Would you go to a Massage Therapist who's into chakras, reincarnation etc

[WhiteDove]

Now, let’s say that you then went to your priest for direction and laid out the whole above scenario, with all the pros and cons, describing in detail the chakra realignment hocus pocus, the speculation regarding your past life possiblities by the masseuse, the possible positive theraputic benefits of opening up emotionally to this woman about the past, the general philosophy of the massage therapist regarding the storage of traumas from the past in the cells of the affected areas etc… He does not seem troubled by the massage therapist’s approach and merely advises that if there is something you disagree with, bring it up at the time, firmly stating your beliefs, but if going to this woman is something helpful, then keep going to her.

What would you think about this priest’s advise???

 

[Didi]

Unfortunately, there are many priests who are not familiar at all with the New Age movement, especially when it comes to alternative medicine.

If there’s any doubt in your mind at all, why would you possibly risk any harm to your soul?

When in doubt, go without.

 

[WhiteDove]

Well, for the sake of argument, perhaps the priest stated that the recipient of the massage was a deeply spiritual person, implying that the beliefs of the masseuee were not going to affect that fact. The priest also acknowledged that there probably are, in fact, energy centers of the body where tensions could be stored, indicating that there was, perhaps, some veracity to some of these theories.

 

[Michael_T]

From what you described, I’d find someone else. Not because I think you’ll become possessed by the devil if you allow yourself to be placed under her care, but because I’m sure you could find a massage therapist that isn’t dabbling in the occult (and that’s what “new age” stuff is, the occult).

Maybe you should try to help her see that what she’s into isn’t healthy. I’d ask a priest in the ask an apologist section here.

See what he says.

 

[jennstall]

Island Oak:

Exactly! By the way are there massage therapists out there who aren’t into channeling your energy with some silly twist on Eastern meditation?!? I’ve encountered it only once and that was at the St. Paul Saints (minor league) baseball games where there was a nun with a portable table who would move around the stands offering massages.

There are plenty. They’re called “sports therapists”. Also, I hate to say this because it’s going to sound sexist, but I’ve been for lots of different types of body therapy work due to my back problems so I have empirical evidence. I’ve only ever been to one male massage therapist who practiced this kind of lunacy. If you’re comfortable seeing a male practitioner, chances are very good that they probably aren’t going to wave any crystals over you.

 

[jennstall]

stbruno:

For those of us that suffer from chronic back pain…go see a licensed chiropractor. I have never felt better and the massage you get as well as the adjacent treatments are usually covered by your health insurance. Why bother with a masseuse.

I find that chiropractic and massage in tandem make a better therapy for my back than either one on their own.

For back problems, acupuncture is another excellent alternative. I’ve actually found it to be better and more quickly effective that chiropractic manipulation and/or massage for my pain flare-ups, and it is certainly much gentler on the body.

 

[jennstall]

WhiteDove:

Now, let’s say that you then went to your priest for direction and laid out the whole above scenario, with all the pros and cons, describing in detail the chakra realignment hocus pocus, the speculation regarding your past life possiblities by the masseuse, the possible positive theraputic benefits of opening up emotionally to this woman about the past, the general philosophy of the massage therapist regarding the storage of traumas from the past in the cells of the affected areas etc… He does not seem troubled by the massage therapist’s approach and merely advises that if there is something you disagree with, bring it up at the time, firmly stating your beliefs, but if going to this woman is something helpful, then keep going to her.

What would you think about this priest’s advise???

Okay, here’s the thing. I went to massage school because I thought I wanted to practice it professionally (I learned I did not like touching strangers), but I was there long enough to learn in ETHICS class that it is completely inappropriate for a professional massage therapist to treat for anything other than problems with the BODY. They are not psychologists, or counselors. They are bodyworkers. No massage therapist should be giving you spiritual or psychological advice of any kind. In fact, they are betraying the ethical guidelines of any professional massage association they are a member of. So don’t walk. RUN.

