Body Language and Homoeopathy by Ajit Kulakarni

Book review by Dr Mansoor Ali

Body Language and Homoeopathy

Author :    Ajit Kulakarni

Price: Rs. 799

Publisher: B. Jain Publishers. New Delhi

Web : www.bjainbooks.com

The author has thrown light over the minutest of expressions and has explained their significance from psychological, philosophical, spiritual and homoeopathic point of view.

The detailed text with illustrations under each and every section is indeed spellbinding and insightful.

Body language and Homoeopathy is a path breaking work from Dr.Ajit Kulakarni.

Dr Ajit Kulkarni is a veteran homoeopath, an academician and a famed international teacher. He is famous for his innovative and novel presentation on body language – its interpretation and  practical application in homoeopathy. He is Director of the Homoeopathic Research Institute, Satara. He is also Hon. Emeritus Professor for Post-graduate (MD) courses in homoeopathy at many centres in India.

Distinguishing Features :

• Detailed text enhancing each and every nuances of body language with self explanatory illustrations under each section
• Every detail has been highlighted under psychological, spiritual and homeopathic aspect
• A best guide for teachers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, students, businessmen, actors, common people and all those directly or indirectly related to homeopathy and concerned with the art of healing

The book is divided into well-defined chapters which are further divided into easy-to-digest sub-sections.

The broad division of the text is into 4 sections.

Section I  : deals with Introduction- History and Understanding the Language in general.

Section II : is on Communication – Body language as communication, Communication skills, Intra-psychic communication, Silence and Characters of body language.

Section III :  focuses on the core elements of body language like Personal Appearance, Gestures, Posture and Stance, Facial expressions, Eye expressions, Voice and Intonation, Space and Distancing, Tactile Communication, Vocabulary and Universal gestures.

Section IV : takes care of Homoeopathic perspective including Clinical repertory and practical cases.

The ultimate benefit of this book is that it widens and expands our consciousness at all levels. This book has a different perspective of understanding not only the world around us but the world inside each of us.

This book will leave a long lasting impression on the mind and will help in increasing the ability of the physician to observe a peculiar expression in their patients and will also be useful to all teachers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, students, businessmen, actors, lay persons and all those directly or indirectly related to homoeopathy and concerned with the art of healing.

It is obvious that a lot of efforts have gone into the design of this book, to make it an efficient operational tool. The text is fairly large, illustrations are good, the images are meaningful and relevant and it overall gives an impression of being  worthy and useful.

Contents

• Dedication iii
• Acknowledgements v
• Foreword vii
• Prologue xi
• Publisher’s note xv
• Nonverbal consciousness… xvii

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION

1. KINESICS: THE SCIENCE OF BODY LANGUAGE 3-23

• Body language is all around us…
• Body as a dynamic constellation of symbols
• Communication: The warp and the woof
• Kinesics-The science of human understanding
• Body language and emotions
• The elements of visible code
• Decoding nonverbal messages: Some examples
• Movements need interpretation
• Opening up new vistas of perception in homoeopathy…
• Why is there a need to study BL in homoeopathy?

2. HISTORY OF BODY LANGUAGE 25-34

• Gestures first, words second
• The writings on body language
• Charles Darwin and other researchers’s contribution
• Are the body language gestures inborn, inherited, ingrained or learned
• Further evolution

3. ON LANGUAGE… 35-52

• Can there be a world without language?
• Definition of language
• Language of human beings
• Language and brain
• The ‘living’ language: known and unknown
• The linguistic diversity
• Importance of language
• Resemblance and distinction between body language and verbal language
• Language and gesture – A single integrated spectrum
• The ‘script’ of body language
• Body language in relation with paralanguage
• Neuro-linguistic programming(NLP)
• The incompleteness of words
• Blog discussion
• Language as an embodied experience

SECTION II: ON COMMUNICATION…

4. BODY LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION 55-70

• World as a sensory dimension
• Problem with words
• All behavior is communication
• Body as a true medium
• Role of feedback
• Insight through awareness
• Representational systems
• Chronemics
• Categories of nonverbal communication
• Telegraphy of body language
• Therapeutic functions of body language
• Scientific basis of body language
• Prodigious cosmic form of Lord Krishna

