Displaying 1 - 4 of 4
Cell doctrine is the foundational paradigm of Euro-American medicine and biology. Even without stepping outside that tradition, one may imagine alternate models of the body such as a fluid model in which cells do not exist or a model wherein cells are described as overlapping fields of molecular organization in space and time. With a complexity analysis of cell biology, we find that the existence of cells as unitary entities, as things, is contingent on the level of scale at which the body is observed. Therefore, alternate models of the body may be conceived that are specific and appropriate to other levels of scale. These ideas suggest that some bodily phenomena, particularly from Asian traditions, which have previously resisted explanation from within the cell-based Euro-American tradition (e.g., acupuncture) may be productively investigated with one or more of these other models. Additionally, the seemingly metaphorical concepts from Tibetan medicine of the coarse, energy, and subtle bodies may represent precise, though somewhat poetically expressed representations of the body at different levels of scale.
The orientation of this volume and the Longevity and Optimal Health: Integrating Eastern and Western Perspectives conference is that there is abundant evidence in the scientific and medical literatures that the diligent practice of certain yoga-meditational regimens can lead to a spectrum of health enhancements, ranging from modest to profound, and that these can be investigated in a scientifically rigorous fashion. This overview will summarize these possibilities regarding improved human longevity, regeneration, and protection of health and serve to introduce the perspectives of conference participants from all of the traditions represented.
The orientation of this volume and the Longevity and Optimal Health: Integrating Eastern and Western Perspectives conference is that there is abundant evidence in the scientific and medical literatures that the diligent practice of certain yoga-meditational regimens can lead to a spectrum of health enhancements, ranging from modest to profound, and that these can be investigated in a scientifically rigorous fashion. This overview will summarize these possibilities regarding improved human longevity, regeneration, and protection of health and serve to introduce the perspectives of conference participants from all of the traditions represented.
The orientation of this volume and the Longevity and Optimal Health: Integrating Eastern and Western Perspectives conference is that there is abundant evidence in the scientific and medical literatures that the diligent practice of certain yoga-meditational regimens can lead to a spectrum of health enhancements, ranging from modest to profound, and that these can be investigated in a scientifically rigorous fashion. This overview will summarize these possibilities regarding improved human longevity, regeneration, and protection of health and serve to introduce the perspectives of conference participants from all of the traditions represented.