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Episode 2. Understanding Vitalism and its Role in Naturopathy
8 Plays1 month ago
Welcome to Episode 2 of Healing Insights, brought to you by Rising Phoenix Naturopathy! In this enlightening episode, your host, Dr. Tara Coppola, a dedicated Naturopathic Physician, takes you on a journey into the heart of naturopathic philosophy: vitalism.
Have you ever wondered what truly differentiates naturopathic medicine from other healing modalities? In “Understanding Vitalism and Its Role in Naturopathy,” Dr. Coppola unpacks the fundamental concept of vitalism—an essential principle that forms the backbone of naturopathic practice.
In this episode, you will discover:
- The Essence of Vitalism: What is vitalism, and how has it shaped the understanding of health and healing throughout history? Dr. Coppola explains how this philosophy views the body as a dynamic, self-healing organism, defined by a unique vital force that underpins all life.
- Naturopathy and Vitalism: Explore how vitalism acts as the guiding light for naturopathic practitioners. Learn about the connection between vitalistic principles and the holistic approaches utilized in modern naturopathy, emphasizing the importance of treating the whole person rather than just symptoms.
- Holistic Treatment Modalities: Delve into various naturopathic therapies that align with the philosophy of vitalism, including herbal medicine, nutrition, mind-body techniques, and lifestyle modifications. Dr. Coppola shares practical examples that illustrate how these practices support the body’s innate healing abilities.
- Personal Empowerment: Discover how understanding vitalism encourages patients to take an active role in their health journey. Dr. Coppola discusses the importance of self-awareness and cultivating a connection with your own body as integral components of vitalistic healing.
Whether you are a newcomer to naturopathic medicine or seeking to deepen your understanding of holistic health, this episode offers valuable insights into the foundational concept of vitalism. Join Dr. Coppola in redefining your perspective on health and exploring how nurturing your vital force can lead to profound healing and wellness.
Tune in to Healing Insights and embark on this transformative exploration of vitalism in naturopathy. Your journey to holistic health starts here!
Remember, the content provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease. For any health concerns or questions, please seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional. Take care and stay well!
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Transcript
Introduction to Vitalism and Naturopathy
00:00:01
Tara Coppola
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Healing Insights. This is episode number two, understanding vitalism and its role in natureopathy. I'm your host, Dr. Tara Kapola, and I am ready to take you on this fascinating journey to discover what vitalism is and how it incorporates into your health. Today, we're going to explore the definition of vitalism, its fundamental role in naturopathy, how it informs healing practices, and even how you can recognize if your healthcare provider practices vitalistically. All right, so grab your cup of tea, grab your cup of coffee, settle in, and let's get rolling. Let's kick things off by answering the crucial question, what exactly is vitalism?
00:00:57
Tara Coppola
Vitalism, at its core, is the understanding that living organisms are fundamentally different than inanimate objects because they're governed by a distinct vital force or energy.
The Role of Vitalism in Holistic Health
00:01:09
Tara Coppola
The roots of vitalism can be traced back to Asian philosophies where cultures like the Greeks referred to this force as numa or qi in Chinese medicine.
00:01:21
Tara Coppola
The essential premise is that the vital force interacts with the physical body, maintaining health and facilitating natural healing. You want to think of it as your body's unique energy that's guiding your healing processes. Isn't that such an amazing idea? It resonates with many different spiritual and philosophical traditions around the world. Now,
00:01:51
Tara Coppola
Let's connect the dots a little bit between vitalism and natureopathy. Natureopathy is a truly holistic approach that strongly incorporates the vitalistic principles. Through the foundations of healing, natureopathy understand understands and embraces the idea that health is more than just an absence of disease.
00:02:16
Tara Coppola
I'm going to repeat that again. Health is more than just the absence of disease. Health is about creating harmony in the body systems. Vitalism is central to this view, treating patients as whole beings rather than merely a collection of symptoms. Nature, naturopaths use natural remedies.
