Title:
“The Legge Method: A Therapeutic Music Created According to the
Principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.”
Running Title:
The Legge Method: Therapeutic Music and TCM
Author:
Jennifer Chellis Taveras, L.Ac.
Biography:
Jennifer Chellis Taveras is a graduate of the
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York. She has a Master’s
Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine with a dual concentration in
acupuncture and Chinese herbalism. Since 2000, Jennifer has maintained a
private practice in Manhattan.
Office: 212-696-1800
Cell: 917-364-9431
347 5th Ave Suite 1410
New York, NY 10016
turtletattoo@verizon.net
www.jennifertaveras.com
Abstract with key words:
The author describes how the musical program of the Legge Method, is an
effective therapeutic tool to be ranged alongside the familiar modalities
of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Combining Chinese medical theory with
principles of Western musical composition, the 360 pieces are especially
useful in eliminating allergies in patients. The music, during a
treatment, acts to rebalance one of the twelve Chinese organs, as well as
one or two of the five elements. Patient reactions are often unexpected,
revealing its healing power on various levels, both physical and
emotional. In addition to using the Legge Method to eliminate common
allergies, the author has also used it to rid patients of discovered
sensitivities to ingredients in Chinese herbal combinations.
Key words:
allergy, desensitization, music therapy, acupuncture therapy, sound
Article:
Acupuncture. Herbs. Moxabustion.
Cupping. Qi Gong. Tai Chi. These are the terms that most people associate
with the art and practice of Chinese Medicine. Never in our training do we
consider the use of sound as a powerful modality on a par with the others.
While we do learn the Five Element associations with sound, they are most
often taught to be used diagnostically rather than therapeutically. Well,
I am so happy to report that now the Chinese Medical treasure chest has a
new modality in the Legge Method.
The Legge Method uses musical compositions that are comprised of sounds
according to the Five Elements to help and heal the body. The healing
vibrations of the music alter the energy pattern of the patient and allow
for balance to be restored, thus healing the patient. The Legge Method has
proven to be a remarkably effective tool in ridding patients of allergies.
One treatment with the correct prescriptive music is almost always enough
to free a patient of the targeted allergy. While the Legge Method has been
most rigorously tested for its application for allergy elimination it is
possible that its use could also be extended to many other areas in the
realm of Chinese diagnostics.
When I was trained in the Method by its developers, Mike Legge and
Nicolette Schwartzman, I never expected that music could have such a
profound effect upon health and offer such incredible results. The secret,
they explained (Nicolette is an acupuncturist and Mike, a composer and
computer systems expert) lies in its structure, uniting aspects of
Traditional Chinese Medical theory with that of Western musical
composition. The Legge Method was developed over the course of 12 years,
with clinical testing, observations and assessment at Nicolette’s acupuncture clinic in Bucks
County, PA. Now they are training practitioners all around the country in
the use of this exciting innovation of Chinese sound energetics.
The Legge Method is extremely easy to master and to implement into
practice. All that is needed to treat a patient is a laptop computer with
the music files installed in it, a headset, and the allergen or cause of
the disharmony, either in a vial or ambient in the atmosphere. The testing
protocol itself requires just a few minutes and determines which
therapeutic prescription to utilize in treatment. Then the patient listens
to the 6 minute long composition and afterwards is retested to determine
if the desired effect has taken hold. The actual music is pleasant and
harmonious, giving little indication of its incredible rebalancing power.
According to the theoretical construct underlying the Legge Method, a
particular composition will exert its primary rebalancing power on one of
the twelve Chinese organs, as well as on one or two of the elements,
depending upon the constitution of the patient. In total there are 360
musical compositions each of which emit their own unique healing
vibration.
There is no predicting how a patient will react to a particular treatment,
whether briefly feeling an aggravation of old symptoms while listening to
the music, remembering with great clarity a particular event that had been
long forgotten, gaining a psychological insight, or maybe just feeling
relaxed, even sleepy. A patient’s mental reaction to a healing composition
can change during the course of the rebalancing. The music can bring the
disharmony into prominence and then eliminate it. But while some patients
will have remarkable physical and emotional experiences when hearing the
music, those who do not still experience the same results. The music
works. If it is a case of a patient being allergic to the pollen of a tree
flowering in her neighborhood, she should cease reacting to it as soon as
she is rebalanced from it with the Legge Method. While each allergy
elimination case is different and has the potential for surprises,
memories recalled, for instance, I have found the following case to
particularly reveal the power of the Legge Method.
To get some idea of how a treatment might be understood in terms of
Chinese Medical diagnostics, Nicolette talks about the case of a 55 year
old male who was treated for an allergy to certain fruits with kernels:
peach, apricot, plum and nectarine. Eating even one of them made him feel
noticeably weaker for several days after. So after testing for the right
prescriptive music the patient listened to the music while holding an
apricot. Afterwards he remarked that it made him recall something long
forgotten, the time when he was 11 and had lain in the backyard for hours
under the July sun, going inside to refresh himself at intervals with a
peach or a plum. Unlike other occasions before when he could lie in the
hot sun with impunity, this time he had gotten sick to his stomach and
vomited. He attributed it to the fruit that he had eaten and from that day
forward had been unable to eat any fruit containing kernels. Following his
Legge Method treatment, the patient returned home and ate a ripe apricot
without ill effect. He has since been able to eat fruits with kernels and
enjoy them as he had before his experience at 11. According to Legge
Method charting, the music that the patient listened to was in the key of
A, which acted to rebalance this particular patient on his heart meridian.
With the addition of the fire tone to the music formula, the patient can
be seen to have received an especially strong fire treatment, fire on
fire.
I’ve even expanded the repertoire of the Legge Method by incorporating it
into how I prescribe herbs to my patients. Recently, I treated a woman
suffering with perimenopausal symptoms, most dramatically hot flashes. I
wanted to give her a formula that contained gan cao (licorice), but she
had an allergy to phytoestrogenic herbs. She said they made her lower body
swell. So I utilized the Legge Method to remove her sensitivity to
licorice and then she was able to effectively take the formula with no
side effects and all the benefits of the herbs.
In my own practice I have treated people for a variety of food allergies
including wheat, corn, peanuts and milk and a whole host of environmental
allergens including pollen, dander and mold. I’ve found that patients are
often allergic to much more than they realize and as they eliminate more
of their allergens, their immune system improves. The patients are always
amazed at the effectiveness of this elegant and easy treatment and I
marvel at its power and possibility. As an acupuncturist, I find it
exciting to think that the principles of Chinese Medicine that I employ
with needles and herbs have also been used to bring a precise and
effective healing power to music.
Further information on the Legge Method is available from
www.leggemethod.com