Natural Way To Health -- by leena mehendale, IIC Quarterly Journal, 1993
Whenever I think of Health, the first person that comes to my mind is Siddhartha Gautam, intrigued by the phenomena of Vyadhi (illness), Jara (old age) and Mrityu (death), abandoning every luxury of his life, in quest of answers to them and finding Bodhi - the Absolute Salvation. Prior to him is a long chain of Seers like Kapil and Patanjali and Dhanvantari, Atri, Shukracharya, Chyavan, Ashwinikumars and Shiva who gave the world the Science of Medicines and Health management. Through Buddhist Literature, various methologies of Health management traveled to Tibet, China, and far east up to Japan. In India, during more recent times of 3rd to 6 th century, Charak and Sushrut, further propounded the knowledge of Health Science. Through the translation work of great Arab travelers and scholars this ancient knowledge spread to Europe and west. The western record of Health practices begins with Greek literature of Hippocrates (about a century after Buddha) but most of their inroads come from 14th century onwards. In this article I was asked to examine the origin and development of Naturopathy in the West. My initial paragraphs about the Indian concepts and development were edited by IIC as per their practice and privilege.
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The Natural Way to Health
Since the days of Hippocrates physicians had relied on natural processes such as proper diet, proper rest, and proper exercises for curing diseases. Written material was compiled on various successful experiments on diet regulations, abstinence from meat and alcohol, and the tremendous healing power of water. Before the major Allopathic discoveries of anesthesia, penicillin and vaccines were made, the death rate was alarmingly high. The formal schooling system had not settled into its present state of inflexibility. People were free to pursue a subject of their interest in greater depth. All this led both Naturopaths and patients to turn more and more to experiment with the treatment of hydrotherapy and diet regulation. This resulted in the important and piercing works of Wesley and Hann, Priessniz, Kneipp, Kuhne, Just, Lindhur, Kellogg and Life.Benedict Lust finally adopted and popularized the word Naturopathy, started regular Naturopathy magazines and colleges in America and persuaded various states of America to accept Naturopathy as a full-fledged system of curing. He also obtained legislation for legal protection and for an all encompassing definition of Naturopathy. We will return to the definition of Naturopathy at a later stage.
Modern Allopathy has enormous faith in the germ theory, i.e. the theory that diseases are caused by the attack of external germs. A similar faith is also exhibited in surgical cures leading to the removal of some organs or their internal readjustment. In contrast, the success of earlier Naturopaths likes Priessnitz and Schrotch led the Naturopaths to conceptualize diseases and their cures in a new light.
The fundamental principle of Naturopathy is that healthiness is the most natural condition of the body and the body always tries to retain its state of health. This is done through proper elimination of
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waste products. The elimination takes place through the bowels, kidneys, skin and lungs which eliminate waste products such as stool, urine, sweat and impure air, respectively. Through improper living habits and wrong diets, the process of elimination gets hampered and waste products get accumulated within the body. Thus, the first factor leads to favorable conditions for disease is improper living habits and the consequent accumulation of undisposed waste material, often termed as morbid matter.
The first and most fundamental principle of Naturopathy is the principle of unity of diseases enunciated by Kuhne. All diseases arise out of the same cause, namely the accumulation of morbid matter inside the body through wrong diet and improper living habits such as uncleanliness of the body, habits leading to enervation and exhaustion such as worry and over work, exercises and abuses of various kinds, etc. Conversely, right living habits and proper diet will maintain the body in a perfectly healthy condition.Since the cause of all the disease is the same, their cure is also achieved through the same treatment. Every action of a person which leads to the restoration of proper eliminative functions will cure the disease.
The second important principle of Naturopathy is that the body will try to throw out the accumulated waste through “extra-normal” processes of elimination which are manifested in acute conditions of diarrhea, fever, skin-eruption, could and cough. This manifestations, which are termed as disease in Allopathy, are looked upon by Naturopaths as curative process adopted by the body in order to regain the state of normal health and are called “healing crises”.