5. COMMUNICATION SKILLS : A PRACTICAL APPROACH 71-105

• Communication: A critical component
• Communication: Meaning
• The critical skills: Active listening & feedback
• Adherence
• Barriers to communication: ‘Noise’
• Explanation of some terms of noise
• Basic qualities of communication: Positive & negative
• Homoeopathic interview: Requisites
• Techniques of communication
• Interview hints: General
• Hints for different types of patients
• Conclusion

6. INTRA-PSYCHIC COMMUNICATION, BL & HOMOEOPATHY 107-118

• IPC: A symbolic internal process
• Types of IPC
• Carl Jung’s contribution
• Theories of dreams
• The role of a homoeopathic physician
• Talking with the self
• Touching the self
• Recapitulation

7. THE MUSICAL MELODY OF SILENCE 119-131

• The silent communication
• To listen means to be here – now
• Silence- The ultimate musical melody
• Types of silence
• Resonance
• A Human being: A multi-faceted, composite entity
• Conclusion

8. CHARACTERS OF BODY LANGUAGE 133-144

• Positive characters
• Negative characters
• The pivotal points
• Body language: A double edged sword
• Notes to remember

SECTION III: ELEMENTS OF BODY LANGUAGE

9. PERSONAL APPEARANCE 147-176

• The first impression
• Clothes and colours
• Footwear
• Hair-styles
• Ornaments
• Make-up
• Aromas
• Bodifications
• Elective and non-elective traits
• Personal appearance and body language
• Warning signals
• Homoeopathic perspective

10. GESTURES 177-230

• Definition
• What do gestures serve?
• Each gesture is a like a word in language
• Types of gesticulations
• Characters of gestures
• Head gestures
• The neck
• The nose
• The ear
• The mouth
• Arm gestures
• Talking hands, palms and legs
• Walking gestures
• Gestures with mobile phone
• Female courtship and come-on gestures
• Smoking gestures
• Conclusion

11. POSTURE AND STANCE 231-284

• The meaning of some terms
• Gesture and posture: The ‘movement’ and the ‘still’
• Posture and energy
• Posture and inter-personal relationship
• Emotional postures
• Posture and health
• Sitting styles in a chair
• Sitting postures
• Closed and open postures
• Submissive and fearful body postures
• Myths and knowledge about postures
• Static positions
• Body stance and interpretation
• Sleeping, noble and dancing postures
• Car and scooter driving postures
• Postures of some remedies

12. FACIAL EXPRESSIONS 285-324

• Face: The visual trademark
• Face: The index of universe
• Face: The attractiveness Halo
• Face: The organ of emotions
• Facial analysis: A difficult task
• The concept of facial expression
• Physiognomy
• Facial signs as predictors and reflectors of disease
• The sketching of emotions
• Are facial expressions inherited?
• Trustworthy or dominant face: A research report
• Some facial expressions
• Weeping gestures
• Body language of ears, nose, cheeks, lips, mouth and chin in different cultures
• Homoeopathic perspective
• Body language of crying babies

13. EYES: THE VISION WITHIN… 325-350

• Eye: The greatest wonder
• Eye: A symbol of consciousness
• Brain, face and eyes
• The function of seeing the ‘true’ image
• The eyes and mind: Synthesis through body language
• How the eyes communicate
• Eyes in parlance
• Eye contact
• Eye movements
• Gaze
• The brows, the lids and the eyes
• Decoding eye messages: Some examples
• Love and eyes
• Tears in the eyes
• Interpretation of dreams of eyes
• Cultural variations
• Homoeopathic perspective

14. VOICE AND INTONATION 351-366

• Carving out the identity
• Sound of the universe
• Vocal cords, voice mechanism & key functions
• Attributes of voice
• Elements of speech
• Interpretation of voice
• The effect of stress on voice
• Speech in psychiatric illness
• Some do’s and don’ts for ensuring good communication
• ‘Voicing’ of homoeopathic remedies

15. SPACE AND DISTANCING 367-394

• We’ and the ‘Space’
• Space and self-image
• How near, how far and the boundaries…
• Personal space bubbles
• Personal and shared space
• The win/win situation of shared space
• The zones
• Maintaining territory
• Handling of space
• The role of culture
• Automatic and deliberate reactions to violations of personal space
• Sitting postures for a doctor and a patient
• Space, tactile communication and time
• In the living room of a homoeopathic clinic
• Homoeopathic remedies vis-à-vis space
• The effect of stressors on space and distancing
• The basic modes and their relation with space and distancing

