I love the word ‘Naturopath’. To me it conjures up “Nature”,
“Natural” and “Life Path”. I began my journey to becoming a Naturopath as a result of health problems that traditional western medicine could not help. Pharmaceuticals only caused major side effects. I found relief with alternative practitioners using chiropractic, acupuncture, detoxification, and homeopathic methods. As I delved deeper into the alternative world, I discovered the word “Naturopath” encompassed these and other healing modalities. Now that I have the ND initials after my name, I have found that many people still have not come across that term and ask what it means.
A naturopath will coach their clients on preventing disease via
a “natural”lifestyle that includes healthy eating, exercise and adequate rest. Herbs, supplements, tissue manipulation, energy flow, magnetics, and detoxification are among the methodologies that a naturopath can utilize to promote health.
A naturopath will tend to pick out certain modalities to specialize in since the field is so broad. A good naturopath will recommend other practitioners to provide modalities needed by a client but that is not provided by them.
The root cause of disease as taught in naturopathic training is from toxemia. The toxic buildup can come from problem's with a person's physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or poorly formed energy fields. A naturopath will coach the client in supportive methods, a healthier lifestyle, and can use natural, proven tools to help bring the body to a state which supports and sustains health.
One of the hardest things with which people have to come to terms, is that the individual needs to align their life to a healthier way of living. The modalities available to assist the body in healing, work best with an accompanying and supporting change in lifestyle. A naturopath can offer various modalities and act as a coach in achieving a healthy lifestyle for their clients.
The lifestyle changes that I have found to be important in
achieving and maintaining health include:
1. Eating Organically where possible. I find breakfast is the easiest meal to make organic. There are several fruits and vegetables known to be more pesticides used on them including strawberries, lettuce and spinach. These are also widely available in their organic forms and are worth searching out.
2. Eating something ‘raw” everyday. I incorporate a raw fruit and a salad almost every day. Uncooked food contains enzymes that the body needs that are destroyed in the cooking process.
3. Avoid Genetically Modified foods. This is almost impossible to do if one eats out since it is common in processed foods. It is prevalent in foods made in the USA with corn, soybeans and beet sugars. This is an area in which I tend to fall down since I like visiting with friends while eating at restaurants but there are always healthier restaurantsto select and healthier selections on each restaurant's menu.
4. Exercise. We need to move our bodies. Lymph circulation occurs due to exercise. The circulation of lymph helps us get rid of body toxins. A useful tool is the use of a whole body vibration plate which assists in moving the lymph and building muscle and losing visceral fat ( fat from around the organs.)
5. Adequate sleep. Most people do best, and heal best with 7 to 8 good hours of sleep. I tend to have trouble applying this to myself since I have so much I want to do each day. Still, I know that I need to sleep to stay well.
6. Keep the body in the alkaline range. Food choices impact this one. Too much protein can make the body acidic. Many soda’s include phosphoric acid – try substituting water with lemon and some added stevia for sweetness instead.
7. Detoxification. We intake many toxins in today’s age and we need help to get rid of them. Toxic buildup creates inflammation in the body. There are supplements that help us detoxify such as reduced glutathione, alpha lipoic acid, Vitamin C, milk thistle and Modified citrus pectin. NES Health as a modality is also helpful. Other modalities that assist in detoxification include using a far infrared sauna, whole body vibration, and various clays - taken internally or externally.
8. Reduce inflammation. This topic goes hand in hand with the previous one on detoxification. Most people will require supplements and detoxification to achieve meaningful reduction in inflammation. My coaching advice is to add a good multivitamin that is made from whole foods; beta 1-3 glucan, Astaxanthin; and herbs such as blessed thistle. Inflammation is responsible for many of the chronic diseases that we face as we age.
9. Feed the spirit. This includes a supportive belief system, family and friends. It is important to love ourselves and others.
10. Elimination of sugar (or at least limiting it severely) from the diet will also aid in reducing inflammation as well as reducing candida colonies. Cancer loves sugar – that alone is reason enough to limit it in our diets.
When Considering the items listed above, please note how many are under your control. A naturopath can provide guidance, encouragement, information, and some energy related treatments but the bulk of retaining health is your responsibility. Choose to be healthy.
You can not expect someone else to “make” you healthy. You need to participate in the process.
Personally, I find feeling well is such a great blessing; it makes so many other things that I want to do with my life possible, so the actions listed above are well worth the effort. I am still working on being consistent with applying the list above to my life. I hope you will decide to make similar choices. as you live your life - I believe you will notice the difference.