CIHS Newsletter October 2009

Mainstream vs Alternative
There is growing interest in the so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in today's world. Some of the established institution of main stream medicine recognize the therapeutic value of CAM and recommend it alongside conventional medical treatments. The use of dietary supplements such as herbs, foods, vitamins and minerals and physical therapies such as chiropractic, massage and exercise have long been accepted in clinical practice. The situation of other CAM modalities are rather different, however, and may be grouped into three categories;-

1.    Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda medicine, Homeopathic medicine, etc, which have very long history down the ages since ancient times.
2.    Bio-electromagnetic therapies by means of electronic instruments generating pulsed or AC or DC electromagnetic fields.
3.    Energy therapies such as Reiki, Qi-gong, Pranic Healing, Therapeutic Touch, etc.

Underlying mechanisms of these healing modalities have not been sufficiently clarified by rigorous scientific research. Nevertheless, their healing efficacies have been empirically known and witnessed by many people. In recent years there has been growing interest in the use of so-called "energy" of a kind, elusively referred to as "Ki" (or Qi or Chi), "prana", "bio-field", etc, which is believed to pervade, interconnect, sustain and vitalize our total being as an integrated entity of Body, Mind and Spirit; healing modalities apparently more in line with the ancient spiritual wisdom.

Current mainstream (western) medicine has developed by dividing the human body into constituent parts and scientifically decoding the intricate mechanisms at work. The success of this scientific approach has been impressive and overwhelming. It has made enormous contributions to the improvement of our life's quality. However, its approach and reasoning are almost entirely confined to within the scope of "material principle" of today's physical science. This is the limitation of mainstream medicine as seen from the CAM viewpoint which places greater emphasis on the holistic well-being of the Body, Mind and Spirit as integrated life system. Smooth flow and dynamic balance of the "energy" throughout the system is the key for good health and sense of well-being. Traditional Chinese medicine prescribes treatment based upon the diagnostic assessment of the "Ki-energy" condition of the patient's entire meridian system. Other energy healing modalities also claim, in one way or other, that they somehow adjust or correct the conditions of the patient's "energy field". Changes effected in "energy field" are translated into the desirable changes in the physical body. Ultimate cause of the dysfunction or illness is ascribed to the anomalous conditions present in the person's non physical "energy" system.

The two distinct approaches, reductionism based on material principle and holism based on spiritual principle, have been successful in their own way. They should be respected as indispensable duality at present, which are yet to be united into the "One Holistic Medicine" capable of treating entire dimensions of the patient as living entity of Body, Mind and Spirit.

While we welcome the increasing interest in "energy healing" modalities, we believe it is imperative to study and clarify their healing mechanisms with scientific rigor and to characterize the "energy" or "energies" at work. Science of subtle energy must be forthcoming.

Goal of CIHS & AMI
AMI

From the day of its foundation CIHS has set the goal to grow as the Center for Research and Education of the human subtle energy studies. Substantial experimental researches have been done by AMI and other instrumentation including a bio-photon counter/analyzer and conventional electrophysiological monitoring system. The AMI is a proprietary electro-dermal device developed by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama. It provides distinct information regarding the "Ki-energy" conditions of the meridian system and the status of autonomic nervous system of the subject. This device has been the key in our research to detect and characterize the effects of various healing modalities including acupuncture, meditation, exercise, breathing technique, prana healing, reconnective healing, etc.
We believe this device may be the key for the emerging science of subtle energy and should be made available to people who are seriously interested in research and/or clinical studies in this new science.

AMI will soon be available from CIHS
Dr. Motoyama's institute in Tokyo further developed the AMI and a new model with advanced data interpretation/diagnosis software is now made commercially available. CIHS is given the right to market and sell this new AMI device to all territories other than domestic Japan. It is our wish that this new AMI be utilized widely among people in research and clinical studies of the human subtle energy phenomenon. Our vision is to create a network of active users of AMI for subtle energy studies in due course.
Details of the product information including the specification, price, lead time, shipping, technical support, etc will be posted on CIHS website before the end of October, 2009.