Macrobiotic Healing

By Phiya Kushi

Macrobiotic Healing is not limited to diet and lifestyle.  Macrobiotic Healing is also not an “Alternative Therapy” nor is it against or opposed to Conventional Medicine.   Indeed, Conventional Medicine is a part and is a subset of Macrobiotic Healing.  These statements may confuse many, especially those familiar with macrobiotics.  Let me explain further.

The full scope of Macrobiotic Healing not only includes diet and lifestyle but also all healing modalities including Alternative Therapies and Conventional Medicine.  The confusion that Macrobiotic Healing is limited to only diet and lifestyle exists because that is the domain of service and advice offered by Macrobiotic Counselors. Macrobiotic Counselors, unless they are practicing physicians, do not give out medical advice simply because that is not their domain and area of expertise.  It is the domain of Medical Doctors.  The difference between Macrobiotic Healing and Macrobiotic Counselors as well as Conventional Medicine  is  illustrated in the diagram below.


The Full Scope Of Macrobiotic Healing (Click on image to view larger version)

The full scope of Macrobiotic Healing ranges from, at one end, complete intervention (on the right of the diagram), which is the domain conventional medicine to, at the other end, zero intervention (on the left) thereby allowing the body to heal itself.   At the center is our normal daily life and routines, which includes our meals and our daily activities.  Macrobiotic Counselors offer guidance to their clients to address and adjust the area covered by the central region on the diagram.  In the direction toward “Complete Intervention” a Macrobiotic Counselor will recommend food-based home remedies and may even recommend some supplementation as well as some type bodywork or energy work.  For more “intervention” beyond the scope of Macrobiotic Counseling, a client might see an acupuncturist, herbologist, chiropractor or Naturopathic Doctor for guidance.  And, when “Complete Intervention” is necessary then a client may see a physician, surgeon, radiologist or other similar qualified expert.  In moving toward “Complete Intervention” there is an increasing reliance upon others to assist in the healing journey.

Moving toward less intervention, a Macrobiotic Counselor may suggest reducing stress in one’s life like going for walks and eating less.  They may even offer some emotional and psychological counseling to help clients release any tension that prevents them from completely relaxing.  But beyond the guidance of Macrobiotic Counselors, the clients themselves must address their own personal needs to find the inner peace and calm necessary to allow their bodies to heal themselves.  This could include meditation, prayer and fasting that the client may choose to undertake on their own with the ultimate goal of being completely self-reliant for one’s own healing journey.

In the course of the Macrobiotic Healing journey of an ill patient, he or she may need surgery and the full assistance of medical professionals.  The goal for the patient, however, is to move toward complete self-reliance in taking care of one’s own health which includes addressing diet and lifestyle matters and, if absent, incorporating meditative or other similar practices that allows one to be at peace with one’s self.  This is the full scope of Macrobiotic Healing.