Touch For Health International Journal, 1990

Holistic Healing In Nursingby Ilsa K. Jakobovits, R.N.

The first time I heard about "Touch ForHealth" was from another nurse, inNovember of 1985. I was taking care of apatient with a pulmonary problem. While hewas being given an intravenous infusion hebecame very nauseated. Imentioned this toone of the nurses and she suggested we usehis "stomach meridian" to decrease thenausea. The nurse explained that she'dlearned this method from a course she'dtaken called "Touch For Health". Iwatched,in fascination, as she traced an invisible lineon the patient and voila! the nausea wasgone. Iwas impressed and curious about thisnoninvasive method of helping the patients. Icalled the "Touch For Health" Foundationand obtained the name of a local instructor.Before long, I too had knowledge of thesewonderful methods. I was anxious to trythem out with my patients, but I was quitehesitant at first. After all, what would thepatients think? What would my colleaguesthink, especially the doctors?

Seeing the results from using my "touch"with the patients, Ibegan to use it more andmore. My colleagues also became aware ofthe difference this "touch" was making.Slowly but surely, Ibegan to release my ownfears about using the techniques. When Ibegan to accept its effects, so did mycolleagues.

In this world of rapid technology, sophis-ticated medicines, therapies and treatments, itis easy to forget that the body has power toheal itself. Often as health professonals, weforget the importance of mind and spirit in thehealing process. By using Touch For Health,and other methods detailed in this present-ation, the body is allowed to call upon itsown ability to heal itself. These methods willhelp the patient to heal faster by helping themto switch on their own healing power. Atfirst, it may seem to require more of yourtime. With practice you will become moresure and adept at using this material. A littletime and your special "touch" will make atremendous difference with every patient youcome in contact with.

You can use these methods on yourself andyour patients. Used daily, they help you tostay healthy, prevent dis-ease, and healfaster, using the bodies own naturalchemistries and healing power.

My advice to all of you is to try it, you can'tdo anything wrong. Trust yourself and your"Higher Power" as you reach out to someonewith your special touch.

How to Use These Methods

Inpreparing yourself, it is very necessary to:

A. Have a clear mind and healthy body.You should not attempt any healingwork if you are tired or ill.

B. Intend to help someone. Energy followsintention.

C. Be committed to using these techniquesat every opportunity. The more you usethem the more proficient you willbecome.

D. Wash your hands. Hand washing isalways important! Use cold water. Startat the elbow and proceed to thefingertips. Repeat the hand washingbefore and after each encounter with apatient. Touch the metal faucet todisperse of unwanted energy from youractivity.

E. Shake your hands frequently, (like youwere shaking off something that wasclinging to them).

F. Be grounded. This is very important!Ground yourself frequently throughoutthe day. Grounding helps you to stay inbalance. If you are unfamiliar withgrounding see references for details.Otherwise, use any method you knowthat works for you.

Some examples for visualizing that you aregrounded in healing are:

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1. Imagine a golden cord that runs downyour spine. Wind it around your hips.Now imagine the center of the earth.Hook the cord onto something a stableobject (like a rock or tree).

2. Imagine a golden light that enters throughthe top of your head. This light windsaround your body, like a spiral. It runsdown your arms and out through yourfingertips. This light protects your energyas you act as a channel for the UniversalPower of healing. When you are usingthese procedures check your groundingfrequently. If you feel dizzy while usingthese methods, ground yourself again orremove your hands from the client. Takesome deep breaths and shake your hands.Send your golden cord back down to thecenter of the earth. Proceed if you feelyou can continue.

Before using these procedures with a patientfor the first time you should:

A. Ask Permission: Ask the person orpatient if she/he would be willing to try apain relief method related to acupressure.Explain to them that you will be touchingthem very lightly on their body to helpthem relieve any pain or discomfort. Youcan tell them that sometimes it takes a fewminutes for the body to readjust itself toencourage them to give it a chance towork.

B. Assurance: Assure them they will still beable to get their pain medication if theyfeel it's needed.

(In situations where a pain medication iscontraindicated or not ordered, Touch ForHealth is a very effective alternative tooffer.)

C. Assessment: Ask the patient to define hislevel of pain by asking him to rate how hefeels on a scale from one to ten.

D. Evaluation: When you complete aprocedure ask the patient again to rate hislevel of pain. (If the pain or discomfort isstill above four, you can try anotherprocedure, or wait for a while andrecheck with the patient)

Always thank the patient for trying this as analternative to chemical pain control.

Obvious relief of pain, stress or discomfort isnot always demonstrated immediately by thepatient. Results show that some change,however subtle, will occur. Sometimes theywill feel more relaxed and sleep for a while.Once in a while they will say they don't feelanything. Even so they will remember yourvery special TLC.