If, for some reason, the body is not able to eliminate the morbid through such “healing crises”, the result is retention and further pilling up of waste material within the body. Continued retention further result in chronic diseases such as blood pressure, heart trouble, diabetics, etc.
The cause of acute disease and infections is not germs or bacteria alone. It is a law of nature that whenever there is dirt and filth, flies will gather. The flies are nature’s scavengers. Similarly, bacteria are also scavengers rather than being the cause of acute diseases, it is the accumulation of morbid material in the first place within the body which provides a breeding ground for them. Just as killing flies will not help us get rid of the heap of garbage but will only add to it, killing bacteria will also not rid us of accumulated morbid matter. It will
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simply favour its prolonged retention leading subsequently to chronic diseases.
Thus, symptomatic medicines which suppress the manifestation of a disease are actually harmful according to the principle of Naturopathy. Similarly, Homeopathy too rests on the cardinal principle that symptomatic manifestations of diseases should not be suppressed.
The third principle of Naturopathy is that the body will respond towards any condition of ill-health or treatment as one whole entity and not through individual organs. Hence, treating an individual organ is not the proper way of treatment. According to Naturopathy, in case of raised blood sugar level, any medicines given just to break down the sugar and reduce the blood sugar level will not produce any long-term effective result. The proper treatment will be, as in the case of any other disease, to try and restore the hampered processes of elimination of waste products from the body.The symptoms of acute disease, viewed as “Healing crisis”, ought not to be suppressed. However, there is no denying that these healing crises are, nevertheless, painful to the body and induce exhaustion as well as state of shock. A high fewer left untreated can lead to delirium and death. Symptoms of diseases should not be suppressed because the suppression does not eliminate the morbid matter from the body. However, treatment can be given to revitalize the normal processes of elimination which will thereby obviate the need for the body to resort to extra-normal processes of elimination. This has to be further complimented by continuing correct living habits after recovery so that the morbid matter does not start accumulating once again.
The method usually followed by various Naturopaths throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries largely depended on their own observations and experiments. Hence we find different Naturopaths adopting one or other aspect of treatment in his own manner. The methods most utilized with great success were general treatments like hydrotherapy, scientific dieting, water packs and mud packs, scientific exercises and also methods like electrotherapy, magnetotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractics, acupuncture and psychotherapy.
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In all these treatments every practitioner of Naturopathy and every writer has recorded the immense benefit derived by their patients through close contact with the four powers in nature, namely earth, water, sun and air. To this list we can also add the fifth mahabuts of Indian philosophy, namely the sky or clouds which is the seat of space- arukash. The inclusion of space is of great importance when we come to deal with the question of wholeness of treatment by including the response of the mind as a part of the response of the whole body to disease or its treatment.
Fasting: Just as diseased animals and birds immediately stop feeding, so also in human beings fasting is very important aid in the treatment of diseases. When food is taken, a healthy body will assimilate the nutritional elements which are essential for its proper functioning. If the unassimilated material does not get properly eliminated, it collects in the tissues first in the abdominal area and later all over the body. When there is continuous feeding or over feeding or wrong feeding, the body is engaged in the process of assimilation and the process of elimination becomes slow or even hampered. By fasting we give rest to assimilating organs and allow the body to attend to the job of elimination more vigorously and more effectively. Thus, fasting helps to remove the cause of many diseases and restores physiological balance. During fasting the body uses its surplus nutriments which is stored in the tissues. The nutriment along with the morbid matter, which has, over a period accumulated in the tissues, are brought to the surface and into circulation, thus, giving the body a chance to eject them. This ejection can be supplemented by revitalizing the functions of the bowels, Kidney, Skin or Lungs by suitable aids such as enema, steam baths, etc. The choice of this aid will depend on the condition of the patient.
