Nature cure (also referred to as ‘nature care’ and ‘naturopathy’) refers to a set of practices that help cleanse your body and mind, and optimize your bodily systems so you can alleviate or even cure problems. Although these practices are effective at curing certain ailments, it’s also a good idea to do them regularly for system maintenance, so to speak. Nature cure is comparable to taking supplements and eating healthy, rather than taking medication.
In this article, we’ll discuss this concept further.
What is nature cure?
Nature cure includes a series of natural practices that you can easily perform at home. These are largely preventative in nature, but they also have a healing effect. These include dieting, fasting, resting, alternative medicine, and cleansing practices such as neti or enema.
The principles of nature cure are aligned with those of simple living. The latter aims to keep things simple and use nature where possible. Your body is like a well-oiled machine – unless something is seriously wrong and needs an immediate cure, you can keep it in good shape with fairly simple, natural methods. Why buy medication from the pharmacy when you can treat yourself right at home using simple methods?
Can nature cure replace medicine?
Generally, no. You will develop increased immunity against common ailments such as colds, cough, indigestion, fevers and aches, so you’ll have to take medicines less often, and if you do develop an issue you’ll know how to treat it in a natural way.
However, nature cure is not intended as a replacement for medicine. The world of medicine is miraculous and life-saving, and nature cure doesn’t mean to antagonize it. While medicine is necessary and useful, the practice simply aims to show you a way to ingest fewer drugs, and be able to move towards a more natural, simple life.
Is it safe? Yes, provided you practice it correctly. In today’s world when information is at our fingertips, we don’t need to believe everything we’re told. We can find and walk the right balance between nature cure and modern medicine – in which case it will be perfectly safe to practice. Giving yourself an enema isn’t unsafe, but avoiding getting check-ups and substituting surgery for alternative medicine is, for example.
In this article, we’ll share methods that we’ve personally tried and know for certain are 100% safe.
What are its benefits? Here are some of the benefits of nature cure:
Get closer to nature
Learning about alternative medicine and growing medicinal plants at home will bring you closer to nature, which has numerous benefits. It will bring you joy, and make your consumption habits more sustainable and eco-friendly. In the process, you may also develop a few new hobbies!
Keep things simple
With the help of naturopathy you’ll build immunity against many ailments, so there’ll be no need for doctor’s appointments, prescriptions, reminders, side effects…any of that. Your life will be a lot simpler.
Prevent problems from arising
Just like vaccines, these practices help you prevent problems from arising. Prevention is always better than cure. Small, gradual lifestyle changes will take you on the path to a happier, healthier life.
Reduce costs
The fact that healthcare in the USA is expensive is indubitable. By taking care of your health naturally, you’ll prevent problems from arising and therefore reduce your expenses. Nature is self-sustaining and free to use. In fact, most naturopathy practices require absolutely no expense after a small one-time purchase. Fasting costs nothing, for example.
Cure illnesses
Different people respond to different things, and to some extent, you need to believe in the healing process in order for it to work. Nature cure definitely cures certain illnesses, and it can help with issues such as high blood pressure, arthritis, etc. If you haven’t tried it out, do now!
Where to start?
So are you ready to give it a try? Great! Here’s a quick guide on how to get started with the practices that we’ve found the most effective.
Kunjal kriya
If you’re ever feeling nauseous soon after a meal, you can try this practice. It cleans the upper digestive tract, so you’ll feel light and wonderful later. The procedure is to drink 4-6 glasses of water, then lean over a sink and stick two fingers down your throat and make yourself throw up. The water you’ve just consumed will come right out. Keep stimulating your uvula till your stomach feels empty. Then wash your face and mouth, and brush your teeth if necessary. Feeling better?
Neti
A neti will cure colds almost immediately. You’ll need a neti pot, which you can get for a couple dollars. Fill the pot with lukewarm water, and then place the spout in your right nostril. Now tilt your head till your right nostril is up and the left is down. Stick out your tongue and take quick, deep breaths through the mouth. The water should start flowing from your right nostril, all the way through your nasal canal, and out through the left one. If you’re ever down with a cold, give this a try.
Dieting and fasting
Try substituting one heavy meal of the day with something lighter like fruit. If you frequently feel bloated and uncomfortable after dinner, for example, you can try this out at night. Fasting regularly is also a great idea. You can start by skipping one meal a week (say, lunch on Sundays), and if you like it you can add a couple more meals to the list. That’s less cooking, and more time for fun!
There are many others, such as enemas (best taken quarterly), applying wet rags to the stomach, and herbal cures. If you’d like us to cover those in more detail, let us know in the comments!
Visiting a nature cure clinic
Are there clinics or hospitals for nature cure? Yes! If you don’t like the idea of doing an enema at home or can’t get hold of the necessary items, you can always go to a clinic. We suggest visiting a nature cure clinic every couple months, where you’ll usually be admitted for a couple days while they thoroughly cleanse and treat your body. There are numerous clinics throughout America, such as the Natural Care Center at Maryland University of Integrative Health.
If you want to try something a little different, you can try going to Patanjali Yog Gram. It’s a nature cure hospital in Haridwar, India where you can stay for a few days. They aren’t strictly nature cure-related, but instead apply various natural techniques such as dietary changes and exercise to help you get your system in great working order. You’ll be staying at a resort in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by gardens and farms, and you’ll have nothing to do all day long except relax. It’s a fantastic budget vacation, serving two purposes at once.
People notice a difference in their health after a visit to these clinics. They have been known to lower blood pressure, cure diabetes (temporarily), remove pain and perform other near-miraculous feats. If you’re overdue on a vacation, we heartily recommend checking in to a nature cure hospital.
Maximizing its benefits with other healthy habits
Here are a few simple things that will complement your nature cure efforts, and help you minimize chances of illness.
Eating healthy
This is a no-brainer. Avoid fried or junk food, and try to eat fresh fruits and veggies. Buy organic food when possible, and thoroughly wash it before preparing. Minimize your consumption of sweetened drinks such as soda or packaged juice. Freshly squeezed fruit juice without sugar, however, is perfect! Grow your own food if possible, so you’re 100% certain they’re fresh and organic.
Exercising regularly
Exercising is very important if you want your body to be pain-free, flexible and healthy. However, exercise doesn’t necessarily mean a vein-popping workout. Go for a brisk walk every morning, do some manual work in the garden, do yoga, go swimming in the community pool, etc.
Meditating
While the first two points were for the body, meditation is for the mind. Meditation helps you relax and unfocus. We live in a world full of distractions, and it’s extremely important that we set some time aside to let our mind rest. You’d think sleep does that, but sleep is different from meditation in many ways.
Getting enough rest
Make sure you’re getting 7-9 hours of sleep daily. Having a bedtime ritual, blocking out noise and avoiding electronics before bed will help you sleep better. Ideally, you should go to bed when it’s dark, and get up with the sun. This is doable when you adopt a more rural lifestyle, which we’ll cover in a post in the near future. Day-time naps are a great way to make up for lost sleep.
Not taking on undue stress
This is something we’ll cover separately in a blog post, but avoid stress as much as possible. Life’s simply too short. Work as much as you need to for the bills, and don’t bring your work home with you. Be civil. Plan things in advance, and always have a contingency plan. Live life at a slow pace.
So this was a quick guide on nature cure – what it means, how to start practicing it, and what benefits you can expect. For more about simple living and nature, go through the archive at The Core Basics!
