Published by: Digital Schools

Natural Medicine

Natural medicine is a term that covers a broad range of practices including; dance, music-therapy, art- therapy, traditional oriental medicine and integrated remedial therapies; like chiropractors and osteopathy…

nat·u·ral
/ˈnaCH(ə)rəl/
adjective
  1. 1.
    existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind.
    “carrots contain a natural antiseptic that fights bacteria”

The myriad of super medications we use daily came from the ancient forests and jungles we are destroying.

For the last few hundred years, Whiteman has wandered into the Jungles of South America, South East Asia and beyond to find cures to illness and ailments that plagued the industrial man.

It was the Shamans and medicine men and women of forests and jungles that provided the wisdom and knowledge to researches, helping them to find medicines that would change the way our world worked forever…

We may have synthesised the drugs, but we left the medicine behind.
In our hastiness to recreate and manufacture the wonder drugs of the rainforest to cure illnesses of the world, we made one fatal mistake; dividing chemical from healing, leaving behind the medicine of the natural world to turn a profit.

Over the next few hundred years, scientists and researchers would synthesize organic compounds used by native peoples for tens of thousands of years into medicines as familiar as the General Anaesthetic and Quinene, found in traditional tonic water, used as a medicine for Malaria.

Most of the potent pharmaceuticals we rely on for the treatment of disease come from the jungles of the Amazon, the rainforests of Borneo, Madagascar and the forests of ancient cultures around the world. Without the help of tribespeople, shamans, and mystics; our insight into the magical healing properties of plants and fungus would be nowhere near where it is today.

The relationship medicine men and women have with the natural world has taken millennia to evolve, and it’s a relationship sustained through custom, respect, and balance. What is sought must be given back, and the peoples of the rainforest acknowledge the finite balance of all living things.

This is something we are only just starting to grasp as we watch our beloved world being plundered of natural resources, all the while none of us are really cured of anything – because truthfully you cannot heal a broken heart with a packet of pills, you need Mother Nature for that.

Medications we rely on for the treatment of Leukaemia, Cancer, HIV, Malaria, Parkinson’s disease and many other common ailments have all been sourced from the ancient forests of the world.

Guest Contributor: Emily Rack
Business Name: Horatios Jar
Publisher: Digital Schools

Emily Rack is a yoga teacher, meditation instructor, freelance writer and visual content creator. She incorporates a unique creative flair into her yoga and meditation classes, courses and workshops. Emily hosts events and classes in schools and the wider community & is passionate about teaching the art of mindfulness.