Hope is a Wonderful Thing

I just got off a two day battle with a person on Facebook about the idea that herbs and alternative medicine is not “New Age” but rather old age. In fact herbs and alternative therapies for better health have been around for literally thousands of years and many references to herbs and other therapies have mention in many works of prose and even in  the Bible.

The idea that someone would not understand that herbs come from God and not from man seems a simple idea but one that my friend did not seem to grasp. And given his career choice of being a Baptist pastor even more baffling! How could a man that had devoted himself to the works of God; of Jesus find that herbs weren’t God made??
Still the skepticism of many people runs deep and I had found someone that decided that since some practitioners of  alternative arts are in fact somewhat questionable; therefore all practices of said work must be.

This battle brought to fore a common theme I hear when working with people about better health choices. They state that the doctor says this and the doctor says that with many of my clients hearing that alternative medicine is not going to work; that it’s not going to help the health problem at hand. I’ve even heard some physicians state that herbs are potentially dangerous and that anyone that pushes these products is either a “quack” or a charlatan; only bent on the sale of the products for profit.

These physicians could not be more wrong in the case of me. And in fact; I find that most alternative helpers to be wonderful in listening to the client; that they are taking the time to be the kind of person we all wish a physician would be to us. Most physicians are overworked and underpaid with little time to actually listen the way they would like but have no time for. Sure there is the occasional person who is exorbitantly overpaid and the arrogant type that thinks the sun rises and sets with their comings and goings. But for the most part physicians are not the enemy. The system however is another matter altogether.

The government and the ad campaigns that are out there about the flu and the vaccines; the commercials of the latest medicines that they push are not only incorrect but perpetrate the problem of people’s idea of health. We are made in God’s image; and in doing so; God made a person that is able to heal many of the diseases that traditional medicine could not possibly think we can!
Diseases like diabetes, cancer and auto-immune problems are all able to be helped and yes in some cases; stopped by alternatives. This is such a foreign idea to many that to even suggest an alternative to traditional treatments seems like quackery. I’ve had people look at me and say straight to my face that although I mean well; I can’t possibly help THEM….after all herbs are just like vitamins right?

Wrong. Herbs have the ability to do some pretty amazing things with a little faith and a steady diet of eating healthy and taking better care of ourselves. And I have seen in my practice a wonderful abundance of people that are really starting to get the idea that they are in charge of this ship; this body that God gave them. This hope of recovery is a heady one; and is very tenuous in nature. A wrong phrase; a wrong person can burst that bubble of potential good health. We in the herb world like to call this the “Voodoo Hex”. This hex is a dangerously powerful thing that can undo all the good that God and herbs and supplements have done. Our body; our brain wants to please us. And as the brain assimilates information it will try very hard to follow this command that others and even our self has stated or thought. So if we are trying to do better health; to try to conquer illness we need to THINK we are going to be well. And we need to be very very careful whom we are around and who we listen to.

It reminds me of the story I heard once of a woman that was diagnosed with liver cancer. She was a widow with three small girls to care for. Her physician told her that she was a hopeless case; that her illness would kill her in less than 6 months. She just smiled a little smile; patted her doctor on the knee and said  “You see my youngest girl, doctor?” pointing to a pretty little nine year old. “I will dance at her wedding!” and promptly walked out of the office to the astonished look on the physicians face. And 12 yrs  later she did exactly that.

So are we to never listen to a doctors advice? Are we never to follow the traditional protocol for disease and illness? I cannot tell you what to do in the case of you; or even your illness. As an herbalist I can only suggest a therapy or herb or supplement that may help your issue. I am not a physician and as an herbalist cannot diagnose; treat or cure.  But I want everyone that reads this to understand that you do have choices; you DO need to ask questions and you do have a brain! So use the information that doctors give; do your own research and do your own deciding. This will lead to the best choice for you and your family and ultimately lead to a better healthy lifestyle.