When we experience pain, it affects us at all levels - body, mind, and spirit. We can heal on all levels as well. Scientific investigations of the effects of prayer (mentioned below) and several alternative therapies, also known as complementary medicine, have revealed beneficial effects for improving feelings of well-being and relief of stress and anxiety, factors that are essential in any healing process. In a sense, modern science is catching up with alternative therapies because many of these therapies have ancient beginnings and they focus on holistic healing practices, such as in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda from India. The primary purpose of this page is to provide you with information on complementary medicine or holistic healing resources that are in common use today - supportive therapies to western medicine are in common use to create wellness, finding applicability in healing programs for cancer, fibromyalgia, and many other common maladies.

For those who doubt the healing power of prayer, there have been several studies that document the effect. A study of 293 people which ended in 1983 at San Francisco General Hospital noted improved recovery of cardiac patients, as measured by fewer deaths, less need of artificial respiration and diuretics, and less pulmonary edema. Another study of 4000 participants reported in 1998 showed a lowering of blood pressure in participants who prayed and attended religious services regularly. Another study in 1998 in California demonstrated that AIDS patients survived in greater numbers, got sick less often, and recovered faster than those not receiving prayer. All of these studies were well-designed, double-blind tests. http://www.dosseydossey.com/larry/QnA.html http://www.plim.org/PrayerDeb.htm