There has been quite an uptick this month in people signing up for homeopathy. Great! I just thought I’d take this opportunity to go over some things about homeopathy that you might not know, and might be quite useful to know if you are just starting on the homeopathic process, or are considering it.
Most people know that it’s about taking a super diluted substance, in most instances diluted beyond the point at which material amounts of the original substance remain. So far, so homeopathic. It is, I have noticed, quite hard to get out of the allopathic mindset (allopathic being the word used by naturopaths, homeopaths and the like to refer to conventional western medicine).
The first thing that it’s worth pointing out is that it is not the remedy that does the “fixing” – it’s you, your "vital force", your mind-body. The remedy just stimulates the vital force into action. To my mind, homeopathic remedies are like little “whispers” to the vital force…"hey body and mind, listen up, perhaps this is what’s going on right now, this is what needs fixing, let’s get to it…"
The second is that these are not miracle pills. There is often not an overnight cure. Homeopathy can be dramatic at times, but more often you have to have repeated exposure to a remedy, or to return to certain remedies time and again, to begin to be on the path to recovery. Sometimes inherited traits (or miasms) get in the way and need to be cleared. This is why I do prefer it if clients keep coming back for several months, not just a one off consultation.
In continuation of this theme of the “magic pill” i.e. that it doesn’t exist, we also need to consider the differences between classic homeopathic prescribing, and a more modern approach, known as the layers method.
In an ideal world, we would look at the whole person, and prescribe a remedy to deal with all their ills in one go. This was likely quite possible in Hahnemann’s day and age (Samuel Hahnemann, originator of homeopathy, 1755-1843, before routine vaccination, medication, poor diet, and the general soup of toxins both physical and emotional that we all live in right now. This is classic homeopathic constitutional prescribing.
For example, a person who is home-loving, loves nothing more than a night in front of the TV with loved ones and a selection of their favourite snacks, is perhaps a bit overweight, is struggling with high blood pressure, joint issues including recurrent sprained ankles, has dark shadows under the eyes, is classic calc carb. I would prescribe calc carb as a constitutional remedy in this case, it is screaming out for it.
However, in this modern world, we find ourselves more and more having to uncover health in layers, much like geological strata of rock. The layers method originator was Francisco Eizayaga, from Argentina. These days you might get a patient who you suspect has a sulphur constitution, but who has been prescribed medication for gout or for high blood pressure, and as a result of that has developed constipation and a bad case of haemorrhoids, as well as exceptionally painful cramping in the lower part of the bowel.
The haemorrhoids are so painful that we must deal with them first – the patient is in so much pain they cannot go about their day to day life. The piles were also the last thing to develop on a timeline. So we prescribe only those remedies which are indicated for haemorrhoids. There isn’t so much a “protocol” for this, but there are certain remedies that we would also consider for haemorrhoids, the classic combination of aesculus hipp (horse chestnut), hamamelis (witch hazel) and peonia (peony) being one of them.
The person starts to feel relief from the haemorrhoids, we can begin to look at the excessively painful and debilitating cramping in the rectum. There are lots and lots of cramping remedies. You choose, you administer, hopefully the cramping starts to abate, and then, but only then, do you deal with the high blood pressure. This is a layers method approach, dealing with each of the complaints in turn, and digging backwards in time as you do so. Modern life, unfortunately, seems to demand it.
Homeopathy was the key to setting myself back on the path to health when I was suffering from chronic fatigue about a decade ago. I too needed some inherited traits clearing, and repeated exposure to certain key remedies, before I started to feel better. I've never slipped back into those miserable 2 years of chronic fatigue ever since.
If you are interested in homeopathy then please do book a discovery call so we can discuss how it might be able to help you.
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