Guide to Natural Healing
I was on one of my regular charity shop jaunts and came across a couple of amazing books on healing which I felt were “meant for me”. They say there are no coincidences, and I honestly think these books were waiting for me to purchase! The great benefit of buying second hand is that you are saving the planet by recycling! Furthermore, you are donating to whatever the charity is; Help the Aged, Sue Ryder, British Red Cross, British Heart Foundation!
Anyway, I managed to find a huge hardback called Guide to Natural Healing by Geddes & Grosset. It has everything from acupuncture, hydrotherapy, massage, yoga, reflexology and more! Put it this way, if you start at the beginning and read the whole book, it may take some time, but you will may never pick up a pill again. That’s not to say that medicine can be discarded; the two are as important if used in balance and under the supervision of a trained practitioner. Any information about health that I may give is always based on strong advice that you seek medical attention for any medical concern.
I have chosen some of the best parts of this book to bring you, so that you get the key points, in much less time. The book is 480 pages of rich history, underpinning many healing practices. As an advanced nurse practitioner, my work focuses very much on a medical model of care, and admittedly, I am very involved in the pharmacology business, as an independent prescriber, but I am equally, if not, more passionate about opening people’s minds up to alternative more natural ways to enhance and maintain health, joy and abundance.
Spiritual health has always been so closely related to physical health, think of terms like Being “high” or “low” in spirit. Emotions too, have connection to health, when we describe not “feeling” well. The word healing comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “Healen”.
A bit of history now! Pythagoras, a 6th century astronomer, believed that healing was the most elevated of pursuits. Why thank you, Pythagoras, for elevating my status as an advanced nurse practitioner-perhaps you could point this elevated status to my employer and get me a pay rise! He called healing “pneuma” which he theorised, came from a fire at the core of the universe which gave humans their animation and immortal soul. I didn’t realise he was spiritual!
On the other hand, Hippocrates (460-377BC) believed that the mind and body were separate. Another ancient chap, he was born on the Greek island of Kos, and came from a family of priests and physicians. You might be familiar with the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take? He believed that all disease was a result of natural factors and that proper diet, fresh air and rest were all the ingredients to health. I don’t suppose they had to worry about obesity, sedentary jobs and Just Eat in those days. He had some good points though, but the idea of the body and mind being separate was argued by Plato who believed that: “the great error of our day is that physicians separate the soul from the body”. What do you think?
I didn’t realise that the NHS actually recognises spiritual healing, and there is a National Federation of Spiritual Healers who works with the service! I admit, although I would encourage patients to develop their spiritual growth I’ve never written a prescription for essential oils, or Reiki crystals!
A favourite pastime, and one which I have only recently introduced myself to, is meditation and this book provides a detailed history of the practice. Zen is the term which means meditation and the idea is to create a state of being where the mind is entirely focused on the present moment (remember the previous blog on the power of now?). Samadhi is a state of total concentration. In meditation the idea is to bring your attention to the body, and to the energy from within. In doing this, we discard all external stresses, thoughts of the past, and the future. We literally sit into right now.
Yoga is an activity that combines the principle of therapy and brings the mind and body together, “yuj”-to bind together. Asansa is the term used to describe different postures of yoga. Not only does yoga help with spiritual health, it also compliments the neuromuscular health and flexibility. There are also breathing techniques used in yoga called “pranayama” which builds the body’s energy.
Another remedy which focuses on the body’s energy field is aura therapy. The aura is said to be an energetic field around the body which for some people expands up to several metres, other centimetres (if you ever can’t fit into a dress size, blame your aura!). The aura reflects the health of an individual and consists of bands of light as well as black, grey and white. Everyone’s aura is a slightly different shape and colour. My very close friend can read auras and she says mine is blue like the sky! Very interesting that my favourite colour has always been blue.
Some examples of different aura colours and meanings are as follows:
Red means vitality, passion, an outgoing nature and physically vigorous, but darker red means anger or malice. Orange aura is strong, ambitious personality with good health and energy. Yellow means mental agility, optimism and intellect. Green is someone with a natural healing ability, who is vibrant sociable and gifted. Unfortunately, I don’t yet know how to read auras; my reading skills are limited to books, my kindle and text messages!
The final healing technique or remedy I wanted to touch upon which has been central to my healing over the last 8 months, is crystal therapy. I was gifted some beautiful crystals from my close friend as well as a book detailing all the crystals and their meanings. This is my bible! Just today I received my moldavite pendant which is a green glassy rock, made from silicon dioxide, aluminium oxide and other meta oxides. It has long been known as a sacral stone and it encourages spiritual transformation, chakra activation, protection and increased synchronicities. It sits alongside my amethyst pendant, a gift from my son for my 50th birthday. This crystal has a calming effect on emotions, thus soothing my often active mind.
The use of crystals goes long before written history and 15 centuries ago Hindus believed diamonds protected their owners from evil spirits! Tiffany’s here I come! I have a number of crystals and I keep them in a beautiful wooden box, bought from a sanctuary close to where I live. In it I also keep the stone which cleanses crystals called Selenite. Cleansing crystals is essential to keep their energy alive. Apparently you can leave them in sunlight, in spring water, or leave them in a storm, or on a full moon! These are more natural ways to cleanse them. They are also very pretty and I certainly take comfort in holding them to ground myself. I have so many I could make a rockery!
Like the practice of prayer and meditation, often it is faith and our state of mind that increases healing properties. But focusing on more natural remedies, I feel like I raise my spiritual awareness and direct my energy to a higher knowing, a faith in magic if you will. Even if it has no scientific authority, for me, natural healing is fascinating and deserves a place in any discussion about well-being.