Using the Meridian Brush

(See page 17 in the TFH book.) Thisprocedure will work through covers and evencasts!

With the flat of your hand or pointing withyour fingers, trace every meridian slowly. Doboth sides of the body at the same time. Startwith the stomach Meridian.

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Beginning with the head, trace a line on bothsides of the body, down to the toes, and backup to the clavicle. Begin again at the top ofthe trunk going down the inside of the arms,to the fingertips, up the hands to the outsideof the arms. Next, trace down both sides ofbody, to the feet. Starting with the feet traceyour way back up to the clavicles. From theupper chest go down the inside of the arms,to the fingertips, back up the outside of thearms to the cheek bones. Beginning with thehead again go back down the front of thebody to the toes. Starting with the feet comeup the front of the legs to the chest. Tracedown inside of both arms to the fingertips.Trace up the back of the hands, outside ofboth arms to the chest wall. Last, trace a lineup the center of the front and back of thebody.

If the patient is unable to turn over to traceany of the back meridians I trace it in mymind while I am tracing a correspondingarea. The changes I have witnessed whileusing this procedure occur in about 90% ofthe cases. They include feelings of relaxation,relief of pain, improvement in skin color andrelief of nausea.

Deep Meridian Massage

Rub your hands together briskly. Place bothhands about ten inches above the head, withthe left hand under the right hand. (Placingthe hands in this manner is very important forthe transfer of energy.) Move your handsslowly down over the face and chest to thepubic bone (i.e. tracing the Central Meridianbackwards) your right hand follows slightlybehind the left hand. Finish by quicklytracing the Central Meridian from its startingpoint. Repeat the procedure, this time movingyour hands from side to side across the chestand abdomen until you reach the lowerabdominal area; now trace the CentralMeridian very quickly in back up to the face.I have found this energy tracing reaches adeeper level.

Neuro-Vascular Holding Points

(See page 24 in the TFH book.) Using theneuro-vasculars will increase the bloodsupply to the brain and encourage thenourishment of all the organs of the body.

Using the pads of your fingertips, lightlytouch each point for ten seconds.

Merdian Sweep

Same as Meridian Brush but using asweeping motion at the ends of eachMeridian.

Emotional Stress Release (ESR)

Holding stress release points on the StomachMeridian (Considered to be the stressmeridian).

On Thumb On Head

On Knees

These points are extremely helpful when ourpatients have difficulty going to sleep or theyare nervous about being in the hospital ortheir disease condition. They would benefitfrom using these points prior to having aninvasive procedure or surgery. Teach it to thefamily. Use it on yourself by connecting yourthumb and ring fmger and placing the pads ofyour index and middle finger on the pointsdescribed.

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This procedure can be used very effectivelywith Guided Imagery. For example:

1. Close your eyes. Relax by taking someslow, deep breaths. At the same time,very lightly touch your frontal eminences.

2. Think of a problem. While reviewing inyour head the problem see it grow smallerand smaller, until it is the size of the headof a pin. Blow it out of the windows ofyour mind. Hook it to a cloud to becarried away, don't leave it in the room!It can be catching!

You can vary the use of imagery by having aperson slip into a cartoon figure. Project thatfigure onto a screen on the wall of yourmind. Have this cartoon figure go throughthe stress-causing problem, moving rapidlyback and forth. Now shrink the figure andblow it out the window. Bring the figureback onto the screen coming in from the leftside. Have him go through the problem veryslowly while walking backwards. Have thefigure take care of the problem in a veryrelaxed way. Then have the cartoon figurewalk back into the body.

If you walk a patient through a procedure or asurgery with this method, they will be moreconfident and relaxed before and after theprocedure. Have the patient add that "he hasan excellent doctor with the necessary skillsto take care of his problems, that his bodyhas a tremendous power to help heal itself' orwhatever is appropriate for the situation.

ESR Points with Sun. Energy Imagery

Help the patient to relax. While you areholding his ESR points tell him to imagine abig sun about 2 feet above his head. Tell himit is his sun. Have him engrave his name inthe sun. Then tell him to direct the bright,yellow rays of energy through the top of hishead. Tell him to see it trickling into everycell of his body, giving them healing energyand warmth. Hold ESR points for 2 minutesor more.

When using this method it is a good idea toreplace the pain, stress or negative energyyou are focusing on, with somethingpositive. This technique can be used any time

as often as needed. It can be utilized alone orwith help from another individual.

Headache Points

Ask the person where the headache is locatedin his head. Ask them if they know the causeof the headache. This allows them to focuson the source of the headache and begins thehealing intention. Listed are several differentmethods for relieving headache pain.

1. For medication related headaches, use theaccupressure point known as theGallbladder point. It is located on boththighs just about where the middle fingerwould rest if the person was standing up.Rub for 7 seconds, release for 7 seconds,repeat 3 times.

