Why we should celebrate Naturopathic Medicine Week
Naturopathic Medicine Week has me personally excited! Why? Because it allows me the opportunity to share what I thoroughly love, and that is teaching others about preventative medicine!
I live for preventative medicine, as a Wellness Practitioner, I specialize in Yoga, Massage, and Laughter Therapy all of which fall under preventative medicine practices.
What IS Naturopathic Medicine anyway?
According to the America Association of Naturopathic Medicine's website :
"Naturopathic medicine is a distinct primary health care profession, emphasizing prevention, treatment, and optimal health through the use of therapeutic methods and substances that encourage individuals’ inherent self-healing process. The practice of naturopathic medicine includes modern and traditional, scientific, and empirical methods."
Naturopathic Medicine follows these six principals:
The Healing Power of Nature (Vis Medicatrix Naturae): Naturopathic medicine recognizes an inherent self-healing process in people that is ordered and intelligent. Naturopathic physicians act to identify and remove obstacles to healing and recovery, and to facilitate and augment this inherent self-healing process.
Identify and Treat the Causes (Tolle Causam): The naturopathic physician seeks to identify and remove the underlying causes of illness rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.
First Do No Harm (Primum Non Nocere): Naturopathic physicians follow three guidelines to avoid harming the patient:
Utilize methods and medicinal substances which minimize the risk of harmful side effects, using the least force necessary to diagnose and treat;
Avoid when possible the harmful suppression of symptoms; and
Acknowledge, respect, and work with individuals’ self-healing process.
Doctor as Teacher (Docere): Naturopathic physicians educate their patients and encourage self-responsibility for health. They also recognize and employ the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship.
Treat the Whole Person: Naturopathic physicians treat each patient by taking into account individual physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, and other factors. Since total health also includes spiritual health, naturopathic physicians encourage individuals to pursue their personal spiritual development.
Prevention: Naturopathic physicians emphasize the prevention of disease by assessing risk factors, heredity and susceptibility to disease, and by making appropriate interventions in partnership with their patients to prevent illness.
This last Principal is the category I fall into to assist clients in creating a healthful life.
Prevention.
Yoga assists in the prevention of stiffening joints, muscle pain, and poor posture.
Massage helps to alleviate muscle spasms, stiff joints, and creates better blood flow which helps to feed our organs, muscles, and cells assisting in faster healing.
Laughter Therapy helps to prevent high blood pressure, reduces stress, and creates more oxygen to our blood also helping to assist in healing.
Another modality I enjoy teaching is Meditation, through meditation we help alleviate our reactivity, allowing us an extra moment to breathe in a difficult situation and utilize tho