Welcome to 2003. Last year proved to be more than a little stressful for Americans. While recovering from 9/11/2001, we were warned weekly to anticipate more violence, more death. Late in the year we feared for strangers, friends and loved ones as a sniper terrorized the D.C. area. In Colorado and much of the West the middle of the year brought unrelenting drought followed by frightening and devastating wildfires. But for all our grief, daily headlines from around the world reminded us that we are still, for the most part, the most privileged people in the world. For one thing, we have access to superior medical care, and a vast array of alternative or complementary therapies to help us cope, prevent serious illness, improve our health, and heal our minds.

     The Nexus guide offers you a variety of techniques, systems, philosophies, approaches, and therapies, some relatively recent and others ancient. Be advised that alternative medicine is often referred to as anything outside the realm of conventional medicine. Complementary medicine, on the other hand, combines the alternative with the conventional. Many of the therapies listed in our glossary and the accompanying toolbox incorporate the still larger holistic unification of mind and body.