During fasting the tongue gets coated and subsequently it begins to clear again when the body has been properly cleansed from inside. Fasting can then be stopped, but it should be ended with a proper diet and over-eating must be avoided. Readers will recollect that in India where fasting is undertaken by most people as a religious rite, elaborate instructions are laid down on how to break a particular fast.
Proper Diet: Naturopaths lay great importance on proper diet. A diet more acidic in nature or proceed to easy fermentation is not proper for the body because in such a diet the proportion of non- assimilable
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food is more thus making a heavy demand on the alimentary process. Similarly, refining and demoralizing cereals, roasting or even cooking the food, etc take away their valuable sales and other nutritional elements. Even Non-Vegetarian diet is not proper for the body because it results in the formation of acid, leading to high toxicity throughout the long lifetime. Excessive drinking of tea, coffee or alcohol is an absolute taboo for the same reasons.
On the other hand fruits and raw vegetables or sprouted grains build alkalinity in the body which is needed for counteracting the acidity generated during the assimilation of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
Natural mineral salts which are found in natural unspoils food are also important for preserving alkalinity within the body. To that extent some proponents of Naturopathy like Lindhlar or Benjamin have favourably commented on the helping role played by mineral salts generally administered in Homeopathic or bio-chemic treatment. They advocated taking these mineral salts in the form of natural food, especially through raw vegetables, rather than through medicines, in however minute quantities, as advised in Bio-chemic or Homeopathic treatment.While talking of proper diet, even the process of food preparation is very important Kuhne, for example is against any soup or other liquid `diet in which the original raw material is a solid in its natural condition and would have, therefore, required a lot of chewing if it were taken in its natural form. All food that undergoes a change by cooking, smoking, spicing, salting, pickling or preserved through other preservants is far inference to the food in its natural condition.
Another important aspect of dietary management is that the utility value of food depends not so much on its nutritive content, but largely upon the digestive efficiency and the capability of our own body system to assimilate it.
Hydrotherapy: Various methods of Hydrotherapy are the most extensively used treatment in Naturopathy. Different tub-baths have been used. Cold tub-baths, which can compare with the Indian system of river bathing, are extremely invigorating. Kuhne, whose friction bath method is very popular in India, has used his friction baths in cold water with almost all patients with good results. This method entails rubbing of the abdomen vigorously sideways and
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up and down while constantly splashing cold water in it. Pressnitz and Kneipp have used properly covered wet packs of cold water with very good results. Even Gandhiji has described his successful experiments with wet packs in which the patient is made to lie down on a wet khadi sheet and is completely covered with blankets leaving only his head uncovered. Within five minutes to half-an-hour the patient perspires profusely and is gradually cured. Similarly, steam baths can be used for bringing out perspiration, although not in heart patients for whom it is contra-indicated.
Mud Therapy: Yet another famous Naturopath, just, puts more emphasis on mud therapy. Sleeping on grassy land or dry ground, rubbing the abdomen and the back on wet muddy ground as deer do, using a mud pack on the stomach to cure constipation or on wounds for healing them were some of his favorite methods. Gandhiji effectively used mud packs for constipation, headache, migraine and insect bites (especially scorpion bite). The mud pack applied on the abdomen or other parts of the body activates the pores in the skin and soaks the morbid matter through capillary active. Even for normal persons application of mud packs to the body for some time is very refreshing.
Exercises: Exercises can be divided into three categories, namely vigorous, slow paced and young stress. The potential of the third is realized by very few people and at least till her first half of this century no western Naturopath had talked about young stress. However, they have all favored the slow-paced exercises compared to vigorous exercises. Recently, this view has also become more popular among the Allopaths, Long walks and slow swimming are the exercises recommended by Naturopaths. A proper exercises activates all the four organs of elimination and hence proves to be very beneficial.
Youngsters, according to the Indian philosophy, are not mere exercises, but a method of establishing a complete union of the body, mind and the soul. Their exercise value too is tremendous. To begin with the practitioner is advised to adopt a proper cases or posture and continue to remain in that posture for as long as he can comfortably do so. Hasty or jerky movements are not recommended.