00:02:40
Tara Coppola
a naturopathic protect practitioner is going to utilize and support and enhance the body's vital force through these natural remedies, such as botanical medicines, homeopathy, nutrition, lifestyle choices. They're all going to be utilized in unique ways to the individual to help improve that individual's vitalistic force.
00:03:04
Tara Coppola
Then there's the self-healing idea. Natureopathy emphasizes and promotes the body's innate ability to heal itself. Just as vitalism poses that the vital force promotes health, naturopaths encourage courage patients to connect with and strengthen their self-healing capacities. As we talk about healing, remember,
00:03:31
Tara Coppola
Healing is a journey of self-discovery and a journey of empowerment.
Application of Vitalism in Naturopathic Practices
00:03:38
Tara Coppola
So, how does vitalism play out in everyday practices of natureopathy? Here are some key applications of the vitalistic principles. Nature paths have a holistic assessment.
00:03:54
Tara Coppola
They take a comprehensive view of patient's history, lifestyle, and emotional wellbeing. Nature paths embark on a quest to understand the unique vital force of each individual. Nature paths create personalized treatment plans by recognizing the patient's vital force and nature path tailors the treatment plan to recommendations. For example, someone with a vibrant constitution might benefit from herbs that are more energizing or stimulating, while another one may need calming herbs. So it depends on the individual's vital force, which forms of the modalities will be used for that patient. Also, in naturopathy, there is an obvious connection with nature, hence the name naturopathy. Vitalism promotes a deeper connection to nature.
00:04:53
Tara Coppola
Nature paths emphasize outdoor activities, nutrition in its whole food sources, herbal remedies that align with Earth's natural cycles. All of these facets connect our body with the nature that we came from. Then there's the education and empowerment facet. Now, if you heard my first podcast, you'd understand that this is a so super important idea for me because Through education, I can empower my patients to learn how to heal themselves. I want my patients to be empowered in their health and their wellness. A vitalistic approach fosters an environment where patients are able to learn about their health and encourages them to take responsibility for their wellness journey.
Vitalism in Preventative and Chronic Care
00:05:42
Tara Coppola
This emphasis on education is crucial in helping patients understand their bodies, how to nurture their vital force.
00:05:51
Tara Coppola
so Let's discuss the uses of vitalism within healthcare, particularly in the realm of majoropathy. First, we have preventative care. We discussed this in the first podcast. Vitalistic practices help prevent disease by strengthening the body's vital force through regular checkups, lifestyle modifications, nutritional support, et cetera, et cetera, will help keep you ahead of illness.
00:06:21
Tara Coppola
As a reminder, when we discussed in the first podcast, prevention is not 100%. However, when you're living in a lifestyle of prevention, if something happens in the body, the body is so much more well-equipped to handle it and can recover faster. Then, the next idea are the chronic conditions that we deal with.
00:06:47
Tara Coppola
Vitalism is instrumental in managing chronic illnesses, especially where conventional treatments have fallen short. We do this by understanding and addressing the vital force. we We're able to find unique strategies for individual patients that are above and beyond suppressing symptoms.
00:07:10
Tara Coppola
When you suppress a symptom, it lies more dormant in the body and will proliferate later. We often see this through the medications we're taking with the vast amount of side effects that come up. How many times has somebody prescribed a medication only to then need another medication for the side effect that happened? Through vitalism, it's about supporting the body's inherent ability to heal.
00:07:38
Tara Coppola
through supporting its vital force. This doesn't necessarily rely on suppression of symptoms. Now, we'll talk about the therapeutic order in another podcast. However, suppression of symptoms can be needed in certain situations. Nothing is black and white. Nothing is yes and no all the time. Everything in our body, in our world, in our humanism is a beautiful,
00:08:09
Tara Coppola
layer of gray.
Emotional and Spiritual Aspects of Vitalism
00:08:10
Tara Coppola
And so there will be some times that suppression is needed. There will be some times that extreme tactics are needed, such as surgery. Absolutely. However, in vitalism, it's not the first step. The first step is getting to those obstacles of cure, helping to support the body's body's natural vital force. Then there is the mental, emotional wellbe wellbeing.
