#alternative medicine

[headspace-hotel]

i hate you alternative wellness natural chemical free vegan non-GMO herbal intuitive whole foods healing raw high vibrational plant based cleanse gluten free superfood supplement blend bullshit!!!! You're not healthier and more balanced and connected to the Earth because your smoothies are full of unidentifiable green and brown powders you got from a subscription box to ✨URTH-CRUNCH VAGINAL ENLIGHTENMENT✨!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#instagram is a terrible place #alternative medicine #pseudoscience #alternative health bullshit

[reality-detective]

Most of you do not know that Nikola Tesla also invented medical treatments that involved the use of Electromagnetism & Light to treat a wide variety of disease.

The devices would emit oscillating waves of various frequencies consisting of low frequency pulsing magnetic fields to treat pain, acoustic vibration machines to detoxify organs of the body, high frequency cancer killing radio waves and ultra high frequency ultraviolet light to create ozone to deactivate viruses.

“The desire that guides me in all I do is the desire to harness the forces of nature to the service of mankind.” - Nikola Tesla. 🤔

#pay attention #educate yourselves #educate yourself #knowledge is power #reeducate yourself #reeducate yourselves #think about it #think for yourselves #think for yourself #do your homework #do some research #do your own research #ask yourself questions #question everything #quantum medicine #quantum healing #quantum wellness #alternative medicine

[arcane-trail]

🔮 Witchy Goth & Pagan Shop 🔮

#green witch #witch #witchcraft #occult #pagan #alternative medicine #kitchen witch #witchy tips #witchythings #witchy

[creature-wizard]

Always remember that a major reason reason health scams and sketchy alternative medicines are flourishing the way they are right now is because the actual, real health care system is currently a raging Dumpster fire due to capitalism and conservative policies.

#health #health care #medicine #scams #alternative medicine #alternative health care #politics #us politics #american politics

[reasonsforhope]

"In New Zealand, Pacific Island scientists have just been given a large grant to run a study trial on the use of the traditional kava preparation and kava ceremony for treating PTSD.

Believing it could help treat PTSD and other trauma in soldiers and veterans, police officers, and corrections facility staff, the two scientists want to revise the reputation of kava, which was damaged by a pharmaceutical rush into the product some years ago.

Dr. Apo Aporosa of Fijian descent on his mother’s side, and Dr. Sione Vaka from Tonga, have received $1 million from the Health Research Council to combine kava drink with the traditional ceremony of conversation.

“I’m so stoked that Health Research Council has faith in us as a team to do this critically important work,” Dr. Aporosa told the NZ Herald. “It’s likely we’re going to spend a million dollars to prove what traditional Pacific knowledge has been trying to tell Europeans for the last 200 years.”

Kava comes in many traditional names, all relating to the root of the Piper methysticum plant. Across the islands of the Pacific, the root was stirred in water and drank for its subtle euphoric, but also sedative properties. Accompanying the drink was a Talanoa or what Dr. Aporosa is referring to as “talk therapy,” but what was essentially a heart-to-heart conversation.

Their study will take two groups of people and give them both the whole kava drink plus the talanoa, referred to as “the full package” while another group will receive just the talanoa, and another group just the kavalactones—the active ingredient in the plant.

In 2009, the Cochrane Institute confirmed that kava was probably more effective than placebo for treating anxiety. At the time, pharmaceutical and supplement companies had quickly isolated kavalactones and sold them as a natural relaxant.

Like most indigenous populations, New Zealand’s Māori population suffers from higher rates of stress, trauma, and anxiety than the national average, and the Health Research Council believes that the Kava ceremony is the most sensible way to fulfill this unmet need.

“We do know that… talk therapy works for some PTSD cases,” Dr. Aporosa said, adding that talanoa is basically talk therapy, done while sitting on the floor rather than in chairs.

“We know that kava has relaxant properties, that kava is a natural anti-anxiety medication, so we combine those two elements in a culturally influenced space, and we’ve got something here that’s unique.”