2. Major toxin-release point: This point liesin the fleshy part of the hand, between thethumb and index finger. Hold with firmpressure for about 30 seconds.

3. Touch the neuro-vascular points locatedat the temple area of the skull on bothsides of the head. Hold very lightly forabout 10 - 30 seconds.

4. Hold your hands about 1" away andparallel to the head of the patient.Maintain that position for 20-30 seconds,or whatever time is necessary until theheadache is relieved. If you and thepatient are right handed hold your righthand on the right side of his head. If youare right handed but the patient is lefthanded, hold your right hand on his leftside.

If you and the patient are left handed thenyour left hand goes to the left side of thehead.

5. Hold the head placing your left hand onthe forehead and your right hand on theback of the head, cradling the head lightlywith the outside of the hand.

6. Rub the big toe (it represents the head infoot reflexology).

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Using the Meridian Trace on theArms

Before starting an IV, it is a good idea totrace the Meridians on the arm you want tostart the IV in. Focus especially on themeridian close to the vein you want to use. Itwill help to decreases the pain of the needlestick.

Meridians and Neuro-Lymphatics forDiabetics

I tell people with Diabetes to use thesetechniques to help stimulate pancreatic andliver function. Rub the inside of the big toeand the side of the chest about two inchesbelow the armpits. Then rub between the 7thand 8th rib on the front left side of the chest.Also rub the notches that form theprotrusions of the clavicle bone. These arethe end points of the spleen meridian and itsneuro-Iymphaticpoints, and the end points ofthe kidney meridian. They should do thisseveral times a day. (I have no researchresults on using this).

Neuro-Lymphatics for StomachProblems

For stomach problems such as nausea, pain,or heart-burn, you can teach people tomassage the beginning and the end of thestomach meridian (begins on both sides ofthe face at the cheekbone beneath the eyesand ends at the second toe on both feet).

Tibetan Energy

For this you have to determine the correctdirection through muscle testing. It is best touse a surrogate if the patient is unable toparticipate or you can act as the surrogate.Trace a figure eight (8) on the patient.Whatever direction causes the muscles toremain strong, you should then trace thefigure 8 in that direction. Do this severaltimes. Please refer to the Touch For Healthbook on page 122 for more details.

Therapeutic Touch

Sometimes I just hold my hands about 1 to 2inches above the painful area of the patientuntil I experience a sensation of pulling orheat or a general prickling or pulsation. Afterthe sensation of heat, or prickling, or

pulsation stops, I keep my hands there a littlelonger to send healing energy to that area.

Contact Stimulus

A simple, yet very powerful, method torelieve pain.

Left Hand Right Hand

Hold your left middle fmger and thumb about2" apart around the toes of one of the subjectsfeet. The thumb should be on the heel sidefor the length of time necessary (from 1minute to 1 hour.) You are drawing pain ornegative energy out with your left hand. Givepositive energy back to the body by holdingall fingers of the right hand together andtouching the heel of the same foot for a fewminutes. You can do this same procedure onthe head of the person.

Magnetic Energy Modality

In this procedure the left hand draws negativeenergy out and the right hand gives positiveenergy. For pain on the extremities holdhands parallel around the painful area untilany specific sensation stops, like heat,prickling, pulsating, etc., then move yourhands towards the feet or hands of the patientin a sweeping motion, then shake your hands(as described in step D, under selfpreparation).

Hold your right hand on the front and yourleft hand on the back at the same level, about2" away, until the pain is gone. Alwaysshake your hands and run cold water fromyour forearm down to your fingertips. Toucha metal faucet after you finish to dispersenegative energy.

Important Exception

NEVER use your right hand over the HeartChakra (center of the chest) or the SolarPlexus (center of the abdomen)! Always use

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your left hand there because stimulation inthose areas could produce cardiacarhythmias.

In Touch For Health we do not treat an"upset stomach" or any other pain orsymptom. What we are doing is helping thewhole system to find its own balance. So thebody will be able to take care of problems byitself.

References

I. Barhydt, Hamilton, PhD, and Barhydt,Elizabeth, Self-Help for Stress and Pain,Loving Life, 1989

2. Braza, Jerry, PhD, Healing the Healer

3. Dennison, Paul, PhD, and Dennison,Gail, Edu-K Workshops

4. Dewe, Bruce, MD, and Dewe, Joan,MA, Professional Health ProviderWorkshops

5. Espiau, Dorothy, Circles of Life

6. Lee, Karen, Contact Stimulus

7. Madden, Susan, Intuition, Guidance andEmpowerment

8. Shultz, Emmet L., The Touch ofHealing

9~ Vincent, Rev. E., Intrascope

10. Thie, John F., Touch for HealthHandbook, T.H.Enterprises, 3rdedition, 1987.

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