00:08:38
Tara Coppola
This is a facet that is not often touched by conventional medicine, unless you're going to a psychiatrist or a psychologist, which have their, you know, they do their good. Absolutely. We need them to help us sometimes. Sometimes we need those medications to help our brain get back in alignment. Vitalism is not limited to physical health. Vitalists encompass emotional and spiritual dimensions of the human as well.
00:09:08
Tara Coppola
techniques like meditation, visualization, and mindfulness are commonly integrated into treatment plans because without supporting the patient's mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being, we may be missing obstacles to cure that are needed to help that patient heal. And that's not okay. Emphasis in these dimensions can lead to profound healing experiences for the patient.
00:09:37
Tara Coppola
Now, if you are intrigued by the idea of idealism, you may be wondering how to identify if your healthcare practitioner provides treatments and modalities from a vitalistic perspective. Here are some, not all, some key ideas.
00:09:57
Tara Coppola
They utilize a holistic approach. Does your doctor view patients as a whole being? A vitalistically inclined practitioner is going to look at the patient from the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual aspects of their life. Then there's patient education. Are you as a patient being empowered to understand your health and your body's healing processes? You want to look for practitioners who take the time to educate you about treatment options,
00:10:29
Tara Coppola
and the role that your internal vital force is playing on your treatment. Next, vitalistic practitioners create a customized treatment plan. They are not cut and dry protocols for every individual. It's not if you have hypertension, then you take XYZ and everybody with hypertension gets XYZ. That does not work that way in vitalism.
00:10:54
Tara Coppola
The vitalistic provider recognizes each patient's individual vital force is different and adapts their approaches accordingly. Next, we have natural therapies. Are natural remedies being used as a cornerstone of your practitioner's practice?
00:11:18
Tara Coppola
It can be anything from botanical medicine to homeopathy, to hydrotherapy, to dietary changes. Any of those nature-based therapies are part of a vitalistic approach. Now, this does not mean that pharmaceuticals are never a part of a vitalistic approach. However, like I've mentioned before, in the therapeutic order, they are some of the last tiered efforts. So,
00:11:48
Tara Coppola
The final thing to think about when trying to figure out if your practitioner is practicing vitalistically is, is there collaborative care? Does your practitioner value collaboration and respect and honor the other practitioners of your healing team? It is critical that your healing team are working and integrating with each other.
00:12:16
Tara Coppola
Are they integrating insights from other healthcare care modalities? Are they emphasizing teamwork to support your health journey? At the end of the day, it is your health journey and your healing team is critical.
Disclaimer and Further Exploration
00:12:32
Tara Coppola
Now, identifying these different traits can open the door to understanding if your practitioner is actually practicing vitalistically.
00:12:43
Tara Coppola
With that, I do want to set in a disclaimer, which I probably should have put in the beginning. So all of this information in this podcast is very general in nature. I'm trying to help educate and inform and empower you in your healing journey. It is not intended to diagnose or treat illnesses.
00:13:06
Tara Coppola
If you have a diagnosis, if you have symptoms, if you have an illness, you need to reach out to your licensed medical practitioner for diagnosis and treatment. That being said, this exploration of vitalism has been very general. There is so much more information that I did not even touch on, but I hope that it sparks your interest and empowers you to explore more. As we conclude, I want you to remember Understanding your health means embracing the power of your vital force. You have it within you. It is important to connect to it. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me on podcast number two of the healing insights. If you have found this episode helpful, please subscribe, like and share it with friends.
00:14:01
Tara Coppola
If you're interested in exploring how to vi vitalistic approach can work for you, you can head on over to my website, www.risingphoenixnatureopathy.com and learn more. You can schedule a free discovery consultation with me right there on the website. Your journey to vitalistic healing begins with you. Until next time.
00:14:28
Tara Coppola
Nurture your vital force. Stay curious and be well.