Complementary Therapies

A Complementary or Alternative Therapy/Modality is any form of medicine that remains outside the realm of conventional modern medicine. It does not replace traditional medicine although it can if one so chooses. Practitioners of these therapies do not suggest giving up your medical doctor but rather working side by side to improve your health. Instead of treating symptoms, complementary/alternative medicine helps you understand what is causing your illness or ailment.

Without knowing this, it can reoccur.

Complementary therapies treat the individual and look at a person as a whole, not segmented into parts. Complementary practitioners take into account all dimensions of a person - emotional, spiritual, and mental as well as the physical. Individuals may require different remedies for the same ailment while conventional medicine often sees only the similarities and treats everyone the same.

Complementary practitioners view symptoms as signs your body is working to heal itself. A fever, for example, is a sign that your body is working to heal itself, as the raised temperature kills germs. Rather than eliminating symptoms, complementary practitioners use mostly gentle therapies to build the body's natural defenses and healing power.

One of the advantages of alternative medicine is that it offers the individual a wide variety of health therapy options. These therapies for the most part can be divided into bodywork such as Aromatherapy or Reflexology, energy based work such as Reiki or Polarity Therapy and holistic modalities such as Nutrition, Herbal or Homeopathy although there is some overlap.

A desire to maintain good health, prevent dis-ease, to encourage the body's healing mechanisms, regain health once it has been lost and to restore strength and health following a surgery, are all reasons why a person would choose complementary/alternative medicine. Illness can be as minor as a headache, a lack of energy, or a few hours of indigestion.

As we get older, we develop ailments such as PMS, migraines, constipation, chronic lower back pain, frequent colds, allergies, blood pressure abnormalities, a number of symptoms related to stress, and more. Blocked emotions are one of the main causes of most physical ailments. The root of many illnesses lies not in stress, but in our reactions to stressful situations. Our bodies may require help especially if they have been overloaded and/or compromised for a long time. The help can come from the modality that is the most appropriate.

Choosing the road to health can heal you in all aspects of yourself so that you become a whole person, which is the highest level of health we can attain. Starting now will reduce the occurrence of ailments, or reverse ones you already have. Each person is unique and takes the journey in his or her own way. The journey in itself is active and exciting.