The Benefits of Natural Healing in Africa, India and Korea

Our health and well being IS all in our heads- according to the natural healers of Africa, India and Korea, as well as many, many other countries. Natural healers and physicians in these countries agree that the mind and body are connected and that illness must be treated this way. When we are hurting or suffering from a condition, pain receptors in the brain send pain to the area. Already the head is effected. Pain and discomfort alter the chemistry in the brain, affecting the ability to heal.

Natural healers educate and treat patients on the power of the mind and how to use it to their advantage. They are encouraged to accept the illness as needing to be treated with medicine, prayer and mental strength. Patients must come to terms with the condition before it can begin to heal. It is all about acceptance and intention. The prayer is used to enforce the intention. It does not have to be a prayer to a god, but a prayer to the spirits and ancestors by asking for help in healing. If the request is sincere and the patient trusts the outcome, the healing process is always successful.

Africa, India and all of Asia are just a few countries that share and use their practices with each other. Tibetan health is used also in Switzerland and Austria, while some of their techniques are used in Tibet. This is how the natural health system works, and why it has been effective for so many thousands of years.

The similarities in diet, mental health and herbal practices is what keeps these cultures strong and resilient against the environment in which they live. Mental health is especially important to those in times of war and famine as they survive the most unspeakable events. These souls are very advanced in learning and survival, and their ancestors have seen to it that they have the tools necessary to carry on.

The connection with nature is the balancing force of healing, and healers prescribe nature as a healer of the mind. Plants, trees, rocks and minerals all give off energy that balances the atmosphere and is a natural endorphin to the brain. It has the ability to clear the mind of unwanted ‘junk’, and to bring back the natural focus needed to maintain health and happiness.

These are the prescriptions we are meant to have, and choosing a mental and physical state of existence is crucial to our health. American society has moved so far away from anything natural for the past 100 years, and now citizens are suffering the consequences with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc., etc. When people disconnect their minds from their bodies, embracing a focus on materialism and consumption, they forget that they have a duty to their whole selves. We are not here to be herded around by others, told what to do, what to think, what to buy; we are individual souls living in a brotherhood that has nothing to do with stuff. Connect the mind and body, connect with nature and the order of the universe, and you will be healed. Millenniums of documents prove that cultures survived and lived in peace by practicing the natural healing of the ancestors.

Preparation for becoming a healer is a lifelong process, and accuracy is essential. The training healer is also ‘healed’ by graduating. His/her soul can now complete its journey in this life, and the healer is walking on his chosen path.

Africa
Africa has a variety of healing techniques that are used separately or together, depending on the illness. The use of herbs and powders made from plants is practiced by all healers, but other more intense techniques are not used by the healers called ‘herbalists’. ‘Possessed’ healers are the strongest, and typically higher up than are herbalists.

Possessed healers are led by the ancestors. Ancestors and healers that have passed to the other side are in constant communication with the healer, guiding him or her to heal their people and pass on the knowledge. Only certain people are chosen to become the possessed healer while others are chosen in their specific area of knowledge. Possession of the ancestors is easy for some but very challenging for others. Many fight the calling and do not want to go through the grueling task of sacrifice, dedication and learning, a process that literally breaks the healer down mentally and physically so that they are vulnerable. The vulnerability opens the mind and soul, enabling the trainee to listen to the messages and clearly hear the ancestor’s guidance. It takes many years to learn the techniques and many more years of working with other healers from other cultures. It is a life-long commitment to live a life of sacrifice and emotional turmoil, as the healer must give him/her self to the ancestors in order to be guided. Emotional exhaustion causes many to retire as healers and become trainers, but only if the ancestors give them the ok.

The results are astonishing, though, and patients are healed and given the encouragement and caring needed to heal, which in turn gives them the empowerment and knowledge to heal themselves. The severity or ease of treatment begins with the individual and his or her mental condition. The mental condition is considered essential in the patient’s recovery, and each healer addresses this and works toward healthy mental balance prior to discussing medical treatment. It is understood that mind and body work together in balance, and if one is off, it affects the other. Many healers advise patients to cleanse their mind of society’s ills for a period of time, then come back for treatment. It is common for the healer to be the first person to point out the mental/emotional imbalance, as the patient is so involved in the issues they often do not recognize the cause of their symptoms. The healers begin here because the mind is the actual healer: patients have been known to diminish physical ailments by coming to terms with the atmosphere they live in, which is causing them stress. Once this is established, the healer decides if the patient is also in need of medicinal therapy to heal the injured system.

