Naturopathy

This system of treatment can be said to be as old as Mother Nature itself. It has always been accepted that men can get rid of diseases with the help of those elements in nature that pervade all around us. These elements give us life and sustain it. It is because of imbalances of these elements that we fall sick. The age old system of naturopathy does not depend on medicines for making one free of diseases. Stress is laid on exercise, rest, cleanliness, fast, dietary control, and judicious use of water, air, light and earth. Naturopathy is only a natural and simple way to health and long life without any cumbersome controls that are inflicted on the patients by other therapies.

The greatest son of India in modern times, Mahatma Gandhi, was a devoted votary of naturopathy. He has written in his autobiography,” I 1901 though I did not take a lot of allopathic medicines, but occasionally I have to take some medicines. For example, I took fruit salt for constipation. Later on, the late Pran Jivan Mehta induced me take some medicines for my general weakness. This gave me an opportunity to read a lot about modern medical practices. I gained a lot of experience about modern medicines during the course of service in the hospital of Natal. It was for these reasons that I meekly surrender to these medicines for a considerably long time. But, it did not help me. A headache and the feeling of being sick did not leave me. 

My body felt listless and constipation did not show any sign of improvement. My distaste for medicines and distrust for the medical system took roots at that time. I started to lay emphasis on dietary control and found that it was improving matters. My faith in naturopathy started getting strengthened. A friend gave me a lot of literature regarding naturopathy. I had already experienced that long walks in the morning were proving to be very beneficial. I was feeling healthy and my headache was improving. I did not fall sick and everything was proceeding smoothly. Just then, Shri Pollock gave me the book ‘Return to Nature’ by Shri just, who was a naturopath. The interesting thing was that Shri Pollock himself did not follow the advice of Just. 

He presented me the book as he felt that I would like it. Pollock was only keeping control on his diet as advised by Just. I became a devotee of natural cure after that. Later on, my second son had a relapse of pneumonia and had a high fever. The fever had even affected his brain. The doctors prescribed a long drawn treatment for him. But, I did not pay any attention to it. I started his treatment by hydropathy. I wrapped him up in a wet sheet when the temperature went high. His fever left in six or seven days. I gave him only water to take. Also, I gave him orange juice when he felt hungry. He recovered from pneumonia but was laid down for 42 days with typhoid. But, I continued the same treatment. Yes, for strength, I gave him milk. Every day, I sponged his body with a wet cloth. Finally, he fully recovered and is now the healthiest and strongest amongst my children.”

The Roman civilization in ancient times had a strange custom. The child was kept in the open soon enough to live. Though, this practice was no doubt barbaric, the people of Rome wanted to improve the natural resistance of their children. There has been a custom in India, for hundreds of years, and is still prevalent in the villages of northern India. The new born child is given a bath in Ganges. Perhaps, the basic idea behind these customs was to test if the child was strong enough to face life. 

Nature cure ads been part of all civilizations in one form or the other. In all times and in all parts of the world, the learned people have emphasized the importance and necessity of fresh air, sun-bath, bath, fast and control over food habits. Evidence regarding use of these natural methods to eradicate diseases has been unearthed in the ruins Mohenjo-Daro, Rome, Mesopotamia and Babylonia. You must be aware that these places were seats of ancient human civilizations. There were public baths during Mughal rule in India. They were known as hamams. Russia, China, and Britain also had the tradition of public baths.

The beginning of organized naturopathy may be a new thing, but it has always been part of our lives from times immemorial. Even 500 years before Christ, the properties of substances provided by nature had been praised in Vedic books. In all religious ceremonies, the importance of the five elements- earth, water, air, fire and sky is emphasized.

Most of the people agree that many diseases of the body can be cured without any medication. A few examples will suffice. Stomach ailments can be set right by fast, sprains, pains, and pulled muscles are set right by warm for mentation. Many chronic diseases have been controlled by change weather. Some people easily fall sick in one city but feel better in other places. All these things indicate the influence of our faith in nature cure in our everyday life.

The craze so treats oneself without the use of medicines and with the aid of weather, water, sunlight and control over dietary habits started in the seventeenth century in Germany. From there this wave for nature cure first encompassed Europe and then spread throughout the world. Naturopathy was popularized in Germany by Father Kuhne, Father Nieppe, Bilz, Ehret, plantan, Stroth, presneitz, and Reichmann, Lindelhar, Kellogg, and Hobb played an important part in popularizing this new method of treatment in America. 

Lindelhar invented many appliances and presneitz advocated the use of water from natural springs apart from exercise and residence in hilly areas. Lindelhar tried to devise a new system with the use of other therapies with naturopathy. Nowadays, naturopathy has become so popular that one can find physicians in most of the cities and hospitals who would advise the patient to try naturopathy.