Weird and wonderful Alternative Therapies

Weird Alternative Therapies

Looking at a selection of unusual healing methods

If you're searching for a feel-good solution to give your mind and body a boost, then trying an alternative therapy might be the answer. Many of these therapies are dismissed by the mainstream medicine but almost every branch of healing has been ridiculed in the past, then some are subsequently proven useful. So are these weird alternative therapies just New Age nonsense, or might they be valid alternatives for healing? You decide.

Re-birthing

This controversial therapy is based on the idea that a breathing technique can ease pain and even cure disease. Its founder Leonard Orr reported re-living his own birth while taking a bath! He went on to develop a technique using breath-work as a healing tool to access higher levels of consciousness. It's claimed that a re-birthing session can rid you of traumatic childhood memories or other repressed trauma. Removing this trauma allows you to live in the present rather than the past, giving you energy and helping you to achieve your potential. Sessions can be conducted in water or under blankets to create a womb-like environment.

Ear Candling

The aim of this therapy is to draw out toxins and wax from your ear by placing a candle into your ear-hole. A wax cone or candle is placed in the ear and lit. The patient has a cloth covering their face to protect it from melting wax. As the candle burns, therapists say that the flame creates pressure inside the ear which pulls out toxic substances and ear wax, leaving you feeling revitalised and free of toxic build-up. Must be performed by a trained practitioner so don't try this at home!

Animal Communication

Ever wished you could work out what your cat's meows meant, or what your dog was trying to tell you when he barks? Animal communicators or animal psychics say they can talk to your pet using an intuitive language. The communication is conducted silently as a kind of telepathy working mind to mind from animal to person, rather than through sounds. Some pet psychics say they tune into an energy field given off by the animal to discover health issues with your pet. Others connect with the soul of your animal - so they can give you Fido's message from beyond the grave, too!

Past life regression

Perhaps you've always fancied being a princess, or an explorer, or a secret agent? During past life regression you might find out that you have been! Based on the Eastern philosophy of reincarnation - the idea that you have not one but many lives - past life regression takes you back to the lives you have lived before through hypnosis. The idea is that by seeing your past lives you can uncover the reasons for phobias or blocks in your current life. Once you know why you feel a certain way and can recognise the reasons for what is holding you back, you are empowered to make changes in this life to be happier and more successful.

Future Life Progression

What sounds stranger than a past life regression? That would be a future life progression! Yes, there are therapists who say they can give you a literal glimpse into your future - not in this life as with a regular psychic reading but into the person you will be in one hundred or even one thousand years time. Mind boggling but very interesting. During the therapy, you are hypnotised and gently led to view what might happen in your next incarnation.

Iridology

The technique of examining the iris - which is the circular, coloured part of your eye - to diagnose health issues. Iridologists say that each portion of your iris corresponds to a part of your body. By charting and examining your iris practitioners say they can form a picture of your body's health. So if your iris has certain marks this can signify inflammation in the corresponding parts of your body. Iridologists say your eyes are the 'windows to your body's health'.

Sound Therapy

This is using sound frequencies to heal the body. This could be sound from musical instruments or from the voice. Practitioners say the cells in your body are affected by certain sound frequencies. The resonance or frequencies of sound can heal and energise the body.