Editing New Age (section)

===Healing and alternative medicine===
Another recurring element of New Age is an emphasis on healing and [[alternative medicine]].{{sfnm|1a1=Ellwood|1y=1992|1p=60|2a1=York|2y=1995|2p=37|3a1=Hanegraaff|3y=1996|3p=42|4a1=Sutcliffe|4y=2003a|4p=174|5a1=Butler|5a2=Tighe|5y=2007}} The general New Age ethos is that health is the natural state for the human being and that illness is a disruption of that natural balance.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=46–47}} Hence, New Age therapies seek to heal "[[illness]]" as a general concept that includes physical, mental, and spiritual aspects; in doing so it critiques mainstream Western medicine for simply attempting to cure [[disease]], and thus has an affinity with most forms of [[traditional medicine]].{{sfnm|1a1=Albanese|1y=1992|1pp=81–82|2a1=Hanegraaff|2y=1996|2pp=42–43|3a1=Sutcliffe|3y=2003a|3p=176}} Its focus of self-spirituality has led to the emphasis of self-healing,{{sfnm|1a1=Heelas|1y=1996|1pp=82–87|2a1=Sutcliffe|2y=2003a|2pp=176, 178|3a1=MacKian|3y=2012|3p=160}} although also present are ideas on healing both others and the Earth itself.{{sfnm|1a1=Heelas|1y=1996|1pp=82–87|2a1=MacKian|2y=2012|2p=160}}

[[File:Siete chakras.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Reiki]] is one of the alternative therapies commonly found in the New Age movement.]]

The healing elements of the movement are difficult to classify given that a variety of terms are used, with some New Age authors using different terms to refer to the same trends, while others use the same term to refer to different things.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=48}} However, Hanegraaff developed a set of categories into which the forms of New Age healing could be roughly categorised. The first of these was the [[Human Potential Movement]], which argues that contemporary Western society suppresses much human potential, and accordingly professes to offer a path through which individuals can access those parts of themselves that they have alienated and suppressed, thus enabling them to reach their full potential and live a meaningful life.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=48–49}} Hanegraaff described [[transpersonal psychology]] as the "theoretical wing" of this Human Potential Movement; in contrast to other schools of psychological thought, transpersonal psychology takes religious and mystical experiences seriously by exploring the uses of [[altered states of consciousness]].{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=50–51}} Closely connected to this is the [[Neoshamanism|shamanic consciousness]] current, which argues that the [[shamanism|shaman]] was a specialist in altered states of consciousness and seeks to adopt and imitate traditional shamanic techniques as a form of personal healing and growth.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=52}}

Hanegraaff identified the second main healing current in the New Age movement as being [[holistic health]]. This emerged in the 1970s out of the [[free clinic]] movement of the 1960s, and has various connections with the Human Potential Movement.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=53–54}} It emphasises the idea that the human individual is a holistic, interdependent relationship between mind, body, and spirit, and that healing is a process in which an individual becomes whole by integrating with the powers of the universe.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=54}} A very wide array of methods are utilised within the holistic health movement, with some of the most common including [[acupuncture]], reiki, [[biofeedback]], [[chiropractic]], [[yoga]], [[applied kinesiology]], [[homeopathy]], [[aromatherapy]], [[iridology]], [[massage]] and other forms of [[Bodywork (alternative medicine)|bodywork]], [[meditation]] and [[Visual perception|visualisation]], nutritional therapy, [[psychic healing]], [[herbal medicine]], [[crystal healing|healing using crystals]], metals, music, [[chromotherapy]], and reincarnation therapy.{{sfnm|1a1=York|1y=1995|1p=37|2a1=Hanegraaff|2y=1996|2pp=54–55|3a1=Kemp|3y=2004|3p=30}} Although the use of crystal healing has become a visual trope within the New Age,{{sfn|Albanese|1992|p=79}} this practice was not common in esotericism prior to their adoption in the New Age milieu.{{sfn|Hammer|2001|p=162}}
The mainstreaming of the Holistic Health movement in the UK is discussed by Maria Tighe. The inter-relation of holistic health with the New Age movement is illustrated in Jenny Butler's ethnographic description of "Angel therapy" in Ireland.{{sfn|Butler|Tighe|2007}}