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If
Ayurveda believes that the body is in harmony with the cosmos,
Naturopathy extends the argument just a little but further saying all
cures are available in nature itself. If the body is suffering from
some disease, there can be no better doctor than nature.
There
are two ways of looking at this. One way is to understand this as
least possible intervention that is, allow nature itself to recoup.
To do this the intake of food is highly restricted. Therefore liquid
diet or fasting is a very potent tool for cure in this branch of
medicine. This way they believe the toxics in the body are cleansed
and once again health is restored.
Another
way of looking at Naturopathy is to intervene with natural forces.
Beginning with diet itself, some diseases may warrant abstinence from
certain types of foods and an increase in certain other types. Food
is however not the only means of effecting cure.
Sunlight
is a major source of energy. If it gives life, so can the rays of the
sun cure. A branch of medicine called Chromotherapy believes that by
exposing water and oils to sunlight over a forty-eight hour period,
one is able to capture a lot of energy within the exposed material.
This material is then used for cure.
It
is said, for example, that if some oil is kept in a blue coloured
bottle for about three months, it acquires medicinal properties and
can be used as ointment over injuries, as a nourishing oil and even
for localised application for arthritis or rheumatism and other joint
pains.
Oil
takes longer to gain energy than water. If water is exposed for
forty-eight hours it gains potency. Water in a green coloured bottle
becomes a very good general tonic while water in a red bottle helped
in relieving low blood pressure.
Another `medicine' in naturopathy is water. When water is used to
treat it is called hydrotherapy. Water baths, drinking of a certain
amount of water are all some of the ways of effecting cures.
Similarly mud is used to cure. Mud baths are a common way of healing
even stomach disorders. Sometimes magnets are also used to effect
cures by modifying the magnetic field within and around the body.
This type of treatment is called magneto-therapy. Often, doctors
believe that correct breathing can cure. They say that what we can
not do is remain without breathing and yet we have not mastered the
art of breathing. Regular and controlled breathing can clear the
system of a lot of toxics and so restore health.
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