Chitta, which has its soul in the mind, is considered to be the driving force behind all the internal activities of the body. Yogasanas are such postures in which the functions of different organs are carried from chitta, which can then better attend to its eternal quest
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of unseen with the soul. Thus, during youngsters the organs functions with a heightened efficiency. As a result, the elimination of morbid matter is also carried out more efficiency.
Suryanamaskara, performed at a slower pace, in which the adoption of each posture is accompanied with the prescribed breathing technique and is followed by the recital of the prescribed mantra can be considered a perfectly complete body exercise.
It is possible at this stage to consider the definition of Naturopathy and to comment on the Indian view of the same. The definition adopted by legislation in American states defines Naturopathy essentially as a drugless therapy that includes:
1.Diet control.
2.Water, mud and sunbathing.
3.Physiotherapy and massage treatment.
4.Orthotherapy, Chiroperactive, acupuncture and acupressure.
5.Magnetotherapy and electrotherapy.
6.Psychological treatment, hypothec and spiritual healing.
The first two categories deal with body physiology and have their basis in the physiological laws. The therapy consists in putting all diseases at par and administering the same remedy, namely removing the morbid matter and stepping the intake of such foods which will generate more morbid matter.
The third type of treatment is based on the concept that when ever a particular bone or muscle or nerve center is slightly displaced, it results in the hampering of the normal flow of fluids within the body. If they are gradually brought back to their original position through manual external massage of highly specialized nature, the normal flow of fluids are put to the force of external pulls for the same result. The acupressure and acupuncture method is based on the concept that there are certain points located on the surface of the body which are the centres of different nerve endings. A small pressure or minor pricking action at these nerve centres reactivates the particular organ within the body which has its main connection with that nerve ending. Such a reactivation will cure the diseased organ.
Thus, all these methods work on the principle that the disease
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must be cured through the response of the body as one single unit. The last category works on the principle that the normal functioning or the disorders of the human body are not separable from the disorder or tension within the mind, and hence the treatment has to be both physical and mental. Under some special conditions, the mental treatment alone yields such powerful results that no separate physical treatment is necessary.
The word Naturopathy was adopted for the first time by Lust, at the beginning of this century and most of the essential literature, including observations and case histories, has come from western countries. It is sometimes questioned whether in India Naturopathy was practiced to the exclusion of drug therapy and, if so in what form. We can now examine in more detail some of the fundamental principles of health and health management practiced in India. It must be emphasized here that most of the concepts of health management has been so intricately absorbed by the exponents of philosophy that some times it isdifficult to distinguish a doctrine of health management from a doctrine of philosophy. In fact, the differentiation of the two disciplines of health management and philosophy has come about only in modern times. The ancient Indian scholars have also considered the question of health and the question of philosophy as inseparable.
First the concept of death, which according to Indian philosophy, is an avoidable phenomenon. The atman (soul) is constantly seeking union with parmatma or the maker of the universe. In its quest it adopts one body, uses it, discards it and then adopts another and so on, just as man puts on cloths and when they are torn, he sheds them and acquires new cloths as of necessity. It is possible to get an exemption from this compulsory obligation of birth and death again and again by devoting oneself to more rigorous large or strenuous efforts for gaining knowledge. Complete fasting and complete suppernation of most of the body activities is observed during days. Tapa is not possible without a perfectly healthy body and vice-versa.
Second is the concept of knowledge. The ultimate knowledge is that which can bring us eternal peace, happiness and excitement. This knowledge is the quest of the aims. It can be achieved when one is in perfect accord with the cosmos. This state is called sensitive. The soul can achieve this only when the body and mind have also
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achieved sanative. The sanation of the body is manifested by two indicators, first a very healthy, supple and light body and second the expertise or skill of actions performed by the body. The sanation of the mind is manifested by eagerness for knowledge, truthfulness, and non-malice towards all. Senator of the soul is manifested confrontment, peace, happiness and serenity. According to Indian philosophy, the attainment of the state stimulate by the soul, mind and body can take place only simultaneously. Hence, the state of perfect health cannot be far away from the state of perfect functioning of the body or the state of complete serenity. This concept is propounded in much more detail by the jain and Buddhist philosophers and is indeed the underlying concept of the newly found Vipasyana technique of curing diseases practiced largely in Tibet, Burma and other Buddhist countries.
