Large-scale studies in school

A series of both small-scale and
large-scale studies in school districts from a variety of countries, including
the United States, Canada, Israel, and Australia, have demonstrated improvements,
sometimes impressive improvements, on such measures as concentration,
organization, productivity, reading skills, spelling skills, math
skills, writing skills, self-awareness, self-expression, and ~onfidenceF.~or instance,
a group of first-year nursing students learned a six-minute daily routine
using techniques similar or identical to the Cross Crawl, K-27 massage,
and the Wayne Cook posture. After several weeks of practice, they showed a
69.5 percent reduction in self-reported anxiety and an 18.7 percent increase
in performance on skill tests, as contrasted with control subject^.^

Your energy field

Some of the techniques will have greater impact for you than others, but
in combination they will strengthen and balance your energy field. You are
likely to notice gradual improvements in your stamina, vitality, and overall
health. As you make your way through this book, you will be adding additional
techniques. Over time you may also realize, based on how you feel or
how you energy test, that one or more of these techniques isn't as necessary
in your personal routine, but for now, I suggest that you experiment with the
entire routine.

Meridians affect

Meridians affect every organ and every physiological system, including
the immune, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal,
muscular, and lymphatic systems. Each system is fed by at least one meridian.
In the way an artery carries blood, a meridian carries energy. As the
body's '(energy bloodstream,'' the meridians bring vitality and balance, remove
blockages, adjust metabolism, even determine the speed and form of
cellular change. Their flow is as critical as the flow of blood; your life and
health depend on both. If a meridian's energy is obstructed or unregulated,
the system it feeds is jeopardized.

Acupuncture points

T he design of the meridian network is awesome. Rather than thinking of
meridians as an obscure or foreign concept, you can know them as fourteen
tangible pathways that carry energy into, through, and out of your body.
A profound intelligence resides in your meridians. They serve you well without
your even being aware that they exist, but ask in their language for an energy
boost, and they will do as you bid.
Meridians are energy pathways that "connect the dots," hundreds of tiny
reservoirs of heat, electromagnetic, and more subtle energies along the surface
of the skin. Known in Chinese medicine as acupuncture points, these
energy dots or "hot spots" can be stimulated with needles or physical pressure
to release or redistribute energy. Like a river that rises and falls, the flow
of the meridians is ever changing, and its fluctuations can be detected by
sensitive individuals as well as by mechanical instruments. Acupuncture
points are on the surface of the skin, but the meridians they open into travel
deep into the body and through each of the organs and muscle groups. Your
meridians are your body's energy bloodstream.

The demand for drugs

A persistent problem facing our society is the use of illegal drugs, such as heroin,
cocaine, and crack. Drug use has several adverse effects. One is that drug dependency
can ruin the lives of drug users and their families. Another is that drug
addicts often turn to robbery and other violent crimes to obtain the money needed
to support their habit. To discourage the use of illegal drugs, the U.S. government
devotes billions of dollars each year to reduce the flow of drugs into the
country. Let’s use the tools of supply and demand to examine this policy of drug
interdiction.
Suppose the government increases the number of federal agents devoted to
the war on drugs. What happens in the market for illegal drugs? As is usual, we
answer this question in three steps. First, we consider whether the supply curve or
demand curve shifts. Second, we consider the direction of the shift. Third, we see
how the shift affects the equilibrium price and quantity.
Although the purpose of drug interdiction is to reduce drug use, its direct impact
is on the sellers of drugs rather than the buyers. When the government stops
some drugs from entering the country and arrests more smugglers, it raises the
cost of selling drugs and, therefore, reduces the quantity of drugs supplied at any
given price. The demand for drugs—the amount buyers want at any given price—
is not changed. As panel (a) of Figure 5-10 shows, interdiction shifts the supply
curve to the left from S1 to S2 and leaves the demand curve the same. The equilibrium
price of drugs rises from P1 to P2, and the equilibrium quantity falls from Q1
to Q2. The fall in the equilibrium quantity shows that drug interdiction does reduce
drug use.

Back to the good news

Back to the good news. There is much you can do to reverse these disturbances.
Throughout history, people have devised exercises and techniques that
bring the body's energies back into balance. Cultures separated by time and
distance, with no communication between them, often used very similar methods.
In my own work, I have several times spontaneously "invented" a technique
or exercise that I later learned was part of the tradition of an indigenous
culture. While we are each as energetically unique as a thumbprint, we all
share a similar physiology. You will be learning techniques that are beneficial
for every body as well as how to adjust the procedures to your particular body.
You can literally weave your energies so they become stabilized, strengthened,
and harmonized as you move through the turbulence of modern life.

Drug-related crime

But what about the amount of drug-related crime? To answer this question,
consider the total amount that drug users pay for the drugs they buy. Because few
drug addicts are likely to break their destructive habits in response to a higher
price, it is likely that the demand for drugs is inelastic, as it is drawn in the figure.
If demand is inelastic, then an increase in price raises total revenue in the drug
market. That is, because drug interdiction raises the price of drugs proportionately
more than it reduces drug use, it raises the total amount of money that drug users
pay for drugs. Addicts who already had to steal to support their habits would
have an even greater need for quick cash. Thus, drug interdiction could increase
drug-related crime.

Beginning the test

Be sure the person is ready before beginning the test. Pull
the arm smoothly Apply pressure only long enough to determine if the arm's
resistance holds (generally between one and two seconds). If a muscle is
locked in place or gives a fraction of an inch and then bounces back, the test
has shown that the energy is flowing through the muscle. Do not overwhelm
the muscle oust to be sure." Along with learning the mechanics of energy
testing, I am also interested in helping you cultivate a strong and reliable intuition.
Energy testing is a superb means to that end because it provides tangible
information about subtle energies. With each energy test you perform,
you receive feedback that attunes your intuition to the flow of energies
within you and around you as well as to the subtleties of energy testing itself

Homeopathic treatment

Homeopathic treatment is individual and specific.
For example, chronic headaches are
conventionally treated with analgesics or antiinflammatory
drugs, but in homeopathy, there
are over 200 symptom patterns of headache with
corresponding remedies for each one. A patient is
profiled according to physical, emotional, and
mental qualities before a remedy is prescribed. If
an incorrect remedy is taken, it will work either
superficially or not at all, so it is recommended
that therapy be conducted under the supervision
of a homeopathic practitioner.

Meridian Functions

Meridian flows through and serves at least one organ or physiological
system. For example, like the kidneys themselves, the function of the
kidney meridian is purification. The kidney meridian filters toxic energy, allowing
energies that have been obstructed to begin to move. I'll choose to
work with the kidney meridian when I want to "flush" a particular systemfor
example, if the lymph system feels sluggish, the back feels tight, energy is
stuck below the waist, or the body is carrying an illness. The kidney meridian
filters the body's energies, leaving them fresh, clear, and vital, and the kidney's
energies renewed as well. The first points on the kidney meridian, at the
bottom of the feet, are called the Wellspring of Life points The
kidney meridian is said to contain the life force of beginnings and renewal.