IN THIS ARTICLE: Dr Andrew WI is a health guru for millions through his Internet site, Ask Dr Weil. But his central message revolves around a simple physical fact, and one of the most important is that we must breathe the best possible way we can.

    本文簡介：安德魯·韋爾博士通過其互聯網站----“詢問韋爾博士”----成為上百萬人尊敬的健康權威。但是他的核心思想圍繞著一個簡單的物理事實，而最重要的問題之一是，我們必須以盡可能好的方式呼吸。

    [1] In 1999, Time magazine selected l)r Andrew Weil as one of the 25 most influential people in America. His hooks have spent 22 weeks, to date, on the New York Times bestseller list. His Internet web site, from which he dispenses even more advice, attracts 3, 000 questions a week. Among recent questions were: What is the best breast cancer treatment? How can we combat killer mosquitoes? Are apples really good for you? Can popcorn be health food? Should I drink more water?

    [2] But the message health gum Andrew Weil has is simple.

    * "Breathe," he says. Long, slow, full breaths with exhales at least as long as the inhales.

    * "Walk," he says. Briskly, that is, for 10 minutes a day, five days a week--for a start.

    * "Eat healthily," he says, "taking in more fresh vegetables and fruit and less red meat."

    [3] Weil has been travelling the world to promote his books Health and Healing and Spontaneous Healing. A new volume will be available here in September. In Health and Healing he expands on the importance of breathing, that "most" vital and mysterious function".

    [4] "Breathing is unique as the only function that can be fully voluntary or involuntary. As such it is a bridge between the conscious and unconscious minds as well as between mind and body.

    [5] "Proper breathing nourishes the central nervous system, establishes a harmonious pattern for other bodily rhythms, and regulates moods and emotions."

    1999年，《時代》雜志選擇安德魯·韋爾博士作為美國最有影響的25人中的一員。他的書到目前為止已有22個星期被列入《紐約時報》暢銷書單中。他的互聯網站提供更多忠告，每周會收到3000個問題。最近的問題有：什么是乳腺癌的最佳治療方法？我們怎樣去跟蚊蟲殺手戰斗？蘋果對你具有好處嗎？爆米花能算健康食品嗎？我應該喝更多水嗎？

    然而，健康權威安德魯·韋爾博士說的很簡單。

    “呼吸，”他說。深長、緩慢、充分的呼吸，呼氣至少要同吸氣一樣長。

    “走路，”他說。就是輕快地走，開始時每天10分鐘、每周五天。

    “吃得有益健康，”他說，“多吃新鮮蔬菜和水果，少吃紅肉。”

    [6] "Learning how to breathe and working consciously with breath is a simple, safe, effective and inexpensive way to promote good health of mind and body."

    [7] The man with a medical degree from Harvard, a magnificent trademark beard and the sort of eyes that twinkle into crescent slivers when he smiles, (which is often) does not hesitate to suggest that you bead for the nearest hospital if you have been in an accident, need a hip replacement or have a severe infection.

    [8] But he has long championed alternative views on health. He emphasises the need for "integrative" medicine, which takes the best from any number of healing methods--if they have been shown to work.

    [9] Weil began his travels around the world at 17, examining the medicines of other cultures. The experience enforced his passionate interest in botanical drugs and fostered in him a great respect for the inherent power of the mind-body connection and its potential importance in medicine.

    [10] He entered Harvard with no intention of practising in the traditional allopathic way, but with "a strong intuition that a medical degree would be useful".

    [11] For 26 years he has spoken about his basic philosophy--that the body has its own elaborate healing system that repairs wounds, renews bones and corrects mistakes in the blueprint that could otherwise result in cancer or other diseases.

    [12] And he has criticised the doctors who ignore it and focus entirely on "the disease model" instead. "But ideological argument means nothing," he says.

