Alternatives2Medicine

Live ‘till We Die

What's Behind Allternative Medicine

Part I

By Grace Karen Sweet

Alternative Medicine is gaining popularity more and more. Many people still don’t understand what it is all about. I hope to captivate your curiosity by explaining alternative medicine in an uncommon way,... in a simple, honest, and straight-forward way. My hope is that, if a curious person could easily understand its potential value to them, they might be inclination to explore it despite having little knowledge of it or no experience with it at all… Because to my way of thinking it makes sense and it is intelligent.

So, what Is Alternative Medicine?

Is it a noun or a verb? Is it a “thing” or an “action?” Is it a choice against Modern Conventional Medicine and for Alternative Medicine? Or, is it just a complement to Conventional Medicine? The dictionary defines it as a noun. But I think of it more as a verb. In and of itself, it’s an ideology. I hope to make clear what ideology is… at least to some degree.

I refer to it “Alternatives “to” Medicine,” instead of “Alternative Medicine,” which it came to be called by rote. But either way it is a ‘catch all phrase’ for a very long list of varied practices. Some are quite familiar to most of us, like Hatha Yoga, and other practices are more obscure and mysterious, like Sharmanism. I think it’s called Alternative Medicine because many believe it to be medicine, but defined in a different way than conventional medicine. But, whatever it is called, it has gained the reputation within Conventional Medicine as though it were in competition to be the better way. This is not the overall intention - both are valid systems of care…more about this later.

Alternatives to Medicine as a System of Care

I definitely look at Alternatives from a different perspective. There are so many different modalities [1] (practices), that fall into the category of Alternative Medicine. So many, that one person will never be able to try them all. There seem to be a boundless array of new ones cropping up all the time. So, it makes more sense to point out what all of them have in common. What I’m going to share with you is usually learned by choosing a modality to try it out. So you're jumping in. It’s the long route, But if you can determine whether or not it's good choice for you by how you feel, that's really great. Jumping in, before too long you would get the idea. Learning up front, what is common to them, you'll get more out of whatever choice you make. Understanding the basics of Alternatives to Medicine can make a significant difference in your experience.

There are many choices of treatments in that can be regarded as alternatives to medicine. The right treatment (or modality) for one person isn’t necessarily the right modality for another, because the nature of the treatment is completely different perspective then allopathic treatment. It is necessary to be familiar with what you want help with and what you feel needs treatment or healing. While it’s important to understand what causes healing and why healing is more foundational than treating symptoms, it’s more important to focus on yourself and what you believe you need. Then, when you look for an alternative treatment you are more llikely to choose one that will be what you need.

I’ve had a fully foundational education and experience with alternatives to medicine of many years. I’ve used it on myself to grow and heal, nearly exclusively. I’ve been sharing my experience through helping people to grow and heal since 2005 through private practice and workshops

We’re Gonna Live ‘til We Die, Right?

There is a prevalent belief that exists in our culture…and it says, we will become sick when we get old. People talk about old age as if that is the unfaltering truth. And pharmaceutical companies know that, and market to that belief for all it’s worth. Unfortunately, in the process many people are exploited for a lot of money, especially our elders.

This attitude is unfortunately, built into our language. For example, the word elder (a noun - a person, place or thing) and elderly is an adjective - used to describe or modify nouns. The incorrect usage of this word has influenced our way of thinking about our elders. All elderly people are elders, but not all elders are elderly. Elderly is a state of health or being… and an implied state that is not good. The thesaurus in my computer has many derogatory words and phrases as synonyms for the word elderly like decrepit, in one's dotage, doddering, grizzled and hoary. I’ve heard many young people say that they expect to be incapacitated in one way or another when they become old! It’s no wonder that we have lost our respect for our elders, and they fear becoming old!

But, despite all that, we are going to live till we die, right? We may still forget we’re mortal sometimes, but deep down we know what is true. On the other hand, getting sick doesn’t happen to everyone. And it does not have to be your fate. All of us want to stay healthy enough to enjoyi or life, to be functional and productive, alert, aware, and conscious even into our old age. We will always want to feel connected and purposeful in our life while receiving the goodies that life has to offer us. We want to live fully, but we believe we will get sick when we get old. Quite the contradiction, isn’t it?

