The Chemistry of Connection

Patrick Holford has become well-known for his pioneering work on health and nutrition over the last 30 years. He invites readers to take the journey from disconnection to connection and draws freely on a wide range of experiences and initiations on his own path. He distinguishes five main forms of connection: sexual, sensual and erotic; body and earth; social and self; intellectual and spiritual, all leading to the ultimate experience of living in a state of connections. In his introduction, he shows how, despite our technology, we are in fact very disconnected and many of us are living in a state of high alert and stress. He is very critical of the materialistic assumptions of atheistic scientism (AS), bringing forward evidence that such an approach is quite inadequate, not only philosophically, but also ethically. The same applies to medicine, dominated as it is by pharmaceutical interests. He rightly argues that we need a system upgrade, a 'radical reframing based on true science and experience, not belief.'

The four parts discuss conscious connection, the form of connection, heart connection and the ultimate connection. His chapter on entheogens is highly instructive, and he shows from a theoretical standpoint and from his own experience how these sacred plants remove our normal perceptual filters and argues for a radical revision of social attitudes to these substances, also, incidentally, backed by Sir Richard Branson in a recent article in the RSA journal. He reports on some research based on the hundred people who scored highest in his 100% health questionnaire that 47% had had a peak experience or profound experience of unity, while 57% believed in God or a higher power or consciousness, no doubt partly because of their own experience. As a culture, we have cut ourselves off from this higher power, the ultimate disconnection (deep love is the ultimate form of connection, which Patrick experienced on a Zen retreat).

The positive state of our mind-body connection is another critical variable in the new systems-based medicine. He gives guidance about how to increase vital energy through special forms of breathing, and also for 'earthing' using a copper plate connected to the Earth, partly as a way of protecting us from harmful electromagnetic fields. Sacred geometry also plays an important role, and here Patrick draws on the work of his friend Malcolm Stewart - he could also have referred to Keith Critchlow. He gives an overview of for opening the heart and increasing coherence, also highlighting Rupert Sheldrake's work on morphic fields and telepathic connections. His discussion of the interplay between the masculine and feminine principles leads to a chapter on the alchemy of sex and spirit as a way of channelling and refining life energy or the energy of desire. Interestingly, the word tantra derives from a root meaning stretch or expand. There is a very useful summary at the end, showing how an understanding of various forms of connection can also lead to corresponding actions to bring about a more connected world.