Naturopathy – Health and stress management
On 15-12-2012 at our AUETAA House we had a program by Dr Roja Gurumoorthy. Dr Roja Gurumoorthy is a Doctor in Naturopathy and Yogic sciences. A brief of her presentation that day is given below:
People do not realize the importance of health and wellness until when they start getting symptoms from the body in the form of aches or pains, then they go to a doctor. Diseases of the mind most of the time results in diseases of the body and the number one reason of Psychosomatic diseases is because of stress. Stress is required in small doses for example to flee from danger when we outrun a dog that is chasing us but when we continuously bother ourselves with one problem after the other starting from reaction to traffic jams, maid servant not coming, not getting what we wanted, we unnecessarily secrete adrenaline, cortisol and insulin into our blood stream in quantities proportional to our reactions. This causes our immune system to get lowered. We get psychosomatic disease like spondylosis, chronic digestive problems, sinusitis, high cholesterol, diabetes, depression, over weight, insomnia etc.. The ill health of the stressed individual affects the individual in the body and mind, lack of peace at home and work, depletion of finances due to visits to the doctor/hospitals etc..
Our health gets affected when there is a drop in the physical threshold to face a problem. In the mental side ignorance in moral and ethical values, lack of commitment, lack of contentment, lack of positive attitude and Ego which are stress causers and health deterrents. Ego means “Edging God out !!” Ego could be due to position, status or relationships and so has to be avoided. Lack of proper understanding is the root cause of stress.
It is not the total number of years we live but the total numbers of quality years we live is what is important. Man runs after money till the age of 40 and loses his health, then runs after hospitals losing everything he has earned but fails to regain his health.
Taking care of the body through Naturopathy includes prevention using body’s recuperative power and natural drugless therapies. These therapies are hydrotherapy, chromotherapy, mud therapy and yogic kriyas. Yoga is the best tool for achieving good physical and mental health in order to live a good life. Yoga helps in the elimination of toxins, wastes from the body and also assimilation of energies which enable harmonious function of the body, mind and emotions which promote wellbeing. A couple of tips given were “not to walk immediately after a meal and bath should not be taken for at least 2 hours after a meal.
Precautions for people with a family history of diabetes, blood pressure and heart attacks, are that the person should not be overweight, should avoid taking saturated fats and sweets liberally for it contains bad cholesterol. People who are overweight should walk regularly. They should not indulge in smoking and drinking liberally. The body is the temple of the spirit and it is therefore in our own interest to take care of the body.