Natural therapy is the treatment method used by advocates of natural health, which is a form of alternative medicine. Natural health is an eclectic self-care system of natural therapies concerned with building and restoring health and wellness by working with the natural recuperative powers of the human body. ... Alternative medicine broadly describes methods and practices used in place of, or in addition to, conventional medical treatments. ...

One method of defining a natural therapy from the seven ideologies of natural health has five criteria. Natural health is an eclectic self-care system of natural therapies concerned with building and restoring health and wellness by working with the natural recuperative powers of the human body. ...

1. Its mode of action exists in the physical realm of existence. Includes any therapy designed to manipulate the human body alone or the mind - body connection. Considerable evidence exists to support an association between psychological states and immune function; with inflammation being one possible mode of action or mechanism. This would exclude any therapy designed to work in other worlds or dimensions that are invisible to our normal senses (such as trying to manipulate spiritual, karmic, or ancestral forces and personal auras or energy flows around the human body).
2. The therapy can be physically measured or detected. The therapy must be visible to our normal senses. The therapy can be either about engaging in more, reducing participating in, or avoiding entirely specific activities or lifestyles.
3. The therapy is targeted either at health, illness, and/or healing. The therapy must either promote personal health or treat/manage a specific health condition. What might be effective for treating a specific health condition, might not be recommended for promoting general health.
4. The therapy is slow acting, simple and inexpensive. Natural therapies are slow acting because they rely on the body's innate healing abilities. The first choice for treating any health condition is always the simplest, safest, and least expensive method available. Unhealthy diets and lifestyles are corrected, first, before any nutritional supplements and herbs are taken to enhance the healing process.
5. The therapy is under the control of the individual. The therapy has to target some aspect of lifestyle that is a matter of personal choice and, thus, can be changed by that individual.

Sample Natural Therapies

• Lifestyles
  • Going for an evening walk in the fresh air and sunshine.
  • STOP Smoking
    • Science has shown over and over again that smoking is a risk factor for most degenerative diseases.
• Eating natural whole foods
• Nutritional supplements
  • Research on the value of nutritional supplements for treating / managing specific health conditions has been generally favorable, depending on the specific supplement used and the specific health condition treated.
    • Specific supplements are effective only for certain health conditions.
• Physical exercise
  • Exercise therapy has been proven by science over and over again to reduce the risk of getting most lifestyle diseases.
• Stress management
  • Getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night.
  • Taking yoga lessons.
  • Practicing counting meditation.

See also: Alternative medicine, Bates Method, Dietary supplement, Exercise, Lifestyle, Lifestyle diseases, Stress management, Meditation, Natural Health, Natural medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Nutrition, Wellness, Yoga. This article or section should be merged with Degenerative_disease. ... The word exercise can mean the following: A setting in action or practicing. ... Lifestyle diseases (also called diseases of longevity or diseases of civilization) are diseases that appear to increase in frequency as countries become more industrialized and people live longer. ... Hatha Yoga posture Yoga is a form of mysticism that developed on the Indian subcontinent in the Hindu cultural context. ... Meditation usually refers to a state in which the body is consciously relaxed and the mind is allowed to become calm and focused. ... Alternative medicine broadly describes methods and practices used in place of, or in addition to, conventional medical treatments. ... The Bates Method is a controversial system of techniques that is intended to improve vision through a set of practices that are claimed to relax the eyes. ... In the United States, a dietary supplement is defined under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 as a product taken by the mouth that contains a dietary ingredient that is intended as a supplement to the diet. ... The word exercise can mean the following: A setting in action or practicing. ... Lifestyle diseases (also called diseases of longevity or diseases of civilization) are diseases that appear to increase in frequency as countries become more industrialized and people live longer. ... A cluttered environment with too many tasks can lead to stress. ... Meditation usually refers to a state in which the body is consciously relaxed and the mind is allowed to become calm and focused. ... Natural health is an eclectic self-care system of natural therapies concerned with building and restoring health and wellness by working with the natural recuperative powers of the human body. ... -1... Naturopathic medicine is the practice of assisting in the health of patients through the application of natural remedies. ... Nutrition is interpreted as the study of the organic process by which an organism assimilates and uses food and liquids for normal functioning, growth and maintenance and to maintain the balance between health and disease. ... Wellness has been used in the context of alternative medicine since Halbert Dunn began using the phrase high level wellness in the fifties, based on a series of lectures at a Unitarian Universalist Church in Arlington, Virginia, in the United States. ... Hatha Yoga posture Yoga is a form of mysticism that developed on the Indian subcontinent in the Hindu cultural context. ...

External links

• Personal Health Tutorials
• Prevention and Healthy Lifestyles