Divine spinal guidance. Published on January 31, 2009 [ pdf ] 

A European healer arrives to give a mind-stretching demonstration of how to mend broken backs
By Aree Chaisatien

Special to The Nation

 The saying "our physical body is an expression of our soul" is perfectly in line with spiritual healer Alexander Toskar's lecture on "Divine Straightening", given recently in Bangkok. 

  "Every moment we are a summary of our thoughts, emotions, and experience. People are sick because of thoughts, beliefs and behaviour patterns imposed on them," Toskar told the hundred or so participants who squeezed their spines into Direct Media Group's Bhuddagaya meeting room. 

 Thoughts, he added, can sit heavily on our shoulders, while emotions and experiences can dwell invisible in our hearts for years.

Toskar and his wife Carolin's fourth visit to Thailand was for the launch of "Palangjit Raksa Roke", a Thai version of his book titled "Divine Straightening".

 Discovered and developed 20 years ago by his father, the Russian healer Pjotr Elkunoviz, the spine-healing method has reportedly helped thousands of people worldwide. Toskar and his wife are continuing the work of his father, practising in their healing centres in Munich and Zurich and extending the therapy to others through their regular travels across Europe, Asia and the United States.

 "Everything depends on the spine," explained Toskar, showing a chart of "control centres" along the backbone and their corresponding organs and mental functions, including memory, emotions, and the sense of confidence, to name a few.

 "When the spine is crooked, it means the chakras are imbalanced and life energy cannot flow freely. That causes blockages in the control centres, resulting in both physical and psychological discomfort. Millions of people suffer from this kind of experience."

 The claims made for Toskar's healing technique are impressive: it can supposedly align the spirit, cleanse the soul and straighten the spine and is said to work in a matter of seconds.

 A volunteer stepped forward to test them, complaining of pains in the neck and lower back. Toskar took measurements of his back with a ruler and told us that the man's right shoulder was slightly higher than his left while his head tilted a little to the left. When sitting, the volunteer's left leg was found to be one centimetre longer than his right, but when lying down, his right leg was slightly longer. The attentive audience wondered how Toskar was going to tackle this conundrum. We didn't have to wait long to find out.

 After asking him to close his eyes, Toskar leant forward and touched the volunteer's legs. A few moments later more measurements were done, and this time the man's legs were found to be equal in length. More significant still, the man said he felt lighter and relieved of neck pain. 

 Toskar's explanation was pretty esoteric -- he claimed he had cleared prenatal energy blockages in the man's flow of life energy - but whatever he did, the results were impressive. 

 Among other claims to success for Toskar is a young Thai policeman who was paralysed from the neck down after being shot. Four months after introducing him to Divine Straightening, Toskar returned to check on his progress and claims that he can now lift an arm and both of his legs a few centimetres. (Of course, it's impossible to tell how much  Toskar's intervention had to do with the progress.) 

Interestingly, Toskar does not make the claim that Divine Straightening actually cures anything. He says the treatment is not a matter of curing but of bringing about transformations: "changes are always possible".

 Public Health Ministry senior health supervisor Dr Jakkriss Bhumisawasdi has followed Toskar's treatment for three years and witnessed hundreds of "transformations" in patients. "The results may seem supernatural but we probably just don't understand it thoroughly yet," said Jakkriss, who is also the president of the Thai Foundation for Alternative Medicine Development.