Curing vs Healing - The Changing of a Paradigm

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Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Curing vs Healing-The Changing of a Paradigm

So what in the world is a paradigm? It is simply a way of looking at things. For example, what do you see in the picture to the right? A beautiful young lady or an old woman in a shawl? Both are there. You may have to look very closely or change some pre-conceived ideas in order to see both ladies. It is a fact of life that our conditioning influences the way we perceive things.
       Although you may think this has nothing to do with herbs-it does. We have been raised in a culture that has been trained to accept Western Medicine as the only way to deal with one's health. If you look at history, however, Western Medicine is a relatively modern phenomenon. Admittedly, technological advances have saved many lives when it comes to dealing with trauma situations. However, in chronic or degenerative conditions drugs and surgery do nothing to correct the dysfunction of the body which originally caused the problem.
           Louis Pasteur originated the idea that disease was an invasion from outside the body. Toward the end of his life, however, he announced that he now believed that we build disease from within by the things we ingest and our lifestyle. This is demonstrated by he fact that two people can be exposed to the same pathogen and only one succumb to it. Why is this? One has an internal environment to incubate disease and the other has a stronger immune system that is able to overcome it. Pasteur's original idea continues to permeate modern medicine.   As a result there is an endless quest for "the cure" to disease, when instead we should be looking for healing to come from within the body. The body is able to heal when it is provided with adequate nutrition, waste is carried away, and there is proper nerve function.
            The next time you hear that there is no cure for a disease--don't underestimate the body's innate ability to heal itself given the proper support. Herbs are foods given to us by the Creator to nourish our bodies so they can heal. In times past these foods were eaten as a regular part of the diet. In these hectic days of fast food and TV dinners these foods do not please our palates anymore and have become viewed as medicines. They are not "natural medicines" to treat diseases. Rest assured they are still high quality foods even though they come in gelatin capsules or tablets. Best of health to you - Denise Norbut - The Herb Cottage, Lake Elsinore, CA