Saturday, June 25, 2011

Health is an Inside Job

The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while Nature cures the disease -Voltaire

The Science of Being Well
Chapter One


In Chapter One, Wattles begins his narration by postulating that in order for The Science of Being Well to be effective we have to accept certain ideas.  The first of these ideas is that the "perfectly natural performance of  function constitutes health".

He further states that the "perfectly natural performance of function results from the natural action of the principle of life". This principle of life is the Source.  It is the one living substance from which all things are made.  All life comes from it and it causes all the voluntary functions of  this life to be perfectly performed.

So the first tenet of The Science of Being Well is that the Power that heals is IN the patient.  Getting well does not depend on anything outside the patient.  The ability to return to health comes from inside the patient.  Remedies, introduced from outside the body, help the body by creating optimal conditions for healing to take place, but do not cause healing.  

Many times through the years clients have asked me if I think this thing or that thing will help them with their particular ailment...My response was generally, "what do you think?" because, in truth,  it doesn't  matter what I, or anyone else, thinks about a certain remedy.  The only belief that matters is the belief of the recipient of the treatment.
 
I understand that we look to others we feel have more knowledge or experience than us to provide us with advice about decisions that we do not trust ourselves to make.  Which is why I am a big proponent of tools. There are many tools we can use to decipher our truth.  I believe intuition is the best diviner of truth, but  I have previously mentioned muscle testing  and/or  simply asking yourself for the answer, until such time as you trust your intuition.

To make his point that the source of health is within each person, Wattles references many different modalities that are available to "help" us find health. He adeptly elucidates how they all work for some people some of the time.  

It is good to remember that this book was written in 1910. Conventional medicine did not have the power or clout that it now has.   Allopathy consisted of bloodletting, purging and highly toxic drugs. Homeopathy was introduced by a German physician that was unhappy with these methods and osteopathy separated from allopathy about the time this book was written.  The history is quite interesting!

According to Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition,

Allopathy is a system of medical therapy in which a disease or an abnormal condition is treated by creating an environment that is antagonistic to the disease or condition; for example, an antibiotic toxic to a pathogenic organism is administered to treat an infection.

Homeopathy is a system of therapeutics based on the theory that "like cures like." The theory was advanced in the late eighteenth century by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, who believed that a large amount of a particular drug may cause symptoms of a disease whereas moderate dosage may reduce those symptoms; thus some disease symptoms may be treated by very small doses of medicine.

Osteopathy is a system and philosophy of health care that separated from traditional (allopathic) medical practice about a century ago. It places emphasis on the musculoskeletal system, hence the name—osteo refers to bone and path refers to disease. Osteopaths also believe strongly in the healing power of the body and do their best to facilitate that strength.

Our current ‘medical model’ or allopathic approach to health comes from the work of  Louis Pasteur (1885) who created ‘germ theory.’  His theory basically states that germs are everywhere and will attack us if we do not protect ourselves with pharmaceutical substances. 

While the germs may be out there, we do not "catch" all diseases even when we come in contact with an infected person.  So we have to ask, Why not? 

A contemporary of Pasteur, Antoine Bechamp had a different idea.  He believed  that the biological terrain of the being is the cause of disease, not the germ itself.  Bechamp found that germs and parasites will only survive in acidic and favorable conditions and therefore mere exposure to germs is not enough to get sick.  Bechamp believed, the primary cause of disease is in us.

History shows that Pasteur had more support than Bechamp and his germ theory was adopted by the allopathic medical community.

The result was a war on germs.  Unfortunately, people stopped taking responsibility for their own health and let the doctors and pharmaceutical industry take charge. 

This is a key point.  Germ warfare has created a situation where a majority of people live in fear of  "catching" diseases and believe, that to have or maintain health, we must now look outside of ourselves.  Someone, other than us, knows what is best for us.  Futhermore, we have become conditioned to look for answers outside of ourselves and expect that answer to be in the form of a pill or a shot.  

"Some researchers believe many patients have subconscious associations between the experience of being treated – such as taking a pill or sitting in a doctor’s surgery – and recovery from illness....
This subliminal conditioning may trigger the release of hormones and affect people’s immune responses, helping them to feel better," reports David Derbyshire.

I, personally believe Wattles theory that the source of  health is within us and support Bechamp’s theory  that our body’s internal environment determines our health…no matter whom or what we are exposed to.  We get to choose the state of our health, through our thoughts, attitudes and actions. 

 

New research supports this belief beautifully.  My favorite authority on this subject is Dr. Bruce Lipton.  His book The Biology of Belief  supports our ability to think ourselves healthy.

"The implications of this research radically change our understanding of life. It shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology; that instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts. Dr. Lipton’s profoundly hopeful synthesis of the latest and best research in cell biology and quantum physics is being hailed as a major breakthrough showing that our bodies can be changed as we retrain our thinking."

Despite what the fear mongers would like us to believe.....Health is an inside job that is, first and foremost, a thought process. What we think about comes about.   The source of health and well-being is inside of each one of us. 

Tip of the Day
Notice what you are thinking.... For every thought ask yourself, "is this true for me?"
Trust your hunches....Keep a journal to record  what you discover about your thoughts.
 
 

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