One of my classes this semester is Homeopathy and while studying for my midterm tomorrow (Halloween – you’ll see why this is funny later in this blog), I was inspired to write a blog about it!

Homeopathy literally means similar (homeo) suffering (pathos). It is based on the principle that “like cures like” – that a similar, but stronger, energetic force can displace a weaker one. It was discovered by Samuel Hahnemann who observed the relationship between the curative effects and poisoning symptoms of Cinchona (used to treat malaria). His observations were not new; however, he was the first to form these theories into a workable philosophy of medicine.

Homeopathy is energetic, rather than physical. Disease is defined as a mistunement or energetic imbalance of the life force which can be acute (self-limiting) or chronic (ingrained). Most remedies (those at 12C and higher) contain no actual molecules of the remedy substance, but instead carry the energy signature transferred to the solvent (usually alcohol) by the substance as it was sucussed (mixed) and diluted.

The mechanism is cure is this: a similar (but not same) and stronger “artificial” disease (the remedy), which has a signature vibration, is introduced to the life force, which has its own vibration (the disease). The vibration of the remedy is similar to the vibration of the life force, but stronger, so it alters the life force’s vibration (interference). The life force now responds to the artificial disease and in the process is able to throw off the natural disease. The artificial disease is removed when the remedy is completed and the life force returns to a healthy state.

Homeopathy treats people, not problems. No two people have the same disease, they only have some (perhaps many) symptoms in common. They may both be diagnosed with MS (for example), but the symptoms of MS are not the whole story because these people are not even close to being identical. It is their differences which form the unique signature of their mistunement. Therefore, the skilled homeopath must examine the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual symptoms to determine correct remedy. And because these will differ, these two MS patients will not receive the same curative remedy.

Homeopathy is difficult and time-consuming because the practitioner must thoroughly understand his or her patient and form a complete picture of the correct remedy. However, a skilled homeopath can also achieve seemingly miraculous results in so-called hopeless cases. However, it comes the closest (in my opinion) to addressing the true cause of disease and treating the whole individual and as such is a very rewarding modality to practice.

Personally, I didn’t believe in homeopathy either, until I learned about it and proved its efficacy on myself. I don’t believe that it is the answer to all medical woes, but I think it can be a powerful tool in the hands of people who are skilled in its use. I would like to be one of these people.

There is an interesting discussion going in the forum titled Is homeopathy connected to the occult? I have read this discussion with interest, but I haven’t joined in, simply because I have nothing (or too much?) to say! I am not a person who views the world as “bad” or “good” and therefore the word “occult” doesn’t mean much to me either way.

Everyone chooses the boundaries within which they are comfortable living. My desire is to be open enough to try things that I don’t understand/agree with and use my own values and principles to judge them. As many people say about the BTD, the only way to know if something “works” or is right for you is to try it.

I have many studies and articles both for and against homeopathy, including a detailed rebuttal written by some of the world’s top homeopaths in response to a recent article in The Lancet condemning homeopathy. Please leave me a comment if you would like me to forward these to you.

I thought I would write a quick update on my back situation since my last blog.

I am pain free! After consulting with the doctor who did the cranial treatments on me, I decided to stop wearing my orthotics. At the time I got them, it seemed like the right choice (I had foot pain, they solved it), but after writing a timeline of my health issues over the last few years, I see the following pattern:

Knee pain (solved by physiotherapy) > foot pain (solved by orthotics) > pelvic/low back pain

This made me think that I’m not really getting to the root of the issue here. So, I stopped wearing my orthotics on the 28th of September and I haven’t had much (if any) back pain since. During the first week after being treated, my back felt a bit strange, but not bad. At my appointment with my intern on Friday I rated my back discomfort as a 1 (on a scale from 0 to 5) and after he did acupuncture for it, it felt 100% fine!

According to the laws of cure, the pain moving from knees to feet was a positive change. The pain moving from my feet to pelvis/low back was not. So, at the very least I want it back to my feet!

So where to now? Yesterday I bought new running shoes since mine needed replacing but also because I need shoes to properly support my feet without the orthotics. I plan to ease back into running more often. Long-term, I am looking into some cranial therapies that I have access to here.

FYI, the technique used on me was BioCranial. Unfortunately the nearest practitioners to me are at least 3 or 4 hours drive from here. There is also Craniosacral Therapy and luckily there are practitioners here in Toronto, so I will try to make time to see one of them to work on a permanent solution to whatever misalignment I might have.

Thanks to everyone who sent me comments. I do think there are mental/emotional connections for my physical pain, as well as connections with some internal issues I’ve been working on since starting the BTD. I have made a lot of progress with my health in the past 4 years, and I am seeking to kick it up to the next level by working with my intern at the school clinic this year.

I’ve mentioned in my blogs that I’ve been having some low back/hip pain this summer. During August it was worse (probably due to stress, sitting studying a lot, and generally running myself ragged) and it still bothers me during long days sitting at school. I could go on about how I hurt my back, its connection to other structural issues (knees, feet, etc) and how all of that connects with years of working on internal healing, but that would make for an extremely long blog!

This week at school there was a “visiting elder” speaking on a few topics, including cranial manipulation (which covers several specific techniques). The general idea of this is that misalignment of bones in the skull, face, and neck can cause problems in the rest of the spine and structures of the body and that you need to begin at the top of the body and work downwards to create balance. There are many, many different manipulations and adjustments used, depending on the issue of the patient.

During this talk my back was particularly uncomfortable, so I volunteered to take part in a demo of some of the techniques. First, the doctor demonstrated misalignments in my body to the audience and pointed out that I am a “crooked mess” (not in a mean-spirited way), which really got to me because that is exactly how I’ve been feeling lately! After working on me for only a couple of minutes, my back felt great and I had no more pain! He said I should expect to have some soreness and pain for the next few days (which I did) as things settled out, but that my back should improve to some degree (which it did).

On Wednesday I went back to see him again during his office hours at school to discuss some of my structural issues and for another treatment, again for only a few minutes. I feel now like he has definitely helped to shift some things in my back, hips, legs, etc and that my ease of movement is much improved! I have yet to see where all of this will end up, but I am now looking further into these techniques as well as pursuing some therapies with my intern at the clinic.

What surprised me about this whole experience was how emotional it made me! I am feeling a lot of frustration about some of the physical limitations I am experiencing right now and I found particularly that after the two treatments he gave me, I was on the verge of tears – not from pain (although they left me sore), but from emotions that somehow were surfacing and tension that was being drawn out of my spine. I am so grateful to have met this doctor/teacher to point me in a new direction and I nearly broke down completely when I thanked him for all his help and he hugged me!

With the help of my intern (who assigned me to do a health timeline for myself to identify patterns and trends in my health history), I’m starting to understand how my external symptoms have evolved from internal healing I’ve done and also how some major emotional and psychological events in my life have contributed to my health. Seeing these patterns is inspiring because although I am having challenges right now, my deepest, internal health issues are steadily improving!

I’ll finish this blog with the Laws of Cure (attributed to Constantine Hering), which state that on the path to healing symptoms will change:

From above downwards.

From within outwards.

From a more important organ to a less important one.

In the reverse order of their coming.