Stressors—causes of stress—include fear, anxiety,
crisis, joy, injury, disease, gravity, and mechanical
force. Some stress is considered necessary in order
for biological mechanisms to function optimally.
Unmanageable amounts of stress, however, usually
result in anomalies or undesirable changes in func-
tioning. Eustressrefers to good stress, and distress
refers to bad or painful stress. Either may have a
deleterious effect on the body.
See also SELYE, HANS; SIMONTON, O. CARL.
structural integration See TRAGER INTEGRATION.
subclinical symptoms Precursors of symptoms or
predisposition to disease.
See also KINESIOLOGY.
succussion From the Latin succussio, meaning a
“shaking,” the act of shaking an individual in order
to hear any internal splashing sounds that indicate
the abnormal presence of fluid, particularly in the
thoracic area. Succussionalso refers to the homeo-
pathic method of shaking remedy preparations.
Sufis See ISLAMIC SUFI HEALING PRACTICES.
suggestion, power of See HYPNOTHERAPY; MIND-
BODY CONNECTION; NONLOCAL MIND; PLACEBO.
supplements, dietary See NUTRITIONAL THERAPY.
surgery, psychic See PSYCHIC SURGERY.
sweat lodge A Native American healing practice,
similar to a steam bath or sauna to induce profuse
sweating in order to rid the body of wastes, but with
spiritual aspects geared to healing emotional distur-
bances as well as physical problems. Enthusiasts
claim that pollution, artificial environments, syn-
thetic clothing, and lack of regular exercise clog
pores and block the body’s natural flow of perspira-
tion and can lead to physical and emotional prob-
lems. Depending on how hot the sweat bath is and
the climate in which it occurs, a 15-minute sauna or
sweat induces the heavy metal excretion that nor-
mally takes healthy kidneys 24 hours to accomplish.
Body sweat flushes toxic metals such as copper, lead,
zinc, and mercury from the body. A sauna is often
recommended as a supplement to treatment with
dialysis machines.
Sweat can also eliminate excessive salts that
often cause hypertension and urea, a metabolic by-
product, which can cause headaches, nausea, and
in extreme cases, vomiting, coma, and death.
Sweat may also draw out lactic acid that causes
painful or stiff muscles and general fatigue.
When sweat-lodge heat dilates capillaries, blood
flow to the skin and heart rate increases. Impurities
in vital organs are flushed out by the flow of fluids.
Finnish and German doctors cite studies indicating
sweat baths help persons with high blood pressure
and heart problems. Congested airways open in the
heat, thus relieving colds or minor respiratory prob-
lems, but sweat baths are not recommended for
persons with pneumonia and major respiratory
problems. The heat of a sweat bath and the often
rapid cooling afterward are said to condition the
body against colds, disease, and infection. Recent
tests in Finland validate the practice of splashing
water on superheated rocks as a way to produce
negative ions, particularly if the rocks are heated by
a wood fire instead of electricity. A lack of negative
ions and excess of positive ions have been linked to
heart attacks, aggravated asthma, migraines, insom-
nia, rheumatism, arthritis, hay fever, and allergies.
Some causes of unhealthy ionic conditions are
weather disturbances, central air conditioning, air
pollution, and driving in a closed automobile for
extended periods.Spiritual Aspects
The Native American sweat lodge is said to offer
spiritual as well as physical benefits. Dr. Rudolph
Ballentine, in his book Radical Healing(New York:
Harmony Books, 1999, p. 333) wrote: “The sweat
lodge is a tangible expression of the intricate min-
gling of being tested, of being reduced to the mere
bones of your life before being guided into a
rebirth—a re-creation of yourself—through the
ordeal of the cleansing crisis. it demonstrates in a
humble, yet eloquent way the connection between
physical healing and the realm of the spirit. What
is released in the experience of the sweat lodge is
the confining consciousness of a limited, fearful
ego, and the physical encrustations that hold your
body in a form that can only express such a con-sweat lodge 147