Mind Body Medicine methods for stress management, stress relief, for field soldiers and other warriors. A new way of the warrior. Chester, Arkansas

...out of the box

We like to think western medicine is the best in the world, and for trauma injuries as well as many other types of sickness, it is the best. The long term success rate in trauma injuries is quite good, better now than ever before, and yet once vitals are stable, surgery over, rehab done, there often remains a lifetime of pain and dependency on pain killers. And while therapies and medications have been developed in the last thirty years to help warriors with the second most common consequence of warrior duty, i.e., wounds to mind, heart, and spirit, these therapies are not always available, not equally effective, and often require years of effort before there is quality of life again. At Warrior's Way we recommend that any warrior who has seen tough duty take full advantage of all the medical help recommended and available.

Over the years, however, we have learned it often takes more tools in the tool box to restore and maintain health and to create long term happiness than are found on the workbench of western science. So after all recommended therapies are done, or better yet, while you are still using them, if you discover western medicine can only go so far and it isn't far enough, then the approach at Warrior's Way can be helpful.

In a lifetime of travel and study in other ways of knowing, other ways of healing, I have discovered that cultures quite different from ours have very different perceptions of human health. Out of those different perceptions have come effective and powerful techniques for healing illness, injury, and stress that are simply not part of western thought. Fortunately for us, the most effective of these approaches are easily learned and used by anyone with the willingness to do so and are complementary with western medicine. In other words, you can use both traditional treatment methods and wholistic methods; most such modalities are completely compatible and integrative. Those of us fortunate enough to have access to western medicine and to wholistic methods have the best of both worlds. It is our goal at Warrior's Way to make sure access to the most useful of those other methods is available to warriors and their loved ones.

At Warrior's Way we can show you how to move into those "other" ways of healing. So when -- and if -- you are ready, we offer not only place and time but the opportunity and environment to think out of the box, to explore powerful energy techniques for healing and moving on gathered from around the world and presented, for the first time in one place, in an integrated format designed for warriors. For those ready for more than place and time, we offer warriors and their loved ones the opportunity to acquire the skills they need to heal themselves from now into the future. The teachers and practitioners at StoneWind Institute use experience, knowledge, and skills to jump start the healing process, but they also teach people how to help themselves so when they leave here they have powerful new life skills in their pack.

Beginning in February, 2006 the healing skills offered through Warrior's Way will be taught at StoneWind Institute for Mind Body Medicine, a short walk from the Warrior's Way residential facilities. The techniques available come from many traditions depending on individual interests and needs, but three major modalities--Reiki, Meditation, Qigong (Chi Kung)--are recommended as basic skills, with training in Tai Chi, Yoga, selected technologies of Mind Body Medicine, and cognitive-behavioral approaches also recommended and available.

Reiki, Meditation, Qigong, Tai Chi, and Yoga come from Japan, China, India, Thailand, and Tibet. Most of you have never heard of Reiki, while most probably have heard of meditation because of its mainstream popularity. A few may have learned a form of meditation from the martial arts or even as part of Special Ops training. Just about everyone has heard of Yoga with its mainstream popularity and widespread availability, while Qigong and Tai Chi may be familiar from martial arts training, perhaps from movies or television. All of these are forms of mind-body medicine, a general term applying to a range of therapies and technologies designed to help people harness the power of the mind in the service of their health.

Reiki, an energy healing method with roots in ancient Chinese and Tibetan healing systems, was re-discovered in Japan in the early years of the 20th century and imported to the United States just before World War II. In the last sixty-five years Reiki has spread from the United States all over the world, and ironically, back to Japan in its westernized form.

The unique nature of Reiki makes it a tool for self-healing particularly suited to those accustomed to taking care of themselves. It is quick to learn, simple to use, and powerfully effective. With a weekend of training you are able to use the new energy in your hands to replace your body's vital bioenergy or "chi" (or someone else's) in order to trigger fast healing. Reiki is a personal empowerment that is always "on" so you can use it anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances, on yourself or others. For ease of use and dynamic healing effects, Reiki is the basic modality we recommend to all warriors and their family members, young and old. If you are going to learn only one thing for yourself, make it Reiki. It is quite simply the most powerful personal healing system in the world--a perfect skill for those whose lives are about service to others.

"Meditation" is a general term for a wide range of techniques by which a person is able to still the mind, emotions, and nervous system thus bringing the physical body to a deep state of relaxation and rejuvenation. Meditators can achieve a state of healing stasis using a number of different techniques, all of which have been proven to produce marked beneficial physical and psychological effects. Meditation is a "healing" skill for the long haul more than the short term. The physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits of meditation are well documented, but while the benefits begin with day one, the profound effects so many report are cumulative over time. We recommend one or more forms of meditation as insurance for the future as well as ongoing support for other modalities that show more immediate results. There are many effective forms of meditation. The goal at Warrior's Way is to find the meditative method most compatible with an individual's needs and preferences.

"Mind/Body Medicine"is another general term referring to applications of a cutting edge science of mind/body relationships that has emerged over the last twenty-five years from cross disciplinary research in quantum physics, psychoneuroimmunology, microbiology, immunology, and Eastern energetic healing practices. In this new field, science and metaphysics converge as scientific discoveries on the relationship between our state of mind and our physical health validate and expand ancient knowledge found in every culture. In short, we now have a more scientific understanding of why and how the techniques taught in older cultures actually work, and therefore, how to use the ancient techniques in new and more powerful ways.

Among the modalities considered mind-body medicine are such practices as Meditation, Tai Chi, Qigong, EFT (Tapping), Voice Dialoguing, the advanced mental/emotional techniques of Reiki, as well as technologies such as the DreamWeaver®, and the auto-programming tapes/CD's known as "Human Plus" produced by the Monroe Institute. All of these tools and many more will be available through Warrior's Way Foundation to those interested in learning new skills.
Mental discipline underlies all forms of warrior training so warriors have no difficulty understanding and applying the techniques of mind/body medicine. For loved ones who have not had the benefit of intense mental conditioning, we teach easy access techniques that put the power of mind/body medicine in the service of everyone.
So if you have done all they told you to do and it is not enough, if you cannot get any answers or know there have to be others than the ones you've been given, if you aren't wounded but need a place to gather new tools, or to help your family cope better with the stresses of warrior life, we invite you to explore with us the wholistic healing methods that come from other places and ways. Since everything we do and teach is compatible with western medicine--

You can have the best of both worlds.
You deserve no less...

For more information on Mind Body Medicine, see the National Institutes of Health web information on Complementary and Alternative Medicine/Mind Body Medicine.

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