Alternative Medicine

'Holos!' is the traditional greeting used by all holistic medical practitioners. It has its origins in the Greek word for complete and refers to the holistic practice of treating the person first, rather than the disease. So if you go to a holistic practitioner there is going to be a certain amount of delving into your past, your lifestyle and what you had for breakfast.

Holistic medicine covers a multitude of therapeutic approaches - basically everything from Alexander Technique to Yoga. Practitioners like to see their patients on regular basis - ill or not. The emphasis is on eliminating the cause of disease, rather than treating its symptoms.

Starting at the top of the alphabet, acupuncture is a popular evening-course choice. It also has added advantages if you are a parent. Surely there can be no better deterrent to a screaming child - "If you don't stop, Mummy will use her acupuncture needles on you!" The use of the words "needles" "puncture" and "you" will surely produce, if not a dead faint, an immediate cessation in roaring.

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine, based on the flow of energy force (Chi) through channels in the body. If your channels become obstructed, then your Yin and Yang goes out of whack and you get ill. Diagnosis is made by analysing the twelve pulses of the body, observing skin colour and texture and the hot and cold patches on the body.

Acupuncturists typically use about six needles that vary in width and shape. These are inserted into the skin at intervals on a body's channels to regulate the flow of the Chi to prevent illness and cure pain. Once the needles are under the skin, they are manipulated to produce various effects. The techniques employed are similar to preparation for an Olympic gymnastic routine - plucking, scraping - and the routine itself - raising and thrusting, rotating and twirling.

Massage therapy is another course you might consider. It can be used to treat both physical and mental conditions. There are a huge range of massage types you can learn about - Swedish, Shiatsu, Reflexology and Rolfing. Training in the techniques of Swedish massage, for example, is bound to make you very popular. However, the rumours of steam rooms and leggy Nordic beauties with wandering hands are not accurate. "Swedish" is a proper name and doesn't refer to the country.

The Swedish technique is designed to relax muscles by applying pressure to them against deeper muscles and bones. You rub in the same direction as the flow of blood returning to the heart. The technique improves circulation, stretches muscles and tendons to keep them supple and speeds up the removal of metabolic waste from the body. If you do decide to do a course in this technique, your loved one will be glad to know that the friction in your healing hands is reduced with mineral oil or baby powder. For purely therapeutic reasons, of course.

Whatever sort of massage you choose to learn about, practice is the key. However, you should make sure that you are practicing the right techniques so that you don't pick up bad habits. The good news is that receiving a massage yourself is a good way to hone your skills. This method ensures that you will have a better idea of the effect of your touch on others.

Naturopathy is based on the belief that the body's own self-healing powers can only work upon the removal of all negative and artificial conditions. These conditions include bad eating habits, irregular sleeping habits and destructive thoughts. Once you are clean living and clean thinking, then treatments such as herbal remedies and exercise and diet programmes can begin.

Advocates of naturopathy believe that it could drastically reduce the costs of treating common ailments such as ulcers and high blood pressure. Naturopaths would not see traditional medicine as being able to address the real underlying cause of the illness. Primarily, they try to take the bad elements out of the lifestyle of the person, such as smoking or stress, sometimes with the help of other holistic techniques such as acupuncture. Herbal remedies are also used to help the healing process, but not to suppress the symptoms.

Naturopaths are great believers in treating the problem rather than the symptoms. They often prefer to let non life-threatening symptoms run their course, as they see them as a manifestation of the body coping with an illness. Stopping the process, they believe, may make matters worse. However, this worthy belief may not sustain you if you're trapped in a room with a naturopath and a blinding headache.

Colour therapy is another holistic area you might look into. This is not the same as having your colours done in a draughty school hall to find out if you are a Summer or an Autumn. Colour Therapy healing uses the seven rainbow colours to balance and boost our body's energy centres (chakras). Advocates believe it can also stimulate the body's own healing process.

If your chakras are blocked, then your mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being is in jeopardy. Rather than chakra can, chakra can't. Colour therapy attempts to unblock you by using colour in a variety of ways such as coloured light bulbs, light boxes and windowpanes. Some therapists ask their client to visualise certain colours, while others go still further and ask their clients to adjust the colour of the food they eat and the clothes they wear.

There are many different branches of colour therapy, but some of its proponents believe that individual colours have properties that can target specific illness. For instance, orange is energising and can be used to treat gallstones and depression.

So if you want a more holistic view on life, check out some of the courses on offer. Who knows, you might come out a more complete, well-rounded person. Or, at the very least, you'll be able to tell your doctors exactly where they're going wrong.