The power of belief to cure

‘There aren’t any incurable diseases, just incurable people,’ says Chinese medicine expert Jeffrey Yuen

SOME VIEW the study and practise of traditional Chinese medicine and other holistic approaches to health as a threat to Western orthodox medicine; others see it as an opportunity for doctors and patients alike to explore illness and wellness in a different way.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in older medical systems such as the Indian Ayurvedic approach and traditional Chinese medicine, not only in their countries of origin but also throughout the Western world.

New York-based Chinese medicine expert and Daoist priest, Jeffrey Yuen, will be in Dublin this week to give a seminar on cancer care and Chinese medicine. While here, he will also give a rare public talk on the Daoist perspective on the healing process.

Daoism has had a major influence on the development of traditional Chinese medicine. It views healing as a process that can alleviate physical, mental, emotional symptoms while helping the individual fulfil his/her purpose in life.

Yuen believes that how we perceive our illness can affect us profoundly. “There aren’t any incurable diseases, just incurable people,” he says.

In his New York clinic, Yuen specialises in the treatment of cancer. He says many people arrive in a state of shock and he asks them to consider how the physiological process of being afraid affects their overall health.

“Every healthcare system is trying to do its best to heal and what we do is give people options to approach their healing in a different way if they are receptive to it,” he says.

Yuen is an 88th generation Daoist master of the Yu Qing Huang Lao Pai (Jade Purity Yellow Emperor Lao Zi School) and a 26th generation Daoist Master of the Quan Zhen Long men Pai (Complete Reality Dragon Gate School).

His teachings have become the basis of the first PhD programme in the field of Classical Chinese Medicine at the American University of Complementary Medicine in Los Angeles.

According to Yuen, the healing environment is crucial. “Healing has to occur in a supportive environment and the encounter between the clinician and the patient is very important. The doctor must be able to feel their patients’ pain,” he says.

“Fear and urgency shouldn’t be used in the healing encounter because that becomes a tactic which disempowers the patient. As clinicians, we need to give people a sense of hope.

“If a person believes he has an incurable disease, no matter what you do, it will be difficult to heal them. Healing has to come from within. We try to instigate a healing process but if the person doesn’t believe in it, they won’t be cured.”

In his own clinical practice, Yuen uses Chinese herbs and acupuncture but he is also a practitioner and teacher of the Chinese mindful movement practices of t’ai chi and Qi Gong (Ch’i Kung). He believes that Western medicine is coming towards a tipping point, which will impact on its approach in the future.

“Even within Western medicine, people are realising it has to radically change. The technology used for diagnostics – MRI scans, X-rays, etc – are based on quantum physics and when this theory is applied to treatment, it will change the mindset of medicine to give a more individualised approach,” he says.

On a spiritual level, Yuen says that rather than cultivate illness, we should cultivate wellness. “The consciousness of illness is not the same as the consciousness of healing. Rather than question, blame, find fault and guilt, we need to change the perception of our lives to change the meaning of our lives,” he says.

“We have choices we can make about our diet, exercise, emotional and mental wellbeing,” he says. “We need to give ourselves the opportunity to be with ourselves on a daily basis in an intimate dialogue with the body. This can be through conscious eating, conscious walking or meditation.”

Jeffrey Yuen will give a public talk, The Healing Process – a Daoist Perspectiveon Friday at 7.30pm in the Stillorgan Park Hotel, Stillorgan, Co Dublin. Cost €35. Booking on tel: 086-2417106 or e-mail info@seminars.ie