6 surprising facts about alternative healing

Ever heard of the saying: “Mind over matter?”

The term “alternative medicine”, or also referred to as CAM, which stands for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine), encompasses a wide range of medical practices and systems from cultures around the world. In countries such as the United States, people use it to describe practices that are outside mainstream medicine.

The same goes for "alternative healing". These are healing methods around the world used outside of the mainstream medical practices.

In the early nineteenth century, the expressions of alienation from a medicine seen to be more concerned with treating symptoms and applying “heroic” drugs and technologies than with meeting the emotional needs of patients.

I came across a very interesting article on the John Hopcins Medicine website which describe the methods in each category.

6 Different types of CAM

1. Traditional Alternative Medicine

Most of these alternative methods is more commonly known, acknowledged and sometimes used in conjunction with mainstream therapies and treatments.

· Acupuncture

· Ayurveda

· Homeopathy

· Naturopathy

· Chinese or Oriental medicine

2. Body

“Healing by touch is based on the idea that illness or injury in one area of the body can affect all parts of the body.”

It is commonly known for body and touch alternative therapies to be combined with mind and alternative medicine in order to get the optimal desired result. This is due to the fact that if the body is in complete harmony and balance, it will be more capable to resolve the discomfort.

Examples of body therapies include:

· Chiropractic and osteopathic medicine

· Massage

· Body movement therapies

· Tai chi

· Yoga

3. Diet and herbs

There is, in our modern-day society, more and more studies that reveals that our poor diet and lack of optimal nutrition, create imbalances which lead to inflammation and stress and ultimately lead to chronic diseases.

Our natural bodies were meant to follow a clean or simple diet consisting of whole meats, fruits, vegetables, and grains. We’ve replace this with a diet that often consists of foods rich in saturated fats, processed oils, and complex carbohydrates.

Many dietary and herbal approaches attempt to balance the body's nutritional well-being. Dietary and herbal approaches may include:

· Dietary supplements

· Herbal medicine

· Nutrition/diet

4. External energy

The art of energy healing and the use of external energies have been practiced for decades before modern-day lifestyles and beliefs started filtering these powerful and non-invasive therapies out to be replaced with “heroic” drugs and technologies.

An example of external energy therapy is:

· Electromagnetic therapy

· Reiki

· Qigong

5. Mind

There are so many amazing resources made available such as “The Secret”, which is only naming one in thousands, that prove how astronomical a balanced mind can be. The “Body, Mind Connection” is also a powerful book showing the power of what your mind and focus has on your physical body. Ever heard of the saying: “Mind over matter?”... Here are some examples of mind techniques:

· Meditation

· Biofeedback

· Hypnosis

6. Senses

Some people believe the senses, touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste, can affect overall health. Examples of therapies incorporating the senses include:

· Art, dance, and music

· Visualization and guided imagery

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Sincerely yours

Liezel