karen

Hmm.. I couldn't get through the test, because there were too many assumptions in the questions themselves :-) -Karen

Sean, one more thing about EFT.. Funny thing about that, that it's taught with vague reference to acupuncture points, not that anything about TCM is taught in conjunction with EFT training, but just that the method involves gentle tapping on particular acupuncture points. Well, after my training as a hypnotherapist, it seemed clear that EFT is really a kind of trance induction, and probably works from that point of view too, whether you get the right points or not So when I teach it to people, I simplify it tremendously, as simplicity is generally appreciated. Otherwise, a lot of people seem to get turned off by the writing style of the official manual, which makes it seem more complicated than it is. My approach to a lot of things in life seems to be "Oh, you can just leave that out."... (works in guitar playing too ;-) I find EFT immensely useful in all sort of situations, and I'm glad to hear you're digging it. Karen

Well gee, I guess I get a lesson in hearing praise, how cool ;-) I had beeng writing a long reply which went poof, so this will be more concise.. for now! Thanks for such a warm welcome, and to Sean, for being so kind to promote my little corner of the web. Actually my intention is to offer lots of free original articles and cream-of-the-crop links, as a place to present the work I've developed, and that energy naturally wants to move outward and interact with others. I also promote a treatment method (that I'm not a practitoner of myself -- yet!), just because it's proved its brilliance in my life.. and that is the Heilkunst medical system. That's the complete medical system developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, who's known as the founder of homeopathy, but really homeopathic medicine is a more specific subset of that. (And this Dynamic school of thought is connected with the work of Steiner, Reich, Goethe and others, very interesting stuff to say the least). My own success with Heilkunst treatment was so dramatic, having lived with a serious condition my whole adult life that wouldn't budge with every other treatment I threw at it. So my website sort of grew organically out of that experience. I refer people there for treatment, if it strikes a chord. But in any case, there are always a multitude of issues of coordinating things, and a lot of decisions that people need to make for themselves.. ideally with a little guidance from someone who's been down that road and can cut through some of the complication. For so many years I used to go to one practitioner after another, all under the vague rubric of "holistic healing".. but really no one was helping me assess my whole situation, but they would pull out whatever tools they had in their toolkit (the ones they invested a lot of education in, usually), not stepping back to look critically at what I really needed and help me pull everything together. I always knew that something was wrong with that, but didn't know where else to turn. So I kind of became the guidance I needed :-). Anyway, enough about me. I'd like to spend some time here learning more about Taoism, as I've only dabbled over the years. I was initiated into the Radha soami (Sant Mat) tradition back in '86, although have moved away from that, trusting that these things are unfolding in the right way. Cheers, Karen

Michael Hedges. Unfortunately, he died in a car crash in '97 and I'm just now immersing myself in his music. I had heard him peripherally since the '80's but didn't pick up on him because I didn't realize he was playing only ONE guitar instead of a few :-). I didn't get the full Michael Hedges experience until I also saw him in action. Rent the DVD "Windham Hill in Concert" which was made in '86, and skip everything else but Michael's set. Will Ackerman said that seeing Michael for the first time "tore his head off" as he (Will) watched the guitar being reinvented. Just the kind of experience we're all looking for, eh? -Karen

Hi Sean, I wanted to add to the good ideas that have already been posted.. Arnica gel is great, but if it's not helping enough, you might try a combination of homeopathic Ruta and Rhus tox in a 30C or 200C potency, taken orally. That's great for strains and sprains. Pellets can be put into a glass of water which is sipped a bunch of times throughout the day. Just so you know, this is not the dosing method that classical homeopaths will recommend, but that's a whole 'nother conversation ;-). If you don't mind spending $300, a SCENAR machine is great for sports injuries.. www.senergymedicalgroup.com . (I got ahold of one of those machines, very nice.) But hopefully the available and cheap remedies will work! I just have one comment (for now!) about herbs.. heating herbs can be used even where there's a heat condition like inflammation, according to the Law of Similars, which can produce great results when done carefully. Kind of like using snow to help heal frostbite. Hoping you heal fast, Karen