Friday, May 28, 2004
Breathing, meditating and yoga increasingly used as alternative medicine
Alternative Remedies Gaining Popularity: "About one-fifth of Americans use "natural" supplements such as herbs and enzymes, with echinacea being the most popular, used by 40 percent of those surveyed, followed by ginseng (24 percent), ginkgo biloba (21 percent) and garlic (19 percent). Twelve percent use deep-breathing exercises for medical reasons, 8 percent meditate, 5 percent do yoga, 5 percent get massages and 4 percent try diets, the survey found." In other words, about 25 percent use yogic techniques, though there is probably a lot of duplication (all the yoga practictioners could say that also do breathing and meditation.)
What struck me was the vehmence of some of the critics, as cited in this article, of the government survey and the use of alternative medicine. They charged that there is no science proof about the efficacy of alternative methods. Meditation, for one, has gone through rigorous scientific testing.
