someone’s posture appears to us.  We seem to have an innate understanding of how each other is supposed to look - in our culture!  We often work hard to hold ourselves in uncomfortable positions just so people won’t look at our bearing and criticize.  We know they will because we do it ourselves.

I have to admit that as a therapist I was rather horrible at postural evaluation when I first started.  My wife worked as my receptionist and would often come beck and tell me what she saw in a person’s posture and movement.  This was invaluable to me because I just did not see it.

Then I Learned About Posture

Then I attended a workshop where a local DO taught us how to evaluate posture.  He mentioned during his demonstration that we could use this new tool to see if our clients were making progress.  I light went off in my mind – perhaps I could evaluate the posture and then create a treatment that would intentionally alter it!

I eagerly applied my knowledge of muscles and their areas of attachment and developed a plausible theory of what to treat and what order to do it in.  I made it all up as I went along.  The results were amazing.  I was helping people that I had not been able to help previously.  It was an exciting time.

I even wrote an article about how to do it and got it published in a medical journal.  I had people come up to me at professional meetings and thank me for my work in this area.  I was even asked to demonstrate it for my national association as a major contribution to our discipline.

Another doctor – this time a DC added a substantial missing piece to my puzzle.  I was especially thankful for his input and developed his material to suit my own needs.  I eventually taught this in the school where I worked for 18 years and in seminars to therapists all over the country and even internationally.

This section has contained a good deal of what I call “Blowing and Glowing.” There is a reason for the overrated build up.  I think that most of what I did is wrong.  This is my public retraction.  To set the record straight – I was a Posture King.  I was wrong.

Problems

I helped a lot of people utilizing the approach that I developed.  I now believe that those successes resulted from other factors that were not directly related to my postural understanding.  I see a number of problems with my previous approach. 

A lot of people with poor posture don’t hurt.  This is readily apparent.  Just look at the people who you know with less than stellar posture and ask them if they hurt.  Many of them do not.  If posture is directly a cause of pain we should find that everyone with poor posture also has a pain complaint associated with that particular postural fault.  It simply is not the case.

We are not simple machines – in fact scripture teaches that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”  If we were a simple machine it would make sense that a lift under a short leg would balance everything and our pain would just disappear.  I have put lifts in shoes and under heels for years and can confidently state that many people remained in pain.  They did so because we are a flesh and blood creation and have our very own nervous systems.  A machine would have been fixed.

Fixing the posture rarely works long term.  I could often make a posture look rather stellar but it was often a short lived thing.  I saw those who were helped long term but unless they followed through on a number of other things I had them doing - those were a minority. 

Anatomical variation is hugely apparent in people – often in the same people from side to side!  In a recent study the pelvis was compared for symmetry from side to side in the same person.  The sides were clearly different.  There is great variability in studies when therapist attempt to describe what they see posturally in the same person.  This is in the literature and I have seen it numerous times myself in settings where I have tried to teach postural assessment.

Freeze, Fight or Flight is something we have all heard of.  Simply stated – When we have a sense of threat we tend to curl up in a ball to protect our “tender vittles.” In our homes and work places we tend to live in this constant curled up little ball.  No amount of bodywork is going to correct our posture if we live under a constant state of threat and stay curled up in a tight little ball.

Why Did It Work?

To hear me tell the story above about how I learned of the importance of posture and how to treat it successfully you are probably wondering why I have come to believe my approach was wrong.  I did give those reasons in the last section but of course the question remains – Why did it work in the first place? You can bet I asked that question myself.  It’s the stuff insomnia is made of.  I have a few thoughts on that subject.

I not only started dealing with posture – I also began doing a number of other things at about the same time.  One of the biggest things was that I really lightened the amount of pressure I was using.  I really thought that in order to be effective that I had to cause a good deal of pain during the treatment session.  Once I lightened my pressure it really helped the process.

I also began to look into the ergonomics of my clients at home and at work.  I showed them how to vary their routine and encouraged them to move frequently.  This had the effect of allowing the blood to be supplied to the nerves and to lower the threat level experienced by the brain.  More blood to the nerves is generally a good idea.

I also started talking more with my clients about things that tend to perpetuate pain.  I recommended books and began to give a good deal of movement for them to do between sessions.  Those who did these things  seemed to improve more quickly.  I believe these are a few of the things that made people feel better and I credit them rather than my attempts to correct posture – with helping their posture!

