balneotherapy : The treatment of illness by baths (e.g., mud baths).

bach flower therapy (Bach flower essence method, Bach flower essence system) : Homeopathic system of diagnosis and treatment developed in the 1930:s by British physician Edward Bach (1886-1936). Bach held that disease was essentially beneficial and that its design was to subject the personality to the Divine will of the soul. He psychically discovered the specific healing effects of 38 wildflowers. The life force ("soul quality" or "energy wavelength") of each of these flowers is transferable to water and thence to humans.

bardo : A human soul between the stages of after-death and rebirth.

bioactive : Chemically affecting a living being.

biofeedback : Any method that involves electronic monitors wherewith one tries to influence one's autonomic processes, such as the beating of the heart. Forms of biofeedback include electromyographic biofeedback, which measures muscle tension, and thermal biofeedback, which measures skin temperature.

biorhythm : The system that deals with the three biological cycles of humans, the body's physical, emotional and intellectual energy based on date of birth. Used to determine the patterns of a person's critical days and periods of high and low energy.

bladder : Organ that stores urine after its formation by the kidneys. Average normal capacity of the adult bladder is about half a liter.

bodhisattava : A being who has supposedly earned the right to enter into Nirvana or into illumination, but instead voluntarily turns back from that state in order to aid humanity in attaining the same goal. The Christ is said to be a Bodhisattva.

bowen therapy : A specific sequence of rolling moves done across superficial muscles, tendons and nerves. Thought to encourage the parasympathetic nervous system to self-correct tension and other physical ailments.

buddha : Sanskrit meaning Enlightened One. There are many who have attained Buddhahood, or supreme enlightenment. The best known is Siddhartha Gautama Buddha (586-511 BC). He was born in northeastern India and received spiritual enlightment through meditation. During his lifetime, his spiritual insights and teachings became a major alternative to Hinduism throughout India.

buddhism : World religion based on the spiritual teachings of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. There are a number of versions or sects of Buddhism generally teaching paths to Nirvana (enlightenment or bliss) though the four noble truths (recognizing existence and source of suffering) and the eight fold path (correct understanding, behavior and meditation).

bulimia (binge-eating syndrome, bulimarexia, bulimia nervosa, BN) : That eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating; recurrent willful vomiting and/or other recurrent inappropriate compensatory measures to prevent weight gain (e.g., laxative abuse, diuretic abuse, or overexercising); and an excessive influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation.