A Path Less Conventional

By Michael E Morrison

As a person born with cystic fibrosis, though not defined by his illness, Michael E Morrison knows better than most how Western medicine works. In the midst of his daily, very painful treatments, not surprisingly he found himself asking, Is Western medicine the best way forward? In this well researched and detailed exploration of alternative medicine, Morrison looks at the work of Joo de Deus at the Casa de Dom Incio in Brazil; the method and benefits of Buteyko breathing; the use of energy medicine; the importance of nutrition; and the use of emotional freedom techniques (EFT)as well as other alternative treatments. He compares the results of Western medicine to those of alternative therapies and finds that, often, getting back to nature and listening to our bodies can be the best way forward in leading a healthy, fulfilled life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452546483

Michael E Morrison

For over a quarter century, Michael E Morrison was a robotic disciple of Western medicine, relying on the latest wonder drug to treat his cystic fibrosis. He reached his nadir with conventional medicine when the head consultant referred to him as “Twiggy,” and he realized that the treatments were often making him worse, not better. He began looking at alternative therapies, which understand the totality of illness. He embarked on a spiritual journey, learning techniques to unlock the physician within.

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Copyright © 2012 Michael E Morrison.

Michael E Morrison is the original copyright holder. He wrote the book, A Path Less Conventional in 2006 and Athena Press published his work in 2008.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Extract from Living Energies: An Exposition of Concepts Related to the Theories of Viktor Schauberger by Callum Coats, originally published by Gill & MacMillan, reprinted with permission of the author and publisher.

Extract from Love, Medicine and Miracles by Bernie S Siegel, published by Rider, reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd.

Extract from Eternal Echoes by John O’Donohue, published by Bantam Press, reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd.

Extract from Asthma Free Naturally: Everything You Need to Know About Taking Control of Your Asthma by Patrick G McKeown, published by Harper Thorsons, reprinted with kind permission of the author.

Extract from Breathing by Michael Sky, Rochester, VT 05767 Copyright © 1990 Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. www.BearandCompanyBooks.com reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Extract from Vibrational Medicine by Richard Gerber, Rochester, VT 05767 Copyright © 2001 Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. www.BearandCompanyBooks.com reprinted by permission of the publisher.

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ISBN: 978-1-4525-4649-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-4647-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-4648-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012901420

Balboa Press rev. date: 3/16/2012

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Author’s Note

The Miracle Man:

João de Deus

Buteyko Breathing:

The Art of Breathing Less and Living Longer

Energy:

Medicine of the Future

Nutrition

Emotions

Conclusion

2011 - The return to

St. Vincent’s hospital:

Appendix

Brief on Tracie Lawlor Trust for Cystic Fibrosis

Resource Guide

Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

I would like to thank many who have inspired, perspired and never tired in helping make this book a reality. Thanks to Christina Stubbs, Staci Kern and the team of Balboa Press.

Special thanks goes to my parents, Breda and Ed Morrison. Thank you for your support and joie de vivre attitude to life. It opened countless windows of opportunity, allowing me to find my own path.

Thanks to Tony Clarkson for your genial generosity and guidance. I look forward to our time in Brazil together every year. The countless conversations we have had over the years have inspired this book.

Thanks to David Begley for allowing use of his work for the cover.

AUTHOR’S NOTE 

I was born with cystic fibrosis and lost my younger brother to this life-threatening genetic condition. For most families, this would mean tragedy and suffering, painfully retreating from the world at the unfair loss of a child and the suffering of another. However, my mother and father let me be free to embrace the wonder of life, saving me from the restraints of a cotton-wool existence.

The medical profession told them that I would be lucky to see my twelfth birthday. Yet, as I write this, I have celebrated my twenty-eighth birthday and plan to celebrate many more. My parents’ approach has allowed me to lead a life full of opportunity, allowing me to become more than my illness, and this is a wonderful gift.

As I have undergone research over the years, I have come to realise that conventional Western medicine follows a chemical approach to healing that is not always effective. In searching for alternatives, I have come to view my disease differently and discover simple, natural ways that we can trigger healing within ourselves. If you want to heal yourself, as Edward Bach espoused, you must ‘tap into the hidden physician within’. Exploring this healer requires you to unmask all and face yourself.

Over the last number of years, I have been piecing together a complementary guide to my healing. It has been an empowering exercise, using my body as a human guinea pig, with fantastic results being attained. I have spent my time reading and attending courses and workshops on alternative therapies and on using the body’s own power to heal itself. This book describes the range of treatments that can be synergistically employed to bring vitality and well-being.

Although these techniques have been written about and much discussed in other books, their employment for treating a chronic, life-threatening ailment like cystic fibrosis, largely free of conventional means, is unusual. I have been on only one antibiotic since July 2003 and from being on home intravenous treatment twice a year, I have not had one for several years. I have reduced nebulizer count from five a day, back in the summer of 2003 to two a day at present, and I no longer require the use of inhalers. The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland now put my number out to other families across Ireland to inform them about the avenues I have undertaken and some are following my route.

In A Path Less Conventional, I aim to give others with ailments, whether it is CF or any other chronic disease, hope that there are ways and means to treat the problem other than those promoted by Western medicine. I have had my ups and downs, but the decision has been mine and I hope that others reading this will learn to take control of their health and steer their way towards healing.

Michael E Morrison

THE MIRACLE MAN:

JOÃO DE DEUS 

For those who believe, no words are necessary; for those who do not believe, no words are possible.

Dom Inácio de Loyola

Medicine today is not about cure; it is a band-aid approach to healing – chemically treating the body with antibiotics and following the Newtonian pharmacokinetic (and surgical) approach to healing.

Disease will never be cured or eradicated by present materialistic methods, for the simple reason that disease in its origin is not material. What we know as disease is an ultimate result produced in the body, the end product of deep and longing forces, and even if material treatment alone is apparently successful this is nothing more than a temporary relief unless the real cause is removed. The modern trend of medical science, by misinterpreting the true nature of disease and concentrating it in materialistic terms in the physical body, has enormously increased its power,