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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Alternative Healing: A Lifestyle Approach


Sometimes people become frustrated when alternatives such as homeopathics or essences don't "cure" their complaints. In many cases that is because they haven't developed a lifestyle approach to healing. Replacing the pharmaceuticals in your medicine cabinet with homeopathic remedies, essences, herbal cures and homemade products won't magically turn you into a balanced healthy person although it may make a good start! Holistic health isn't about replacing drugs with remedies. It has to be more than that in order to be truly effective. A lot of people find miraculous results when they first try alternative remedies. I know because I am one of those "people". But as you peel off the first few layers of conditions, discomforts or illness, the deeper layers are just that- deeper and often rooted in your lifestyle.

I'm not suggesting you necessarily have to start meditating, taking yoga classes, eating completely differently or change your job and living environment. Hoping on the bandwagon over the latest and greatest "health fix" is really just a sign of an underdeveloped sacral chakra and won't get you that far. On the other hand if you are totally stressed over your job, continue to put in long hours at work, avoid any exercise because you don't have time, and grab whatever fast food is closest to you when you are hungry, all the Olive in the world won't restore your energy level.

It's about looking within and discovering what you really need to balance your lifestyle and therefore your health. If you have a cold and flu, homeopathics and natural cures can go a long way to helping you feel better. But they usually have to be accompanied by rest,relaxation and foods that are restorative in nature. Good alternative healers don't just hand out remedies like prescriptions. They encourage you to examine how you got into the position you did so that you can get back out. Many people are excited about the remedies but choose to ignore the lifestyle suggestions. As a culture we're rather programed in this manner. We like to take the easy road and we consider that easy road to be "popping pills" and going on our way. "Popping remedies" instead of pills may work in the short term but not over time.

It's about finding balance and listening to your body. It's about doing what makes you feel good and eliminating what makes you feel bad. It really isn't complicated, you don't need to read books on it, and you don't need other people to tell you what's wrong, but that doesn't mean it's always easy!

Don't panic. Homeopathics, essences and other alternatives will still "do their magic". But if the magic is fading and complaints are resurfacing or "nothing is working" consider investigating your lifestyle. Proceed gently... be kind to yourself.

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