SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

It often helps to go back to the womb of life and tap its elemental forces for healing. That`s where naturopathy comes in. It presumes man to be a part of nature and believes that nature is constantly trying to heal itself. The best thing going for these nature cures is the absence of side effects—perhaps the most important reason for their growing popularity in the modern world. Practitioners use anything from sunrays to water to heal your body and help you achieve a lifetime of health. The different schools of naturopathy predominantly rely on one or the other of the myriad natural products of this planet to affect a holistic cure.

Among the many forms of alternative medicine that are capturing popular imagination is aromatherapy. This therapy, which uses the fragrance of natural products to cure various ailments, was known to ancient practitioners as well. Quite similar to aromatherapy is Bach flower therapy, which uses essential oils extracted from various flowers to heal the subtlest of emotional and psychological states of being.

Naturopathy also includes colema, or colon irrigation therapy to wash away toxic waste encrusted in the large intestine that otherwise could lead to problems such as flatulence and irregular bowel movements, or in extreme cases, cancer of the colon. Beginning with simply drinking the right quantity of water, to the use of water packs—water therapy, or hydrotherapy assumes many forms.

Sages of ancient India discovered how the unique vibration of each color could help heal ailments, and this knowledge was later codified in the Atharva Veda, ancient Indian scripture, as Surya Kiran Chikitsa—healing with the sun`s rays. In the Egypt of yore, temples had special healing rooms where the sun dispersed the seven colors of the rainbow. Today, this ancient healing technique is making a popular comeback under the quasi-scientific label of chromotherapy.

Noticing that a change in the diet of patients often cured other conditions as well, Max Gerson (1881-1959), a German physician concluded that natural foods (emphasizing fresh fruit and raw food) normalized body chemistry and allowed it to mobilize its healing powers. This Gerson therapy envisages a close relationship between potassium and sodium—the two elements present in a natural balance in the body and practices—healing by working on this balance.