“There are two ways to live; you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
It’s surprising to think that the practice of Western medicine as we know it began less than two hundred years ago, when the American Medical Association was founded in 1847. The first pharmaceutical companies were formed around the same time. The pharmaceutical era have rise to an increasingly systematic and formulaic approach to healing — on that is focused on treating individual, superficial symptoms instead of addressing the true, underlying root cause of disease, and has forgotten that each human being is a complex, synergistic blend of body, mind, and spirit. In doing so, “modern” medicine turned its back on thousands of years of medical knowledge about how the body works holistically–and how best to create and support health and healing.
Ancient cultures around the world created sophisticated medical systems. And now, the interest in ancient remedies is surging. Why? Through years of trial and error, early healers crafted gentle but powerful holistic therapies that relied on diet, herbs, essential oils, acupuncture, movement, rest, hydration, and emotional strategies, like meditation, prayer, and spending time in nature. These treatments were designed to heal the body on a deep level, curing disease from the inside out and elevating the mind and spirit to make you truly well–energetic, happy, passionate, and resilient.
But in many societies, these techniques have gone by the wayside. Instead, pills are doled out. Have a fever? Take an antibiotic. High cholesterol? Use a statin. In pain? Pop an opioid. Feeling blue? Try an antidepressant. There are of course instances where modern medicine has its place, but Western medicine has disregarded, ignored, maligned, and sometimes intentionally buried information about safer alternatives.
Take CBD, an non-euphoric substance in the ancient hemp plant (a variety of cannabis). It has been used for healing for thousands of years, but the US government outlawed its use for any purpose in 1970 – putting in in a category with deadly drugs like heroin and, later methamphetamines. In 2003 the government took out a patent on CBD and other cannabinoids. And in 2018, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first cannabis-based drug, Epidiolex, to treat seizures in children. That same year, the government finally legalized hemp.
Healing is a partnership and human health is a complex system of physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness.
If it takes you a long time to recover from viral and bacterial infections, it’s most likely a sign your immune system is weak. The truth is however, that healing doesn’t come from a miracle drug, but from within your own body. If your immune system is strong and functioning optimally, you can fight off viruses and bacteria with relative ease. You might not even develop symptoms at all. If you build your immune system, which is designed to fight off all manner of foreign pathogens, you will not only protect yourself from dangerous bugs, but also reduce your risk of cancer, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. In other words, you’ll improve your health overall.
Health is a continuum that takes us from birth to death, and in that, there are a lot of spirals, ups and downs, patterns of regeneration and repair, patterns of deconstructions and decomposition of your body, elements within it, organ systems, shifts in the microbiome, shifts in your self-identity, and shifts in your sense of who you are and what you’re here to do.
You are health. You deserve to feel good. And your health is an investment in you. Pono remedies and lifestyle strategies help keep your immune system robust, and, as a result, give you the protection you need to fight viruses and bacterial.