Another Way

I now have an entirely different focus when I treat people.  I generally look for signs that a person is in sympathetic mode (that’s a fancy way of saying Freeze, Fight, or Flight).  There are a few indicators that are especially helpful.  

• ·       Upper Chest Breathing
• ·       Feet that point to the ceiling
• ·       Cold hands and feet

I see these as indicators that their nervous system is on overload and I work to calm them down using a variety of massage techniques.  These are often performed on the neck.  It is very common to see a pelvis untwist and the shoulder drop after a few minutes of this.  I am trying to calm down the nervous system and as the person begins to relax they begin to uncurl from that tight little ball and the posture does actually change.  The difference – and this is a BIG DIFFERENCE – is that I am not forcing my will on the person and trying the change their posture. Instead, I am supplying novel input to their nervous system and it is adapting itself to the new information gleaned by its receptors in the skin that I am touching. 

There are a number of other ways of getting our nervous system out of this condition of sustained irritation.  Believers can be seen doing these things all throughout the scriptures.  Here a few of them.

Theologians in the Presbyterian tradition often speak of what they call the “Means of Grace.” These are enumerated as:

• ·       The Word of God
• ·       The Sacraments
• ·       Prayer

Let’s look at these and see how they apply to our subject.

The Word of God is identified as the Scriptures contained in the Old and New Testament.  When we hear it preached, taught, or when we read it the Holy Spirit often uses it in our lives.  We deepen in our love for our Triune God as we see his plan of redemption, Christ’s death and resurrection for our sin, and as the Holy Spirit applies it to our lives.  This happens in many ways.  We begin to think about him and the focus and meditation of our heart is on him and his person and work.  We rise above this world and adore him.  It is not uncommon for our cares to roll away.  I have seen shoulders drop and people rise changed.  It’s hard to be in Fight or Flight when adoration of our God is occurring.

The sacraments of the church are identified as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  These are done in community.  People in pain often tend to live in isolation that increases stress.  In worship we not only adore God but we pray for each other and try to meet each other’s needs.  This often gets the focus off of us and our problems and can be incredibly effective in lightening our cares.

There is nothing quite like prayer to get out thoughts off of us and onto God.  We pray to him as Christ taught us.  We pray acknowledging who he is and what he has done.  We bring our requests to him and we trust him with our needs.  Talk about stress relief.  The Creator of the universe loves us and asks us to ask him.  Burdens are lifted.

There are other things that can also help in dealing the stresses that curl us into little balls.  Learning certain breathing techniques is a great way to bring us into a calmer state.  The way I like to have people train their breath is to have them breath in to a count of 4.  Hold for a count of 1. Exhale to a count of 6.  The longer exhale puts us into a more relaxed or parasympathetic state.  It should be done for about 3 minutes.

Nutrition is a big thing also.  Studies seem to indicate that stress uses up our B vitamins and that supplementing with a good B complex can keep our nervous system from being as irritated.

Regular massage therapy is also an ideal way to keep our nervous system happy.  As a massage therapist I recommend it highly.  Exercise is another great way to help your nervous system.  These are a number of ways to keep out of that tiny stressed out little ball – and maybe even improve your posture as a side effect!

Scientific Skepticism and the Christian Massage Therapist

It is a very interesting time to be a Christian Massage Therapist.  There are very few resources for a Christian who is also a Massage Therapist to utilize that are specific to my discipline.  The only one I am aware of is a small Christian Massage Therapists group on Facebook that I am a part of.  Aside from that we have to depend on resources that are not specifically dealing with the issues we face. 

One of the newer things we are facing is the emergence of science based massage therapists who consider themselves to be Scientific Skeptics.  They even have their own group on Facebook but a number of them are active in other groups as well.  Many of them are very articulate and appear well educated. 

I often appreciate the contributions they make in threads.  They frequently deal with massage related issues using the tools of logic and the scientific method.  They frequently post or at least mention specific articles and research.  I think we need more of that in our profession.

As Christians, we too appreciate logic and science – or at least we should.  The problem is that we place a different value on these tools and we use them differently.  Let me explain.

A Christian worldview entails that we believe what the scriptures teach.  We accept that on the authority of God’s word revealed in the Bible.  It gives us an interpretive grid.  Our goal is to, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Let me try to explain.

