About herbal medicine
Herbal medicine is the oldest form of medicine, used by all cultures throughout history, bar none.
Herbal Medicine
Most of the world’s population still rely on herbal medicine for their primary healthcare, and whilst we may have forgotten much of our traditional wisdom in the developed world, until 100 years ago doctors regularly prescribed herbal medicines and every person could identify and use plant remedies for simple ailments. Healing plants are all around you every time you go for a walk in nature, and most gardens ‘weeds’ have medicinal properties. The plant world provides us with the oxygen we breath the foods we eat, and all the medicines we need.
Medicinal plants contain active phytochemicals (plant chemicals), hundreds in every plant, giving them broad and complex powers to fight disease and promote better health. Many of these chemicals have been well researched and used to develop pharmaceuticals, but nothing beats the complex natural chemistry of whole plants to support the body holistically.
Individualised herbal blends are designed for patients that contain several different plant medicines, each focussing on different aspects of the case with the aim of addressing the root causes of ill health.
Herbs can be given in a variety of ways: tinctures are extractions of herbs in a mix of alcohol and water; infusions are made by steeping dried herbs in just boiled water; powders are stirred into water or milk, the method chosen depending on the patient and their condition.
Herbal medicines are extremely safe when prescribed by a qualified practitioner, but special considerations are needed for patients who are pregnant or breast feeding, where many remedies are contraindicated. There can also be interactions between certain herbs and pharmaceutical drugs so always bring a list of current medications when visiting your herbalist.
Naturopathy
Naturopathy or ‘Nature cure’ is a philosophy of healing that developed in Europe and America over the last two centuries. Naturopathic treatments are individualised to the patient, they focus on the root causes of disease not the symptoms, they encourage the bodies self-healing powers, and they empower patients by teaching them why disease has occurred and how to live in ways that make disease almost an impossibility (if they work hard enough at it!). Ultimately patients have to take responsibility for their health, their diet, their mental wellbeing in order to achieve optimum vitality, the solutions can be very simple, but patients often need a guiding hand to begin this journey.
Energetics
All traditional healing systems are based on energetics, which includes Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Traditional Chinese medicine, Islamic Unani Tibb medicine, and the Greco-Roman system of humoral medicine which was practiced in Europe until a couple of hundred years ago. Within energetic systems lie the wisdom of 5,000 years of medical experience, which is arguably far more valuable than modern laboratory and clinical research. Key to energetics is understanding whether diseases have their basis in heat (fever, inflammation), cold (poor circulation, low metabolism), moisture (mucus, fluid retention), or dryness (stiff joints, dry skin), and then applying herbal, dietary and lifestyle treatments to address the energetic imbalance. Although herbal medicines are always central to traditional energetic treatments, foods, lifestyle and environmental factors and mental habits also have an energetic dimension so need to be addressed in treatment strategies
Energetics gives us an understanding that our physical and mental state alters over the course of the day, the year and a lifetime, and that keeping ourselves in balance amidst these cycles requires constant adaptations to our herbal medicines, diet and lifestyle. Working with the changing seasons is of particular importance.
Constitution is also central to energetics - because we each have specific strengths, weaknesses and predictable disease tendencies. If we can establish our constitution and follow appropriate constitutional guidelines we can keep our systems balanced = healthy. Apart from the most basic considerations a ‘one size fits all’ approach will miss the mark mark most of the time. Discovering our constitution can be a revelatory experience, showing us how our body shape, metabolism, personality and health link together, and how the right ways of living can address all our problems simultaneously .