Different healers use their own techniques, depending on their calling as a healer. Natural healers from all over the world share their knowledge and practices with each other, as it is meant to be. They are drawn to each other in visions and dreams, led by the guidance of their ancestors and the spiritual journey.

Healers are chosen by the ancestors and spirit world to be healers. It is a difficult process and one must make many sacrifices and suffer personal and physical pains to be a healer, a conduit of the creator and the universe. Isolation from family and focus on learning and understanding the truths can take up to two or three years, and in that time the training, done by an older and experienced healer, gives the trainee the knowledge and wisdom to be guided in the right direction by the ancestors.

Trainees will help the trainers financially so that the trainers can continue the practice. After graduating, the trainees give money regularly to the trainers, assuring the knowledge will be passed on.

Some healers know as children that healing is their fate; some fight the already building noise of the ancestors, afraid to acknowledge the truth. The training process involves excessive fasting and living on the vitamins in herbs and teas, which is difficult for a long period of time, but cleansing is essential.

There are also schools that teach formal education in this training. Some healers are expected to go, some are left in the hands of the experienced healers. It can be gruesome in that meditating for many hours and listening only to the ancestors gives many trainees the feeling of loss. They lose themselves and are acting as they are told by a trainer and the ancestors. For older trainees this is very difficult. Children have an easier time learning and adjusting, but the call to heal comes at different times for different people.
The healers are in a place that is unimaginable to many people. They are connected to a knowledge and guidance that is not viewed as real, because many people do not have this connection. It does not mean they can’t be healed, and they usually have a euphoric understanding after a treatment, or advice from a healer is correct. It is euphoric to be connected, but it can also be exhausting.

Herbalist
The herbalist is a trained, educated healer who uses plants as medicine. The plants are cared for and harvested at the full moon, which is believed to have stronger healing effects, then dried and grinded. Depending on the illness, herbs are used in teas, tinctures and poultices.

This healer has no connection to psychic or spiritual guidance. Training through years of experience and assistance to a sangoma ,or an experienced herbalist, educates the herbalist in aiding and assisting other healers in their work. This healer is able to diagnose and treat ailments and is a valued contributor to natural health care.

Traditional/Possessed Healers
The Shaman, Traditional Healer, or as the natives call them, ‘Possessed’ Healers, practice healing through the guidance of the ancestors. The healing system is dependent on their ancestors from long ago.

The ancestors come to the healer in dreams and visions . They ‘tell’ the healer what is ailing the patient and how to cure them. Cures range from sipping some herbs to spending two years in nature while cleansing the body of toxic thoughts and feelings. The healer has an instinctive knowledge of health and the body, guided by the ancestors who healed in their lifetimes.

Possessed healers also do a ritual called ‘throwing bones’. They are given the ‘bones’ from the trainer or they are passed down through their family, and different pieces can be added if directed by the ancestors. The purpose of throwing the bones is to see how they fall. They fall in certain patterns pointing at certain things, which directs the healer in helping the patient. The ancestors tell the healer what the pattern means and how to treat the ailment.

The bones can be dominoes, rocks, stones or a combination of different talisman. Some bones are passed through families, and contain actual bones. The pieces are small and thrown on a mat or cloth that belongs to the thrower, revealing the answer to the healer.
Africans, like other cultures, believe in the unity of our planet. Their healing process begins in the mind and the soul. Sickness and discomfort come from disturbance in the spirit, and the healers diagnose the problem before they proceed with treatment. Patients are encouraged to move away from the chaos of their fast paced lives and connect with nature for at least a week.

Once the weight of the world has fallen off, the healing will begin. A proper diet of teas and foods are recommended, and the patient makes the life changes needed to end his symptoms.

Many patients are poor and have nothing, but they will pay with what they have. Healers are accepting of trade for treatment, because the purpose is not to be rich, but to heal and educate our brothers. This belief system allows the people to acknowledge their struggles which empowers them to a peaceful existence. Material objects are not valuable as a whole, because the spirit does not need objects. Spiritual freedom is a large part of the longevity and acceptance that exists in African culture and is passed down through centuries of generations. This way of existence is in practice in so many different countries and has proven to be a valuable healing tool for all involved.

India
Tibetian healers and physicians go through a training process similar to the African healers, and they also use a set of instructions called Gyuschi, which is referred to as the fundamental text, the Tantras of Instructions, concerning medicine.