If you were to enter my house from any of its 3 doors you would see certain indications of where you are at.  If you come through my basement door immediately on your left would be an old VCR tape of my wedding.  A little farther is a case with medals I earned in my time in the Army Reserve.  Surrounding  you would be bookcases on 3 of the walls with my name on the inside of many of those books.  If you entered by the garage door you would find a number of filing cabinets with my files inside and yes…another couple of bookcases.  Coming through the front door you will pass a mailbox with my name on the mail.  Immediately coming through the door you would find my computer with my documents and a few more bookcases – again- with my name on the inside covers. 

You could try coming in by landing on the roof and rappelling in through the windows.  If you come in through the bathroom window my name is on my toothbrush and on the prescriptions in the medicine cabinet.  It would be similar coming in by the other windows.  There are marks of my ownership everywhere from the name on my diplomas and my recently earned degree to the message on my phone.

It would be incredibly difficult to come into my home and to think it was anything other than my home.  You could not pretend otherwise and be believable.  It simply is not sensible to think anything else.  It is that way with the world we live in and how we know of God.  Psalm 19:1-6 tells us:

The heavens declare the glory of  God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The very heavens declare God’s glory – they testify of him.  The passage tells us that this information is inescapable.  It is everywhere we turn to look.  A similar passage appears in Romans 1:18-32 (I won’t quote the entire passage):

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened…..(there is a long list of sins here)…who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

This passage goes even farther and tells us that all men everywhere know 4 things:

         

o   God exists

o   He is powerful

o   He has a law

o   They deserve to be punished for breaking that law

This knowledge is a guilty knowledge because they hold down or suppress this truth – in unrighteousness.  Verse 28 is particularly telling, “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” I mention this in regard to scientific skepticism because the Bible teaches that they are deliberately holding down the truth in unrighteousness and denying the first principles that should inform life in this world.  Yet they are walking around in God’s world with all of the evidences of his ownership and creation and they pretend that He does not exist.

The tenants of scientific skepticism include atheism and a belief that only the material world actually exists.  This is no worldview for a Christian – and it is a worldview.  People accept a worldview at face value.  It is a foundation that all of their thought rests upon so they do not question it. 

This is where we must part company.  We know from scripture as well as from creation that The God of the Bible created all things and that all 3 members of the Trinity were active in it.  Rather than holding down the truth in unrighteousness – we acknowledge that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…(Prov. 1:7)” The entirety of our worldview arises from God’s revelation of himself to us.

This God has created a world that makes sense.  It is a cause and effect place.  It is a reflection of him and as such it manifests order and we can make sense of it by applying the laws of logic that arise from his character and apply the scientific method to understand his creation.  Creation is his house and the facts are not there for just any interpretation.  Much like you can’t come into my house and deny it belongs to me and give a history of my possessions that has no basis in reality – so the Skeptic has no business falsely interpreting God’s creation.

The Skeptic believes that they can use the scientific method to understand reality.  As Christians we would agree because we ground this understanding in the fact that God has created a cause and effect world and it is understandable.  The Skeptic can’t justify his use of the scientific method.  The method requires that we live in a cause and effect world.  They have nothing to base this on – it is an assumption.  They do not know if they will run into a new fact that will disprove what they are saying. 

If reality is only physical we have no grounding or foundation for the laws of logic.  The law of contradiction – A is not non A - is the foundation of logic.  It is only possible to ground this concept in the character of God himself.  It is not physical and can not be subject to the scientific method.  It simply has no reason for existence.

We know from God’s revelation of Himself in his creation and in his word that there is non-physical existence.  The laws that govern our thought are revelatory of his character.  We use them regularly as he expects us to.

What does this have to do with massage therapy?  It has a good deal to do with what we think about the person on our treatment table.  I can look at them as a unique creation of God that I have an opportunity to help.  I believe that my actions during that time have significance and will have predictable results.  If the Skeptic is right that person has no more significance beyond any other thing that happens to exist.  They are just there and meaning is an illusion. 

At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves – can I live according to what I believe?  As a believer that is an easy answer.  God has created me and I have a purpose.  Skeptics can only deal with physical existence.  At the end of the day they want to believe they have meaning and purpose.  Their worldview does not allow that.  Jesus does.  He died for sinners and paid the price for unbelief.

