Homeopathy Tips Newsletter

Inspirational Healing and the Tong Ren method.

By David Holt DO, HMD

In the Fall of 2009 I encountered a method of healing which appeared to be both peculiar and fascinating:  Tong Ren.  In the previous four years or so I had been emphasizing the practice of integrative medicine in the care of folks with a diagnosis of cancer.  This was a tremendous opportunity to explore the limitations of both orthodox and alternative healing methods and there were many cases where the best we could do was provide relief and comfort until their passing.

The Tong Ren method was devised by Tom Tam, an acupuncturist in Boston Massachusetts over a decade ago.  He is well known for getting very good results in a wide variety of challenging cases and a large portion of his clientele are diagnosed with cancer.

The technique is disarmingly simple and based on a system which sees that meridian and other blockages in particular patterns are responsible for a given illness.  Rather than the introduction of ...

I recently had a very good question from a student regarding different results of the same remedy and potency manufactured by different homeopathic laboratories. Her observation was that she had different responses to the same remedies that were manufactured by different pharmacies. Some pharmacies remedies were stronger and had more of an effect. She wondered why this was so.

Over the years many different methods for potentization have been experimented with in efforts to save on the materials used to make the remedies. Using the methods that Hahnemann described would require the use of thousands of vials in the making of higher potencies, not to mention the time involved by having to utilize human labor in the hand sucussion process. This would make the higher potencies (30C and higher) very expensive.

In Hahnemann's method of potentization the original mother tincture or triturate is dissolved as one part to 99 parts of alcohol and water. This is shaken (succussed) vigorously by p...

There are so many remedies in our Materia Medica it is really impossible to have every remedy you need, in the potency you need, available for instant administration?  What do you do when you know the remedy you want to give but don't have it?

         I have found that dealing with a reputable pharmacy that stocks many remedies in a variety of potencies is an absolute must being a professional homeopath. I use Hahnemann Labs for most purchases of remedies and can have them delivered in as little as 2 days by standard mail. But in any situation where I need the remedy in a shorter amount of time, I'm stuck.

         As you all well know, two days can be an eternity when it comes to changing health conditions. There are other ways to "make" the remedy that fall a little bit out of the norm for "standard remedy preparation". But if these methods work then the possibility for help are worth the efforts.

        One of the first homeopaths I ever met repeated to me the saying "energy fo...

Is it possible to care too much for your client? I believe it is and see it happen to some of my students as they begin to manage cases. Caring too much can lead to lack of clarity as well as ill health on the part of the practitioner. Let me explain more.

Often we make emotional ties to our clients especially if we like them. Some people we are drawn to in a personal way even though they are our clients. This is a natural response to another human being. There can be great affinity for another. Other clients we do not make the same emotional bonds with and it seems a little easier, even if Hahnemann warned us to be unprejudiced observers. It is prejudice to have any feelings beyond empathy. Sympathy is to have feelings that are similar to the person you are in sympathy with. To feel these it is usually because they trigger a similar hurt that we carry in ourselves.

When we are in sympathy with another we have lost our clarity. We are now experiencing our own emotional response. We n...

In modern medicine we have many treatment modalities. Some end in -pathy. I want to explore what each of the pathy's are and how they differ. We all know something about Homeopathy, but there are several other sub-modalities and other systems of medicines carrying the same" pathy". First it is good to understand what "Pathy" means.

"Pathy" means suffering. It is a state of being that is not harmonious with our divine state. We are made in the image of G-d but suffering is inherent to our worldly existence. The "pathy" in all of the modalitites of healing is a suffix to the form of healing system. Homeo-pathy is similar - suffering. It is based on the law of Simila similibus curentur or "like cures like". We apply the law of similars to acheive the healing response. It recognizes the vital force and aims to treat the whole person and cause, not just the symptom. It is a completely different approach than some of the other "pathy's".

Allopathy or hertopathy is the treatment of disease ...

For any of you who live in the tropics or have travelled there you may have encountered Dengue Fever. Also known as "Break-bone Fever", if you've had it you will probably always remember it. It is one of the more common tropical diseases and can be effectively treated with homeopathy. It can reach epidemic proportions and has a similar distribution as Malaria. It also is spread by infection from the bite of a mosquito.

     Dengue is a Spanish word meaning prudery. This name is applicable to this disease because of the fact that in Dengue Fever there is stiffness of the neck and shoulders, portraying the look of one with a reserved state and excess strictness of manners. The physical restriction of movement creates a posture that one could assume was of a prude.  It also produces high fever, severe pains in the bones and joints accompanied with swelling and in some cases hemorrhages with bleeding under the skin, from the gums, nosebleed or internal bleeding. Symptoms can be very sever...

Homeopathy is at a crossroads. The future looks bright, but I have some deep concerns also. It seems there is a growing divide between those who want to see homeopathy legitimatized by standards and regulation and those who recognize the individual uniqueness of the homeopath, client and remedy. This I do not think can be standardized.

The group that wants to see homeopathy become mainstream medicine strives for a standard model of education as well as competency. This effectively lowers the standard of homeopathy to the lowest common denominator. In this model, every school must teach a standard minimum curriculum and testing. This is the same model that we have seen in the education of children in America. Much emphasis is put on testing with the individual who excels, being ignored. I think we have an educational vacuum in America as we are losing our brightest individuals to a standardized process. Read this very well written article. It is the same for homeopathy as with our chil...

I get a lot of questions about antidoting of the remedy. What substances will effect the remedy and will it antidote? The word antidote means to counteract. This would indicate that the substance is capable of antidoting the remedy and counteracting it. Most people consider the "it" to be the remedy.

This is misunderstood by most people including homeopaths. If the remedy is nothing but an energetic vibration that has become part of the material substrate of water, with a very small amount of alcohol to prevent the growth of bacteria and algae, then the antidoting substance in question is not mixing chemically in our bodies and counteracting the remedy. There is nothing there for it to counteract since the persons vital force has either accepted the remedy energy or not.

If there is resonance with the energetic remedy then the vital force can respond. This IS the healing response and the secondary action of the remedy. Too often we assume that the remedy is like a drug that has mater...

Shingles (herpes zoster) is infection with the Varicella-zoster virus that produces a severely painful skin eruption of fluid filled blisters. This happens when immunity is low, in individuals mostly over the age of 50, who have had chicken-pox previously in their life. The shingles is the re-emergence of the virus that lays dormant in the persons spinal or cranial nerves. When reactivated it spreads through the nerve to the skin where it produces painful sores resembling the original chicken-pox. The outbreak is usually always limited to the  strip of skin where the nerve fibers are located, most often the abdomen or chest or head.

Common symptoms with shingles are chills, fever, nausea, diarrhea, or difficulty urinating in the previous 3-4 days prior to the skin eruption. Others experience pain, itching or tingling sensation as the eruption appears. Clusters of small, fluid filled blisters usually appear. Most often the blisters appear on the trunk and only on one side. The blisters...

Happy New Year! It is another year and another opportunity to take stock of the world and where we are now. It seems that in this new millennium the changes have come quickly and with more consequence. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the more daily challenges in life and miss the bigger picture of the even greater challenge that is facing all humanity on this planet right now. When I look at how homeopathy can play a part in our unfolding future I see that it is more important than ever.

One of the biggest changes I have seen in peoples health has been in the realm of digestive issues. Without exaggeration I would say that 40-50% of all clients have digestive issues. This has changed significantly in the last 15 years. One has to wonder why this is so. It is my belief that the food we are eating is poisoning us. Modern agriculture and Genetically Modified Organisms have change the health of humans on this planet. We are guinea pigs in a giant experiment. No long term testing has ever...