The Naturopathic Medicine Foundations
The ‘wholistic’ and complementary nature of naturopathic medicine is designed to work with the ‘whole’ animal from the inside-out and the outside-in. Aiding to achieve an optimum balance within the body’s functions from an internal to external perspective.
Ashlie Williamson, Lecturer
Combining the study of herbal medicine, nutrition and massage observes, engages, and enables treatment of a variety of dysfunctional aspects to improve the overall health, well-being, performance and longevity of our beloved pets.
Nutrition: Species-specific nutrition needs to be clearly identified when we consider what to feed the animal. What is biologically appropriate for the body? Understanding the digestion processes from start to finish, the importance of what to add or not add to their diet all becomes a lot simpler what the digestive processes are understood. No more doubling up on too many purchased feed sources that ultimately end up as expensive excreted waste.
Herbal Medicine: Here we need to understand all systems of the body, the identification process to assess which particular herb for which system is best when simplified and treated accordingly one step at a time. Animals in the wild can and have the ability to self-medicate according to their environment and seasonal factors and because herbs function through biochemical interactions it augments the vital processes of the body.
Bodywork (massage, kinesiology): Massage draws blood, carrying oxygen and nutrients to the area and allows for greater flexibility. It is assisting the release of contracted fibres that resist movement due to tightness within the body. Closely linked to the muscles are the other elements of the musculoskeletal system, the bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments. This system is all about movement and protection. Properly functioning, well-balanced, supple, and well-developed muscles are fundamental to correct movement. Given the intrinsic and deep connections between the body’s various systems, the musculoskeletal system, the nervous system, the cardio-vascular system, the respiratory system, the digestive systems, etc. Massage works on the muscles and other soft tissues promoting healing and wellness throughout the body.
Becoming the naturopath is not only doing the three subjects of this foundational medicine, it is then, a matter of how do you interweave these three modalities together within the trilogy of bodywork, nutrition and herbal medicine? Drawing them together within the one clinical setting, becomes exciting as your clinical notes start expanding and developing to a very broad and wide range of interpretation, of what not only you are seeing, but also what you are feeling through the physical application of massage.
So, it is very exciting when we look at the trilogy, because the trilogy of the clinical information that we have in their applications work fantastically. However, if we look at individuality and you become a specialist in one field, please take the time to go and find other practitioners who deliver other aspects of this trilogy and then work together to incorporate the holistic paradigms of healing.