Aporosa understands the situation better than most. Not only is he from Pacific stock, but he was a police officer who had to leave the force due to PTSD from the line of duty.

His experience traveling the world speaking with former military and police got him the Fulbright Scholarship to study the kava ceremony in Hawai’i, another island culture that uses the plant.

His hope is to show that it works significantly in the trial, and then release a free e-book about how to perform the ceremony and intervention, in order to ensure the largest number of people can access the knowledge of this traditional Pacific medicine."

-via Good News Network, July 5, 2023

#kava #traditional medicine #indigenous #pacific islander #ptsd #trauma #anxiety #therapy #talk therapy #medical research #alternative medicine #new zealand #pacific islands #fiji #tonga #good news #hope #mental health

[gingerswagfreckles]

No offense but the rise of magical thinking in the left through astrology and Tiktok witches is a direct parallel to same phenomenon happening in the right in the form of anti vaxxers and Qanon. It’s a diluted form of the same anti-intellectualism that has underpinned every populist movement since the beginning of time, and it is undermining what could otherwise be a moment of real momentum and change in our society. It’s not all in good fun anymore and we have to stop pretending that it is. Hexing the Supreme Court doesn’t count as direct action and it never did, and believing in “alternative science” is no different from believing in “alternative facts.” Crystals can’t heal you, sage doesn’t do shit, and progress has never been made through mass delusions no matter how they are packaged.

#tiktok witches #gingerswagfreckles #god almighty that post about bitches trying to hex the Supreme Court has shaken me up :) #roe vs. wade #pseudoscience #alternative medicine #anti astrology #anti vaxxers #qanon

[bethanythebogwitch]

I honestly can't believe it's legal to sell quack alternative medicine. Pushing fake medicine kills and maims people and there's nothing stopping people from selling it while claiming it's real. In other contexts, if you sell someone a fake product while calling it real, it's fraud but if its fake medicine somehow there's nothing we can do to stop it? Everyone pushing fro alternative medicine should be liable for murder if someone dies while taking their product if real medicine could have saved them and selling any kind of alternative medicine should be illegal. Its fucking insane that this is allowed.

#alternative medicine #quackery #pseudoscience #alternative medicine by definition #either has not been proven to work #or has been proven not to work #if it has been proven to work #its called medicine

[disease]

VTG SATANIC OINTMENT TIN | 1 FL. OZ.

“DIRECTIONS: FOR RELIEVING HEAD COLD SYMPTOMS, DROP SMALL PORTION IN BOILING WATER, AND INHALING FUMES. // FOR RELIEF OF CUTS, BURNS, SKIN IRRITATIONS AND ITCHING OF PILES, APPLY WITH FINGER TIPS TWICE DAILY TO AFFECTED PARTS.” [eBay: @ ODDEVIL | #404009624413]

#satanism #alternative medicine #vintage #macabre #kitsch #eBay #u

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Hey everyone, I'm a board-certified wellness influencer and today we'll be practicing our mental gymnastics. First, a warm-up: Chemicals. Toxins. Allopathic. Cleanse. Detox. Here's my discount code. Alright, we're ready to rock. First, we're going to be practicing a few rounds of "your body is divinely intelligent and has the ability to heal itself," BUT ALSO, "you need to buy my supplements to heal." Second, we're practicing the "processed foods are terrible for you and you should avoid them at all costs," BUT ALSO, "buy these highly processed powders that I have a discount code for." And lastly, we're going to get in a few reps of "Big Pharma wants to keep you sick to make money," BUT ALSO, "I'm not going to mention that I'm part of the multi-trillion dollar wellness industry." Happy mental gymnastics-ing!

They never want to talk about Big Placebo. Mostly because they always want to sell you something.

#big placebo #mental gymnastics #discount code #supplements #alternative medicine #allopathic #Big Pharma #chemicals #toxins #everything is chemicals #food woo #food magic #cleanse #detox #here's my discount code #placebo #parody #LOL #funny #wellness industry #wellness influencer #religion is a mental illness #those are some skills BTW

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

People who use essential oils as alternative medicine don’t deserve rights.

