three ways to think about health (that will transform your relationship to healing)
...or, why definitions matter
Consider for a moment what the ideal therapeutic system should be. […] Most importantly, the ideal therapeutic system must have a clear conception of the following questions:
What exactly, and in the fullest sense, is a human being?
What does it truly mean to be healthy?
What precisely is a diseased state?
Unless these questions are completely understood, any therapy will be unlikely to produce solid, reliable, and verifiable results, or even to recognize real progress if it were to occur.
— George Vithoulkas
Dear friends of homeopathy,
I’ve been reading this book by Benjamin Hardy, 10x Is Easier Than 2x. Let me start by saying that while the title sounds a bit like click-bait, the concepts in the book are more subtle — if you let them be. I suppose you could take everything he says completely literally and turn it into another book on how to create material success — but I’m not reading it that way.
I’m reading it this way: that in order to get good results (2x), we generally can do the same things we’ve been doing, only we double down. We simply do more. But in order to get transformational results (10x), doing more of the same is not going to work. We can’t simply 10x our effort and current habits. We have to transform ourselves, we have to think about ourselves and our world differently.
So what does this have to do with health and homeopathy?
Well, Hardy points out that one requirement for getting these big, 10x results, is understanding what qualifies as success. We have to specifically define the standards that indicate that we have gotten where we intended to go.
Obvious, right?
And yet. This is not ubiquitous in the world of healthcare. Medical schools generally do not define what health is, they only have parameters that define what disease is. Most doctors have never been asked to think deeply about what exactly it is that they are trying to accomplish.
The current healthcare model is not a model of health. It is a model of disease.
When we work with a healthcare practitioner inside the conventional healthcare system, which includes almost everyone who is covered by insurance, along with many other practitioners and services that are NOT covered by insurance but have been steeped in the conventional model, we are inside a model of disease management — not a model of health.
If we actually want to heal, we will have to do something radically, transformationally different — as individuals, and as a culture.
And that is where homeopathy comes in.
In homeopathy, we have a definition of health to guide us.
We start with health, and strive to understand what that really means — so that then, we can recognize what is truly disease or pathology.
Our definition of health defines the standards that we are holding ourselves to as practitioners, and that we are looking for in our clients. Our definition of health defines what we hope to achieve when we work with homeopathy — or any modality.
So what are those standards, exactly?
George Vithoulkas, perhaps the most influential homeopath of the 20th century, gives this definition of health in his book The Science of Homeopathy:
Health is freedom from pain on the physical level, having attained a state of well-being; freedom from passion on the emotional level, having as a result a dynamic state of serenity and calm; and freedom from selfishness in the mental sphere, having as a result total unification with Truth.
This is a pretty juicy definition, with a lot to unpack. But as place to start, let me offer three implications of these statements that stand out to me.
1 :: Health is a whole person phenomenon
Health, from a homeopathic perspective, is not limited to the physical body. It encompasses mental, emotional and physical health. Our definition differentiates these three aspects of health, and provides different criteria for what it means to be healthy in each aspect.
Straight A’s on your blood work does not make you healthy, in and of itself. We want to see balance in the mind, and in your feelings. We consider what makes you a human being, and we look for balance on all of those dimensions.
2 :: Health is about freedom and flexibility
You could say that freedom is the goal of health — freedom from, and freedom to. Freedom from pain creates the freedom to experience well-being. Freedom from passion creates the freedom to live in a state of dynamic serenity and calm. Freedom from selfishness creates the freedom to see things as they are (truth).
This focus on freedom differentiates homeopathy from conventional medicine, fundamentally. When the goal of your healthcare is FREEDOM — there is an opportunity to transform ourselves.
When we talk about freedom, we are talking about the ability of the organism to express itself appropriately, to adapt to whatever comes its way. Health is the capacity for well-being; the capacity to feel our feelings and respond with serenity, neither shutting down, nor acting out; the capacity to be with reality, as it is, and respond with creativity and rationality.
3 :: The highest goal of health is self-actualization
Consider what, for Vithoulkas, qualifies as health on the mental level — lack of selfishness and unification with the Truth.
What does this actually mean?
Lack of selfishness and unification with the Truth are spiritual concepts.
Lack of selfishness means that the ego is in balance. The ego is the servant, rather than the master. A balanced ego allows the possibility for us to be of real service in the world, to be in the flow, rather than constantly chasing a result; to give freely and receive graciously, without excessive attachment.
In “unification with the Truth,” truth is capitalized. We all have our own, small version of the truth. Often we say, “this is my truth.” What we mean by that is, this is my perspective. Truth with a capital T refers to an expanded, more fundamental and objective reality. When we are able to connect with this bigger, universal Truth, we are in alignment with what is.
When we are able to access selflessness and Truth, that is when we are able to be ourselves, fully, and to express ourselves, fully. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, describes the state of health as the point when “our indwelling, rational spirit can freely avail itself of this living, healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence.”
The goal of healthcare from a homeopathic perspective — the standard that we hold ourselves to — is to create a state of inner harmony that allows us to serve our higher purpose.
We want you to have the freedom and flexibility in mind, body and spirit to express yourself fully and joyfully, to bring your unique gifts to the world.
Once I saw what homeopathy was about, there was no other way for me. And the thing is — it’s not even about the remedies. Those are, in a way, completely irrelevant.
What I’m talking about here is a way of being, a way of seeing, a standard of care that demands the most complete and joyful expression of your humanity as its aim.
What is your standard for healthcare? What is the industry standard?
If we want to see improvement in health outcomes in this country we will have to change our view of health fundamentally. Let’s start asking some hard questions. Let’s start changing how — and more importantly WHY — we do things.
This isn’t about getting rid of symptoms, y’all. This is about living the best, most aligned and expanded life possible.
Anyway, that’s the definition of health that I’m choosing.
What about you? What do you think? How do you think about health? Are you able to access healthcare that meets your standards? Pop over to the comments and let me know!
Love,
Chelsea
PS — Would you do me a favor? If you made it this far, (and you liked what you read), would you click the little “like” heart at the very end of the email/post? That will help me reach more people on Substack — and also, it just feels good to know you are there :-) THANK YOU for being here with me.
PPS — I’m thinking of offering my Cold and Flu class again in February! If you are interested, let me know! You can reply to this newsletter (or leave a comment below!) with a “Yes, interested in Cold + Flu!”
The class is three series of videos: fundamentals of homeopathy, how to use homeopathy for cold and flu, and descriptions of 10 remedies. You can watch at your leisure, then get your questions answered in a live, recorded Q + A.
You can read more about the content, and watch two of the remedy videos here to get a sense of what the class will be like.
Hi Chelsea. Nice commentary here, thank you. LOVE to hear you are hosting a course - the content looks really, really good!