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Natural health - Basic Core Tenets

Natural health - Basic Core Tenets: Encyclopedia II - Natural health - Basic Core Tenets

The ideologies of natural health hold that all health, illness, and healing can be positively affected by prevention and lifestyle modifications. These natural therapies are under the control of the individual. Natural health - Natural philosophy. Just like any other natural philosophy, the word 'natural' in natural health is referring to the physical realm of existence. Natural health excludes all belief systems that say disease is a result of anything other than natural causes. Faith and psy ...

Natural health: Encyclopedia II - Natural health - Basic Core Tenets

Natural health - Basic Core Tenets

Natural health - Natural philosophy

Just like any other natural philosophy, the word 'natural' in natural health is referring to the physical realm of existence.

Natural health excludes all belief systems that say disease is a result of anything other than natural causes. Faith and psychic healing are not a part of natural health. Likewise, Eastern philosophies with beliefs in other worlds or dimensions (such as beliefs in spiritual, karmic, or ancestral forces and personal auras or energy flows around the human body) that are invisible to our normal senses are not a part of the very Western practices of natural health. And, natural health certainly has nothing to do with magic or new age mysticism. Natural health has nothing to say about the creation of life, beliefs in religion, and other worlds or dimensions other than that all health, illness, and healing can be positively affected by simple and inexpensive natural therapies. Nor, does this imply that the role of your mind should be ignored in health, illness, and healing due to its tenet of holism. The core tenets of all natural health practices refer only to the very Western biological factors of health. Early sects of the natural health movement did show an interest in relaxation offered by the water cure. But, concerns over stress and the mind-body connection are a modern extension added to some practices of natural health from Eastern philosophical traditions.

Natural health - Vitalism

The most fundamental tenet of the natural health philosophy is that the human body has the capacity to heal itself.

In natural health, all healing is essentially self-healing, a basic property of all living beings. Vitalism is an ancient concept that can be traced back to the body's own innate vitality, vital energy, vital force, or the 'vis medicatrix naturae' (i.e., the inherent wisdom of the body) of Hippocrates (c.460-377BC), the father of medicine, who wrote that "the natural healing force within us is the greatest force in getting well." A physician can kill an infection with antibiotics, perform surgery, put a broken limb in a cast, or suture a wound, but if the patient does not respond to the treatment, all the efforts of the physician have been useless since all healing is performed by the patient. In natural health the self-healing of vitalism is paramount. The inherent natural healing process is respected and sought after during treatment, although it is not necessarily understood.

Natural health - Holism

In natural health, healing is viewed as a concerted effort of the entire organism and cannot be achieved by any part in isolation from the whole.

Holism is an old concept that can be traced back to Paracelsus (1439-1541), the father of modern medicine, who insisted on treating the whole being rather than merely the part displaying disease. Respecting and understanding the defensive abilities of the body and differentiating between disease symptoms and defensive or recovery symptoms has always been an absolutely fundamental part of the various forms of holistic based natural health practices. Under holism, sickness is viewed as a result of a weakened body that has fallen into an unbalanced condition. As such, it is remedied by overall strengthening of the body’s natural resistance to disease. Holism is an ancient concept that only hints at the modern concept of the mind-body connection. The core tenets of all natural health practices refers only to the very Western biological factors of health. Hence, the more fully developed psychosocial treatments are a modern extension added to some practices of natural health from the biopsychosocial model of health.

Natural health - Individualism

According to individualistic ideology, individuals are capable of accepting responsibility for their personal health and taking care of themselves.

The individualistic ideology of Western society is about: (1) the primary importance of the individual over the needs and concerns of the community, and (2) the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence. True individuals are both self-reliant and independent. Individuals are assumed to have the power to make changes in their own lifestyles.

Natural health - Victim-blaming

The victim-blaming approach to natural health follows the individualistic ideology of Western society (which is strongly rooted in the development of Protestantism, the work ethic, and American history).

Victim-blaming requires individuals to take responsibility for their health. To improve their prospects in life, the victim must change rather than the environment around them. According to the ideology of victim-blaming, health problems should be self-corrected. At-risk behavior is seen as the problem, and improving one's lifestyle is viewed as the solution. When a person gets sick, the assumption is that the victim must have done something wrong. When the victim comes down with a lifestyle disease, the assumption is that the victim must have been doing something wrong for a very long time. The basic notion of a healthy lifestyle requires the ideologies of individualism and victim-blaming, without consideration of socioeconomic or environmental factors involved in individual lifestyle choices.

Natural health - Prevention

Prevention emphasizes improving health rather than fighting disease.

Primary prevention is focused on intervention to prevent the occurrence of an illness, condition, or injury. Secondary prevention activities are concerned with early detection and interventions into disease processes that potentially could develop into a serious disease. Tertiary prevention is focused on treatment of an illness to reduce its effects and to prevent further deterioration. Natural health lifestyle choices are viewed as factors that affect our health. Hence, prevention is considered to be everyone's responsibility.