It seems as the longer I practice the more I fall in love with the "old school" naturopathic treatments. Don't get me wrong I know the importance of supplements, but the hydrotherapy, herbs and the topical treatments have become some of my favorites. I think they are becoming my favorites because I have seen them work over and over and they are relatively simple. You don't have to take this supplement 2 times a day away from food; rather you can do them at the end of the day or first thing in the morning.
I hope the Roots of Naturopathic medicine - Nature Cure, doesn't get lost in the nutraceutical driven world. I hope I am able to continue to learn and use these gems. Wet socks, constitutional hydrotherapy, alternating sitz baths and the application of water should be a part of our daily lives to some degree. How can they not, we are made up of water! Water is one of the most important things in our lives.
Herbs - I used to have a hate relationship with them, as I did not have a personal relationship with them. When we learned them in school they were flat, we might have tasted them via a drop or two and then we learned the actions of what they do and the contraindications of the herbs. But being in practice using herbs now on a daily basis I have learned that some herbs are female, male and neutral. Being a female herb does not mean that it just works for females, it just means that it has more of a feminine quality and needs to be used with the right patients. These herbs have become a part of my world, they influence the teas that I drink, the salves that I make and the lives of countless of my patients. The one thing I have not yet learned is how to make them taste good. I know for some of them their taste is vital to what they do, but Vitex, why do you have to make a tincture taste sooo bad!