The Tantras of Instructions includes the cures of 1600 diseases, 18 of which are in the future. The environmental shifts and changes will bring on new illnesses. Written in the 11th century , it has been passed down to healers in future generations.

Working with the body and mind as a whole, the healers use food, herbs and plants in combination with mental stability and various medical treatments to heal the sick.
Tibetans use a system of channels or vessels, to examine the balance of body and mind by taking the pulse. Three channels are used regularly to diagnose and treat, but there are 24,000 channels in the body- each reacting to the rhythm and circumstances of the person’s state of balance.

The three main vessels or channels, are what heals us or breaks us down. Picture the outline of a human form. Start at the naval and picture a line reaching from naval to brain. This is one channel connected to the brain and mental health.

The next one goes down from the naval to form sex organs, and is the center of where desire resides. The third is the rest of your body, or the ‘atmosphere’ in which the other vessels live, and is called ‘The channel of life’. Behind the ear is the main channel and is the source of confirming diagnosis by the pulse waves found there.

The healers diagnose with the rhythm of pulse. Each finger has a pulse that directly connects to two organs. When the pulse is felt in each finger, it is determined by the ‘wave’ of the pulse which organ is in distress. The healers say that human pulse is like the waves in the ocean-it is referred to as ‘wind’.

There are three different centers in the body- movement, heat and fluid. Translated, it is wind, bile and phlegm.

Bile is based on the fire element, or heat in the body. Phlegm is based on earth and water, corresponding to bodily fluids. Wind is the pulse that moves it all around, and the indicator of which system is ‘off’.

When these elements are combined or mixed, disease is often the result. Healers know that a human does this to himself with thoughts and emotions that are unsettled, and often it is the emotional trauma of a situation that slows the healing. The mind must be healed in order to heal the body.

In the case of an elderly woman who had fallen and hurt her leg, they measure the length of her index finger. That length is measured from the anus across the buttock, which is the area treated. This is known as the Rectum Meridian. The treatment was heat therapy, which consisted of herbs rolled into a cone shape then placed on the area. The herbs are lit and allowed to smoulder on the buttocks, which sounds worse than it is. The entire time there are several healers around the patient, praying and speaking their intentions to the spirits. The woman moans slightly, but is encouraged to be patient and is comforted by the supporting healers. It is obvious immediately how the support of the healers acknowledging her discomfort has great affect on the woman. She relaxes and accepts the momentary pain, but smiles as she stands because she feels the energy of healing. The area is treated with garlic and a combination of herbs, leaving no scar. The woman returned a few days later and was getting around better. The healer recommended she come back five more times for heat therapy.

A more serious case of an elderly man who suffered acute kidney disease, was not so easily treated. He was seen at a conventional medical facility and had x-rays taken. His kidney was so enlarged and distorted that the doctors told him surgery could not be performed. They told him he would die on the table.

The man and his wife went on to the natural healers. The healers agreed with the physicians that his condition was terminal and surgery could not be done. They gave him herbal powders and some advice that he work on mind health as well as body, and to continue to come back for exams and treatment. The healers worked with the physicians in understanding and treating the kidney, but physicians did not believe chemical medicines would benefit him at this point. He was beyond those treatments. The healers and physicians were in contact often about this man, and to their amazement, over one year later, the man was healthy enough to have the surgery, and his kidney had returned to a more normal size and shape. The cancer that had distorted it was now localized and could be removed.

Treating a variety of complaints, from acute kidney disease to beating and torture by war, the healers take the time to research the 79‘Thangkas’, or drawings done in the 17th century, illustrating medical knowledge about many conditions. Medicines, rituals and prayers are included in the treatment.

Medicines
There are 35 Constituents of Tibetan recipes. Plant, roots, berries and fruits combined specific to illnesses and symptoms are used to treat affected organs. Healers measure dosages mathematically to avoid side effects, and patients rarely have them. Most plants and herbs are crushed by hand into a powder form, taken with hot water or put on the tongue. Tibetans use the six different taste elements natural to humans to make their remedies. Everything that exists consists of five elements, providing us with the tastes sweet, sour, bitter, salty, tart and hot. If the medicine does not reach these elements the body does not process and heal properly. The healers or pharmacists that cure the plants and minerals test the concoction by tasting, and alterations are necessary if the frequency is off.