#my kitten might be dying #because of health problems she developed #after her previous owners tried to treat her flees with essential oils #you stupid mother fuckers deserve to suffer #essential oils #alternative medicine

[tinyshe]

Holistic pet and animal care by Juliette Bairacli Levy. The Grandmother of Herbalism, has many books worth reading and adding to your home library.

#herbs #herbal medicine #alternative medicine #juliette bairaclli levy #grandmother of herbalism #herbal standards #books #home library

[reality-detective]

🐟 This fish skin bandage brings new hope to the treatment of burn wounds.

Researchers from all over the world have been developing and testing this treatment for years.

This is a great step forward in combining modern scientific brilliance with ancient wisdom.

This is how we win. 🤔

#pay attention #educate yourselves #educate yourself #knowledge is power #reeducate yourself #reeducate yourselves #think about it #think for yourselves #think for yourself #do your homework #do some research #do your own research #ask yourself questions #question everything #alternative medicine #medical news

[arcane-trail]

🔮 Witchy Goth & Pagan Shop 🔮

#crystals #crystal #quartz #alternative medicine #meditation #namaste #yoga #metaphysical #crystal witch #witchy #witchy vibes #witchcraft #occult #paganism #paganblr #witches #wicca #wiccan

[creature-wizard]

How many people do you think have died from thinking they could imagine a beam of golden light or whatever that heals them

So the thing is, belief in alternative healing modalities on its own isn't necessarily going to get people killed. Visualizing a golden beam is itself harmless. The problem is when people start thinking that it's the only form of healing they should use, whether because it's supposedly morally or spiritually better, or because evidence-based medicine is supposedly an evil conspiracy, or because this mode of healing just totally works better. You gotta keep in mind, lots of people will engage in energy healing and seek evidence-based treatments.

Another place where shit can potentially get deadly is when the treatment is actually toxic or leads to nutritional imbalances. Certain herbal remedies, for example, are more toxic than many people realize, and a lot of diets for supposedly treating certain illnesses are so restrictive that nutritional deficiencies are inevitable if they're practiced for very long.

One other complicating factor is the state of the US healthcare system, where evidence-based medicine is often inaccessible, or the system is so hellacious that many people can't bear the thoughts of going through it. Many people turn to alternative healing modalities because of this. In cases like these, is it really a belief in ineffective alternative healing modalities that killed them, or was it a failed healthcare system?

So yeah, it's really difficult to be sure of how many people died "because" they believed in alternative medicine, even if we know that seeking alternative treatments while excluding evidence-based medicine typically has poor results.

#answered #alternative healing #healing #medicine #alternative medicine

[yoga-onion]

The Quest for Buddhism (118)

Buddhist cosmology

[Spinoff] Transcendental Meditation – One of the modern meditation methods.

As a comparison and contrast to Vipassana meditation (Ref) as an alternative medicine, we would like to mention Transcendental Meditation of Hindu origin.

Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation technique derived from the Vedas, made known in the mid-1950s by Indian Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi summarised and presented the Vedic teachings in a form that was understandable to Westerners, using scientific language.

Advocates of the Transcendental Meditation movement (TM) claim that the technique promotes a state of relaxed awareness, stress relief, and access to higher states of consciousness, as well as physiological benefits such as reducing the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

Transcendental Meditation is said to foster a higher consciousness and improve one's luck (described as receiving nature's support). When done in groups, it is said to promote very powerful attunement, creating harmony and positive influences in the environment (making the world a better place).

The connection between mantra and meditation is considered a "scientific technique" and is called the "science of creative intelligence. It is said to develop latent abilities, drawing out vitality, intelligence, and fulfillment, and even "transcending" thought. Maharishi states that "transcendence" is the transcendence of the mind over thought, the turning of the mind inward, beyond thought, beyond the conscious mind, to experience pure consciousness which being absolute bliss consciousness, totally unchanging and eternal. The "ultimate goal" of transcendental meditation is "God-realisation," the realisation of the value of "God" within oneself, and the attainment of God-consciousness.

