NATURAL MEDICINE -any therapy that stimulates one’s own healing powers: that places responsibility upon oneself rather than the doctor, healer or any exterior source; that utilizes nontechnological means and medicine. (NAD)

(See also: NATURAL MEDICINE, Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan 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 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)

Cherokee healing (Cherokee Medicine): Traditional medicine of the Cherokees, a Native American people.

Its apparent principle is that, if one holds back the light in one's being, one causes:

(a)           occlusion of one's meridians and rivers of life and

(b)           suffering of mother Earth. Cherokee Medicine includes crystal healing, Eagle Medicine, Mental Medicine, the Natural Medicine Path, the Physical Medicine Path, and the Spiritual Medicine Path.

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

naturopathy (natural healing, natural health, natural medicine, natural therapies, nature cure, naturology, naturopathic healing, naturopathic health care, naturopathic medicine): Miscellany that encompasses auriculotherapy (ear acupuncture), Ayurveda, balneotherapy, bioelectronic diagnosis, biofeedback, cupping, electroacupuncture, fasting, the Grape Cure (and other mono-diets), hair analysis, herbalism, homeopathy, hypnotherapy, internal hydrotherapy (e.g., colonic irrigation), iridology, Jin Shin Do, Jungian psychology, macrobiotics, moxibustion, Oriental medicine, Ortho-Bionomy, orthomolecular psychiatry, thalassotherapy, Tuina, and zone therapy.

Naturopathy originated in the latter half of the nineteenth century, in Germany. Dr. John H. Scheel, a German-born homeopath, coined the word naturopathy in 1895, when he opened the Sanitarium Badekur in New York. Vitalism is fundamental to naturopathy.

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

pressure diagnosis: Mode of Natural and Macrobiotic Medicine that is a means of revealing any stagnation of the streaming energy. (See kyo-jitsu and oriental channel diagnosis.)

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

environmental diagnosis: Mode of Natural and Macrobiotic Medicine whose theory posits celestial influences.

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

meridian diagnosis: Mode of Natural and Macrobiotic Medicine that is a means of revealing valuable information on the internal energy flow.

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

consciousness and thought diagnosis: Mode of Natural and Macrobiotic Medicine that is a variation of so-called mind reading.

(See also: Consciousness and thought diagnosis, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Chinese dietotherapy: preventive and therapeutic system that involves: (a) prescribing medicinal foods and mixtures of foods and drugs, and (b) proscribing intake of particular foods. , the curative effect of a food or food-drug mixture depends on its nature and flavor. The natures are: cold, hot, warm, and cool. The flavors are: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and pungent. Practitioners seek to neutralize illness by prescribing foods and food-drug mixtures whose nature and flavor antagonize the nature and flavor of the disease.

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

30-Day Body Purification Program: Group of purification techniques whose principle is that cleansing the body's internal ecosystem with herbs and pure nutrients is the key to restoring a healthy environment in and around the body.

The program embraces: aromatherapy; food combining a la Natural Hygiene and macrobiotics; the Schuessler biochemic system of medicine (tissue salts therapy); and a visualization technique wherein one visualizes dust, toxins, and the color gray leaving one's body.

(See also: 30-Day Body Purification Program, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Chinese Medicine: A holistic perspective on health and illness which treats the relationship of a symptom to the person as a whole. Traditional Chinese medicine encompasses a vast range of therapies including acupuncture, herbs, bodywork, exercise and diet.

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

Ayurvedic Medicine: Ayurvedic medicine is India’s traditional, natural system of medicine that has been practiced for more than 5,000 years. The patient is classified according to three metabolic body types: vata, pitta and kapha. This complete holistic health system for mind, body, and spirit treats the patient as a whole rather than treating symptoms alone. It works as a preventative means of coping with imbalance and disease.

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

Naturopathic Medicine: Adhering to the principles of holistic medicine, naturopathic doctors can use various natural methods to treat patients, including nutritional supplements, herbal medicine, homeopathy and lifestyle counseling. In many states, naturopathic doctors (ND) are legally defined as physicians licensed to diagnose and treat in a general family practice. Some NDs are also licensed midwives or licensed acupuncturists.

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

Alternative medicine: This term was originally coined to describe health care approaches not taught in medical schools. It has been replaced with “complementary medicine” since Americans rarely use these approaches to the exclusion of Western, conventional medicine. Integrative medicine refers to the proactive, deliberate combination of conventional and complementary therapies.

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

Holistic medicine: A treatment approach that considers the person as an integrated whole—body, mind and soul. Thus optimum health involves all three elements and their care.

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

Integrative medicine: Combines conventional Western medicine, which primarily investigates and treats physical symptoms, with complementary practices, which also include the inner healing processes of mind and spirit. Treatment plans offer personalized approaches, e.g. combining surgery and medications with imagery, nutritional supplements and lifestyle counseling.

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

Ayurvedic medicine: A part of the East Indian system of healing that includes yoga, Ayurvedic tradition treats illness as an imbalance among the body’s systems. This practice addresses an individual’s unique constitution using nutrition counseling, herbal therapies, rubbing oils, massage, meditation, yoga and lifestyle changes.

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

Complementary medicine: Various “alternative” practices such as meditation, homeopathy, massage, etc., that are not usually considered part of traditional Western medicine. They are most often used in conjunction with (“complementing”) conventional treatments such as surgery and drugs. This approach also focuses on developing a strong relationship of trust and care between patient and caregiver. Integrative medicine is the combination of conventional and complementary medicine.

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

NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE: The philosophy and practice of treating disease by following the principles and laws of nature, rather than utilizing chemicals, drugs, surgery, or other "artificial" or "intrusive" methods. Naturopaths endeavor to stimulate the innate healing resources of the body itself, through a variety of methods.

These include fasting to eliminate toxins, physical manipulative therapies like osteopathy and chiropractic, techniques like acupuncture and shiatsu which stimulate energy flow, and approaches like hypnosis and biofeedback which tap the "inner potential".

Herbal remedies, mineral and vitamin supplements, and homeopathic treatments are frequently employed, and some naturopaths also practice iridology, a technique of identifying disease symptoms through the different zones of the iris.

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