Naturopathy

Paying Attention

By Nancy Mazur, ND

There was a notice in today's paper: Lost dog, blind in one eye, neutered, missing an ear, walks with a limp, answers to the name of LUCKY! It's a funny thing, luck. Maybe that dog was in fact lucky, although it sure doesn’t sound like it from the description! And yet he was, after all, still alive. Luck is a relative thing.

I have found in my 24 years of practicing Naturopathic Medicine, that some people have a strange idea about luck. Often people think that good health is a matter of luck. I don't think so. There is the factor of genetics, which one could consider as good or bad luck. The tendencies we inherit from our parents and ancestors certainly do play a part in our health. So, maybe some luck is involved, maybe10%. But the way we feel, the vitality we enjoy in our lives, is 90% something else. It's PAYING ATTENTION. It's listening to your body, the messages that your body/mind is constantly giving to you. Awareness is the key to good health, not luck.

We have all heard stories about the guy who was "never sick a day in his life" until the morning he dropped dead on the golf course.

Well, I can't bring those folks back to ask them, but I do not believe that they never had any warning signals that something was wrong with their bodies. They may have not noticed, but there most certainly were some messages sent that something in their health was not functioning optimally. They may have been too busy, or more likely chose to ignore those signals, but the intelligence of the body always gives the messages. The body, any life form, has an intelligence of its own. If we listen to that wisdom, if we learn to pay attention to what makes us feel good or not, angry or sad, uncomfortable, sleepy, hungry or not, then we will be able to be in touch with ourselves. Only then will we be able to remain in the best balance of health that we can. If we moderate our behaviors according to these messages, seek professional help if the symptoms persist, we are a lot less likely to be surprised when the message gets louder, the illness deeper.

As a Naturopathic doctor, I try to encourage people to take care of themselves. The reason for this is simple: Preventive medicine is much more effective than crisis intervention. Even insurance companies are finally realizing that catching problems early on in their development is more cost effective than heroic attempts to prolong life. Aside from cost however, the body actually heals more easily when the disease process is just beginning to manifest. After years of neglect, or suppressive treatment, the disease becomes chronic and more entrenched. Perhaps new problems have been added as a result of the attempts to medicate the symptoms of the problem. At that time, it would take a lot of "luck" to effectively turn the illness around.

Along with the concepts of paying attention to our bodies and preventing problems from developing into serious illness, Naturopathic Doctors emphasize the treatment of the individual, not the disease. This is what "wholistic" medicine means. The treatment must be based on an understanding of why and how that particular disease in manifesting in that individual at this time. Otherwise, the reason the problem occurred will never be addressed by the treatment. For example, we all know that if we have a headache and we take an aspirin, the headache will probably feel better and eventually go away. However, we also know that the aspirin does not address the reason why we got the headache in the first place. It also does nothing to help guarantee that we will not experience another headache tomorrow or maybe next week. The headache did not appear "out of the blue". The intelligence of the body, the search for internal balance, or homeostasis, was unable to achieve perfect health in that moment, and created a headache to let us know that something was a stress, something could not be ignored. The stress could have been an allergy, or unexpressed emotional upset, or a low pressure weather system. The cause needs to be addressed, not the symptom--which is the headache.

Naturopathic medicine is based on the premise that the body can heal itself. The body has created the illness out of some need and once that need is met, the body can heal itself. Any and all living organisms have this innate ability to heal. Sometimes this process gets "stuck" and then we have chronic illness. Many healing systems throughout the world have traditionally worked with the knowledge of this natural ability of the body to always try to move towards health. Naturopathic doctors use various forms of natural treatments (botanical medicine, homeopathy, nutritional medicine, acupuncture, physical manipulation, etc.) to stimulate and strengthen our inborn healing ability. If the symptoms are not ignored, if the person chooses to address the smaller "warnings" rather than wait for that day on the golf course, most often the problem can be prevented.

Naturopaths also emphasize lifestyle counseling as a very important factor in health care. The first step in living a healthy lifestyle is paying attention to what our bodies are telling us. Lifestyle may also include diet, exercise, hygiene, relaxation and mental attitude. A Naturopathic doctor works with all of these aspects of a person’s well being. This is in contrast to the highly specialized (and often life saving!) but narrow viewpoint of modern western medicine. As a result of this specialization, many of my patients have told me that they feel like "just a stomach" or "just my cancer" after a visit to their doctors. We are not our illnesses; we are more complex than a diagnosis.

We all know that life does not happen in a vacuum, and neither does illness. It does not happen separately from who we are and how we live. There is a constant and complex interaction between our environment and ourselves. Chronic illness is usually a result of not paying attention, and happens in our entire being. Our emotions affect our health and our physical health affects our mood, they are inseparable. It is only modern medicine that has separated our body from our mind and our emotions. If you consider this idea, you will realize that it really isn't news. Our grandparents knew this! We all say things like "I got run down and I caught a cold". What does this mean? It means that something was worrying us or bothering us, we didn't sleep well for a few nights maybe, and then "ONLY then" the germs that are always and constantly around us were able to take hold in our body, get the upper hand in the delicate balance, and cause a cold. When we are well, when we are in balance, the germs are not able to cause illness. Our natural inborn mechanism to heal kills the germs and keeps us well. Being run down, feeling depressed, having more stresses than we can handle, disables our immune systems. Laughter boosts our immune abilities. It all works together. And maybe, if we are lucky, we have inherited some strong genes also! So, here is to paying attention, to good genes and to staying healthy.

Dr. Nancy Mazur is a Naturopathic Doctor, specializing in homeopathic treatment, and is licensed by the state of California to practice medicine. She holds a BA from Tulane Univ. and an ND from Bastyr Univ. Since 1984, she has been in private practice in Connecticut, and has been the owner and director of The Connecticut Center for Wholistic Health and The Whole Health Company. She is a member of the American Assn. of Naturopathic Physicians and the National Center for Homeopathy. She is currently in private practice in Palm Springs, CA, and can be reached at 760-778-8737. Her website is www.drnmazur.com.

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