Building on the teachings of his master Brahmananda Saraswati (known honorifically as Guru Dev), the Maharishi taught thousands of people during a series of world tours from 1958 to 1965, expressing his teachings in spiritual and religious terms.

Many celebrities and celebrities such as the Beatles studied Transcendental Meditation during this period, and its influence on the subculture was significant. It is known to have had a major influence on musicians during the Flower Movement, and among hippies in the 1960s, 'meditation' and 'zen' were seen as techniques that could provide similar psychedelic experiences without the use of drugs.

They were loved by hippies as a method for 'mental expansion' and so-called 'opening the doors of perception', with Transcendental Meditation being described in the rock media as the most 'effective' and known amongst young rock lovers.

Beginning in 1965, the Transcendental Meditation technique has been incorporated into selected schools, universities, corporations, and prison programs in the US, Latin America, Europe, and India. The technique has still been included in a number of educational and social programs around the world.

仏教の探求 (118)

仏教の宇宙論

[番外編] 超越瞑想 〜 現代瞑想法の一派

代替医療としてのヴィパッサナー瞑想（参照）との比較対照として、ヒンデゥー教由来の超越的瞑想について触れておきたい。

超越瞑想 (ちょうえつめいそう、ﾄﾗﾝｾﾝﾃﾞﾝﾀﾙ･ﾒﾃﾞｨﾃｰｼｮﾝ:TM) は、インド人のマハリシ・マヘーシュ・ヨーギーによって1950年代に知られるようになった、ヴェーダに由来するマントラ瞑想法である。マハリシはヴェーダの教えを、西洋人にも理解しやすい形で、科学的な言葉を使って要約し紹介した。

超越瞑想運動 (TM) の提唱者は、このテクニックがリラックスした意識状態、ストレス解消、より高い意識状態へのアクセスを促進し、心臓病や高血圧のリスク軽減などの生理学的効果もあると主張している。

超越瞑想を行うことで、より高次の意識が育まれ、運がよくなる (自然の支援を受ける、と表現される) という。グループで行うと、非常に強力な同調を促し、環境に調和と肯定性の影響が生み出される (世界がより良くなる) という。

マントラと瞑想の結びつきは「科学的テクニック」とされ、「創造的知性の科学」と呼ばれる。これによって潜在的な能力を開発し、活力、知性、充足感を引き出し、さらには思考を「超越」させるという。マハリシは、「超越」とは、思考を超えた心の超越であり、意識を超え、純粋意識を体験するために心を内側に向けること、純粋意識は絶対至福意識であり、全く不変であり、永遠であると述べている。超越瞑想の「究極の目標」は「神の実現」であり、自らの内にある＜神＞の価値に気づき、「神意識」に到達するとされる。

マハリシは、師であるブラフマナンダ・サラスワティ (敬称はグル・デヴ) の教えを基に、1958年から1965年までの一連の世界ツアーで何千人もの人々に教え、その教えを精神的、宗教的な用語で表現した。

この時期、ビートルズなど多くの有名人や著名人が超越瞑想を学び、サブカルチャーに与えた影響は大きい。フラワームーブメントの時期のミュージシャンに大きな影響を与えたことが知られており、60年代のヒッピーの間では、「瞑想」や「禅」は薬物を使用せずに同様のサイケデリック体験ができるテクニックとして捉えられていた。

「精神拡張」、いわゆる「知覚の扉を開く」ための方法としてヒッピーたちに愛好され、中でも超越瞑想が最も「効く」とロック系のメディアで語られ、ロックを愛好する若者の間で知られていた。

1965年以来、超越瞑想法は、アメリカ、ラテンアメリカ、ヨーロッパ、インドの特定の学校、大学、企業、刑務所などのプログラムに取り入れられている。この技法は、現在も世界中の数多くの教育・社会プログラムに取り入れられている。

