Alternative Medicine & Your Business

How Alternative Medicine Can Help Your Business

Let me start by asking a question.  What does health mean to you? Because health is not simply an absence of disease. Health is having an inner vitality, a ‘spring’ in your step and thoroughly enjoying life! This is where alternative medicine and therapies can help.

CAM stands for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. It’s a term which covers all of the following and more:

• Homeopathy
• Acupuncture
• Chinses 5-Elements system
• Ayurveda
• Reiki
• Osteopathy
• Crystal healing

The History of Complimentary Therapies

As the name suggests, these systems can safely be used alongside traditional medicine. However, they pre-date ‘modern’ medicine sometimes by as much as 5,000yrs!

Holistic approach to treatment

Some people choose to only see an alternative practitioner. They will be treated holistically, which means they are treated as a whole, with each problem being linked and analysed. In traditional medicine, you will see an ENT doctor, a cardiologist, an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, etc.

Mental & Emotional symptoms are just as important as physical symptoms for an alternative practitioner. How you feel about a situation or symptom provides more clues as to the root cause of the issue.

Past shocks or traumas can present as physical pathology in later life. For example, if you survived a serious car-crash the shock may stay with you for years. This trauma can get ‘stuck’ energetically. If not cleared or released by the body, it can cause physical symptoms e.g. excessive and uncontrollable perspiration.

Homeopaths take a detailed history of your ailments and life. They use this as a ‘roadmap’ to assess your health objectively. Due to the unique training, Homeopaths can spot links/blocks/traumas in the timeline.

These can be energetic and/or spiritual. This holistic approach draws on other alternative paradigms to find the root cause of the issue. The body is a self-healing organism which strives to achieve balance. If you cut yourself, and you have the resources to do so, you will heal. Nutrition is a key component of maintaining a healthy balance to your life. Food choices (and if necessary supplementation) can be advised by your Homeopath or CAM practitioner.

There are 2 main categories of patient who come to see an alternative practitioner.

1) Those who have had previous positive experience of alternative therapies. Or those who have had personal recommendations of positive results.

2) People who are ‘desperate’. They have tried everything else and want to try alternative therapies as a last resort, rather than a maintenance or preventative.

98% of people don’t know what homeopathy is or what it can do for them

My 5 top tips for improving your health from an alternative point of view:

1) Sleep:

Good quality sleep is essential to our health, wellbeing and mental health. lack of sleep is a form of torture – ask any new parent! It allows our bodies to heal physically and grow new tissue.

Sleep Hygiene measures such as eye masks, ear plugs can help with our physical sleeping environment. Weighted blankets and warm milk drinks before bed, remind our bodies of being swaddled as a baby whilst enjoying a comforting breastfeed.

Your bedroom temperature should be 17C. Having a warm bath/shower before bed and then moving to a cooler bedroom mimics the sun setting. Because this triggers the release of melatonin our ‘sleepy’ hormone. This links back to our cavemen (and women!) ancestors. Magnesium spray applied to skin at night-time can ease tense muscles and helps relax you.

2) Diet and Nutrition:

Eating nutritious food is the best fuel for your body. You wouldn’t put cheap petrol into a Formula 1 car. Eating a wide variety of organic fresh fruit and vegetables will provide your gut with the diversity it needs. Organic milk and meat are more expensive but if you can afford them, they are better for you.

The animal’s welfare is higher and non-organic milk is 20% pus. Yuck! Drinking filtered water and eating fermented foods are also great ideas. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, bio-live yogurt etc, support a healthy gut microbiome.

70% of our immune system is in our gut, and 80% of our serotonin is produced there. Serotonin is our ‘happy’ hormone. Happy gut – Happy brain!

3) Relaxation:

Decreasing stress levels with various methods of relaxation can really help with any health issues. Meditation apps, yoga, breathing techniques, EFT, laughter therapy and Bach flower remedies are just a few ways to decrease stress.  Journaling is another way and can be useful to ‘screen-dump’ thoughts before bed.

4) Exercise:

Exercise releases endorphins, improves mood, aids sleep and can be fun! Choosing an activity that you enjoy means you are more likely to continue it. Mixing up your routine means you won’t get bored and use different muscle groups. If you want to lose weight, then lifting weights is key. If you do get injured, then rest and certain homeopathic remedies can help you recover quicker.

5) Joy/Passion:

What sparks your joy or passion? Connecting to a sense of community can really help your soul. Painting, writing, singing, gardening, keeping a gratitude diary – whatever appeals to you. Humans are sociable creatures much like the chimpanzees to which we are so closely related.

I would love to hear how you stay healthy and any Alternative Medicine you might be using or considering!