Tibetan medicine, at 2,500 years old, is considered the oldest surviving medical tradition. A combination of logical healing practices, spiritual methods, and mystical practice, this tradition has a holistic basis as one of its foundational theories. It is known as the earliest form of mind-body medicine and can lend much of its wisdom to holistic and psychosomatic medicine and nursing, as well as the emerging field of psychoneuroimmunology. A basic overview of Tibetan medicine, coupled with a Western-educated nurse's experience during the care of a Tibetan Buddhist monk, provided an expanded view of the riches inherent in transcultural holistic nursing.
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