Nouns vs Verbs

Naturopathic medicine is very action oriented. We think in terms of verbs where most of the world thinks nouns. The body is a process, not a thing! Good health and poor health are simply descriptions of the process. Where mainstream thought says that you have cancer, diabetes or a cold, I would say you are diabetes-ing, cancer-ing, or cold-ing. Where mainstream medicine gives you a medicine to defeat the disease-entity, I give you a new process to engage in. The process of healing is actually a change in behavior, thought and belief combined with access to new resources.

Most of our chronic illnesses do not fit well with the medical war approach, since there is rarely an invading entity to focus your weapons on. Even in the case of microbial infections and parasitic infestations, there is something about an individual’s life process that leaves them susceptible since in any given population it is rare for everyone to get sick despite exposure to the agent of the disease.  If you desire to be in good health, you must begin acting in good health. It really is that simple.

When we give a body the resources it needs to make the internal environment more hospitable, more livable, it heals. When we give the person what s/he needs to engage in a process promoting good health, that person is healthy. When we remove the obstacles to good health, it returns. Until this step is taken, any relief from symptoms or improvement in lab results is temporary at best. Good health is the goal here and where it is absent, learning is required.