 

[WhiteDove]

Well, I think the person in question will just say to the masseuse, let’s just get to business here, don’t worry about my chakras, thanks very much, and no, I don’t believe in reincarnation, but I sure have been enjoying these nice rains we’ve been having.

 

[EsclavoDeCristo]

Keep going! This is an awesome opportunity to be a witness of Christ and His Church. If we only stay around good Catholics how are we going to spread the reign of God?!

God is good!

 

[chevalier]

Been there done that. No more amulets around me, please. No cosmic energy babble. Credo in unum deum…

 

[WhiteDove]

I wonder if this chakra business is just a way of getting out of working hard for the whole hour, anyways…

 

[Pious]

I was taught about Chakras and many other methods of treatments when studying as a magnet therapist, as you can imagine I had some doubts about learning about it.

I explained my Christian beliefs and the tutor respected that and agreed to demonstrate the charkas on another student; she said that the chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning spinning wheel and that there are over 88000 of these spinning wheels around the body, but therapists focus on the main 7 that run down the centre of the body.

I was told the seven major charkas are:

The Base Chakra
The Sacral Chakra (from the Latin Sacrum/Sacred, as it was believed that this part of the body was sacred as when the body was cremated the sacrum bone could still be identified.)
The Solar Plexus Chakra
The Heart Chakra
The Throat Chakra
The Third Eye Chakra
The Crown Chakra.

Each of the Chakras has corresponding organ glands:

The Base = the kidneys and adrenal glands.
The Sacral = Gonads and spleen.
The Solar Plexus = Adrenals, stomach, liver, gall bladder and pancreas.
The Heart = Heart, thymus, liver and lungs.
The Throat = Thyroid, parathyroid and lungs
The Third Eye = Pituitary, pineal, and the brain
The Crown = Pineal, pituitary, and upper brain.

She explained that in a health male each of these charkas spin in opposite directions of each other, starting from the crown it spins clockwise at the third eye it spins anticlockwise and so on and vice versa in a healthy female.

She said there have been scientific studies that have proven the existence of these charkas and demonstrated how they spin by holding a weighted object on a string above each chakra and the weighted object would turn either clock wise or anticlockwise depending on the chakra being over or under active. She even used an electronic device that bleeped over each chakra to show their existence.

In Eastern medicine the body is treated as a whole (Holistic) everything is treated, Eastern medicine obtained information by observing living human beings with energy systems still in existence. Body parts were viewed not as a part but by it’s relationship with the whole body, physically and energetically.

Cont…

 

[Pious]

…cont…

Western medicine is based on information from corpses, that is humans with no life, they took the body apart to see how it worked; each organ and blood vessels, muscles, nerves, bones all had a definite physical function as well as appearance. In theoretical terms you could remove a part of the body without affecting the rest of the body as in transplants. The Eastern view was not looked at, as there were no tools at the time to measure it; western medicine is based upon the study of bodily structure, scientific observation and analysis. The body is viewed as being made up of various systems like nervous, circulatory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, endocrine and immune systems and seek to understand it by breaking it down to look at individual systems. This is not to say the western method is wrong as it has brought us many marvellous insights in to treating diseases, but it lacks the understanding of preventative medicine which is what Eastern medicine emphasises.

I now treat on where the chakras are situated when treating a person but I am treating the associated organs and have nothing to do with the spiritual aspect of it (although I do pray to God before, during and after the treatment).

A lot of people will have come across the word kundalini and when you ask what it is you are told a serpent; well the answer is yes and no. The word kundalini is from the Sanskrit ‘to coil’ the Indians believed that a persons energy in their body was coiled up like a serpent (represented animal that coiled itself up) and when the charkas started to spin in the correct sequence the coil would move up through the body like a snake moving between rocks.

If you leave out the religious and spiritual beliefs of eastern medicine and concentrate on the physical aspects then there should be no problem.

Both western and eastern medicine all has the same goal and that is to treat and heal that person from disease only taking different approaches.

If the western choice is your preferred method and choose to go to a western medical hospital for treatments; then take a look at the logo on all hospitals and jackets of medical persons (2 snakes moving up a pole) that is the kundalini, the two snakes represent male and female if you count the circles made by the snakes bodies there are seven (seven charkas), scary thought isn’t it.

