We are becoming acutely aware that an effective non-toxic, deep-acting method of healing is becoming a necessity.
Sometimes having a healthy lifestyle and a good diet might still fall short when facing drug-resistant bacterias, viruses, vaccines and other pressures of modern life.
But nature offers us all we need if we only know how to use it.
Is homeopathy used in the same way as a tincture, a herb, a supplement or even a pill?
Being in the natural medicine sector for over a decade now, I see confusion about people’s understanding of how to use homeopathy.
Homeopathy is a very famous natural method of healing because of its quick effectiveness in acute pains and non-addictive deep long-lasting effects in chronic conditions.
Many people get very excited when they see how fast and effective Homeopathy is at relieving fever or teething pain in children. But are confused when they notice that when they take it for their migraine it doesn’t work or only helps the migraine temporarily.
To better understand how to use homeopathy we first need to understand 3 things:
1.What are we trying to achieve and what is health?
2.What is a symptom?
3.How is homeopathy different from other methods?
- Health
Health is a state of freedom from physical pain, emotional and mental disturbances allowing us to freely manifest our full potential.
When we endeavour to achieve health we are not trying to temporarily get rid of the pain but instead, we are trying to bring all the layers that define our quality of life into balance.
If we have physical pains or psychological disturbances, we wont to be able to express our potential. Homeopathy’s main goal is to harmoniously align the body, emotions and mind therefore the person can be the best version of themselves.
2. Symptoms: A problem or a message for a solution
In homeopathy, symptoms are the body’s attempt to stabilize the system and maintain harmony with the least amount of disturbance possible.
Simply stopping the symptoms from manifesting is not the same as curing the disease.
Ideally, when the system is appropriately stabilized and the body’s natural defence system is enhanced, the body will no longer need to manifest symptoms.
On its own, the body cannot always do this, sometimes in long-term or inherited conditions, the best the body can do is maintain a semi balance by manifesting symptoms in the relatively less important parts of the body. This state is what we call chronic disease and it can not resolve itself without assistance.
The weaker the body’s defence system becomes the more serious the symptom becomes.
Homeopathy is not focused solely on the eradication of the symptom but it is focused in working with and enhancing the body’s natural defence. It must be specifically tailored to the current condition of each individual person.
What we see as one type of symptom for examples like a headache or stomach ache, in homeopathy will have about 100 different medicines for each of these conditions. We do not prescribe for this symptom but instead for its root cause and for the specific type of imbalance in the body.
3.How homeopathy is different from other methods?
The easiest way to present this is to compare it with herbology.
Homeopathy versus Herbology
| What are remedies made from?
Homeopathic medicines – known as “remedies” – are made from natural sources (e.g., plants, minerals), they are environmentally friendly and safe. The starting material is diluted to a degree where there are generally no molecules of the raw material present and potentized through a process of succession. The result is that there are electromagnetic signals of the original medicine remaining in the water that has dramatic biological effects. As noted by virologist and Nobel laureate, Luc Montaigne. |
What are remedies made from?
Herbs are used as raw materials in the form of (e.g., tinctures, extracts). They have a mixture of different chemical compounds obtained from the plant. |
| How are products selected?
Homeopathic practitioners will prescribe a remedy after a thorough examination. They consider several aspects such as your symptoms, overall medical history, your personality traits and life history. This will lead to the prescription of one single remedy. |
How are products selected?
Herbal products are used in a similar way to allopathic medicine, where herbal products are selected based on symptoms. They are often used to restore, correct or modify a physiological function. |
| How does the dose affect the efficacy of the product?
The greater the dilution of a remedy the more effective and potent it becomes. In fact in homeopathy, less is more. Potencies are prescribed for the current stage of the patient, sometimes only a single dose might be enough for 3 to 8 months or more. Homeopathic remedies should be taken one remedy at a time. |
How does the dose affect the efficacy of the product?
