For the first time a self help book that tells it all. An expose on respiratory diseases and their natural treatment
Learn how you can heal and/or manage: Common Cold/Flu Earache/Asthma Allergies/Hay Fever Pleurisy/Pneumonia Cough/Sore Throat Bronchitis/Emphysema Aids and Related Respiration Infection Covers information you wish your doctor would share with you...
• What is happening to your body
• Emotional information your body may be giving you
• Specific foods, herbal remedies and supplements for your condition
• How these recommendations support and revitalize you
• How to prevent recurrences
• Visualizations to activate and speed up the healing process
Daniel Gagnon has been a practicing herbalist since 1976. He has owned both a retail and wholesale business specializing in herbal products for over twelve years.
Amadea Morningstar has been a practicing clinical nutritionist and teacher in Santa Fe for over seventeen years. She is the author of the Ayurvedic Cookbook, the first comprehensive book of its kind.
What a joy it was to read this wonderful book. Daniel and Amadea have written an important contribution to the field of holistic health care. Its value lies not only in the therapeutic guidelines given, but also in the way its holistic approach is focused upon this specific but vitally important area of health.
The quality of herbalism and nutrition it contains, embedded in a context of practical considerations, reflect the clinical maturity of these therapists. Especially helpful is the bridging of various healing modalities, exploring as it does herbalism, nutrition, emotional work, body work, and allopathic guidelines. Such well focused information written by skilled practitioners is often absent from modern herb books. There are some excellent exceptions, but many modern herbals either attempt too much by being all encompassing tomes, or don't go beyond an almost allopathic attachment to specific herbs or favorite formulas for specific diseases. There is a need for many such works examining specific health care issues from the perspective of the physiotherapist in tandem with the knowledge of practitioners of other modalities.
Herbalism has always been the medicine of the people, and still is in most of the world. A responsibility of its practitioners, in such an herbally deprived culture such as ours, is to empower the public with information of the great potentials, and limitations, that herbalism offers. Daniel and Amadea have done this in IL Breathe Free. There is much that herbal medicine can do in the various manifestations of respiratory disease, far more than is often assumed.
I was in practice in West and South Wales for nine years before moving to America, during which time I treated many, cases of severe chronic lung problems, from asthma and emphysema to pneumoconiosis (miners' lung) and aspergillosis (farmers' lung). Such industrial 'occupational hazards' were unfortunately all too common in the birthplace of the industrial revolution. Repeatedly I would see herbs, used in an holistic context, facilitate an improvement in these people suffering from what are thought of as degenerative diseases. They were not cured, but experienced marked improvement in the quality of life, and probably length of life as well.
This highlighted an important insight for me. Phytotherapy has most to offer within an integrated health care system when used for the treatment and prevention of chronic problems. There is no denying the achievements of allopathic medicine when it comes to acute infection and emergency procedures. Such advancements should be celebrated but also seen within context. Degenerative disease is now the major killer in the western world, stretching allopathic approaches to their limits. The holis-tic modalities of healing come into their own here. Our focus should be the whole person and not simply the disease entity.
The authors affirm the role of phytotherapy within the western biomedical model. The move towards holism in healing need not mean abandoning the insights of western medicine in favor of the eastern healing traditions. Relevant and effective as they are, we have the opportunity to be part of the transformation that is occurring within western medicine. Acceptance of the bio-medical model as a useful interpretation of the body does not then mean that the analytical and reductionist approach that characterizes modern medicine in the west is the only option. There is a dawning recognition of the possibilities that arise if the bio-medical model is used as a basis for treating the whole person and not simply the disease.
This also leads to the experience of frustration common when people initially explore holistic medicine. There is yet to be writ-ten a definitive text on western holistic medicine, a guide that clearly illuminates these new and exciting perspectives. There is a veritable maelstrom of activity amongst holistic practitioners, exploring and applying new ideas but it is still in the early days.
For some this is just too frustrating, leading to an abandonment of the endeavor or a turning to one of the oriental systems. For others this is a very exciting time to be involved in medicine. The unclarity of the situation is one aspect of a flowering of new ideas. There is no comprehensive text book because the ideas have not reached the stage where they can be written in stone. It is a time of flux, where many new insights are being obtained and old ideas are being reassessed and discarded or embraced anew. Breathe Free is an excellent example of the harvest of ideas our culture is reaping from those exploring holism. Herbs fit perfectly within a holistic context, but are not in themselves holistic. In the hands of a skilled holistic practitioner, who has an under-standing of both the plant and the person, phytotherapy can facilitate profound healing and 'wellness'. Breathe Free is a book that applies herbs and nutrition in this holistic way. As a teacher of future physiotherapists, this book helps me 'Breath Easy' knowing that western herbalism is being given this quality of attention and development.
