Healing with homeopathy

What is Homeopathy?

Homeopathy is a mode of complementary medicine that draws on nature to heal a person, tackling the root cause of a health issue. It does this by using highly diluted natural substances to support the body in heal itself.

How popular is homeopathy?

Homeopathy is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the second largest therapeutic system in use in the world.

Over thirty million people in Europe use homeopathic remedies and millions of others around the world. It is especially popular in India and South America.

Is Homeopathy safe?

Yes, homeopathy is gentle, safe and effective, there are very few, or no, side effects. Because the remedy and dose is tailored to you and because of the highly diluted pharmacy process of the prescriptions.

Did you know homeopathy has been in worldwide use for over 200 years?

The pioneer of modern homeopathy, a German doctor called Samuel Hahnemann, insisted that testing should be at the core of medical remedies. He was the pioneer of ‘double-blind’ trials used by conventional medicine today.

Homeopathy pioneered ‘double-blind’ trials used in medicine today

Homeopathy is a highly regulated practice, with practitioners having to train for 4 years and is available on the NHS.

Over the years it has grown in popularity in the UK and, like many things today, there are strongly divided opinions around its efficacy with plenty of negative press. It is hard to understand why, when it has such a wonderful track record; people go to homeopaths because of referrals, not because of big advertising and marketing campaigns.

Just because we do not fully understand something, we should not be so quick to judge it. It was not so long ago we all believed the world was flat. Is it that hard to believe in this day and age that there is more to life than just the Newtonian model of molecules and physical matter?

Quantum physics, for example has, and continues to, challenge and change conventional thinking about how we think of our world and energy behaviour. Energy drives everything in nature – molecules are held together by it; the universe is full of it; homeopathy works with it.

How does Homeopathy work?

Homeopathy is based on three fundamental principles:

1. Like cures like

The first principle of ‘like cures like’ dates back to Hippocrates and can be looked at in several ways.

One way is to assume that the body knows what it is doing, nature knows how to survive and will do its best to ensure the survival of the organism.

Symptoms are the body’s way of taking action to overcome illness. Some ‘thing’ has disturbed the body, it could be a virus, or continued stress levels at work, or being caught out in cold rain.

The body produces symptoms; this is its defence against illness; nature’s way of shaking the illness off. This healing response is automatic in living organisms; we term it the vital response. The similar medicine acts as a stimulus to the natural vital response, giving it the information, it needs to complete its healing work – ‘like cures like’.

A crude example may help to explain this. If your hand is cold and you want to warm it up, you can either plunge it in hot water (opposite) or into icy water (similar). By making the hand colder you stimulate the internal vital response to naturally heat the hand.

The principle of ‘like cures like’ works in small does; in large doses, ‘like increases like’. Homeopathy always operates at the micro level, using highly diluted remedies.

2. Single remedy

No matter how many symptoms are experienced, only one remedy is taken, and that remedy is aimed at all of the symptoms. For example, there is no such thing as a standard homeopathic flu remedy.

The remedy you take has to match your particular flu – where it occurs, what brings it on, what type of pain it is, what aggravates it, what makes it feel better, your state of mind and other symptoms you experience.

Everyone is unique; everyone experiences disease differently. Homeopathy asks ‘why do you have the flu?’; ‘how is it individualised in you?’; and ‘what is it an expression of?’ and then looks to treat this.

Just stopping flu symptoms with orthodox medicine is like putting tape over a warning light without getting to the source of the problem.

3. The minimum dose

Only enough is administered to initiate the healing process, which then carries on, driven by its own internal healing mission. Homeopathic medicines given in minimum doses stimulate the body’s vital response and do not produce the gross side effects that are so often the pitfall of conventional treatment.

Homeopathy works on all levels – physical, mental and emotional. It treats all the issues as one, it addresses the cause, not the symptoms. Homeopathy does not have treatments for diseases, it has remedies for people with diseases. It takes into account the whole person and their situation.

Prescribing the right homeopathic remedy takes a little more time and patience than conventional medicine. It often is a highly rewarding process – healing in itself. Just taking the time to talk about what is troubling you, and to hear yourself say it, shifts things and being truly listened to is often a rare occurrence in our busy lives.

Why is homeopathy so popular?

Homeopathy is a system of natural health care that there are number of reasons behind homeopathy’s remedies:

• Homeopathic treatment works with your body’s own healing powers to bring about health and well being.
• You are treated as an individual, not as a collection of disease labels.
• Homeopathy treats all your symptoms at all levels of your being – spiritual, emotional, mental and physical and finds the ‘like cures like’ match for them.
• Homoeopathically prepared remedies, providing the minimum dose, are gentle, subtle and powerful. They are non-addictive, and not tested on animals.

Most people come across homeopathy through a personal recommendation of someone who has experienced a positive outcome. If you have an ailment that is not responding to treatments, you can try a homeopathic approach and judge for yourself.

This guest article is written by Mani Norland

For more information on homeopathy, contact the School of Homeopathy

About Mani Norland, BA (Hons), DSH, PCH, RSHom
Mani is Principal of the School of Homeopathy and the School of Health. He has over 20 years of experience and has studied with many leading homeopaths including Jan Scholten, Dr Massimo Mangialavori, Dr Shachindra Joshi and Dr Rajan Sankaran. Mani is a founding member and vice chair of the 4Homeopathy, stands on the Events Panel for the Society of Homeopaths and is on the organising committee for Homeopathic Research Institute. He has lectured on homeopathy across the world, including the UK, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Israel, Serbia, Australia, America, Canada, Greece and South Africa.