Reflections of an Integrative Health Scholar
I have dabbled in integrative therapies and modalities for a few years now, and the one practice that this class [Historical and Cultural Foundations of Integrative Health] has brought an emphasis to is mediation and energy healing. I have had an inconsistent meditation practice, most notably during the initial lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Practicing meditation gave me something to focus on during those hard times, and it allowed me to be more introspective and thoughtful about my needs and goals. Energy healing has already given me personal evidence to its power and effectiveness, and by opening my eyes to the energetic practices of people across time and space, I have realized how little I utilize energy healing these days, especially for my own healing.
In the past, I have worked my way through a meditation course which I still have access to. 40 days of Meditation for Transformation. I have 320 days left in my degree. While I won’t set myself up for failure and say I will go through the course eight times before I graduate, I do wonder how transformative that practice could be in that time, and even how it could be across a lifetime. Implementing a meditation practice that will include self-Reiki sessions is the best practice for me moving forward, utilizing both internal and external resources to improve my health and inform my practice as an emotionally regulated, open-minded and nonjudgement Integrative Health clinician.
I would like to incorporate more massage, meditation and movement therapies or practices into my self-care routine. I have begun these practices in the past, but I have never been consistent with their use. These therapies and practices are efficient in terms of time and money, as long as my priorities align with caring for myself. My journey leads me to believe yoga is likely the best integrative therapy to incorporate my needs because it incorporates movement with breathwork, mindfulness and spirituality, depending on how you practice it. I already have everything I need to begin a restorative yoga practice, and meditation practice, a regular massage treatment, and energetic healing practice. I just have to implement it.
While I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the inclusion of massage, bodywork and energy work across history and cultures, and how inclusive it is from a global perspective, the chapter on massage and bodywork was challenging to get through. Much of the text specific to massage was outdated or wrong, and non-representative of the field of massage in western society. The text focused on regulations for the field specifically in California, insinuating that those regulations are statewide, which is dramatically false. Also, the facts about California regulation in particular were wrong. Lastly, the discussion post for that section gave me many challenges, mostly because I continually overthought and complicated the questions. While this didn’t make this content not applicable, I simply had a surprisingly hard time dialing it back to focus on the topic in terms of the broader field of Integrative Health.
Through my journey as a massage therapist and now an Integrative Health scholar, I have witnessed many instances where the perspectives of one therapy or modality contradict the perspectives of another therapy or modality. This course has allowed many of those gaps to be filled. By learning about the cultural histories of healing practices, correlations can be made between differing perspectives. Where one modality (Reiki and other energy work) sees energetic pools known as chakras that could be clogged or backed-up, other modalities (Craniosacral therapy and Manual Lymphatic Drainage) see perpendicular orientations of connective tissue that lead to restrictions or blockages in the tissues and fluid flow. Acupuncture and acupressure work with the energy flow of various lines associated with every major organ of the body, while Visceral Manipulation works with the connective tissue and innate movement of the individual organs and how that relates to the whole-person system. Understanding the historic and cultural background to integrative therapies has melded my comprehension and clinical practice of massage therapy, health education and stress and pain management.
I am a massage therapist practicing various forms of massage, body- and energy work. This course opened my eyes to the more possibilities within Integrative Health. The nature of Integrative Health is in the inclusion of complementary, alternative and integrative medicines with allopathic medicine. CAIH practices come from all over the world, from all cultures. It places an emphasis on the cultural beliefs and health practices that fit into and make up the environment of the people we are helping. This class has allowed me to understand that while massage could be a wonderful addition to anyone’s healthcare journey, it may not always be appropriate given their cultural background, and other integrative therapies could be more useful and more effective.
While I had some ideas how much massage and manipulative healing practices have been used throughout time, I don’t think I realized that massage has been part of almost every form of medicine across human existence. Much of my goal in pursuing this degree has been to bridge the gap between massage and biomedicine, and this class has enlivened that pursuit. It has shown me that my goals have historic evidence in support of further utilizing massage therapy in healthcare. And while this goal is still strong, I also have a greater understanding that the answer to what is “best practices” for an individual is personal, and their cultural background is key to determining what their best practices is.
Written 06/20/2023