The authors are to be congratulated on their reintroduction of 'forgotten' medicinal plants such as Stillingia, Wild Indigo and Quassia. I hope that in future volumes in this series they mention Balmony, Fringetree, Life Root, and the wealth of other North American medicinal that have been lost sight of in this country but are still used extensively in Europe. I also greatly appreciate their affirming the value of the less 'glamorous' healing plants such as Nettles! Herbs don't have to be imported or expensive to be good medicine. Profound developments are occurring within herbalism throughout the World. The field of herbal medicine, now known as phytotherapy in Europe, is being rediscovered by all involved in health care. This includes, of course, both public and professionals! This dispersal of the collective amnesia about herbal medicine has a number of factors underlying it. To mention just a few:
• Because it works!
• Because it is a lot less expensive
• Because it is environmentally sound
Whilst there is not the space here to explore these in depth, the last is too important to leave alone. From the perspectives of an eco-activist, it can be argued that many health issues are internalizations of cultural, ecological and planetary disease. The psychoanalyst’s attention on alienation is possibly a subset of our species alienation from nature. Herbalism has a role to play in bridging this separation. The medieval herbalist, Hildegard Von Bingan, talks of 'viriditas', the Greening power. The healing offered so abundantly and freely by the plant kingdom is indeed a greening of the human condition, pointing to the reality of a new springtime. Humanity is awakening and finally becoming present within the biosphere, vibrantly alive, eyes wide open with hearts that feel the love of the Whales and the Redoods, minds revivified, filed with visions of a headed world and ready for the chal lenges ahead.
Our experience as health care practitioners and educators spans a combined total of twenty-seven years. During this time we have observed and listened with respect, attention and care to the people with whom we have worked. What we learned in this way has strongly influenced the format and underlying philosophy of this book.
Like many other health care practitioners, we discovered that the body, mind and feelings all influence health and healing, in an inter-related way. We also have observed that the more people take charge of their own health care programs, the more effective are the results. So our general approach has become one which honors the profound influence of feelings, mind and body working together in healing. It supports the self-empowerment of our clients.
Our approach in writing this book reflects the perspective we use in our practices. For the mind, we explain what is going on in each disorder process in the Definition, Description and Biological Overview sections of each chapter. Physicians will notice that in a book framed chiefly (although not exclusively) for the layperson, we do not observe the technical distinction between "signs" and "symptoms." Medical terms have been kept to a mini-mum, and the general reader will find such words defined in the Glossary at the back of the book.
This is followed by Emotional Information, based upon our experience with each disorder. This material is by no means offered as the last word on the subject. Rather, it is intended to spur the reader on the path of self-discovery toward a recognition of the emotional stresses and struggles that ask for attention and healing. Exploring this process can benefit not only the mind and feeling heart, but the physical body as well. In Guidelines for Action, priorities are set: what measures should be taken, and in what order, to most effectively restore health. Therapeutic Recommendations include sections on Foods, Botanicals and Supplements. In our experience the three are most effective when used together, offering optimal support.
They may, of course, be used separately. For example, if you have no access to herbs and supplements you still can use foods as a healing tool. Basis of Therapeutics was born of our frustration with many source books which give excellent lists of healing tools-herbs, vitamins, foods-but which neglect to explain why they are recommended and how they work. Basis of Therapeutics does just that. This information is in process, and we have offered the most up-to-date information with which we are familiar. We anticipate revisions as the bank of knowledge about alternative healing energetic and methods grows. Prevention and Healing gives a long-term overview on the wellness process. This is the section you will want to consult first if the illness threatens to recur, or if you have concerns that it could become chronic. Here we make suggestions for specific preventive and healing regimens: what measures to use or to avoid.
The closing section, Visualization, invites participation in an experiential process designed to involve the emotions, body and mind in their own deeper healing. We use these processes in our private practices to access the inner healing forces, encouraging the body to relax, let go, and move into an affirmative state of healing. It may be helpful to have a friend slowly and gently read this section to you. Or tape it for yourself, reading at a relaxed pace. You may find that our suggestions here stimulate other images of healing specific to you. Trust their power and allow the process to unfold.
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