Do you frequently get a cold? A stiff back? A splitting headache? Indigestion?
Before making your way to the medicine cabinet and popping a few of your favorite medicines or painkillers, stop for a moment… and think. Try to recollect how often you reach out for those pills, and whether you are addicted to them. Do they provide you only temporary relief or are they long-term solutions to your health problems?
Take your time when you think and consider this: Often, allopathic medicines offer temporary relief and don’t take away the root cause of the problem.
Naturopathy, on the other hand, believes that the power to restore health lies not in drugs but in nature. The safe, scientific and lasting approach of naturopathic treatment makes it an important system of today’s health care and something of a 21st century buzzword.
According to the late Sir William Osler, an eminent physician and surgeon, “Drugs cause the patient to recover twice – once from the illness and once from the drug.”
The modern medical system treats the symptoms and suppresses the disease, but often does little to ascertain the real root of the problem. For example, when the body shows a symptom of ill health, such as a headache, the medical system prescribes taking of an aspirin to provide relief. This is a quick fix and not a long-term remedy.
Naturopathy believes that the headache is the result of some imbalance in the body’s health. It seeks to find the cause of the symptom and then treats it with natural changes based on individual requirements.
The practice of naturopathy can be traced back to over a thousand years to the time of Hippocrates, the father of medicine (460 – 357 B.C.).
He considered disease to be an effect of imbalances in natural elements such as air, water, sunshine and nourishment. He was of the opinion that ‘nature cures, not the physician.’
As the name suggests, naturopathy is the treatment or prevention of disease without drugs, using natural therapies like changes in diet and lifestyle to treat health problems. It is based on the belief that the body is self-healing and has the ability to repair itself and recover from illness, if in a healthy environment.
The stresses of modern life take a toll on our health and physical problems are invariably a result of these stress-related emotional imbalances. The basic foundation of naturopathy is that the mind, body and soul are interconnected and cannot be treated in isolation. Before concluding what the course of treatment should be, all aspects of the individual - emotional, physical and mental health – are taken into consideration.
Known by different names – naturopathy, nature cure, the natural methods, science of healing, healing within - its philosophy is based on one simple principle. Leading a wholesome, balanced life. Naturopathy believes that man is born healthy and strong, and that he can remain that way if he lives in accordance with natures’ laws. Fresh air, sunshine, healthy food habits, adequate exercise, rest, relaxation, positive thinking and positive actions, all play their part in keeping the mind, body and soul healthy and well.