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Glossary of Holistic Terms (Part Four)

Do you know your holistic terms in relation to pain and healing? Are you aware of what therapies could help you? If you are not then you should read on for more information.

Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic medicine believes in the principle that the human body holds within it the ability to heal itself. Practitioners of naturopathic medicine discuss the patient's health problems with him or her at length and then suggest a variety of therapies that could bring about relief from pain and healing such as dietary supplements, exercise, nutrition, lifestyle counseling, homeopathy, plants with medicinal value as well as treatments that derive from TCM (or traditional Chinese medicine).

Dietary Supplements

Dietary supplements are supplements that are taken orally so as to improve the diet of the individual when food is not enough. Dietary supplements include such things as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs and other types of botanicals, as well as enzymes and metabolites. Dietary supplements can be purchased as gel caps, capsules, powders and liquids.

Meditation

Meditation is a method of centering the mind and calming the senses in order to bring about relaxation in the body and calm, peace and serenity in the mind. Meditation is something a person can learn to do himself or herself and it is recommended that it be practiced once or twice a day on a daily basis for an average of 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Meditation has been shown to have positive results when it comes to relieving high levels of stress as well as modifying hormone levels and improving a person's state of mind as well as their mood. Blood pressure levels can also be reduced when meditation is done and as well as the level of adrenaline, the heart rate and even the temperature of the skin.

Mind-Body Interventions

Mind-body interventions include a number of different holistic techniques that are geared towards encouraging the mind to work its strong healing powers in order to improve the function of the body as well as the symptoms of different infections and diseases. Some examples of these interventions include Alexander technique, aromatherapy, autosuggestion, Bach flower therapy, eutony, Feldenkrais method, hatha yoga, hypnotherapy, metamorphic technique, journaling, meditation, self-hypnosis, support groups, taijiquan, visualization and yoga.

Reiki, Energy Work and Therapeutic Touch

These are all types of energy therapies that look at energy in its variety of states in regards to motion and vibration. It is believed that the body is composed of a number of different energy fields that are interacting and vibrating all of the time and can play an integral role in healing as well as relaxing the mind and body and relieving stress that has built up in the body.

Yoga

Yoga is an East Indian therapy that has found its way into the Western world and is becoming more popular all of the time. There are many different styles as well as schools of yoga. The goal of yoga is to center the body and mind and to balance and calm the mind, body and spirit. Yoga takes into account a number of breathing exercises as well as physical postures and meditation and is effective at calming the central nervous system as well as relieving stress, lowering blood pressure, improving flexibility and concentration. Yoga has been effectively used to improve a person's sleep as well as digestive processes. Yoga has been used effectively as a complementary form of medicine to improve a variety of health conditions including asthma, cancer, diabetes, and Aids.