There are many different kinds of herbalist in the United States. One could say herbalists are like artists. An artist can go through formal education studying their art-form and hold several degrees in fine arts. An artists can also be trained by another artist, honing their skills and perfecting their art with little or no formal training. Then there is the self taught artist who also practices their skills to perfect their art. No matter what their path, the artist is still an artist, and the quality or beauty of their art is not always determined by the means.
In a similar fashion, herbalists can learn the art of herbalism by taking formal education training, including clinical internships; by apprenticing with another professional herbalist or folk-herbalist to learn the craft; and/or by self-directed study.
A Medical Herbalist is usually an herbalist who has had extensive clinical training applying herbal formulations to clients to facilitate in their healing. As well as having a strong back ground in the Materia Medica (herbal encyclopedia). They also need to have good knowledge of contemporary health issues, as diagnosed by a Western medical, allopathic practitioner; in addition to knowing the standard pharmacopoeia to insure there will be no drug-herb interactions.
A Medical Herbalist works with the many conditions for which Western allopathic medicine has nothing to offer as well as working within the context of medical diagnosis provided by a Western medical or allopathic practitioner.
About Chinese Medicine
Chinese Medicine is a complete medical system that has diagnosed, treated, and prevented illness for over 23 centuries. While it can effectively heal chronic conditions and relieve symptoms, Chinese medicine can also enhance recuperative power, boost immunity, and enlarge the capacity for pleasure, work, and creativity. Chinese medicine is truly a mind, body, spirit medicine whose back bone is based on natural laws with two opposing but mutually dependent forces known as Yin and Yang.
Yin and Yang: Earth and Heaven, winter and summer, night and day, cold and hot, wet and dry, inner and outer, body and mind. Harmony of this union means good weather and good health; while disharmony leads to disaster and disease. The body is seen as the world in miniature, a garden in which the gardener uses irrigation and compost to grow robust plants. The practitioner and client work together to use herbs and food to recover and sustain health. The strategy of Chinese medicine is to restore harmony and balance to the environment of the body.
Today, Chinese Medicine represents a combination of ideas and methods from ancient times coupled with findings from modern research. Chinese herbs and formulas have been carefully documented over the centuries so that we know the precise action that the herbs and formulas will have on a condition. This knowledge is what makes Chinese herbal medicine so effective. Chinese Medicine is the major health care method serving over one-quarter of the world’s population.
About Ayurveda
Ayurveda in Sanskrit (the ancient language of India) means “The Science of Life.” Ayurveda is considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science. Its knowledge originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and is often called the “mother of all healing.” The principles of many of the natural healing systems now familiar in the West have their roots in Ayurveda, including Homeopathy and Polarity Therapy.
Ayurveda puts emphasis on balance as the way to maintain health. It encourages close attention to one’s life, right thinking, diet, lifestyle and spiritual practice. The concept of ‘health’ in Ayurveda is different for each individual. Health is based on three fundamental constitutions or body-types, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each person was born with their own unique constitution, like a set of fingerprints. Knowledge of Ayurveda enables one to understand how to create this balance of body, mind and consciousness according to one’s own individual constitution and how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain this balance.
Ayurveda is inclusive in that it encompasses not only the well known practice of Yoga, but also includes meditation and proper food guidelines or nutrition based on your constitutional type(s) to facilitate healing. Ayurveda adds the “spirit” to mind-body medicine, helping to make the individual whole.
Here at Children's Natural Health and Herbs...
We have found that the holistic, spiritual based medicine of Ayurveda combined with the clinical excellence of Chinese Medicine is more effective than either one alone. The Eastern modalities of medicine and modern Western medicine can be very effective when used together. Chinese herbal formulas make it possible to lower the dosage of pharmaceutical drugs as well as decreasing their side effects. Modern pharmaceutical drugs provide emergency relief for life threatening conditions whereas Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine helps to heal the trauma and resolve the condition.