Food plays the most important role in the building, nourishment and maintenance of the body. It does not merely decide the type of growth of our body but also the type of development of our mind and our behaviour. A simple unstimulating diet will keep the body light because it will not over-burden the digestive or eliminative systems. At the same time, it will also create a more contended state of mind. Then taking a diet of vegetables, roots and barriers is prescribed for controlling anger of malice. High degree of cleanliness is prescribed in preparing food. Even the happiness of the cook and his/her allocation for the eater are considered essential for preparing good nutritive food.According to Indian philosophy, nutrition is provided to the body by five naturals powers, namely earth, water, air, sun and space. These are believed to have great value in maintaining a state of health and in removing diseases, for which we must expose ourself more and more to the proximity of these.
The proximity with air can be established most effectively through the techniques of programme. It is believed that there are five types of airflows within the body. By properly balancing them through different techniques of programmes, we can achieve greater efficiency in the functioning of different organs and thus keep ill health at bay. When the programs technique is fully mastered, complete nutrition for the body can be obtained through breathing alone and food intake becomes unnecessary.
The proximity with space is a mental concept. In Indian philosophy, space is the creator of sound and is the symbol of
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magnanimity, complete renunciation and freedom from barriers. When frequently mediated upon, it leads to mental peace.
The word ‘Om’ is considered to be the first sound generated in space. A proper and repetitive pronunciation of Om revitalizes several nerve centres within the body. For this reason, it is prescribed that a proper practice of youngstress should be combined with the programs, meditation and recital of Om.
Equally important for the achievement of health is the Trust in the doctor and one’s own will power.Charka, one of the great exponents of Indian medicine, has said that the final remedy is the name of Vishnu- the creator himself. However, such a simple-sounding treatment is not, in reality, so simple. The decision to surrender oneself to God means, by implication, a decision to practice complete truthfulness, benevolence and renunciation of greed- in short, a decision to remove all causes which increase the tension in the mind.
The above concepts hold good for all persons, healthy or otherwise, For the diseased person the cure consist of cleansing the system with or without the herbs.
There are several cleansing methods for the elimination of morbid matter. First is a group of five slowdown processes or methods to remove the morbid matter called punchkarma. They are dusti (enema- both with water or cloth), intimae (induced vomiting) nostigue (clearing the nostrils and upper portions by passing water through them), and surgical methods.
Another group of seven methods called shaman are used for creating proper conditions for the elimination of morbid matter. They consist of including vigorous digestion (pachan), improving the secretion of digestive juices, fasting, not drinking water, exercise, sun bathing and air-bathing.
Then there are the external methods. First is random- message with or without the application of cell, either pure or containing medicinal herbs. Second is random which means heat treatment given by hot water or poultice or steam bath or hot tub bath. Gargling, applying mud packs or packs with various herbs are also prescribed.
The effectiveness of these processes can be increased by suitable use of various herbs. An elaborate description of these will, however, be beyond the scope of this paper. The use of herbs is not
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prohibited because according to Ayurveda all herbs serve as food if taken in bigger quantities and medicine when taken in minute quantities.
Lastly, comes the role of the patient himself in treatment. In Naturopathic treatments the patient is actively involved. A patient who understands the functioning of his body, the cause of the disease, and the prescribed course of treatment is able to monitor his progress better. This principle is now so well acknowledged that any good doctor is seen to be spending more time discussing the ailment with his patients. It is, however not true of all doctors. Now that we are seriously considering the possibilities of holistic treatment, it is perhaps also time to pay greater attention to the patient’s participation.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
