Against the Grain: What I Am About

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I personally promote, and try to live by, the motto of "helping others learn to help themselves."

It is my belief we should all strive to heal ourselves holistically (emotionally, physically, and spiritually) before resorting to the allopathic mindset which compromises the miraculous design and system of our bodies.

I also passionately advocate the healing of the mind … of starting within ourselves to begin the journey towards REAL health … of living simpler lifestyles … of sustainable building techniques and living ... of being better stewards with our money … of giving back/tithing … and of re-learning to be more self-sufficient in this chaotic world.

And most of these convictions are, unfortunately, against the grain.

But I shall try to keep this blog focused upon health and medical issues ... since that is the passion I know MOST about.

Where to start? Let's see .....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are two basic medical models to choose from in our Western (modern) civilization.  The first is allopathic, or conventional, medicine. This is the medical model that is taught in prestigious medical schools with doctors emerging somewhat as medical gods, and this model basically sees the world in this way:

1.  This model focuses on disease ... rather than health.

2.  Therefore, conventional medicine is intent on cure ... rather than prevention.

3.  It believes doctors know best, and patients should humbly accept their word. 

4.  For so-called immediate "cures" it offers, primarily, drugs and surgery in abundance.

5.  It believes the body can be divided into parts, and these parts can be treated separately.

^^ (The above is a natural result of the belief that the body can be studied in individual pieces that have no relationship to each other.) ^^

6.  Practitioners of this medicine truly believe they "cure" the sick ... if a "cure" is what appears to have occurred.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other hand, the second model ... holistic medicine ... is the complete opposite of the above model in almost every respect.

1. First, holistic medicine sees the human body as an integrative whole, and does NOT believe that focusing on any one organ or piece or system will provide a cure for anything.

^^ (In fact, within this view, it is impossible to affect one part of the body without affecting every cell in the body.  This is the origin of the healing term of  (w)holistic.) ^^

2. The focus of holistic healing is on prevention ... rather than cure.

3. In the event a cure is needed, the methods for doing so are natural, painless and non-invasive.  The holistic practitioner uses gentle methods such as nutrition, herbs, rest, calming of the mind, visualization, massage, sunlight, sound and all other forms of mind-body-soul healing.

4. Those of us who believe in holistic healing would never believe/claim we have cured anything ... instead, the emphasis is on supporting and strengthening the body so that it can heal itself.

5. The patient is considered to have an equal responsibility with the healer ... we are in this together.

6. When there is a cure, a holistic health practioners KNOWS it is because the body was allowed to heal itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There seems to be an arrogance within conventional, doctor-oriented medicine that refers almost contemptuously to us holistically-minded people as "junk scientists and quacks."  They look down upon those of us who follow alternative medical practices as somehow being misguided, negligent, and primitive.

And then there is the self-righteousness that can be seen from holistic healers as well ... some look down their noses at allopathy altogether, and even go so far as to claim all of it is pure evil.

I am not one of those.  I strive for balance in all things.

I advocate homeopathy and holistic healing, yes, but I also believe there is a definite need for conventional medicine in emergency situations.  I don't run to the doctor for every pang or sniffle, no.  I totally shun the over-usage of antibiotics which, to me, is likened to using missile launchers to eradicate fleas ... blatant overkill.  I have been quite successful in helping to treat most of our ailments at home with success ... including asthma and pneumonia; mono and strep; broken bones and severe wounds ... with holistic measures. 

But, OF COURSE, in the situation of critical importance, I recognize life-saving measures as it relates to emergency trauma and swift intervention.  

I would not be alive today if it were not for emergency protocols after being thrown from a moving vehicle, and having it flip (and land) on top of me ... suffering horrific, crushing injuries and being pronounced DOA.  Nor would my children be alive today if it weren't for surgical procedures i.e. Caesarian deliveries.  I honestly cannot tell you, using both hands, how many times I have been under the knife for major medical surgery ... all of them very necessary.

So I do not shun ALL drugs, medical procedures and surgeries.

I say:   use common sense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With that little side digression out of the way, I think it is great that ordinary people are starting to realize the hollowness of our current conventional medical system, and are starting to recognize the real power behind such silly notions as herbs, holistic healing, homeopathy, meditation, non-GMOs, nutrition, organics, self-sustainability, etc

In my opinion, the current medical establishment -in its general entirety- is all about greed, greed, greed ... and the control that has been exerted by the allopathic establishment (along with all the recent "health care" headaches) is weakening every single day, and more and more people are becoming disenchanted enough to want to learn how to accept responsibility for their own health, and lives.

However, it is up to every single person to make these choices for his or her own Self.

I am a firm believer that in order to make a decision ... any decision ... one needs to be aware of ALL the alternatives and options.

And, I guess, that is what this little blog of mine is going to be about.

Alternatives ... different ways of looking at health ... options ... an "against the grain" mentality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~