A word of warning keep away from people that claim to open up the chakras or wake the kundalini as this normally involves a ritual attunment and should not be messed around with.

So if a therapist is treating the charkas, ask them to explain it to you and ask if they are just treating the associated organs and endocrine glands or are the also treating on a spiritual level; if they say a spiritual level ask them to choose a different method of treatment or cease treatment.

If in doubt steer clear.

 

[WhiteDove]

Dear Pious,
Gee, thanks for the info. I wouldn’t discount something from another culture out of hand. I think the east has some experience with the human body from many thousands of years of study and civilization, while Europe was still in it’s barbaric beginnings.

I’ll admit that my neck is feeling much, much better…

 

[Trelow]

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.

 

[Pious]

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.

I couldn’t agree more

In my line of work when I treat people with magnets which are becoming accepted and used in western hospitals, I treat the whole body first and then concerntrate on the original symptom. I use the poins of where the chakras are supposed to be but I am treating the organs and endocrine systems; I could place the magnets directly over the organs but that would mean constantly turning the patient over to treat the kidneys, adrenal glands and the lungs. But because the type of magnets I use have a magnetic field of 6" radius and 6" penetration then by placing them down the center of the body I can treat all the organs and endocrine systems.

I do not have anything to do with spiritual aspects of Eastern medicine and I firmly believe that side should be avoided.

Don’t forget that many Western medicine came from traditional medicines.

 

[WhiteDove]

Dear Pious,
Your approach sounds balanced. So, what do you think of this ‘Theraputic Touch’ that this gal is doing? First she did this check on the Chakras with something that was weighted, that she waved over different parts of my body. I asked her what she was doing, and she said she was checking my chakras. I asked her how they checked out, and she said the ones in the front were fine, but some of the ones in the back were messed up. What does that mean?

Then she does this very light touching, which I think is the theraputic touch part of the massage. It’s okay, but I sort of think it wastes time that I’d rather be spent on deeper massage. What’s the point of that anyways?

Also, I’m thinking of asking her to just massage the body parts that are bothering me, which tend to be my neck, shoulders, upper and middle back. I don’t see any reason the massage my feet, since they are totally healthy and don’t bother me at all.

Also, do you buy the theory that we store specific past traumas in our cell memory and that talking about them during a massage helps release them? I felt like she was too probing about my personal past, when I mentioned sleeping in one position as a kid due to being afraid of someone entering the room through a particular door. I’m not sure if my discomfort is due to my not wanting to deal with the past, or that I really don’t care to revisit it, since it’s a boring and tiresome subject to me that I’ve mostly put behind me.

What do you think???

 

[Pious]

WhiteDove:

Dear Pious,
Your approach sounds balanced. So, what do you think of this ‘Theraputic Touch’ that this gal is doing? First she did this check on the Chakras with something that was weighted, that she waved over different parts of my body. I asked her what she was doing, and she said she was checking my chakras. I asked her how they checked out, and she said the ones in the front were fine, but some of the ones in the back were messed up. What does that mean?

I am not all that familiar with therapeutic touch, but what I do know is that it is a modern method of ‘healing’, it was invented by a Dolores Krieger PhD, RN and it is based on the hypothesis that the human energy field extends beyond the surface of the skin. The theory behind therapeutic touch is that the energy field that the human body can run smoothly and abundantly in a healthy individual, but can deplete and become unbalanced in a person of ill health. These practitioners believe that they can heal these imbalances by sensing and adjusting these fields, mostly with their hands.

The chakras run straight down the body, so I do not know why she felt the need to check the front and the back? Normally if they are messed up then there is an underlying problem in that area and it could be the organ or endocrine gland associated with that chakra, but a lot of holistic therapists only view the chakras on a spiritual basis and not on functioning body parts that it corresponds to.

There are not a lot of scientific studies done on this type of healing, although there are probably thousand of satisfied customers out there who have experienced the treatment.