Preaching To Myself

It has been an interesting day.  I am trying to get into more of a habit of “preaching” to myself instead of “listening” to myself.  My pastor said something to that effect and he was quoting someone else.  I have no idea who that was but I am pretty sure they were talking to me.

I think constantly.  My brain is always on the move and I have an opinion about everything.  Just ask me and I will tell you what you should think.  That habit leads to some serious sin issues.  Jesus said:

Mar 7:20-23  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

 All of these things are in me.  Of course it would be really easy to say that this is what is in other people.  Jesus was talking to a multitude after being spoken to by the scribes and Pharisees.  Then we get to this verse and he was explain to them what he had been saying to the multitude.  Sometimes we just don’t get it.  Look at the Apostle Paul’s comment:

Rom 7:18-24  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.  For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

With all the evil within us we can easily fall into total despair as Paul describes.  We can be horribly torn between what we see as we reflect on Christ and his perfection – realizing that we are called to the same type of life, and what we see in ourselves.  As believers we are just not there.

How do we get there from here.  Paul had pretty much tried it all.  Look at his spiritual pedigree:

Philippians 3:3-6  For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ , and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Yet we still find him in despair.  This is why he needed preaching.  Look at what we are called to as a Church:

Eph 5:18-21  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Notice how we are to be communicating with each other.  Our hearts are to be making melody and it is to come out in song together.  These songs are to build us up in the faith by giving thanks.  We learn in chapter 2 that these thanks are for the multitude of spiritual blessings that we are to be thinking about.  Of course if we are not preaching these things to ourselves they can’t possibly come out communally.  That is when we look at Psalm 104.  We see the Psalmist praying about the greatness of the creation.  He must have spent an amazing amount of time meditating on God’s works prior to exploding into this amazing doxology of His work.

Psalm 104 shows that David must have been preaching to himself – meditating on God, as opposed to sitting around moping about what was happening to himself. Fast forward to May of 2010.

It has been an interesting day.  I stayed up late and got up earlier than what I wanted to.  I had to hit the road running – there was so much that needed done.  At a time of a particular time crunch I had to go into a store.  I rushed to get my item and arrived at checkout to see a particularly long line.  The people at the head of the line were in deep conversation with the clerk.  My initial thought was one of some frustration but I almost immediately changed to wondering why they were having a problem.  Now this is really unusual for me.  I want to be at the front of the line and I really want things to be done for me in a speedy, pleasant, and professional manner.

You see the universe is supposed to revolve around me and my petty wants and pleasures.  All stoplights - in a “perfect” world would turn green at my approach.  Checkout lines are empty waiting for me.  Most importantly, Starbucks is always open and affordable.

It is simply an amazing work of grace that I was not totally irritated by this couple in front of me.  But wait, there’s more.  As I am standing in line people come to stand behind me.  It is clear that we will be here for a little while so I turned to the people behind to start a conversation.  We were having a good time discussing the mental status of a generation that would be purchasing the “gummy worms” in the rack beside us.  The lady at the register in front of me turned to us and in a loud ugly tone told us to quit talking about her. 

I smiled and replied that we were discussing the gummy worms and not her.  She informed me that I was talking about her and to stop it.  In that moment another work of grace occurred.  I did not get angry, vent, fight, or anything that would normally be my response.

Today I took my wife out for Mother’s Day.  We came out to our car.  Smoke was pouring out the windows.  Inside I found my wife’s coat burned and smoke coming from a smoke bomb that someone had pushed through the open window.  I opened the door and got the coat and the smoke bomb out.  The seat is now yellow and the inside of the vehicle smells like the 4th of July.  The restaurant manager spoke with 911 (after being put on hold long enough for us to get a message 5 times telling us we were to wait for the operators who were dealing with other emergencies).  He specifically told them that we did not need the fire department, just the police to make a report. 

As soon as the phone call was over the fire alarm sounded.  It took another phone call and a police officer calling to stop the fire engine around the corner from loading up and responding.  We made our report.

In all of this my anger, always just beneath the surface, was not unleashed.  I was thankful that we got to the car, that a fire had not started, and that we had a way to get home.  This is amazing – it is grace.

