Natural Health

Naturopathy is one of the oldest approaches to healing. It is based on the philosophy that the human body has the innate ability to keep itself well. But this can only happen if we eat properly, exercise regularly, enjoy our work and relationships, and live in an unpolluted environment. Modern naturopathy grew out of the ‘nature cures’ that drew people to Europe’s spa towns in the 19th century, but its ideas can be traced back more than 2,000 years to Hippocrates, the ‘father of medicine’. Read the rest of this entry »

Aromatic oils have been used for thousands of years to soothe, stimulate and heal mind and body. Records show that they were popular with the ancient Egyptians. Cedarwood oil, for example, was used for embalming and an urn containing traces of oil of frankincense was found in Tutankhamen’s tomb when it was opened in 1922. In about 400 BC, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, claimed, “The way to health is to have an aromatic bath and a scented massage every day”, and there are many references to the Greeks and Romans using oils therapeutically, such as myrrh to help heal wounds. But it wasn’t until the late 1920s that the term ‘aromatherapy’ was coined by French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, after he discovered the healing abilities of plant oils. Gattefosse’s work was further developed by an army surgeon called Jean Valnet, who used essential oils to treat wounded soldiers during the Second World War and, later, people with psychiatric illness. During the 1950s and 1960s the French biochemist and beautician Marguerite Maury began combining essential oil application with massage, specializing in skin conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

Hellerwork

Hellerwork was an offshoot from Rolfing. In the 1970s an aerospace engineer called Joseph Heller, who had trained in Rolfing, decided that it needed to take much more account of the mind. Rolfing subsequently took a similar course and the differences between the two therapies have narrowed. Hellerwork is a relatively new discipline and there are only half a dozen practitioners in the UK, most of them working in London. Read the rest of this entry »

Being asked to resist pressure exerted on a muscle by a complementary health practitioner may seem a strange way to get to the root of an illness. But this is what kinesiology is all about and its advocates claim that as well as increasing general well being, it can relieve all types of aches and pains, stress, digestive problems and emotional troubles such as phobias, anxiety and depression.

Kinesiology (pronounced kin-easy-ology) uses simple, gentle muscle tests to analyze functional imbalances in the body as well as sensitivities to food and toxic substances in the environment. It incorporates many of the principles of traditional Chinese medicine and, like acupuncture, works on the principle that illness is due to blocked energy (chi) in invisible channels, or meridians, running through the body. Read the rest of this entry »

Autogenic Training

German neurologist Dr Johannes Schulz, a contemporary of Freud, devised six simple mental exercises in the 1920s which he called ‘autogenic’, meaning ‘generated from within’. There are now more than 3,000 scientific papers published worldwide claiming autogenic training can be a significant self-help tool for health and happiness, and it’s often used in corporate training programs to increase personal potential.

Dr Schulz believed that by relaxing into a near hypnotic state, and repeating a formula of words while concentrating on parts of the body, a person could counter the effects of stress and help their ability to recuperate. The exercises switch off the body’s stress responses and help re-balance the activities of the right and left sides of the brain. Read the rest of this entry »

Yoga was first introduced to the West in the 19th century, gained serious popularity in the 1960s and has undergone another revival recently, with the likes of Demi Moore, Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna asserting that it’s the secret of their health and fitness – and even their success.

Yoga is a system of physical and mental training which is intended to affect body, mind and spirit and, eventually, to lead to spiritual enlightenment. It was developed by Hindu yogis, at least 2,500 years ago, to maximize physical, mental and spiritual health and development. It is believed that, by following the basic principles of yoga -proper exercise, breathing, relaxation, diet and positive thinking and meditation -you can achieve inner peace, total health, calmness and a sense of well being. While true followers of yoga use it to enhance their spirituality, the majority of people doing yoga in the West practice it as a form of exercise and relaxation. Yoga is well suited to the pressures and strains of modern life, even though it is such an ancient health system. Read the rest of this entry »

Assessing health through studying the eyes is thought to date back at least as far as ancient Greece and Hippocrates. In the 19th century, this art was revived by a Hungarian called Ignacz von Peczely. As a boy, he was said to have observed how the iris of an owl changed, first when it suffered a broken leg and then as it got better. He went on to make observations of the human iris, often being able to predict someone’s impending illness. After qualifying as a doctor, he drew up the first chart of the iris as a key to health. Peczely and those who went on to develop his work in the early years of the 20th century were ridiculed by the medical establishment. Read the rest of this entry »