One of the necessary ingredients of every medicine made is called ‘Myrobalan’. Myrobalan is a green bulb like fruit that grows on tall bushes or trees and is important in the effects of herbal medicine. Alone it has all six qualities of taste, making it the universal cure for all kinds of disease . Myrobalan comes in different strains and has varied uses, as one strain is primarily used in infant health. It has six different tastes and eight potencies. The six tastes are composed of two respective elements, earth/water; fire/earth; water/fire; water/wind; fire/wind; earth/wind.
The potencies are heavy, oily, cool, blunt, light, coarse, hot and sharp.

These factors are taken into consideration when diagnosing and healing a patient. The slightest imbalance can render a person very ill. Treatment is done over a period of time and many times the healer does not want pay. His goal is to heal and to educate about the self and mental health. He then will be paid when the people go on to educate and live better, healthier lives.

Also used are precious metals. Gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, brass and many other elements are melted, decontaminated, distilled and calcinated before being made into what they refer to as 'Jewel Pills’. This procedure is lengthy and difficult, but necessary to balance systemic damage and aid in healing.

Metals
Copper Sulfate- disintegrates tumors and malignant tumors, cures herpes simplex and eye diseases.
Fibro Ferntum- heals septic(infected) wounds and disintegrates tumour.
Realgar- subsides swollen glands and heals chronic and infected sores.
Turquoicum - Antidote, treats inflammation of the liver.
Coral- cures nerve disorders due to damage in the brain, neuritis, other inflammations in the liver and due to poisoning.

Foods and Herbs
Garlic is used to cleanse and detoxify wounds, as well as internal symptoms. It is used to extract poison and acts as a glue. Garlic pills used in conjunction with an herbal medicine called Padma 28, which is a blood vessel cleanser, and chervil plant extract (herba cerefolii), have reversed the effects of coronary arterial blockages and kept several patients from limb amputation due to bad circulation. This treatment would eliminate 60-80% of heart operations if used conventionally.

The large volume of herbs and plants cannot be described here, but detailed information is easily available in books and online.

When it comes to physical treatments, old world cures and methods are shared by a vast network of natural healers from countries all over the world. These healers are a family, of sorts, and their sole objective is to treat and heal illness.

One treatment used by Tibetans is a method called ‘cupping’. This is used when other techniques have failed, or when an ailment has been ignored for a long period of time.
They do this by placing a ‘cup’, which is a suction cup, on a specific body part, usually the back of a shoulder. After several minutes and some prayer, the cup is tapped and suction is broken. The result is a large, reddish circular protrusion that has ‘sucked’ the negative energy to one area. The area is then treated with garlic to cleanse and heal. The purpose is to take the energy away from the affected area or illness, therefore making it easier to treat. The garlic aids in rapid recovery of the cupped area, and no side effects are experienced.

Another treatment used for the shock of trauma on the mind and body, is called the Hot Gold Rod. The rod is heated and placed about two inches away from and behind the ear on the main channel. Care is taken not to touch the ear at all, as it will have serious negative effects. The rod is not burning, but heated to unlock to block of distress. It is held there for a few minutes and has immediate results. A young woman who was tortured and beaten by Chinese terrorists, suffered many internal injuries and fractures, as well as permanent damage to genital organs. The healer told her she must go through a long treatment process, that she could not heal quickly because these scars are deep, but that she will heal. He tells her not to pay and that she must come there often. He counsels her on her sacrifice for all of Tibet, and tells her that she should be proud. This was not a personal attack against her, but against Tibet.

She returns a week later and looks better rested and smiling. She is anxious to continue the treatment and has been sleeping better.

Korea
The Asian philosophy of healing is considered to be the oldest form still in use, and growing every day. Many people believe in and practice Chinese medicine, which is also practiced with variances by the surrounding countries.

I lived in Korea and found the land and the people to be very natural and beautiful. The energy there was intoxicating, and the strong spiritual existence is calming. I went to mountains and temples that had the greenest trees and landscapes I’ve ever seen. They are a culture of old ways and some of the healthiest people on the planet.

As in some other countries, Korea has a variety of what they call ‘pharmacies’, and Americans are usually discouraged from using their medications (by the heavy military presence). They are a combination of herbal and medical pharmacies, and you just go in and tell the ‘pharmacist’ what is wrong with you and he will give you a pill or some other concoction, at a very cheap price. I was surprised at how adamant the US government was about avoiding anything organic to that region, as I found most things quite healthy . I befriended some Korean people and they taught me and shunned my fears. I did try their juice concoctions and healing potions, sold over the counter in most stores. The problem with Korea is that there are no regulations that manufacturers maintain the same consistency of each batch of product, so you might get the bottom of the barrel and the sediment or sour taste along with it. This goes for beer, soda and juice as well. I lived through it and I never got sick. I actually felt better than I had ever felt when I left there and was sick when I returned to the states. All of the additives and preservatives in processed food made in the US made me ill for two weeks. I then switched to organic foods and have been fine ever since.

