The Banyan Tree : A Textbook for
Holistic Health Practioners
PREFACE
Volume I of The Banyan Tree was received
with enthusiasm by the second batch of students of our
correspondence course for Holistic Health Practitioners
when they attended the opening seminar in June 1989. We
found that their lessons are coming in more promptly when
they have the book than the first batch who had
cyclostyled papers. Several students from the first batch
expressed their appreciation for the book and their
decision to redo their answers as the matter became more
clear and interesting when in print.
Volume II got a lot of energy from our years of work for
voluntary health institutions where we attempted to bring
change in the health care field. As we gradually moved
away from institutions and into people’s movements,
we saw the power in people to get their rights met. The
winds of change are rocking the establishment all over
the world, so this volume is timely and deeply rooted in
the contemporary situation.
India is awakening to the whole concept of
Psychoneuroimmunology/ Neuroimmunomodulation which is at
the edge of a new era of healing. Celine and I attended
the first workshop on Psychoneuroimmunology as a
pre-conference workshop of the International Conference
on Holisic Health and Health and Medicine in Bangalore,
November 8-12, 1989. The faculty were Joan and Myrin
Borysenko. Joan is co-founder and former director of the
Mind/Body Clinic, New England Deaconess Hospital, Harvard
Medical School and is one of the pioneers of the new
medical synthesis called psychoneuroimmunology. Attending
the workshop of Borysenkos only served to reinforce our
decade-long personal sense of discovery in our new
paradigm in holistic healing. A couple of weeks later we
ran our first two day workshops on Psychoneuroimmunology
in Ernakulam, Kerala with 100 participants of Catholic
Hospital Association of India. They received the idea
wholeheartedly and asked us to carry them forward on the
subject after six months.
We look forward to publishing Volume III in 1990 to share
our excitement over our new research methodology in
holistic healing. Some of the highlights have been:
Incorporating medical
anthropology insights in our therapy.
Developing a deep
level of healer-healee relationship.
Using the Placebo
Effect positively for healing.
Running Value
Education Workshops with group of clients to
change beliefs, attitudes, and values toward
health and healing.
Being with each
client on their journey to health and rejoicing
with them as they tap the healing power within.
We hope you will find the
case studies in the forthcoming Volume III a stimulus to
your own healing process. Each case study has a lesson
plan which will help you glean the learning in each case.
These lesson plans are geared for group involvement and
learning, but individuals can also benefit.
We found that clinical research done this way is simple,
frutiful, and enriching to the client, the family, the
community and the healers. The move toward global concern
where we our role in working for one world does come as
we heal ourselves, each other,. and turn to embrace whole
world.
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