What is Homeopathy?

What is homeopathy?

Homeopathy is a safe, cost-effective, and complete health modality which stimulates the body's own capacity to heal.

It was developed over 200 years ago by a German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, who was disgusted with the methods that were being used to treat people of the time - methods such as blood letting, purgatives, and dosing with highly toxic substances.  He was especially interested in the idea that a substance which created symptoms in a healthy person could be used to treat an ill person with a similar pattern of symptoms.  This idea of 'like treating like' became the basis for his life-long studies in treating people gently, completely and quickly.  His prolific studies created a body of work which then spread throughout the world and has more recently made a comeback in the United States.

When our body is ill, or out of balance, it exhibits symptoms which act as little red flags - alerting us that something is amiss.  Instead of covering up the symptoms so that we do not feel them, homeopathy considers the symptoms tell-tale signs or indicators of dis-ease, or imbalance within.  All of the symptoms that the body is experiencing - physical, emotional, and mental - make up a total symptom picture which is matched to a known homeopathic remedy.

One classic example used to illustrate the action of a typical homeopathic remedy is the act of cutting an onion.  When we cut an onion it will cause our bodies to put out symptoms of stinging, watery, eyes and runny noses, even in the most healthy of people.  The homeopathic remedy made from the onion,  Allium cepa, is often used to help those who suffer from seasonal allergies when their eyes sting and and are watery, and their nose runs.

A correctly chosen homeopathic remedy triggers the body's inner vital force to do what it needs to do to get back into balance - to lift the core cause of the many symptoms that the body has been putting out to alert us, like cries for help.  The cut onion releases irritants that get in the nose and eyes.  In order for the body to feel better, the defense mechanism will create a way to get rid of the irritants and thus secretes tears and creates nasal mucous.  The body knows what to do to heal.  

However, due to constant stressors in life, sometimes our vital force is compromised.  It requires a nudge or a reminder to get to work restoring balance within any given individual.  The homeopathic remedy provides just the nudge that a compromised body requires to get it moving towards better health.