Director's Letter
 

The idea of putting together an resource for valid information on complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM)  started in 2009 after some friends experienced a desperate search for reliable CAM  information for cancer. One problem was that the South Texas and Northern Mexico CAM community was not connected through a centralized Internet, print directory or health festivals.

We heard of CAM healing clinics in South Texas and Northern Mexico but could not find any information on them.  Many Healers had gone out of business due to the high operating expenses and their inability to market and advertise their services effectively.

After having to rely on friends and relatives with no medical backgrounds, sales people at the health food stores and local healers which presented conflicting reports in many areas, the need for objective quality alternative health  information was established. In Feb. 2014, we developed the "1st Annual Healthy Living and Wellness Expo" at the South Padre Island Convention center to expand Traditional, Spiritual  and CAM services and increase public awareness and understanding about the vast continuum of health care practices... Western, Eastern, Energy, Spiritual, Complimentary and Alternative . In 2015  expanded our services to bring you the 2nd Annual Wake Up: Healthy Living and Wellness Festival at the South Padre Island Convention Center. However, the Festival was devasted by a hurriance that swept across Mexico and South Texas for 2 days... flooding streets, washing out,  bridges and knocking out electrcity. The National Weather Service was asking Valleyites to stay at home and off the roads due to the weather conditions. In 2018 the sunny skies of January  will bring you the 3rd Annual Healthy Living and Wellness Festival. 

Today we are reevaluating our core ideas on the nature of human consciousness- how our thoughts create our world and their relationship to our body. For example, extensive research has shown that by using mental techniques with diet and exercise, coronary artery disease has been reversed. Group dynamic therapies, were emotions are explored, have shown to correlated with the doubling of survival time of persons with breast cancer, when used with standard forms of therapy.

Does CAM work? This is the question I have carefully examined over the last 30 years. My own beliefs have shifted since I began my research. I set out to clarify whether alternative healing might be effective.  I read studies in Reiki, Healing Touch, Crystal Therapy, Guided Visualization, Meditation, Affirmations, Hypnosis, Biofeedback and other methods by which people cured themselves. After reviewing numerous research studies and having my own  personal  healing experiences, I am convinced that this type of healing is effective and is a potent therapy.

As a medical researcher I have withstood my colleague’s skepticism, disapproval and sanctions against CAM and Spiritual Healing. I support and respect my fellow researchers who have chosen to investigate and validate this subject. All of us who have accept this model as a valid healing path …are merely tolerated by the majority of the medical establishment and frequently rejected out of hand.  Those of us that have investigated this new frontier and brought to light valid CAM and Spiritual Healing Clinic Case Studies, risk our professional standing in Medical Research Community.  We are 21 Century “Galileo's” … We brave  to question the assumptions that have encased the Western Medical Community over the past decade.  We dare to suggest that the mind and spirit are an integrated part of the body and have a large effect on the body’s ability to heal.

Although not threatened with burning at the stake, my path has lead to inquisition and ostracism by my peers, loss of research funds and damage to my professional reputation . I have come to trust my " Inner Small Still Voice"  and I hope this festival and the Healthy Living and Wellness Network may serve to open eyes and ears and the hearts to the many paths that lead to the healing of the body, mind and spirit.