Health & Therapies

Hereford Centre for Natural Health

Health covers so many aspects of our lives - from what we eat, to how stressed we get with work or the kids, to how we spend our leisure time. These aspects can be broadly seen as physical, emotional and spiritual health and we need to be well in all three areas to experience optimum health – that wonderful balance where we are disease and illness free physically, at peace with our past and ourselves and able to express our emotions freely to ourselves and others.  Bliss! 

But how few of us are in that position, at least not for long. We are surrounded by polluted air, chemical-ridden food, water, foodstuffs, building materials and furnishings. So it isn’t surprising that our delicate balance of systems throughout our bodies can’t take the strain of all that bombardment for  long.  And once one thing goes wrong so other parts are put under strain, they try to compensate, and unless the situation is helped that second element will start to falter and something else kicks in to try to help.  So the cycle continues until there is a major breakdown or illness.

Our bodies are amazing in what they do in all the various systems and functions all interlinked and striving towards optimum health. We have choices in life and we can choose how we look after ourselves. Some people will choose to do very little – ‘I’m in your hands, doctor, it’s your job to sort me out’ type of attitude – and others will build eco-homes on the top of remote hills growing all their own food and living a calm and relaxed life.  Most of us are in the middle somewhere and we may choose to buy organic food, filter our water, buy eco-friendly products where possible, express ourselves creatively, exercise, and strive towards living as stress-free as possible. We all know how difficult that is today!

But there is also plenty of help out there in the form of alternative and complementary therapists. Herefordshire has many natural health centres and Practitioners of natural health who all view health as holistic. They treat the whole, individual person and not the symptoms, stimulating the body’s self-healing.

A good natural health centre will be able to advise you about the sort of therapy that can help, do check that they are registered through a professional body.  Other therapists who have done minimal training bring disrepute to the true professionals – though legally they are still allowed to practise.

Complementary therapies are beginning to be part of the National Health Service, but mainly patients have to pay for treatment. But we do not think twice about taking the dog to the vet when he needs treatment – and spending a lot of money. There is no NHS for pets, so we just accept it unquestioningly. Maybe we should consider our own health as equally important!

The Hereford Centre for Natural Health celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2007.