Harnessing the Healing Power of Nature with Naturopathic Medicine
Is there hope for me? Where can I turn for help? Will I ever get better?
Sometimes feeling good seems out of reach. Mounting health problems or chronic illness can wear us down, sapping us of hope that we’ll ever be strong again.
But your body has an incredible ability to renew itself. The very symptoms that make you feel bad are signals that your natural healing process is at work. By tapping into this innate intelligence, we can achieve deeper healing than we ever imagined.
Harnessing the body’s natural healing power lies at the heart of naturopathic medicine. Our physicians at Portland’s natural health clinic Heart Spring Health work collaboratively to remove the obstacles to natural healing so your body can return to its optimal state. If you’re ready to take control of your health and find deep, long-term healing, we can help you navigate the overwhelming tide of conflicting information about natural medicine.
What Causes Disease?
Health is our natural state of being—and it requires certain conditions. What we do, what we think, and how we feel all play a role in determining our health. Causes of dis-ease can manifest in all four aspects of our being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
- Physical: Our health is affected by what we eat, how much exercise (and rest) we get, what environmental conditions we’re exposed to, physical trauma, genetics, influences while we’re in the womb, and past illness and medical interventions.
- Mental: Thought patterns, stress levels, and mental health disorders have a significant bearing on our health.
- Emotional: Distress, emotional trauma, and difficulty coping affect our health.
- Spiritual: Our health can suffer if our lives lack meaning, a sense of purpose, or connection to something larger than ourselves.
All of these aspects are intertwined; what happens to one affects the others. By modifying the factors within our control, we can support our own natural ability to heal on all levels.
Understanding the Body’s Healing Process
When outside factors disrupt our health, the body works to bring itself back into balance. In some cases, the symptoms we experience are acute illness and simply byproducts of this process. Here’s an example of how it works:
- Disturbing factors disrupt the body’s normal function.
- The body reacts with defense mechanisms such as fever or inflammation.
- The dis-ease is resolved.
- Remnants of the process are discharged from the body.
While it’s important to prevent symptoms from getting worse, suppressing them only weakens the body’s ability to heal itself. If that’s all we do over and over again, and the underlying problem continues to resurface, chronic disease sets in—or the suppression drives it to develop into a more serious issue.
If symptoms are experienced chronically this is a sign the body is not as efficient as it should be and function has been compromised. The body needs extra support from natural therapies to complete the healing cycle return to health.
How Naturopathic Medicine Works
When we remove the obstacles to wellness, healing has an opportunity to happen naturally. Naturopathic medicine illuminates the factors that undermine our health while bringing awareness to the ways in which the body is stuck in destructive patterns.
Sometimes pharmaceutical intervention—or even surgery—is necessary. But often, people skip straight to these treatments without creating a solid foundation for healing first.
When developing a treatment plan, our naturopathic physicians prioritize therapies that:
- Remove the obstacles to healing
- Stimulate the body’s natural healing process
- Support weakened physiological systems
- Correct the body’s structural integrity
- Use natural medicine to address the specific disease
Our naturopathic physicians and collaborative team can guide you toward wholeness with natural therapies that support, rather than suppress, the body’s healing process. We can also help you identify lifestyle choices that help nurture the right conditions for optimal health. Within our natural medicine clinic, you’ll find the tools your body needs to accelerate healing and reach a state of balance.
Beginning Your Healing Journey
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t worry. To get started, all you need to do is bring your questions and concerns to one of our naturopaths at Heart Spring Health in Portland. From there, we can work together to determine a course of healing that’s right for you.
What is my role in the healing process? Naturopathic medicine is about taking control of your own health. Your physician will serve as a guide and healing partner, but some of the work is up to you. You can support your naturopath’s efforts by making choices and lifestyle changes that remove the obstacles to healing and help bolster your body’s ability to restore itself.
Will I feel better right away? Healing involves a discharge period during which you may feel worse as the body expels the byproducts of dis-ease. This may be a sign that natural medicine is working; be sure to tell your naturopathic physician so they can help you determine if this is true or not and what the next steps should be! It may be tempting to speed up the process with pharmaceutical treatment; sometimes this is appropriate but this may also end up setting you back. By staying engaged in natural healing and connecting regularly with your naturopathic physician, you’ll ultimately achieve deeper and more lasting results.
How long will it take to restore my health? Healing happens differently for everyone, and working with your body’s natural process takes time. Your naturopath can offer supportive treatments that help boost your energy and provide safe short-term relief as you work together toward long-term wellness.
Healing is a journey. The first step is simply getting on the path. The second through 10,000th step is returning to the path. Our natural medicine physicians will help you every step of the way as you progress toward greater joy, energy, and peace in your life.
To begin your healing journey, contact our naturopathic clinic today.