Contrast this with yesterday morning.  I woke with less sleep than I would have liked.  My daughter rose late and I was going to be late for my appointment with my doctor.  I was pretty much boiling – my cup runneth over in a really bad way.  I dropped my daughter off and realized I had neglected to eat.  I am diabetic so missing meals is not a good idea.  No problem here – I pulled into a gas station for a quick bite.  There it was, a breakfast sandwich.  Now I could finally point to something that was going right.  At least that is what I thought.  I arrived at the cash register to find a person taking forever to buy lottery tickets.  I am from Las Vegas and I really hate gambling.  Here was a gambler making me late.  I left my hot sandwich on the counter and stormed out.  I had no time for a gambler to make me late for my doctor appointment.  I broke speed limits all the way to my appointment.

At the doctor’s office we found that my blood pressure was higher than it has ever been.  The heat readings taken along the spine were worse than my first visit.  My Chiropractor was obviously confused by the results because my reflexes and sensation tests had improved tremendously.  I explained that the fault was not hers.  I was seething with anger. 

The difference between these two days was my actions.  The day when I was full of sinful anger was a day where I had not read scripture, meditated, or sang the songs of Zion.  The second day I prepared for by looking forward to worship.  I had prayed.  I had meditated.  I had even heard a sermon before the smoke bomb.

The difference between the two days was what I had been preaching to myself.  The day of the doctor’s visit I had actively told myself how important it was to me for everything to revolve around me.  The second day I preached to myself how great was the God who had saved me.  My emphasis was on how to best prepare myself for worship.  The difference could not be more glaring or profound. 

How does this relate to massage or pain relief?  My sin of anger intensified the physical body in ways that have a tendency to increase those physiological factors that often lead toward pain.  Prolonged anger is a sin that can well have an effect on a person’s pain.  At the end of the book of Deuteronomy there is a description of what will happen to Israel when she turns from God.  God’s people should turn to Him because of who He is and what he has done for them.  He also exhorts them in this passage to consider what will happen to them if they should fail to serve Him as He commands.  It would do us well to consider this as individuals.

As a massage therapist I work with people in pain.  My job is to deal with physical issues by applying techniques to the soft tissues of the body.  It is not unreasonable to think that if a person continues in a pattern of anger that there will be a significant impediment to the response to treatment.  I may well be treating the symptom.  There is never a solution to any problem in life that does not involve our great God and our relationship to him.  I preach to myself about these things.

Energy Healing and the Christian Part 1

Energy Medicine is a really important topic for both massage therapists and their clients.  Mention the subject in a room of therapists and you will observe people taking pro and con sides immediately.  The same thing happens in church.  This subject is important for at least a couple of reasons:

1. If Energy based approaches are quackery then the public is being deceived and/or ripped off and therapists are deceived or lying and stealing.  

2. If Energy based approaches are of the occult the public is being subjected to demonic influence and this is being done through their therapists.

Part of delving into this subject is to determine what is meant by the term “energy medicine.”  We need to do this because if we do not define our terms at the beginning we will fail to communicate.  We will be talking past each other without even knowing it.  The definition is all important. 

One attack against the use of energy medicine is that no such thing is possible since energy is simply the ability to do work.  The energy practitioner does not describe or define energy in this way.  The critic has set up a concept that the energy practitioner does not hold and dismisses the concept as untenable simply on the basis of the use of language.  I find this type of argument unsatisfying.

The belief of the energy practitioner (EP) is that there is some type of force or “energy field” that the EP can feel in another body.  They believe that they are able to manipulate this “energy” in such a way as to have a positive influence on the health of the person they are treating.  This is frequently described in terms of heat.

What are we to say to this as Christians?  How are we to evaluate such claims?  I have some ideas that I want to share but I think it is imperative that before I give any such information I do so with an important caveat.  We need to evaluate each person in terms of what they actually believe.  If a person tells us that they do not use power symbols, spirit guides, or other occult practices it is important that we accept that claim.  We may need to ask a few more questions to actually clarify and be sure.  If the person maintains that they are not participating in the occult and our only evidence is the name of their method – we should treat this person charitably and not attribute to them what they actively say that they are not doing.

One of the biggest issues that I have with the concept of treating an energy field is that in at least 2 studies I have read the participants were not able to identify one under controlled conditions.  [i],[ii] A 1,000,000 challenge by the James Randi Educational Foundation has been offered to anyone who will demonstrate the existence of a human energy field under controlled conditions.  This has not been done. 

