Volume I of The Banyan Tree was received with enthusiasm by the second batch of students of our correspondence course for Holistic Health Practitioners when they attended the opening seminar in June 1989. We found that their lessons are coming in more promptly when they have the book than the first batch who had cyclostyled papers. Several students from the first batch expressed their appreciation for the book and their decision to redo their answers as the matter became more clear and interesting when in print.

Volume II got a lot of energy from our years of work for voluntary health institutions where we attempted to bring change in the health care field. As we gradually moved away from institutions and into people’s movements, we saw the power in people to get their rights met. The winds of change are rocking the establishment all over the world, so this volume is timely and deeply rooted in the contemporary situation.

India is awakening to the whole concept of Psychoneuroimmunology/ Neuroimmunomodulation which is at the edge of a new era of healing. Celine and I attended the first workshop on Psychoneuroimmunology as a pre-conference workshop of the International Conference on Holisic Health and Health and Medicine in Bangalore, November 8-12, 1989. The faculty were Joan and Myrin Borysenko. Joan is co-founder and former director of the Mind/Body Clinic, New England Deaconess Hospital, Harvard Medical School and is one of the pioneers of the new medical synthesis called psychoneuroimmunology. Attending the workshop of Borysenkos only served to reinforce our decade-long personal sense of discovery in our new paradigm in holistic healing. A couple of weeks later we ran our first two day workshops on Psychoneuroimmunology in Ernakulam, Kerala with 100 participants of Catholic Hospital Association of India. They received the idea wholeheartedly and asked us to carry them forward on the subject after six months.

We look forward to publishing Volume III in 1990 to share our excitement over our new research methodology in holistic healing. Some of the highlights have been:

• Incorporating medical anthropology insights in our therapy.
• Developing a deep level of healer-healee relationship.
• Using the Placebo Effect positively for healing.
• Running Value Education Workshops with group of clients to change beliefs, attitudes, and values toward health and healing.
• Being with each client on their journey to health and rejoicing with them as they tap the healing power within. /UL>

  We hope you will find the case studies in the forthcoming Volume III a stimulus to your own healing process. Each case study has a lesson plan which will help you glean the learning in each case. These lesson plans are geared for group involvement and learning, but individuals can also benefit.

  We found that clinical research done this way is simple, frutiful, and enriching to the client, the family, the community and the healers. The move toward global concern where we our role in working for one world does come as we heal ourselves, each other,. and turn to embrace whole world.

  Sister Carol Huss
  Pune

  Index

  Fitness and Weight Loss Index -- Reading Room Index