Definitions of Alternative Medicine, Complementary Medicine, Adjunctive Medicine - Part 12 of 13

tai chi (tai chi chuan, Tai Ji, tai ji chuan, Tai Ji Juan, tai ji quan, Taiqi): Variation of self-healing. Tai chi is an ancient, yoga-like Chinese system of ballet-like exercises designed for health, self-defense, and spiritual development. Practicing tai chi supposedly facilitates the flow of chi ("life energy") through the body by dissolving blockages both within the body and between the body and the environment. Traditional tai chi prescribes about 108 to 128 postures, including repetitions. The difficulty lies in concatenating the postures into circular movements. Quan means "boxing."

Tamang shamanism: Form of shamanism practiced by the Tamangs, a group of Tibetan Buddhists in Nepal. It borrows from Buddhism and Hinduism and includes karga puja. Reportedly, Tamang shamans always impute the disorders they treat to evil spirits.

TCM acupuncture (New Acupuncture): Form of acupuncture that arose in the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution. Symptoms or syndromes ("patterns of disharmony") are its focus. "TCM" stands for "Traditional Chinese Medicine."

Tensegrity: Series of twelve movements advanced by author Carlos Castaneda, Ph.D., reportedly born Carlos Cesar Arana Castaneda in 1925, in Peru. Castaneda supposedly learned these movements from his teacher, Juan Matus (Don Juan), a reputed Yaqui sorcerer (brujo). ("Don" is a courtesy title that means "nobleman" or "gentleman.") The purported design of Tensegrity is to "gather energy" and promote well-being. Its theory posits an "energy body." (According to Castaneda, his teacher was born in 1891. But the alleged reality of Castaneda's Don Juan is doubtful.)

Therapeutic Touch (TT, Krieger-Kunz Method of Therapeutic Touch): Derivative of the laying on of hands, initiated in 1972 by Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N., and Dora van Gelder Kunz, a clairvoyant born in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). Nursing professor emerita Dolores Krieger is the author of Accepting Your Power to Heal: The Personal Practice of Therapeutic Touch (Bear and Company), Living the Therapeutic Touch, and the Therapeutic Touch Inner Workbook: Ventures in Transpersonal Healing (1997). TT theory posits chakras and manually transmittable "human energies."

Thought Field Therapy (TFT, Callahan Techniques™): "The study of the structure of thought fields and the body's energy system as they pertain to the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems," according to psychologist Dr. Roger J. Callahan, quoted in the November 1996 issue of Visions Magazine. Callahan originated TFT in the 1980s. It involves sequentially tapping specific "acupuncture meridian energy points" with fingertips.

Tibetan Ayurveda: Subject of Health for Life: Tibetan Ayurveda, by Robert Sachs. Tibetan Ayurveda encompasses meditation and "spiritual practices."

Tibetan herbal medicine: Tibetan herbalism. Its theory posits "humoural imbalances." Tibetan medicine (Emchi): Largely allopathic system that stems from Ayurveda, Bon (see "Bon shamanic practices"), Chinese medicine, and Unani. Tibetan medicine encompasses acupuncture and moxibustion and purportedly heals both the physical and the psychic "being." Its theory posits reincarnation, evil spirits, tutelary gods, and three physiological principles ("bodily energies"): "wind," "bile" ("gall"), and "phlegm." According to Tibetan medical theory, karma strongly influences 101 disorders caused by afflictive emotions (e.g., desire or hatred); another 101 disorders caused by such emotions involve spirits (harmful "unseen forces"); and it is appropriate to expose certain medical substances to the light of the full moon. The terms "Tibetan medicine" and "Tibetan Buddhist Medicine" appear synonymous.

Tibetan Pulsing Healing (Tibetan Pulsing): Modern approach to an ancient Tibetan technique. It is a form of bodywork whose postulate is that sound and the pulse are usable to dissolve "blockages" in the nervous system. Its theory posits (a) a "'cool' healing fire" created by the heart, and (b) the hara, an alleged controller of the immune system wherein sexual "energy" often is "locked." Tibetan Pulsing includes a system of "eye-reading" whose purported design is to determine which organs need attention.

tongue acupuncture: Tongue-focused form or variation of needle acupuncture.

tongue diagnosis: Mode of ostensible diagnosis whose theory posits Qi (pronounced "chee"). Supposedly, Qi--often called "energy," "life-force," and "vitality"--is that which defines life. Chinese-medicine theory assigns areas of the tongue to internal organs, and various lingual conditions to visceral conditions. For example, lateral tooth marks allegedly signify a "Spleen Qi deficiency."

Toning: Vocal method expounded and developed by American "healer" Laurel Elizabeth Keyes. It is an alleged means of bringing "new life energy" to "inhibited" or "unbalanced" parts of the body. Toning involves standing with eyes closed, relaxing the jaws, and expressing feelings with vocal sounds.

traditional acupuncture (Traditional Chinese acupuncture): Form of acupuncture based on the meridian theory of, and usually practiced in the context of, TCM.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): The dominant style of Chinese medicine in the People's Republic of China. traditional Dhanur Veda diagnosis: Ostensibly diagnostic method whose purported goal is identification of "marma blockages." Allegedly, this requires "deep inner concentration" and can happen by phone and with minimal conversation.

traditional herbal diagnosis: Apparently, a purported means of making "appropriate" dietary and herbal recommendations. It includes pulse diagnosis (traditional Chinese pulse diagnosis) and tongue diagnosis.

traditional Indian medicine: 1. (TIM, American Indian Healing, Indian Medicine, Native American Healing Ways, Traditional Native American Medicine Ways) Native American shamanism. 2. Ayurveda.

Trager (psychophysical integration, Trager approach, Trager bodywork, Tragering, Trager method, Trager Psychophysical Integration®, Tragerwork): "Movement education approach" developed by Milton Trager, M.D., a former boxer and acrobat who, in 1958, became one of the first eight initiates of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (see "Maharishi Ayur-Ved") in the United States. Practitioners supposedly work in a meditative state termed "hook-up" (see "Trager Mentastics").

transpersonal psychology (transpersonal counseling, transpersonal counseling psychology): Combination of Jungian psychology, psychosynthesis, and Eastern mysticism. It emphasizes meditation, prayer, and self-transcendence. Carl Jung (see "Jungian psychology") apparently was the first to use the expression "transpersonal" (ueberpersoenlich), in 1917. Psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, the codeveloper of Holotropic Breathwork, coined the name "transpersonal psychology."

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