This post was first published as part of my executive contributor series in Brainzmagazine.com
I have spoken to many people over the last year about their views on traditional Western medicine and what mainstream would call alternative health, such as Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Reiki, and the like, and it brought a theme to my attention I did not expect to find.
Most people are very polarized in their views. It is either traditional medicine is the way to go, GP visits, pharmaceuticals, and surgery are the only way to go, or I do not like to take drugs, and I prefer to treat myself naturally. Why the polarity, I wonder? It is like operating with one hand trapped behind your back in my book.
Why do I say that? Well, I have worked in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries for years, with many different diseases and treatments, and I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic at the age of 8 and would not be here without insulin. So yes, of course, I can see the value in what our mainstream approach to healthcare and disease offers. That said, we do often just treat the physical body or mental at best within western healthcare, often looking at ailments in total isolation from one another and prescribing more and more drugs that cause more and more side effects while paying little to no attention to the energy fields, in-depth understanding of nutrition, natural rhythms of the body, and the root of where chronic disease started. We need to start looking at the risk-to-benefit ratio with everything we do within Western medicine. We prescribe more and more drugs yet have more and more disease, why? Well, that answer is complex and not fully understood, but I know from my clients that their digestive fire, immune system, trapped toxic emotions and trauma, and what goes into their body have a lot to do with it.
So what is the answer?
I would suggest the answer is a more holistic approach where we do not get stuck in polarity, but see what is currently seen as western traditional and eastern or alternative as all valued tools in a varied toolbelt that we can pick our approach and treatment from, depending on the specific problems presented at an individual patient level.
Ayurveda, as an example, can be used alongside all other treatments or as a standalone. If you have broken your leg, you likely will not think of Ayurveda first, I would not. However, if I had a chronic disease or low energy and digestive issues, I absolutely would use Ayurveda with or without other treatments.
We need to stop looking for the one drug or treatment that will fix everything and start to consider the fantastic toolbelt of healing we could have at our fingertips if we widened our approach to mind, body, and spirit diagnosis and treatment, focusing on root cause and best tools for the job.
If you need a partner to help you heal holistically at a mind, body, and soul level, please visit my website and contact me for a free discovery call to learn more. Take back control of your mind, body, and soul.