In herbs increasing the dose will increase its effect while simultaneously also increasing the risk of unwanted side effects. Combinations of herbs can be taken together with 10 or more concurrently usually for a longer period of time. |
Homeopathic remedies are completely different from herbal remedies, supplements or pills.
They have a much more subtle and deeper acting capacity that can work on the physical, emotional and mental levels.
They can unblock emotional blockages, help the person’s emotional resilience and their capacity to deal with trauma or stress etc.
Therefore the methods of how we will use them are also radically different.
Because it has a deeper acting capacity and acts in a much more sophisticated way the methods of how we use them are also more elaborate. It should not be automatically used to suppress symptoms like conventional methods.
The effects of commercially available plant extracts
When a plant is prepared as a herbal tincture or supplement, generally speaking, it will only have biochemical effects.
Herbs are excellent support for our health and can be used instead of synthetic substances when possible.
But when this same plant is diluted and goes through the process of succussion it becomes a homeopathic remedy and will have a much deeper range of action.
Once it becomes a homeopathic remedy a plant or mineral will have very different effects than its purely biochemical raw source.
For example, the very known plant berberis, which is traditionally used for UTI
In homeopathy this same remedy can be used for UTI, (among others) but when diluted develops a wider range of healing capacity.
It will have a deeper reaching capacity in the body. Influencing especially the kidneys, the liver as well as being able to aid gout, dizziness and gallstone pains.
Another example that might bring to light how different homeopathy is from other types of natural treatments like herbology is ….
Table salt… you heard me correctly Yes good old fashion table salt.
Table salt can be also transformed into a frequently used powerful homeopathic remedy for addressing grief.
We all know that we can potentially eat large amounts of salt but not experience any healing properties. The only thing we might experience is a dry mouth, extreme thirst and digestive problems.
But once table salt is transformed into a homeopathic remedy it can be used to address migraine, seasonal allergies and deep long-lasting grief.
Many people who were unable to move on and in deep grief for years for example because of the loss of a loved one, after receiving this remedy started to feel the internal strength and capacity to step out of their grief.
Consider this:
Homeopathy in some ways is significantly different from most natural treatments. Homeopathy is based on the law that “like cures like”. This is opposite to the idea that if you have a cooler constitution you would take herbs that have a warming effect.
Contrary to other supplements and medicines a lower dose of a prescribed homeopathic remedy is more powerful than a higher dose.
The more diluted the substance is the more powerful it becomes.
This same philosophy adheres to frequency. This might be counter-intuitive and hard to grasp as we have been trained for years to the habit of daily intake of medication and herbs.
In homeopathy, we might need only to take one dose of a remedy every month or two.
In fact, if we take more of a remedy when it is not necessary we will slow down the recuperation instead of speeding it up.
Therefore with a better understanding of homeopathy, we see that because of its differences it can not be used in the same way as a herb or a pill.
My hope is to convey with this article, the understanding of homeopathy and its effect.
There is “no one pill for one disease”. Therefore going to the pharmacy and buying one remedy for a chronic issue like a migraine is not recommended. This will just suppress the symptom, preventing the body’s defence to maintain its optimal semi balance, which is trying to protect the body’s most vital parts.
With some training homeopathic remedies can effectively be used as first aid in emergencies and in acute (short-lasting) states like fever, inflammation etc.
On the other hand, finding the root of a chronic condition is much more complex and needs extensive training.
Using homeopathy changes our frame of understanding of what symptoms are and what we are actually trying to achieve.
We are not just suppressing symptoms but helping the body to regain a better state of balance and long-lasting health.
There needs to be a deeper understanding of how to use homeopathy. One should not jump to narrow guidelines about remedies and potencies for different conditions without having a thorough understanding of the logic behind homeopathy.
In classical homeopathy, we take the definition of health very seriously. We are not satisfied if symptoms that the patient has subsides. We are interested in overall health, therefore the person’s energy level, mood, motivation etc. are equally as important.
The elevation of every aspect of their quality of life is our goal.