The Laws of Nature

These are nothing but the laws of hygiene and moderation in every thing we do. Though this sounds simple, it is not so when put to practice. Violation of the laws of nature causes disease, but obeying them preserves good health.
In order to live in accordance with nature, it is essential to understand at least a few important principles of naturopathy.

Life under natural conditions is health. Life on earth is made to adapt itself to its environment, by the constant flow of the vital force in our body. A natural tendency exists in this life force which brings forth a perfect harmony between human body and surroundings.

If, however, the life force in our body is unable to adapt itself to its surroundings or if an imperfect adaptation takes place, ill health and disease overpowers the body. The body needs a certain amount of energy for this adaptation. While drugs and medicines cannot give this power, the tendency of the life force to preserve itself enables health to get protected from all obstructions and barriers. The self-preserved force of the cells and organs of the body act in unison to remove the obstruction which attacks in the form of disease.

Let us suppose a boy receives a small injury in his hand. He continues to play. He refuses medicine and does not allow the wound to be treated. Surprisingly, the wound heals all by itself in couple of days. How does it happen?
When the body receives an injury, the minute cells present in the blood act with full force. The cells near the raw wound multiply faster than they normally to and slowly a new skin forms to close the wound. These cells known as “police cells” guard the skin from getting infected till it gets healed on its own.

This may be all right when the injury is small but what about severe ones as in a fracture?
When there are torn muscles as in severe injuries, the healing processes take place in the deeper tissues. Even in case of a broken bone, the fracture is joined by the soft tissues. Until the new tissue becomes firm, and attains strength equal to that of the other parts of the body, the minerals present in the body find their way into them and aid in this task. Bandages, plasters and stitches are external aids for hastening the body’s healing process. Except the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, all other tissues are capable of forming a new skin when injury takes place.

It has been observed that people who had suffered from severe diseases or met with major accidents in remote places with little or no chances of getting any medical help, have emerged almost unscathed. This despite the fact that they may have had to go without both food and sleep. At the most, their body organs might have been damaged, but their overall physical condition has been found in a fairly better condition than they would have been if drugs and medicines had been pumped into them.

In such cases it is the vital force-nature’s provision in the body, that has played its role in the healing process. Though the person undergoing such an ordeal may feel extremely weak after recovery, no serious damage would have been caused as Nature had taken over. It is the artificial aid that interfere with the natural healing process.

The result of a weak vital force

Then how do some people succumb in similar circumstances? The difference lies in the abundance or lack of the life force. This explains why some people emerge unscathed from severe injuries or incurable diseases like cancer, while other succumb.

When the vital force decreases due to the violation of the laws of nature, one becomes increasingly weaker. Unable to resist the influence of an infection, the person ultimately surrenders to the disease. The vital force remains sound only when the body, mind and spirit are in total harmony.

Can the vital force offer resistance when adverse conditions are caused artificially by violation the laws of nature?
Yes, it can. But the consequences of its efforts to bring back good health will surface in the form of aches, eruptions and expulsion of toxic waste accumulated in the body. It does not permit the enemy (the toxins) to remain in the body. In this fight the organism producing the disease will ultimately get defeated. These symptoms are rightly named as healing crisis in nature cure.

What is toxemia?
Waste eliminating organs of the body are the lungs, which breathe out carbon-di-oxide, kidneys, that throw out urine and salt, bowels, which expel the undigested faeces, and skin, which excretes waste products through sweat. If there is an overload in these organs, clogging and blockage occur in the channels resulting in toxemia.

Consumption of bad quality food in large quantities coupled with lace of exercise, also cause clogging and stagnation in the channels. Consequently, the respiratory organs, nose and throat get congested; skin assumes either dryness or oiliness; liver gets congested and fatty; the bowels become constipated and the toxins from the excreta get reabsorbed in the circulation. At this stage exercise is essential to purify the system through oxygenation.

Body and mind should be treated as whole

The body-mind unit must be in harmony with the environment. No injurious influx can enter the body without the influence of the mind. Out emotions influence bodily functions. Mental attitudes of a person determine the type of influence a disease will have over the body. Most of the chronic diseases have an unmistakable connection with emotions. Even common cold, stomach and headaches are triggered by emotions.

Emotions like stress, anxiety, fear, jealousy and hatred influence our physical being to create a morbid condition and cause toxemia in the system. Their effects are described in later chapters in association with the type of disease and the organs involved.

We cleanse the external parts of our body as and when they get dirty, but what about the internal ones, especially the digestive organs? If on. We could see the condition in which the body’s internal organs are, we could realize that internal cleansing is even more important. Our internal organs include event the brain, which under the influence of unhealthy emotions and thoughts makes a mess of hormones, contaminating the whole blood system.

While cleansing a machine, we first switch it off. Each part is then dismantled and cleaned. This process is called overhauling. The human body is also a complicated machine, whose parts unfortunately cannot be removed, but cleansing it is surprisingly very easy unlike machinery. This is because the unique mechanism of our body is an auto cleaner. It only requires very little effort on our part in the form of water and rest.

How do we give rest and aid our body to cleanse itself? It is here that fasting and irrigation of the channels come in. fasting in the real sense means abstention from intake of food. Irrigation is the cleansing of the internal organs.

Our body consists of more than 70 percent of fluid that includes blood, urine, water, bile, etc. in the ceaseless process of its circulation, the blood, accumulates a variety of toxins which need to be eliminated, lest the saturated toxins remain in the body. During a fast, our digestive system gets the most needed rest, helping in the elimination of morbid waste. It is the most scientific way of toning up the digestive organs.

When we fast, the urge to pass urine is more than normal. The elimination of toxin is further aided if we drink only water or fluids to tone up the tired muscles and tissues of the internal organs. Have your ever noticed the bad breath with a foul odour during a fast? This is because the foul gases accumulated in our body get a chance to escape during this time. Almost all religions of the world encourage fasting periodically to achieve this cleansing. The emphasis is on the cleansing of the body (cleansing of internal organs) by fasting and cleansing of the mind through relaxation meditation and prayers.

In the fast way of life today, these methods of cleansing may seem extremely difficult. But considering the benefits, these can be adopted occasionally for short or very short duration. Our body can go without food for months, though this may not be acceptable to most of us. Anyone who has undertaken a fast would surely acknowledge the fact that there is a sense of well-being after the fast. This can also be experienced by those who have been indisposed or extremely tired, and have perforce abstained from food. At such times, a glass of fresh water or any fruit juice refreshed faster and better than food.

The urge to skip a meal is the natural warning from the organs of our body registering its need for rest. At such times, liquid diet is what one resorts to for regaining lost energy. It this signal is ignored and the stomach is overloaded with food, the tiredness increases, either compelling us to sleep to get forced rest, or we suffer other consequences of ill health.

Though a part of toxins are eliminated through fasting and increased intake of fluids, cleansing our bowels thoroughly is rather difficult due to its shape and structure. The unreachable parts of the bowels are cleaned through enema or internal bath.

When the body is rid of toxins through these tow procedures, even incurable diseases like cancer yield. There are persons who have been fully cured from many incurable diseases by just fasting, enema and a diet consisting of plain water and fruit juices.

Fasting is distinct from starvation. The food we consume does not get absorbed fully. A part of it is stored in the liver and tissues of the muscles. This stored food, unless utilized, keeps getting accumulated in the tissues. During a fast the body gets its supply of food from this store. Starvation is the condition which occurs only when the storage of the food is exhausted and the body begins feeding on its own muscle tissues. Such a condition does not arise for even months at a stretch.

Fasting is the healthy way to recover from almost any disease provided it is acceptable to us.