It is not as if I have not had exposure to people who do this type of work.  I have on a number of occasions.  It is not that I am ignorant of the science behind the ideas – I have read some of the best books on the subject.[iii] [iv] [v] [vi]

It is certainly of concern that it has not been shown that the energy field exists.  The books and web sites that try to lay a foundation for the practice often begin with occult or pseudoscientific explanations of the topic. Spiritually, the occult foundations and practices are of much greater importance than the lack of proof for the energy field.  The first raises spiritual concerns and the second intellectual issues.

Deu 18:9-15  "When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.  "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear…”

This passage alerts us to the spiritual issues.  We find here a veritable grocery list of occult practices.  The magicians and sorcerers of old are the precursors of many of our “modern” energy healers.  They too had rituals to prepare them to intervene in the health of others.  We need to be as wary as the original hearers of this passage were to be.  The contrast could not be more clear.  The final section about the prophet is referring to Jesus.  There is a contrast between those using occult/spiritual methods of healing and Christ.

The practice of Reiki requires an attunement.  This is a spiritual happening.  The following is an explanation of why one needs this as an initiation into Reiki:

“I am sure that there are those who worked with energy work much longer than I had when they took their first Reiki class. They may question why it is necessary to be initiated into something that they believed already existed within them. I would have two responses to them. Would the neophyte believe in this natural gift from Spirit of healing self and others without the ritual? Secondly, as the “Oxford Dictionary” indicates, initiation is also “admission to the knowledge or instruction in the elements of any subject or practice.” Is this not the process that Dr. Usui went through when he received the Reiki keys to healing from Spirit?

As a teacher I have seen my students many reactions to the process of receiving an initiation. In varying degrees each student has been touched in some special way by Spirit. Initiations are a part of the process of reconnection to Spirit and a beginning of a new or renewed walk down the path of life. Many doors are opened in this sacred ritual.” [vii]

Notice the description refers to the “Spirit.”  Dr Usui is said to have received the “Reiki keys to healing from Spirit.”  This certainly sounds like occult practice.  It is certainly not the God of the Bible giving out this information.  These ideas of an energy field are wedded to a view of the world that view “energy” as a manifestation that all that exists is one.  This is a view that is inconsistent with the biblical concept of the creator creature distinction in my previous post (http://christianpainmanagement.blogspot.com/2014/02/massage-therapy-and-creatorcreature.html).  If you are not familiar with this concept you should read that post before continuing.

We see the same thing in Therapeutic Touch.  The practice was developed by a medium and each visit the practitioner is to “center” themself in ways that mirror that background.  Look at this description of the process: 

“From this extemporaneous account one realizes that the importance of sustained centering throughout the healing act is that it becomes an act of interiority, an act of self-exploration. This shift in consciousness sets up conditions that attract the TT therapist’s inner self to take an intimate part in the therapist’s life activities. We have profiled the changes in the TT therapist that are characteristic of this shift:

There is a rapid psychomotor quieting of the physical body,

A significant lessening of usually uncontrollable verbalizations (“monkey chatter”) in the brain,

A sense of timelessness pervades,

A profound stillness and a sense of peace,

A diminution or shift of egocentric focus

* There is greater clarity in recognition of compassion as power,

An increase in self-confidence,

A strong grasp of intuitive insights and access to deep inquiry,

A tacit understanding of the power of effortless effort when, for instance, working from the crown chakra, and

The amazing realization that the deeper one goes within oneself, the easier it is to heal.  It becomes apparent that this is increasingly so as the inner self becomes the secret ally on this healing path, the Guide, the Teacher who helps the TT therapist become self-aware, an attainment that is the stated goal of this Newer Age quest into who we really are.