In order to make sense of it, and interpret where alternative healing might be a fit for you, simply consider that the things I mentioned above, are what any person really wants for their life, at any age. If this idea isn’t as real or profound as it could be, that might be because we so easily take words for granted. , Life choices and decisions are practical and ongoing. The cause of any physical problem can stem from our body, mind, emotions, spirit, or it can have psychological complexity, and will eventually show up in any number of ways.

So, “Know Thyself,” said Socrates. This is definitely part of the process. And alternative healing, no matter which modality you choose, will always work on all of those levels of our being, that I mentioned. That’s why it’s called holistic… It’s about the entire human being. At the end of the day, in reality… it makes more sense to heal not just the symptom, but from the cause. So with a prevalent belief that we will get sick when we’re old, it’s no wonder that many people won’t

live in good physical health till they die.

So What’s the Best Way to Go: Medical and Alternative?

It should not be a definitive choice, because we need both. Medical treatment is necessary for medical problems. What is confusing to people is not knowing when medical treatment is a practical solution and when alternatives might be a better solution. Since doctors started self-promoting and ads for drugs began to appear on television, medicine in all its forms is so over promoted that a lot of people don’t even know that alternatives exist, no less understand how it could benefit them. For example, many people diagnosed with a psychiatric problem do not have a medical problem....many psychiatrists have become pharmacologists dispensing medication in lieu of talking to the patient. Medication has become the assumed treatment! But that is another article.

Conventional medicine in the form of pharmaceuticals focuses on treating symptoms. Doctors no longer treat to heal. The problem is that if you focus on treating symptoms, although a symptom may be successfully eliminated, the problem is still there. So, another underlying symptom will emerge. Why? Even though there is always an exception, pharmaceuticals merely mask symptoms and don’t heal disease. That’s why the “bed-side manner” of the doctor is important.

Unfortunately, “Alternative Medicine” is still openly shunned by the medical establishment. Although it is not the intention of all alternative health providers to replace Allopathic Medicine, that prejudice still exists in the conventional medical establishment. This is a disadvantageous situation for people’s health and healing, because Alternative Medicine is a system of care, and it too has an essential place, parallel with the ‘business of medicine.’ There is a widespread misunderstanding of the useful benefits that each system of care offers.

More and more, people who depend upon conventional medicine for help are coping with the side effects of drugs and are disillusioned because the “medical model” is not working for them. They are not getting better. Allopathic clinics and some hospitals are coming around by using alternative treatments as “complimentary to” traditional medicine. They don’t like to think that it could stand alone on its own merit. But these days more and more people are putting that biased idea aside and giving alternative medicine a chance. This will eventually cause a turning of the tide, and Alternatives to Medicine will become a well known, equally respected and effective system of care.

Are You at Ease with Your Dis - ease?

A disease is a bad case of “dis-ease,” which means something inside of us is not “at ease. Homeostasis[2] is the word that defines our natural state of being, which generally means being “at ease.” So, the continual and frequent lack of ease (or being stressed all day long) will eventually lead to a weakening and a breaking-down of one thing or another in the body/mind/spirit, which shows up at first as symptoms, (maybe discomfort irritation or pain), and then if not given attention, it shows up as an illness.

So if a symptom begins to show up often… pay attention because a symptom’s job is to bother you till it gets your attention. Some symptoms are easy to trace to the cause and others are more obscure. The more progressed the symptom(s), the more obscure the cause. An Alternative to Medicine is a practical and permanent means of healing a symptom when it appears.

Because, if you choose an alternative for treatment before the symptom gets complex, it is precisely the time when it will be most effective. So, in the long run it’s a matter of choice between having endless symptoms coming and going, and ending up treating for a disease, or realizing that healing the cause is 9 times out of 10, a much better choice.

It is not my intention to discredit Conventional Medicine. Rather, my intention is to bring light to alternative medicine and the misconceptions people have because of the strong cultural belief in the medical model and the marketing of pharmaceutical drugs.

So, to further understand why there is a currently emerging pattern that medicine is not serving peoples’ needs… Please see this short article called, Why Conventional Doctors Think the Way They Do, by Benjamin Walker, click here.

Coming Part 2

The Down-to-Earth Value of Alternative Medicine

What we need to know to get the most from it.

[1] mod-al-ity: noun

a particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed. • a particular method orprocedure: traditional modalities of representing time and space.

[2] homeostasis - ho·me·o·sta·sis - noun

the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes.