Natural Health Program: New York Open Center course that provides a way to empower persons to improve their health. The course encompasses the five elements theory, spiritual nutrition (see Rainbow Diet), and means of detoxifying and protecting human energy fields.

(See also: Natural Health Program, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Nature Cure (Nature Care): Progenitor of naturopathy. Nature Cure is a variation of self-healing whose most important measures are fasting and rest. Originally, Nature Cure was a hydropathy-centered natural lifestyle.

Its principle is:

(a)           that all disease, barring accidents and the consequences of hostile surroundings, is due to violations of nature's laws, and

(b)           that, therefore, true healing consists in a return to natural habits.

(See also: Nature Cure, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Natural Medicine Path (the Medicine of the South, the Natural Medicine of the South): Mode of Cherokee healing. The Natural Medicine Path is an animistic form of herbalism.

(See also: Natural Medicine Path, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Natural Hygiene (Hygienic Health System, Life Science): Variation of Nature Cure represented by proponents as the legacy of Sylvester Graham (1794-1851). Graham, the originator of the graham cracker, began his career as a Presbyterian minister and temperance lecturer.

He professed the following.

(a)           Frequent involuntary discharges of semen presage debility.

(b)           Ingestion of improper foods or overeating cause seminal discharges.

(c)           Masturbation brings on pimples and potentially fatal sores.

(d)           Digestion entails an expenditure of vital force.

(e)           Diet is a means of economizing the vital force.

(f)             A diet is healthful if it narrowly prompts the digestive organs to function normally.

According to Hygienic literature, the first hygienic doctor was Isaac Jennings, M.D. (1788-1874), who taught that obedience to physical law facilitates obedience to moral law. Natural Hygiene's principle is that disease is a process of purification and repair. The major Hygienic practices are fasting, food combining, and a form of veganism that emphasizes uncooked foods. Some Professional Natural Hygienists do not subscribe to food combining.

(See also: Natural Hygiene, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Zdorovye-Nature's Legacy (Slavic Natural Health System, Zdorovye Health System): A health philosophy and a system of Somatic Engineering (Body-work). it is the integrated synergy of body, mind, and spirit. Its first premise is that natural abundant health is one's birthright.

(See also: Zdorovye-Nature's Legacy, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Natural Chi-gong: An American-style, scientific form of Qigong that isa brain exercise. It involves using the Bio-Energizer (Chi-Gong Helper Machine) to intensify one's chi energy. Truman Yeh invented the Bio-Energizer and introduced the method.

(See also: Natural Chi-gong, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Natural and Macrobiotic Medicine: A group of methods that encompasses acupuncture, astrological diagnosis, aura and vibrational diagnosis, consciousness and thought diagnosis, environmental diagnosis, herbal medicine, macrobiotic palm healing, meridian diagnosis, prayer, pressure diagnosis, shiatsu massage, and spiritual diagnosis.

(See also: Natural and Macrobiotic Medicine, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Natural Way Zen Shiatsu: A combination of natural healing modalities that includes Zen Shiatsu.

(See also: Natural Way Zen Shiatsu, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Health: A state of dynamic balance among body, mind and soul. It is a sense of wholeness and an attitude of well-being.

(See also: Health, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Touch for Health: Touch for Health is a holistic approach to health which teaches the restoring of our natural energies. It is a practical guide to natural health using acupressure, touch and massage to improve postural balance and reduce physical and mental pain and tension.

(See also: Touch for Health, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Natural - A method of healing or a product from natural sources used in medical treatment. A difficult term to define because it can mean different things to different people. See Organic.

(See also: Natural, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

MEDITATION: A technique of mind control that often leads to a feeling of inner calm and peacefulness, and may result in profound experiences of self-realization and transcendental awareness.

Meditation is a discipline found in many of the world's religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, but it is also advocated by many practitioners of holistic health for its impact on stress-related disease.

(See also: Meditation for health, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

TOUCH FOR HEALTH: Touch for health, an easily applied and practical system of natural self-health care, is a synthesis of methods and techniques which includes acupuncture principles, acupressure, muscle testing, massage, and dietary guidelines.

(See also: Touch for health, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

YOGA: As far back as the third century B.C., Patanjali, the father of classical yoga philosophy, defined yoga as "the cessation of the modification of the mind." Yoga, which in Sanskrit means "union," focuses on altering the state of a person's mind and using the powers of the mind to generate healing within the body.

By assuming a series of asanas (positions) and concentrating on breathing, people who practice yoga keep their spine supple and systematically exercise all of the body's major muscle groups. This in turn strengthens the organs by increasing respiration and blood flow.

(See also: Yoga and Health, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Organic or Natural - In alternative medicine these terms usually mean materials obtained from nature without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

(See also: Organic or Natural, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

ACUPRESSURE: Acupressure is a form of acupuncture in which fingers and thumbs rather than needles are used to press chi points on the surface of the body.

Acupressure relives muscular tension, which enables more blood--and therefore more oxygen and nutrients--to be carried to tissue throughout the body. This helps promote physical calmness and mental alertness, and aids in healing by removing waste products. Many researchers now believe that, like acupuncture, acupressure triggers the release of endorphins, the neurochemicals that relieve pain.

(See also: Acupressure, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

ACUPUNCTURE: Acupuncture originated in China over five thousand years ago. It is based on the belief that health is determined by a balanced flow of qi (also referred to as chi), the vital life energy present in all living organisms.

According to acupuncture theory, qi circulates in the body along twelve major pathways, called meridians, each linked to specific internal organs and organ systems. According to William Michael Cargile, B.S., D.C., F.I.A.C.A., Chairman of Research for the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental medicine, there are over a thousand acupoints within the meridian system that can be stimulated to enhance the flow of qi. When special needles are inserted into these acupoints (just under the skin), they help correct and rebalance the flow of energy and consequently relieve pain and/or restore health.

(See also: Acupuncture, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

AROMATHERAPY: Aromatherapy is a unique branch of herbal medicine that utilizes the medicinal properties found in the essential oils of various plants.

Through a process of steam distillation or cold-pressing, the volatile constituents of the plant's oil (its essence) are extracted from its flowers, leaves, branches or roots.

According to Dr. (rer. nat.) Kurt Schnaubelt, Director of the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy, the term "aromatherapy" is somewhat misleading, as it can suggest an exclusive role for the aroma in the healing process. "In actuality," says Dr. Schnaubelt, "the oils exert much of their therapeutic effect through their pharmacological properties and their small molecular size, making them one of the few therapeutic agents to easily penetrate bodily tissues."

(See also: Aromatherapy, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

FELDENKRAIS: A form of movement therapy designed to isolate separate muscles and muscle groups to promote flexibility, release tension, and enhance balance.

(See also: Feldenkrais, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)