    韋爾一直在周游世界促銷他寫的書《健康與痊愈》以及《自然痊愈》。新的一冊9月即可在此買到。在《健康與痊愈》中，他詳述呼吸的重要性說，那是“最性命攸關和不可思議的機能”。

    “呼吸作為僅有的能完全自主或不自主的機能是獨特的。因而它是一座橋，處于自覺和不自覺之間，如同處于腦子和身體之間。 “正常的呼吸滋養中樞神經系統，為其他的軀體節律建立一種和諧的模式，并調節心境和情緒。

    “學習如何呼吸并自覺地與呼吸配合動作，是可以促進身心健康的簡單、安全、有效而且廉價的方法。”

    這是一位從哈佛取得醫學學位的人，堂皇的胡子是其特征，微笑時常眼神閃爍，眼睛瞇得狀如月牙。如果你遭遇了事故、需要置換髖部或得了嚴重的感染病，他會毫不遲疑地建議你快去最近的醫院。

    但是，他在健康問題上長期以來都堅持選擇的觀點。他強調需要“整合”醫藥，即從各種各樣的治療方法中擇取其優點——只要它們已顯示可發揮作用。 韋爾17歲就開始環球旅行，考察其他文化的醫藥。他的游歷加強了他對植物性藥物的強烈興趣，并使他越來越注意身心關聯的固有力量及其在醫學上潛在的重要意義。

    他進入哈佛并不是想從事傳統的對抗療法，而只是帶有“一種強烈的直覺——一醫學學位將會有用。”

    26年來他已經講過的基本思想是：人體自身有精巧的痊愈系統，可以修補創傷、更新骨骼和改正可導致癌癥或其他疾病的型極錯誤。

    他批評那些忽視人體自身痊愈系統而代之以完全著眼于“疾病模型”的醫生們。他說：“思想方法上的爭辯毫無意義。” 他說，目前美國的醫療系統正處于嚴重困難之中。“技術實在是過于昂貴，醫療經濟體系無法運作。醫院正走向破產。醫學院正不得不合并。”同時，代用醫藥的消費市場正日趨繁榮，并演變成一個重要的經濟力量。韋爾已經注意到越來越多的醫生正傾聽他的意見。他說：“我在這個領域有很長的一段時間了，因而我有些可信度。”

    [13] Now the medical system in America is in desperate straits, he says. "The technology is simply too expensive and the medical economy is not working. Hospitals are going bankrupt. Medical colleges are having to merge." Meanwhile the consumer market for alternative medicines is booming and becoming a significant economic force. And Weil has noticed more and more physicians lending him an enthusiastic ear. "I have a long history in this field so I have some credibility," he says.

    [14] Among the millions who now attend carefully to what he has to say is the faculty of the University of Arizona College of Medicine where a radical and innovative programme of his design, to "train a new type of physician for the next century" begins next month.

    [15] That is when the first trainees, already qualified doctors with some years' experience in family practice and internal medicine, embark upon a two-year post-graduate course to prepare them to be leaders.

    [16] The curriculum includes, for example, modules on Zen Meditation, medicine and culture, legal issues, "energy medicine" (everything from X-rays to the highest technical aspects of the field) and ancient "energy" treatments like homeopathy, therapeutic touch and chi gong.

    [17] Students will study in detail medical acupuncture, homeopathy. osteopathic manipulation and guided imagery. The centre will run a clinic and conduct research. And in line with Weil's principle that doctors should model healthy a candidate's healthy lifestyle is a criterion for admission--a Chicago doctor who is also a professional chef has been employed to provide "decent food" to the students.

    [18] Interest in alternative medicine is a major phenomenon says Weil, far more than a trend. It is, he says, part of a world wide reaction against technology and an urge to find a better balance with nature.

    現在正謹慎關注韋爾一定會說的話的上百萬人中，包括亞利桑那大學醫學院的全體成員。該學院下月開始實施他所設計的一個激進且創新的項目，以“為下一世紀訓練新型醫生。”

    首批受訓者是有多年家庭服務和內科實踐經驗已被確認有資格的醫生。他們將接受兩年的研究生培訓，以期成為帶頭人。

    舉例來說，課程包括禪宗入靜、醫藥與文化、法律問題。“能量醫學”（從X射線到該領域最高技術方面）以及古老的“能量”治療法（像順勢療法、按摩和氣功）等單元。

    學生們將詳細學習針灸、順勢療法、骨療手法以及暗示療法。訓練中心將開辦一個診所，并進行研究工作。而且，為與韋爾主張的“醫生要做健康表率”之原則相一致，投考者健康的生活方式是決定錄取與否的一項標準。一位芝加哥醫生已被雇用，同時他還是專業廚師，來給學生們提供“像樣的食品”。 韋爾說，對于代用醫藥的興趣是個重大的現象，遠遠超過一種趨向。他說，這是在世界范圍內逆反技術并力求跟自然更好地保待一種平衡。