Nature Heals
August 2007
By Jamuna Rangachari
Attune yourself to lessons from nature. that’s the key to health and well-being, says Dr Salila Tiwari, an ardent naturopath
My experience with Dr Tiwari can only be called revolutionary,” says Mr Ravindra Padukone, Sr Deputy Director Gen, Dept of Telecommuni-cation. When he suffered from acute knee pain a few years back, all doctors advised surgery, but he was not convinced that it was the only option. At this stage, he came across Dr Salila Tiwari who helped him bounce back to fitness. When she administered Sujok, 95 per cent of the pain was gone. To tackle the root cause, he went through a detoxification process, and is now strictly on the diet she has prescribed. He now feels 10 times stronger than before; though a heart patient, he has stopped all medication, and since three years, has not visited any doctor, including Dr Tiwari. “It is only when there is a crisis that we pay attention to our bodies,” he says, now convinced that naturopathy is the optimum method for overall well-being.
Madie Ferere, from Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa, was suffering from discoid lupus, an immune system breakdown that had manifested as a skin disorder, among other things. After approaching several specialists with no real success, she was finally cured through naturopathy, undergoing a programme with Dr Tiwari that consisted of various techniques such as yoga (asanas and pranayamas), acupressure, biofeedback (positive thinking), diet change, cleansing of the bowels, as well as the respiratory tract and digestive system, fasting, mud therapy, hydrotherapy, chromotherapy and a detoxification programme that lasted 19 days. When her 11-year-old daughter, Nehanda, had rheumatoid arthiritis, she was told there was no allopathic ‘cure’ for this ailment, but fortunately, naturopathy came to the rescue. With the girl completely healed, Madie was even more convinced of its efficacy, and has become an ardent student of naturopathy. “India has such an amazing treasure in the form of this therapy, and I only hope it recognises it completely and fully,” she avers.
Right Living
Naturopaths believe that in a healthy body, even germs are destroyed by antibodies present in the secretions. Instead of concentrating its energy on killing germs, nature cure attempts to invigorate the system, so that germ activity becomes inconsequential. Food, as nature intended, provides the medicine we need to maintain a state of health; in other words, food is our medicine, and our medicine is food. All diseases are due to a disturbance in the body’s natural system that comprises of digestion, assimilation, and elimination. Therefore, all diseases are cured by restoring the balance and equilibrium in the body’s method of working. The duration and method could vary as diseases could be acute, chronic, or fatal. Acute diseases get healed on their own in a few days, with adequate rest, good breathing, and healthy eating. One may be required to fast to clean the system. However, medicines are absolutely taboo. For, when one takes medicines, one interferes with the body’s natural healing process, and when the disease is suppressed, it could get converted into chronic ailments, as the toxins from the medicines remain in the body. When chronic diseases are suppressed, they could further lead to fatal diseases. Naturally, naturopathy can easily deal with acute diseases, whereas chronic and fatal diseases could require some more effort through other methods such as detoxification. In all cases, however, health is maintained through a healthy way of living where one takes in all the five elements of nature (see box) into one’s system.
Each of the points may seem minor, but are extremely significant. For instance, meal times are linked to the functions of the body. As the processes of digestion, assimilation and elimination are linked to the day’s cycle, the body works best when we follow its pattern. The sun helps in digestion; therefore we must try and have our food in this period. In the next eight hours, assimilation of the digested food takes place. In the following eight hours, the process of elimination takes place. Therefore, just following a simple regimen of fruits and juices till 12 noon, lunch at 12 noon and dinner at 7 pm shall eliminate 50 to 60 per cent of health problems.
Fringe Benefits
A right way of living has unexpected ‘fringe benefits’. Though people come for a specific problem, many of them return rejuvenated and healthy in all areas of life.
Arvind Batra, a businessman in Delhi, had a persistent problem with cold that developed into wheezing bronchitis at the age of 18. He learnt to live with this, and approached Dr Tiwari only at the age of 45, when the problem had turned into acute sinusitis. With physiotherapy for just 15 days, diet changes and yoga, he is now completely all right, having, of course, made the lifestyle changes she recommended. “I have even stopped snoring,” he says happily, talking of an unexpected side-effect.
Ms Rita Rawat, a housewife in Delhi, had approached Dr Tiwari for a cervical problem. Not only was this tackled, but her diabetes and hypertension also vanished, and she requires no tablets now.
As mentioned earlier, Mr Padukone’s heart problem too was brought under control, though he went to Dr Tiwari for addressing his knee pain.
The Journey
The pain of others was always a great concern to Dr Tiwari. Years ago, when helping a poor child get treatment, she found it very difficult to get him treated through allopathy, as his parents were not willing to permit a brain tumour operation. Desperate to help him, she took him to a homoeopathic practitioner, who did help him. She then learnt homoeopathy, and was soon carrying her little box of medicines to slums, and helping many to get healed.
The healing journey was to continue. She came across naturopathy, studied it thoroughly, and convinced that it was the best form of not just medicine, but life itself, has now practised it for many years. Passionate about spreading awareness about it, she also conducts a course called ‘Be your family doctor’, which teaches the basic principles of nature cure and healthy living, along with some simple recipes that are tasty and healthy.
“Now I know why Mahatma Gandhi believed nature cure to be the most suitable for our country,” she says. Aptly, therefore, she has named her organisation Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Yoga and Naturopathy, and plans to also name a hospital being constructed in Uttaranchal after the Mahatma.
I, along with the many people she has healed and guided, sincerely wish her all the best in her mission to propagate this simple and effective way to a happy, healthy life.
Eat Healthy
Healthy aata mix (flour for chappatis)
Ingredients
8 kg wheat
1 kg jowar
1 kg barley
1 kg bajra
1 kg corn
1 kg black chana
1 kg soya bean
150 g methi
Method: Mix all together and store.
Green Rotis
Ingredients
Greens (palak, methi, or any other fresh leafy vegetables): chopped or blended
Healthy aata (mix given above)
Ajwain
Salt to taste
Method: Combine the fresh greens (chopped or blended) and aata mix for your dough.
Add ajwain and salt. Make green rotis.
Lauki Soup
Ingredients
Lauki (bottle gourd): 1 medium-sized, chopped with skin
Garlic pod: 1
Onion: 1 medium-sized
Roasted jeera power: 1 teaspoon
Lemon and salt to taste
Method:Steam above, blend, and strain the mixture. Boil to soup consistency. Add roasted jeera powder, lime and salt.
Contact : Dr Salila Tiwari Clinic : Yoga Shakti Ashram, 2nd floor, Ajit Arcade, Kailash Colony, Lajpat Rai Road, New Delhi – 110 048, Tel : (91-11) 29232379, Fax: (91-11) 41609499, Mobile: (91) 9818117859, email: salilanaturopathy@yahoo.com
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