#transcendental meditation #modern meditation method #vedic tradition #hippie #matra #alternative medicine #mental expansion #flower movement #60s #meditation #psychedelic movement #philosophy #nature #art #history

[demi-shoggoth]

2023 Reading Log pt 12

56. Life Between the Tides by Adam Nicholson. This book really, really wants to be High Literary Art. The author writes about tide pools and coastal organisms, but is much more interested in dissecting what these have represented in art, culture and a Jungian sense of shared humanity more than he is in the actual animals, algae and other things he encounters. Throughout the book, he builds three artificial tide pools, each time devising ways to carve rock and set up filters to catch water but exclude some organisms, and I couldn’t help but think, why? Why not find natural tide pools and observe them? Why must you put your stamp on a coastline? His whole thesis seems to be something about the beauty of how the shore is a liminal place, between land and water, where ecosystems and humans alike exist in an unstable equilibrium, and yet he feels the need to attempt to control it, and does not reflect much on the contradiction. I did not care for this book, as either a work of natural history or philosophy.

57. Spirit Beings in European Folklore 1 by Benjamin Adamah. A birthday gift from my girlfriend, @abominationimperatrix. This is one of a four part encyclopedia of European monsters—this volume focuses on Scandinavia and the British Islands. The decision to edit it into multiple volumes was made relatively late in the book’s development, and it shows—there are cross references to entries that do not appear in this book, but are in other volumes. The author is an occultist, and so plays somewhat coy with whether or not he believes in the literal existence of supernatural entities; near as I can tell from this volume, he’s a believer in the idea that they have material reality as thoughtforms created by human imagination. Putting aside that quirk (which is fairly easy to do), this is a pretty good compendium of monsters, especially but not limited to the sorts of things that would be called “fey” and “undead” in RPG terms. I do have the whole set, and am looking forward to reading the rest of them.

58. If It Sounds Like a Quack… by Matthew Hongolz-Hetling. This book is a look into “alternative medicine” grifts and cranks, following the stories of six quacks from their origins to the modern day. This modern day is the COVID era, where even the most reasonable-sounding of them goes off the deep end into conspiracy theories and anti-immigrant hysteria. The author does an excellent job of using alternative medicine as a lens to look at how consensus reality has been damaged in the United States, and there are a surprising amount of connections, both direct and indirect, between these frauds and perhaps the most successful con artist of the modern era, Donald Trump (who the book refers to exclusively as “the game show host”). The book has a light touch and is very funny throughout, which makes the ending, where he discusses how people are committing real murders in the belief that COVID vaccines are turning people into zombies, hit all the harder.

59. Remnants of Ancient Life by Dale E. Greenwalt. This is a book about biomolecules found in fossils, from the famous (like pigments found in dinosaur feathers) to the rather more obscure (using trace elements to pinpoint the affinities of conodonts and Tullimonstrum). The author is an entomologist by trade, and so is a little bit unclear about the appropriate taxonomy for other groups—an editing pass over the chapters about dinosaurs would have been useful. Perhaps the most interesting chapter is on the supposed discovery of dinosaur proteins, such as collagen and even intact blood vessels, which have been almost entirely done by the lab of Mary Schwietzer, and thus are the subject of a lot of debate and skepticism.

60. Strange Bedfellows by Ina Park. This is a book about sexually transmitted infections. It can be divided roughly in half—the first half is chapter long looks at particular topics, like the stigmatization of herpes and the possible health risks of vigorous pubic hair removal. The second half is a historical survey of the history of government investigation of sexual health, including both unethical human experiments such as at Tuskegee and Guatemala, as well as the history of contract tracing in public health offices. The author’s voice comes through strongly—she’s funny and opinionated and not at all ashamed at working in a sex related field. Mary Roach wrote one of the blurbs on the back of the book, and that seems like a pretty apt comparison.

#reading log #medicine #sexually transmitted infections #quackery #alternative medicine #paleontology #folklore #monster book #marine biology