But IMO it sounds too much like reiki, both claim to pull power from the universe and manipulate it for their benefit; power that I believe belongs to God alone and this method of treatment involves a spiritual aspect that would contradict Church teaching.

Then she does this very light touching, which I think is the therapeutic touch part of the massage. It’s okay, but I sort of think it wastes time that I’d rather be spent on deeper massage. What’s the point of that anyways?

I have not had it done so I could not say if it was part of therapeutic touch, my guess is that she was probably helping the circulation of blood under the skin, what she was doing on a spiritual level I do not know.

Cont…

 

[Pious]

cont…

Also, I’m thinking of asking her to just massage the body parts that are bothering me, which tend to be my neck, shoulders, upper and middle back. I don’t see any reason the massage my feet, since they are totally healthy and don’t bother me at all.

Ah, don’t forget you are on your feet all day, and this part of your body gets the most abuse, even though your feet feel fine, a lot of bodily stress can be attributed to problems in the feet. Take for instance jumping bare footed on a hard floor, you will obviously feel pain on the sole’s of your feet; but as the days go by your neck and shoulders will begin to give you trouble, so you can see that pain in one particular area may not have originally began there.

Also the feet and hands in holistic medicine are considered to be conductors for where meridians can begin and end and you also have a lot of acupressure points in the feet and there will be a lot of nerve ending in the feet also.

When I do my treatments I send magnetic waves up through the feet and the person having the treatment can felt them.

Also, do you buy the theory that we store specific past traumas in our cell memory and that talking about them during a massage helps release them? I felt like she was too probing about my personal past, when I mentioned sleeping in one position as a kid due to being afraid of someone entering the room through a particular door. I’m not sure if my discomfort is due to my not wanting to deal with the past, or that I really don’t care to revisit it, since it’s a boring and tiresome subject to me that I’ve mostly put behind me.

I believe we can subconsciously lock traumatic experiences away in our minds so that we do not have to deal with it. But my concern is that is she a qualified psychiatrist, psychologist or counsellor; if not then I do not think she should be attempting to unlock this part of the human mind. And most importantly if you feel uncomfortable with it then tell her, as she is not supposed to cause distress in treatments.

A lot of these types of treatments involve a spiritual aspect behind them, and even though some good benefits may come from them in regards a healthy bodily system, you have to ask yourself what else is she doing to you.

Take for instance yoga, many people benefit from the stretching and exercises it offers, but there is also a spiritual side to it.

I would ask her exactly what she is doing to you and what are her beliefs are in regards to your treatment.

Also make sure she has had some sort of training, as a wrong massage movement can be disastrous, check if she has insurance for professional indemnity and malpractice and whether she belongs to a professional body.

Did you have a consultation with her where she asked about your medical history, I know in the UK this is law and all therapists must give all their clients a consultation to make sure that the treatment they are offering does not harm the person; it is also required for insurance purposes. And did she say how many treatments would be required before you feel an improvement.

What do you think???

In the end it is up to you and how you feel morally regarding your treatment.

I hope this helped a bit.

 

[Cathy]

John Shea, M.D., keeps abreast of the latest moral developments in medicine. He wrote an article about “Therapeutic Touch” in Catholic Insight, an online magazine. Following is an excerpt. At the end of the excerpt is the web page address for the full article:

“Linda Rosa, of the National Council Against Health Fraud U.S.A., has made a convincing scientific study that demonstrated that there is no evidence that TT does anything for patients beyond the ‘placebo effect’.(7) This effect is the subjective relief of symptoms or a feeling of well-being, which is not the result of the substance or the procedure used. It may result, instead, from a feeling that arises in the patient when someone has paid attention to him or her. Rosa has examined TT by scientific method. One of the purposes of the scientific method is to eliminate the influence of bias, and of the beliefs of the experimenter, on the judgements to be made by the person who is testing the validity of the technique to be examined, in this case, TT. The fact is, as shown by this study, that TT has no scientific basis.”

catholicinsight.com/online/bioethics/article_262.shtml