Essay on Benefits of Naturopathy : The naturopathic healing process is primarily guided by the philosophy that emphasizes upon the healing power of nature and vehemently believes that all healing powers are within our own body. This verily implies to the fact that there is an inherent healing energy extant within every human organism that comprises both the physical as well as the psyche, which further is responsible for the ability to heal and maintaining the health. In the most essential respects, the naturopathic system is an alternative medical system that predominantly focuses on the natural remedies entrenched on the pedestal of the concept of vitalism, meaning the body's vital ability to heal and maintain itself. The naturopathic philosophy is in favor of a holistic approach of healing and a minimal use of surgery and drugs. The naturopathic diagnosis is generally concerned with identifying the underlying causes of a given disease.
Essay on Benefits of Naturopathy
The naturopathic healing process is primarily guided by the
philosophy that emphasizes upon the healing power of nature and vehemently
believes that all healing powers are within our own body. This verily implies
to the fact that there is an inherent healing energy extant within every human
organism that comprises both the physical as well as the psyche, which further
is responsible for the ability to heal and maintaining the health.
In the most essential respects, the naturopathic system is
an alternative medical system that predominantly focuses on the natural
remedies entrenched on the pedestal of the concept of vitalism, meaning the
body's vital ability to heal and maintain itself. The naturopathic philosophy
is in favor of a holistic approach of healing and a minimal use of surgery and
drugs. The naturopathic diagnosis is generally concerned with identifying the
underlying causes of a given disease. The naturopathic doctors blend centuries-old
knowledge and a philosophy that nature is the most effective healer with
current research on health and human systems. The therapeutic modalities used
in naturopathic medicine - that includes physical manipulation, clinical
nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy and hydrotherapy - integrate
conventional, scientific and empirical methodology with the ancient laws of
nature. The naturopathic medical practice pursues six principles as its most
basic underpinnings which include -
- Do not harm
- Know the healing power of nature
- Discover and treat the cause, not just the effect
- Treat the whole body
- The physician is a teacher
- Prevention is the best cure
By naturopathic rules, we fall ill only when we go against
nature and then the cause of diseases (toxins) is expelled from the body to
recuperate. The first condition of nature's way to recovery is fasting. Fasting
along with a thorough rest is by far the most favorable condition in which an
ailing body can purify and recoup itself. The second premise is based on the
condition that the therapies used to support and stimulate this healing power
of nature must be in the gentlest, least invasive and most efficient
manner." The third naturopathic condition is "to diagnose and treat the
cause."
Naturopaths throughout the world do not simply treat the
manifestation of the disease but rather delve out the cause and treat it. To
accomplish the desired results, naturopathic medicine incorporates many
therapeutic modalities like herbal medicine, homeopathy, nutrition,
hydrotherapy, med exercise therapy, manipulation of the bony and soft tissues,
lifestyle and counseling, etc. Naturopathic medicine treats the patient from
the preventive stages through to the serious, chronic and debilitating
diseases. People can therefore choose to go to a naturopath both for cold,
cough, allergies as well as for diabetes, heart diseases and malignant
diseases. Naturopathy is gaining rapid momentum across the globe today for its
safe and effective healing.
In India, home remedies come even prior to the doctor's
counsel. Indians commonly believe that all ailments are caused by what one eats
and what one does not. Thus, a traditional doctor would initially make a
cosmetic variation in the dietary routine before he switches on to a proper
medicine, which is obviously the last refuge. Naturopathy, to the Indians, is
the principle of natural cure founded on the theory of Panchamahabhuta, which
basically implies to the theory that the body is made of five universal elements
- space (akash), air (vayu), fire (agni), water (jal) and earth (prithvi) and
that diseases are caused by an imbalance in the state of these elements.
Natural therapies remove the imbalances (vikruti) of the elements by removing
the causative factors and bring the elements back to their natural state
prakruti). It is therefore not merely a treatment system but a way of living in
line with laws of nature so that one can enjoy a disease free and healthy life.
Naturopathy has its roots in Germany. But it was developed
further in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The
term "naturopathy" has been derived from Greek and Latin and
literally translates as "nature disease" But the term actually was
coined by John Scheel in 1895 and later disseminated by Benedict Lust, famed as
the "father of U.S. naturopathy." During the period spanning from the
1970s, there was apparent a fresh revival of penchant in the United States and
Canada in concurrence with the holistic health movement.
The most popular treatment modality, among the many, of
naturopathy is homeopathy. Homeopathy, in sync, is convinced by the principle
that "like can only be treated by like", which elaborately signifies
that a substance which causes grim symptoms when taken in large doses, can be
used in small amounts to treat those same symptoms. This principle of treating
"like with like" dates back to the Hippocrates (460 - 377 BC). But
the current form, which has been in vogue worldwide for nearly more than two
hundred years now, has been discovered by Samuel Hahneman, a German doctor in
1796. The doctor, who in consternation with the grating medical practices of
his day looked for a way for truncating the perilous side-effects associated
with medical treatment, documented his work and later these texts formed the
foundations of homeopathy. This format of naturopathy involves treating the
individual with highly diluted substances, given in tablet and liquid forms,
with the aim of triggering the body's natural system of healing.
In India, the most popular naturopathic system centers
around the most revered antique Ayurveda: The foundation of Ayurveda, the
Indian mode of institutionalized traditional medicine, lies in the two oldest
classical Sanskrit texts known as the Charaka Samhita and the Susrutha Samhita.
Indeed, Charaka and Samhita are today regarded as the founder fathers of
Ayurveda. It will render us dumbfounded when we come to know that these
prehistoric Ayurvedic practitioners developed assorted medicinal preparations,
surgical procedures for treatment of ailments as well as surgical instruments
to aid their surgeries during those unimaginable times. It is hard to believe
today that not much of a specialized instrument has been discovered until this
date since then that helps in processing surgical operations; only metals have
changed, the rest remains the same. This more than proves the height of mettle
of those prehistoric Indian geniuses. Ayurveda specifically aims at protecting
health and prolonging life (Swasthyas swasthya rakshanam) and at eliminating
diseases and dysfunctions of the body (Aturasya vicar prashamanamcha). Ayurveda
recognizes the unhealthy by projecting the presence of three doshas (Vata,
Pitta and Kapha) in the body. According to the Susrutha Samhita, "a
healthy person is he whose doshas are in balance, appetite is good, all tissues
of the body and all natural urges are functioning properly, and whose mind,
body and spirit are cheerful." Nothing more than the properties shown by naturopathic
ailment procedures have ever evolved in the intricate medical sciences. To add,
it must be remembered that the roots of the healthy or the unhealthy lie but
under one tree.
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