Homeopathy and the Vital Force – Harry Dean

Harry attends Jenny Newman’s yoga class in Suffolk and is a qualified homeopathic practitioner.
Homeopathy is an effective and safe form of healing which assists the natural tendency of the body to heal itself.  It recognises that all of the symptoms of ill health are expressions of disharmony or dis-ease within the person and that it is the patient who needs treating, not the disease.
Homeopathy (from the Greek words meaning ‘similar suffering’) was developed by Samuel Hahnemann about 200 years ago.  He realised, like Hippocrates 2000 years earlier, that there were two ways of treating ill health, the way off opposites and the way of similars.  Insomnia for example treated by the way of opposites (conventional medicine or allopathy) is by giving a drug which brings about an artificial sleep.  This often means giving large doses of drugs which can themselves cause side effects or addiction.  The homeopathic way, the way of similars is to give the patient a very dilute dose of a substance such as coffee.  This dilute dose, perhaps surprisingly, will enable the patient to sleep naturally while coffee in large doses will cause sleeplessness in a healthy person.
Thus the basic principle of Homeopathy is expressed as simila similibus curentor, or ‘like may be cured by like’.
The aims of homeopathy are curative; the remedies do not suppress your symptoms like conventional medicines, but instead will lead you to a stronger state of health than before.  The remedies work by stimulating the bodies own energy system to bring about healing.  This stimulating effect assists in clearing disease rather than suppressing it.  The absence of any toxic ingredients make the remedies extremely safe to use and are particularly useful for babies, the elderly and infirm and during pregnancy and the menopause.
The remedies come from many different sources and most are derived from plants.  The raw material is prepared in such a way that it can subsequently be diluted and shaken in a process called succussion.  The dilution process can occur many times and the diluted remedies are described as being ‘potentised’, in recognition of the dynamic healing power they can stimulate.
Hahnemann ascribed healing to the restoration of the ‘Vital Force’ and this is observed during homeopathic practice when the patient feels improved in themselves, their energy increases and the diseased state is overcome.  It is this Vital Force that contains all aspects of human expression, it is the manifestation of life energy and we shall look more closely at the Vital Force in the next article.