“Why the hell would a scientist of your caliber sacrifice his career for alternative medicine?!” In the look of the dean of the faculty, a mixture of friendliness and angry bewilderment was read. I often asked myself this question, because it concerns not only me. How does it happen that a modern physician, brought up in the spirit of Western civilization, with a completely sane and analytical mind, suddenly becomes interested in the so-called alternative methods of treatment?
My father, and indeed my whole family, firmly believed in scientific and technological progress. It was generally the spirit of that era — 50-60s, in which I grew up, the spirit of deep admiration for the omnipotence of science and technology. I was brought up in the same vein, I began to work with this approach myself, and as a result, I successfully headed the brain imaging laboratory funded by the US National Institutes of Health. So why do we still suddenly have this interest in medicinal plants, yoga and broccoli?
Probably, in each case, personal experience leads to such a shift in a person’s consciousness … As a child, I broke my leg and walked in a cast for three months. When the bones healed and he was removed, any attempt to bend the leg at the knee caused terrible pain. Twice a week I had to go to a massage therapist, very famous and experienced. He led me to a special room, which seemed to me a torture chamber: every time I cried out in pain when he overcame the resistance of my tissues with sharp movements. In addition, it didn’t help me much, it didn’t get better, and I was more and more afraid to go to see him.
Progress today is more about striving for harmony, using the forces of nature, rather than fighting it.
And then there was a meeting — a meeting with a woman who offered me a completely different path: “We will not rush, we will work as long as it takes, moving millimeter by millimeter. Fabrics will be slowly developed in response to a very small load … ”After an hour of such patient, one might say, loving labor, I bent my knee at the knee almost completely. At the very first session! And he didn’t feel any pain. A few weeks passed, and my knee regained mobility …
Why do I love alternative methods so much? Not at all because they are «unconventional». It’s just that in some cases they act more subtle and, I would say, smarter. We can all choose pesticide-free products, help ourselves with healthy eating, outdoor activities, exercise and meditation. And if our child coughs, instead of cough syrups, give him honey (which has been scientifically proven* to be more effective than medicine in some cases). All these methods sometimes give much better results, and have significantly fewer side effects. Why? Because they use the forces of nature itself, and do not fight it.
The generation of my parents considered progressive the development of the main idea of the industrial XNUMXth century — the taming of nature by the power of the human mind. Now, I think, we should adopt a new view of progress: the essence of it is the pursuit of harmony and balance. After all, only they truly protect our lives.
* «Effect of honey, dextromethorphan and no treatment on nocturnal cough and sleep quality for coughing children and their parents» in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 2007, vol. 161, № 12.