An Introduction to Naturopathy

Naturopathy is a form of healing that uses the elements of nature. As we know, our bodies are composed of everything that can be derived from nature. Nature is made up of 5 major elements - air, water, fire (sunlight), earth and space. These 5 basic elements are found everywhere - in plants, animals, the day-night cycle, seasons and the overall lifecycle. Collectively these prime elements are called Paanchmahabhut.

Naturopathy advocates that since the human body is made up of elements of nature, then when the body is ill, somewhere, some element is out of balance. And to restore that balance, nature is the best source of a cure. In naturopathy, internal (nutrition) and external (therapies) are used to treat the body.

Naturopathy or nature healing consists of the following - hydrotherapy (water element), chromatherapy (sunlight/fire element), nutrition and physical mud therapy (earth element), pranayam and yoga (space element).

How Naturopathy elements balance out imbalances within the body?

• Hydrotherapy is a useful form of healing that is fast gaining popularity. The human body is made up 2/3 of water. Incidentally, the earth - our planet is also made up 2/3 of water! Any water related imbalance in the body can be set right by drinking water on an empty stomach. Store the water overnight in a copper or silver vessel. Sunlight infused water can also be drunk. Unknown to the naked eye, water has many useful particles dissolved in it, which are crucial in helping to maintain the body's balance. Water related therapies include steam bath.

• Earth therapy is used in the form of nutrition and physical therapies including mud packs of various kinds. It must be noted that nutrition is a vital part of naturopathy treatments. A tremendous amount of care is taken to prescribe the right foods to balance out deficiencies in the body. Mud packs used on the abdominal areas are used to remove or draw out toxins from the system. All minerals from the earth are available to us in the form of food. However what we eat today contains a lot of pesticides, hence lowering nutrient availability in food. So instead of commercial farm produce, organic foods are incorporated into naturopathy treatments. Foods that are forgotten on the whole such as ragi, oats, barley, jowar are also part of the naturopathy menu. Salads and lightly cooked vegetable are a major part of the healing diet.

• Chromatherapy uses sunlight to heal in naturopathy. In this treatment, different frequencies of the colour spectrum are administered by charging drinking water, massage oil as well as exposing the body itself to light. The seven colour of the light spectrum are the same as the colours of the body chakras which control the endocrine glands. In modern medicine, it is known that sunlight activated the production of vitamin D in the body. Steam is a combination of fire and water therapies which is useful in ‘vata' disorders.

• Air and space elements in the body are balanced out by breathing exercises of Pranayamas and the physical postures found in yoga. Science has proved that there are large areas or empty space within the body and that at a molecular level, electrons, protons and neutrons revolve in space. In yoga, ‘bandh' or breath holding is used to balance the space elements within the body.

Naturopathy is a wonderful science incorporating gentle physical therapies, exercises, fresh air and sunlight along with healthy food and meditation. The only drawback to this therapy is that the onus of treatment lies with the patient and unless the patient follows the procedures with sincerity, there can not be quick improvement in health.