What Is Natural Healing?
There are a lot of options in medicine today. There are wonder drugs, treatments, and hopes for cures. However, many people are choosing to practice the art of natural healing. Is this a new wave treatment option?
No. Quite simply it is your body’s natural germ fighting capabilities. People have been practicing many of these techniques for years. The Native Americans had the knowledge of using different members of Mother Earth to heal and protect their people. The Ancient Chinese unlocked the powers of teas and other herbs combined with certain breathing techniques to keep them well for years.
A good definition of natural health is "an eclectic form of alternative medicine which claims to build and restore health and wellness through diet, exercise, and the use of a variety of alternative medicine treatments." There are many forms of natural healing that one can choose from. Some may find a form that will help them with a particular ailment but others try to find a balance form that will allow them to improve their overall health.
Alternative medicine is a term often used together with natural healing. It covers all topics of healing that do not conform to conventional medicine—meaning finding another form of healing instead of just popping a pill created and manufactured by a drug company. There are a variety of forms that a person can utilize. Some of the more common would include:
• Homeopathy – Using compounds of what is making a person ill and then diluting it with water. Almost building an immunity by being exposed in small doses
• Naturopathy – This emphasizes the body’s ability to heal and maintain itself using a variety of treatments. A few examples would be: diet, exercise, colonic draining, therapy, and many more
• Acupuncture – A technique using fine needles that are inserted and manipulated into specific points of the body. These are supposed to relieve pain and provide therapy. These points of the body have a certain energy flow throughout the body
• Chiropracty – This focuses on the musculoskeletal system and the effects it has on the nervous system and the rest of the body. It uses spinal adjustment and soft-tissue manipulation to treat such needs
• Midwifery – This practitioner specializes in women’s reproductive health. More specifically during the birthing process. This person (be it man or woman) would advise in prenatal care, during the birth, and postpartum.
• Herbal medicine – Plants and plant extracts are used in this practice of natural healing. Some are from traditional practices and others basing their remedies on folklore
Natural healing and alternative medicine go hand in hand. Some of these practices use spiritual, metaphysical, or religious backgrounds. Some are from pre-modern medical traditions or approaches to healing that have been newly invented to fit our lifestyles and present beliefs.
Is This A New Idea?
You have heard about natural healing and a natural lifestyle, but how new is it? Many of these practices do date back to many centuries ago and some your own grandmother may have used. A couple of examples are: rubbing mud on a bee sting or a mustard pack for your chest cold. These are a couple of natural healing methods that did not come from a hip new herbal store. These ideas were passed down through the generations and many were never written down. If someone was to do their historical research then they would find that most modern medicine had a basis of nature. Taking what was around them and using it to provide improved health.
Getting In Touch With You
Natural healing starts with an important fact and that is you. A person has to know how they work and when something is not right. You have to take inventory of all of you, physical and mental. Combine that knowledge with Mother Nature. Many of these natural healing practices are products that are hardly manipulated by the human hand. Herbs that are simply combined with other herbs, breathing techniques and stretching, nature and man brought together for improved health. Once you are in touch with you and know how you tick then it will be easier to find a method that works. Sometimes you combine different methods to achieve the result you want. It all works together.
In many ways, natural healing is not new. However, it is easier for someone to become educated in the history, types, and details of practices available. With this knowledge, a person can find the right combination of natural healing and living that works for them.
