Autoimmune Disorders

Question:
We met at the book signing after your talk in Ann Arbor. You asked me to write you because there wasn’t time to answer my question. I am trying to overcome an autoimmune disease which doctors have variously diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjorgren’s syndrome, and lupus. My eyes are so severely dry that they have had to plug my tear ducts to prevent damage to my corneas and loss of vision. Did you have any ideas of how energy techniques could help me? I am willing to travel to see you as a patient if necessary.

Answer:
While autoimmune illnesses may express themselves in a broad spectrum of symptoms, energetically they share many features, whether named rheumatoid arthritis, Sjorgren’s syndrome, lupus, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease, chronic fatigue disorder, or any of a host of 50 other tricky conditions (see the Autoimmune Association’s website at www.aarda.org). Western medicine is the first to admit that, while invasive interventions such as steroids are available to suppress the symptoms, little is known about how to cure these illnesses, where antibodies are produced against a person’s own tissue. By addressing the energetic roots of these conditions, however, I have seen the symptoms go into apparently permanent remission in cases where doctors could give no reason for hope, and I have seen this happy result dozens of times in my 23 years of practice.

Four primary energy intervention strategies should be considered for any autoimmune illness:

1.Calming the triple warmer meridian (and thus the immune system’s overresponse) and establishing a balance between the spleen and triple warmer meridians (see Chapter 8 of Energy Medicine).
2. Establishing and maintaining crossover patterns throughout the body (see the discussions of the Celtic weave in Chapter 6 and the homolateral crossover on pp. 250 - 252 of Energy Medicine).
3. Establishing and maintaining a general balance and harmony among all the energy systems, using techniques such as those in the 5-minute "Daily Energy Routine" (Chapter 3 of Energy Medicine).
4. Establishing and maintaining space in the body for energy to move, using lots of stretching and exercises such as "Connecting Heaven and Earth" (pp. 266 - 268 of Energy Medicine).

While for any serious, longstanding condition such as yours, I would strongly recommend that you find an energy healer in your area (see the recommendations for finding a qualified practitioner on the "Practitioners" page on my site or in the Appendix of Energy Medicine), these four points map a general approach to autoimmune disorders that would also be tailored to the person’s specific symptoms.

Regarding the severe dryness in your eyes, without being able to see or energy test you, I can only make a guess. Stomach meridian governs the body’s moisture, and it’s pathway travels through the eyes. Therefore, working with stomach meridian, such as tapping the ends of the meridian, holding the meridian’s acupuncture points, or flushing the meridian (trace backward once and forward three times) should help correct the energy imbalance that your symptoms may reflect.

Also, make a point of keeping spleen meridian strong by checking it regularly and using tapping, tracing, or holding to correct imbalances. This helps with autoimmune disorders by strengthening the immune system while maintaining a healthy inner environment.

Karen BerryAutoimmune Disorders