Koreans, like many cultures, know that the secret to living a happy, healthy life is not how much material worth we have. They live in huts with a lace curtain for a front door, but you better take your shoes off! The respect they have is for life and nature and our oneness with the universe. They know that everything and everyone is connected, and they are focused on maintaining the balance. Even in the remnants of the war they rebuild and work together. It is a fascinating lifestyle that encourages mind and body balance, combined with healthy eating habits. Living there I could not understand why these people were never sick. They work 24 hours on, 24 hours off, and even the elderly are active and contributing. They live within their families their whole lives, and there is security in knowing that each generation will take a turn at caring for the other at some point in time. This eliminates stress and worry, which is healthier for our minds, therefore, healthier for our bodies.

They also eat a very healthy diet. Eggs and some form of tofu or soybean pastry are breakfast, and lunch is always rice and kimchee, a pickled variety of vegetables, comparable to a salad in the US., along with some chicken or beef. Dinner would also be healthy, even if you ate the greasy vendor stuff in the markets. Many medicinal herbs are used in cooking, which eliminates the needs for synthetic vitamins. They don’t use hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. It is easier and cheaper for them to use what is natural, and making oils by cold pressing and not heating them retains the healthy benefits. Heating breaks down the molecules and creates disharmony that actually harms us. NO Hydrogenated oils!

They also drink a great deal of green tea. It is no secret that green tea has a great deal of antioxidants, which cleanse the body of free radicals, but there are more teas and herbs that have those benefits and more.

If you’re wondering about alcohol, yes, they like to drink. The odd thing is, they cannot hold liquor. Asians lack an enzyme in their livers that allows them to tolerate alcohol, but it doesn’t stop them. They have the nastiest, most toxic alcohol I’ve ever tasted, called so-ju. It’s a liquor like vodka or rum, although it tastes nothing like either. You can buy a liter bottle of it for 86 cents and get four or five of your friends really drunk. Be prepared to stay awake for a long time, too, because it keeps you up. The buzz is never pretty and most people end up vomiting, but mostly because you can mix it with any sort of soda, juice or whatever, so it’s easy to drink. Have one or two and you’ll get the idea. One of its main ingredients is formaldehyde, which they believe preserves the body. It does because you vomit, I think. So-ju, like every other liquid there, is not regulated, either. You take your chances when it comes to taste.

Another food they use to maintain health is seaweed. Dried, fresh, cooked, whatever. They make it into this leaf like wrap that they put cooked beef , chicken or fish in with rice and vegetables. It is high in protein and packed with vitamins. They also have dried squid in every store, like beef jerky, except it’s the whole squid, flattened and dried. I found it very offensive, but I am a vegetarian. These squid looked like octopuses but were much smaller. Some fresh ones can be had, and those were much more offensive looking, at many of the small restaurants around. A variety of squid and eel can be viewed in fish tanks outside or inside the restaurant and you can choose your dinner.
Asians heal with a variety of foods and herbs, and they, like many cultures, understand the connection between mind and body.

Keeping a healthy focus on unity and peace along with a diet rich in vitamins and minerals is what gives them longevity and perseverance. They chant and pray as well, using towers of rocks to dispel evil spirits, which bring famine, war and illness. These towers are all over the country, and even some survived the war. Violence is not allowed there, and you’ll not find a weapon for sale anywhere.

I was singing on a USO tour for four months, traveling the entire south.
I spoke with my driver who was 60 but looked 35, and he gave me some insight. He was at the gates in North Korea with his parents when people were being locked out or in. He was only 6, and his brother was 11. He and his parents were on the south side of the gate, but his brother on the north . He has never seen or heard from his brother in all this time and does not know if he is alive or not. He said it was very difficult on his parents and they were ill and old before their time. He showed me the fields and areas where a million Chinese came and slaughtered people. It was so beautiful a place, it was hard to imagine. He told me the of the violence and how the people stayed together and protected each other.

I wondered how he coped, and he used his knowledge of unity and spiritual togetherness. We are all one, all the time. It does not matter if our bodies live or die; we are together as a whole.

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