16. TACTILE COMMUNICATION 395-421

• Touch: The earliest sense
• Touch: The basic form of communication
• Touch in parlance
• Touch: The action forward
• Characters of TC
• Tactile communication and self-esteem
• Examples of tactile communication
• Handshake
• Hugging and kissing
• Touch as a healing therapy
• Homoeopathic perspective

17. VOCABULARY OF BODY LANGUAGE 423-430

Openness. Enthusiasm. Defensiveness. Anger. Readiness. Evaluating. Nervousness. Suspicion. Secretiveness. Rejection. Confidence. Needing reassurance. Frustration. Boredom. Acceptance. Dishonesty. Grief. Embarrassment. Indecision. Disgust. Fear. 

18. UNIVERSAL GESTURES 431-439

• Gestures are the real universal language
• Gestures in vogue
• Argyle’s list of universal gestures
• Universal body language signals
• The impact of culture on gestures
• Differences in interpretation

SECTION IV: HOMOEOPATHIC PERSPECTIVE

19. RELEVANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE IN HOMOEOPATHY 443-466

• Hahnemann’s view
• Man as a multi-dimensional, composite entity
• Homoeopathic interview
• Alignment with vital force
• Utility of body language for a homoeopath
• Resemblance between BL and Homoeopathy
• Redefining the concept of Totality
• Body Language : An analytical process
• From ‘symptoms’ to a ‘person’
• The phenomenological concept
• Fusion: The patient and the drug
• Objective of study of BL
• Selecting the rubrics
• BL as pointers to diagnosis
• Learning Materia medica through BL
• The living Materia medica
• Linking personality of drugs to body language
• Conclusion

20. BASIC MODES OF BL AND HOMOEOPATHIC MATERIA MEDICA 467-485

• Materia medica: An enormous gamut of human suffering
• Understanding basic modes
• Linking remedies with basic modes
• The Ego: Hypertrophy, atrophy, and lysis
• Conclusion

21. THE KINGDOMS AND BODY LANGUAGE 487-532

• The remedy as a personality
• The concept of karma, reincarnation and kingdom
• Vedas and Patanjali Yoga
• The evolution from lower to higher
• The memory and reincarnation
• Past life regression therapy
• Relation of human beings with plants, animals and minerals

22. DISCOVERING THE PATTERNS 533-549

• The study of patterns
• Pattern: Matching, recognition & formation
• Layers of information
• Dynamics of pattern in interrogation
• Patterns and personality disorders
• Entropy and patterns
• Message clusters and pattern formation
• ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ positions for pattern formation
• The vital sign
• Deriving the vital sign
• Pattern, vital sign and synthesis
• Some illustrations

23. HANDY TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE 551-567

• What makes practice a success?
• Forming a psychic map
• What Stanley Bing says
• Guidelines concerning each element of body language
• Follow-up patients
• Your own aura
• Key points
• Need for constant polishing

24. CLINICAL REPERTORY OF BODY LANGUAGE 569-655

• Repertory as a micro-filming of Materia medica
• Using the tool
• Repertorial rubrics and body language
• Clinical repertory of body language

25. LEARNING THROUGH CASES 667-723 

26. CONCLUSION 725 -736

• Homoeopathy: The science of synthesis
• Kinesics, machines and man
• The unresolved maze of progress
• Attention to body language pays dividends!
• Analyzing the self
• The reality beyond all change
• Homoeopathic practice: A crusade
• Defining an individual in totality
• Sharpening the perception
• Buddha on consciousness

REFERENCES 737-743

COMMENTS… 745 -750

A valuable contribution is the ‘Clinical Repertory of Body Language’. It’s not a customary repertory. Instead of symptoms, you will find cues of body with the index of homoeopathic remedies against them in an alphabetical manner. So, if you want to search for ‘pouted lips’, this book is the answer to your query. Go into the text material, understand the body cue, interpret it rightly relating with your patient, pick up the related rubric and try to grasp the relevant remedy. Repertory is the very essence of this book and also a boon for a busy physician

From  a different perspective of the world around us, and the world inside each of us, this book is definitely worth reading.

Dr.Ajith Kulkarni often emphasizes that the art of deciphering the truth through the body language is a skill which needs constant polishing and that there are limitations of body language too.