HOLISTIC CONNECTIVISM
Truth, Goodness and Beauty in the Healing Arts

Holistic Connectivism is a system of healing that integrates mindfulness, conscious choices, purification and rejuvenation, iridology, herbal medicine and numerous other modalities to address the physical, emotional, mental and ethical causes and symptoms of disease.

It is a system that is in harmony with nature and the spirit and honors the interconnectedness of all things, both within and outside of our selves. There is the internal interconnectedness of body organs, systems and glands, the connection between our thoughts and emotions to our habits, behaviors and the physical body and the connection between all of these things and our relationships with others.

Every thought that we have, every choice that we make, every action we commit, every word we speak, affects our inner and outer worlds. We are all responsible for our thoughts and our way of life, and we are intimately responsible for our own health on all levels. We live in a world that reflects the choices of we who live here. What we contribute to our bodies, to our relationships and to the world is up to us.

True healing must address all interrelationships in a meaningful way that genuinely connects us to the present. What we are present for we can heal.

Holistic Connectivism has evolved over years of study and practice and is an integrated system for healing, with it’s roots in both Western Naturopathic systems and the traditional Eastern medical systems of Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda, and which encompasses three core dimensions:

The first dimension addresses physical wellness and combines Iridology with herbal medicine, diet and nutrition, flower essences, self-nurturing, cleansing and a wide range of supportive therapies to enhance treatment depending on the body’s individual needs.

The second dimension addresses the contribution that negative mental states add to the creation of disease, with exercises in mindfulness and the contemplative arts.

The third dimension focuses on the healing of character and interpersonal relationships through the practice of ethical healing.

The integration of these methods has resulted in a reliable and highly effective healing system that extends beyond the boundaries of the physical body to include healing of the whole person, relationships and, through the interconnectedness of all things, contributes to healing the world.

The physical body is the vehicle in which we live in this world and when it is unwell not only do we suffer from pain and discomfort, but we also find it difficult to fulfill our responsibilities and life purpose. Tiredness, sleeplessness, digestive problems, and headaches are minor problems, which can hamper our daily activities, and more acute or chronic symptoms can become a burden on our lives.

In addition our emotional life is profoundly affected by toxicity within the body, via the nervous and glandular systems and other body systems. If our emotional life is unstable then our ability to make healthy choices is hindered, contributing further towards physical illness and creating a downward spiral towards chronic disease.

However, by concurrently treating the physical body and constitutional emotional elements, this same relationship can be used positively in a healing programme, and methods to accomplish this are an integral part of the healing system of Holistic Connectivism.

The second dimension of this system supports healing of the mind through the practice of contemplative art, intention and mindfulness. The study of the mind in relation to disease has a long history in traditional medicine, and gradually western allopathic medicine is confirming this relationship, a relationship long recognized in Japanese, Tibetan, Chinese, Indian, Mongolian, and in ancient Greek and Persian medical systems.

These systems recognize five primary energies, usually described as ‘elements’, each of which have both positive and negative expressions, and which when out of balance contribute to the creation of disease on physical, emotional, and mental levels. In traditional systems of medicine disease is recognized to begin ‘at the top’ and work down. Beginning with three primary mental energies, namely aggression, desire and ignorance, and their various combinations (five primary mental energies are recognized in some systems, versus three, but on closer examination the concepts are the same and simply communicated differently), expressed through our inherent physical strengths and weaknesses, intense thought patterns create energetic and biological reactions, which affect the function of all body systems and unbalance the emotions. These primary thought patterns, manifested through the individual’s inherent makeup are identified as primary causes of physical illness, along with contributing physical factors such as inadequate food, rest, shelter, etc.

Viewed on another level, when our mind is under the influence of one or all of these thought patterns we become unaware of our connection to the moment and to our interrelationships with others. Simultaneously we lose touch with our essential goodness and the ethical foundation of our character, as we are caught up in thoughts that revolve endlessly whilst decreasing our humanity. This lack of presence further harms our health, as choices made while in this state are rarely beneficial to our selves or to others.

The contribution of thought patterns to illness is addressed in Holistic Connectivism by the therapeutic application of the contemplative arts and related practices, as they bring one into the present and inspire harmonious interconnectedness through mindfulness. The feeling of connectedness experienced while practicing the contemplative arts is carried into day-to-day life, affecting positive change in all interactions and with practice one becomes increasingly aware of moment-by-moment choices of life that create who and what we are. By experiencing mindfulness in action the character of the practitioner is refined and the mind is gradually healed.

The third dimension of Holistic Connectivism is Ethical Healing. By the conscious application of loving kindness and a code of ethics based on respect and consideration of others, new patterns of healthy interconnectedness are created that support healing on all levels. Extending beyond personal healing to heal relationships with friends, family, and our community, with different cultures and religions and to the earth, ethical healing shows us that it is possible to live in this world without harming ourselves and without harming others.

Ethical healing is a vital consideration for our continued survival in the modern world, and is equally vital in the process of self-healing, as each time that we hurt others, think unkindly or act out negative thoughts, there is a subtle twisting of the mind that filters down in the body. We must remember that we are the creation of our own choices, our own thoughts and actions and the creators of our life. We can be exactly who we wish to be, and it is this presence, more than anything else, which we contribute to others and to our environment.

Each of the three dimensions of Holistic Connectivism supports the work of the others in accomplishing deep and lasting healing, a healing that takes place on multiple levels and adds genuine quality of life to those who practice them. It is also a very personal process as individual strengths and weaknesses are assessed and a program me is created to address the unique patterns and needs of the individual.

Ultimately this is a system of empowerment, whereby the straw of illness and constitutional weakness is woven into the gold of evolution of the whole person, and through personal healing it becomes possible to contribute towards healing the world.