Experientially, at least, we now realize that Therapeutic Touch is an opportunity to touch another level of consciousness, a new path of self-realization of our ability to compassionately help those in need, an inner journey to what we are in the depths of our consciousness. This understanding comes with the conscious liason of the individual’s inner self. If the TT therapist is doing Therapeutic Touch correctly, she will not be personally attached to the outcome of the TT interaction, for she is calling upon a source other than her self-willed persona. From this more impersonal stance she can reflect and, as a model, perhaps open up for the healee a glimpse or an impression of the healee’s own inner experiences with his own inner self. He then may find out that the very act of believing that the inner self is accessible lends courage and decisive purpose to one’s life. Life itself then becomes more meaningful, more interesting, and … more fun !  [viii]

Here we see the therapist reaching into themselves but this time to somehow make it easier to manipulate the patient’s energy field.  Of interest is the other source, “the secret ally on this healing path, the Guide, the Teacher who helps the TT therapist become self-aware” – the one other than her self willed persona.  How would one know that they were in contact with some deeper level of themselves as opposed to say – a spirit guide?  How would knowing oneself better make them better equipped to manipulate another person’s energy field.  Therapeutic Touch is certainly dealing with spiritualistic practices here.

Training to do Reiki and Therapeutic Touch both cause the learner to involve themselves in occult activities.  This is something that a believer should not be doing.  This leads to another problem.

Believers have told me that they have taken these trainings and do these techniques but instead of calling on spirit guides or channeling energy they instead rely upon the Holy Spirit.  It is certainly commendable that they immediately see the issue and seek a solution.  The problem is with the solution they have chosen.

We as Massage Therapists like to help people.  We like to see them get better.  This sometimes makes us think of ourselves as healers and when we do that we sometimes think that we have the biblical gift of healing.  Once we take that step it is not difficult to turn to these energy medicine techniques, baptize them by throwing in a dash of Christian terminology, and poof – we are Christian healers who use energy techniques by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We need to stop doing this.  Only the Holy Spirit speaking through the Bible can disavow us of this notion.

There are a number of ways of going about this.  I like to look at what actually happened in biblical healings and contrast that with what happens in treatment rooms of EP.

We see Jesus and the apostles doing a number of healings.  Take the man born blind in John 9.  He receives his sight.  What happened?  Jesus spat on the ground, made clay, and applied the clay to his eyes.  The blind man was then given directions to go wash the clay away in the pool of Siloam.  The man returned as a man with sight.  Notice that Jesus did not need to spend time centering himself.  He did not move his hands over the man in any particular order.  The healing was complete.  This man did not require booster healings.

Look at Lazarus in John 11. He was dead.  He had been in there for four days.  Jesus orders the stone away even though “there is a stench.” Jesus spoke and out came Lazarus.  Again, He did not move his hands over the man in any particular order.  He was not even near the body, nevertheless, the dead was raised to life. 

In Luke 6 a man with a withered hand is at the synagogue.  Jesus tells him to stretch out his hand.  He did not move his hands over the man in any particular order.  The man stretched out his hand as commanded and the healing was complete.  Notice that as with the other 2 that this man did not require booster healings.

There is a pattern here.  I am not aware of any case in scripture where anything similar to the attunement ceremony or the centering process was done before a biblical healing occurred.  Whatever is happening today in energetic healing bears no real resemblance to what was done by Jesus and the apostles.  There is no resemblance because biblical healing is qualitatively different from what is passing for healing in these energy based healing disciplines of today.

But we have believers who do energy work.  How do we explain their effectiveness?  We especially need to consider that these practitioners deny that they use occult methods.  We have already seen that what they do does not approximate what was done by Jesus and the apostles but they say that what they are doing is in the name of Christ.

If what they are doing is of Christ it will look like what he did.  What they do does not look like what Christ and the apostles did.  Therefore what they are doing is not of Christ.  This leaves us with a few alternatives.  We will look at those in my next post.

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[i] Rosa et al. A Close Look at Therapeutic Touch, JAMA April 1, 1998 Vol  279, No. 13 pg. 1005-1010

[ii] R. Glickman and E. Gracely.  Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine 2 , No 1 (spring/summer 1998)

[iii] J. Oshman, Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance, 2003 Elsevier Science

[iv] J. Oshman, Energy Medicine the Scientific Basis, 2000 Elsevier Science

[v] R. Becker and G. Selden, The Body Electric, 1985 Quill

[vi] Y. Jwing-Ming, The Root of Chinese Chi Kung:  The Secrets of Chi Kung Training, 1995 Yang’s Martial Arts Association

[vii] http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/whyattunementnecessary.htm

[viii] http://www.sma-us.org/content/therapeutic-touch-bridge-inner-self