About Native American Healing Traditions
Native American Healing Traditions
The Native Americans have a distinct culture that is founded on a strong spiritual connection. This strong spiritual connection effects many of their customs and beliefs, but it also infiltrates how they approach medicine and health. Native American healing is very simplistic and involves both the physical and the mental health of the body. Native American healing traditions suggest that most sicknesses and diseases are not simply in the affected area of eth body alone. These healing traditions are founded on the principle that a spiritual imbalance is the cause of the illness and it can be fixed with herbs, meditation and rituals. The healing traditions of these Native people have been around for many centuries and some of eth techniques are still practiced today.
Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine and alternative treatments are becoming incredibly popular in today’s society, but many are based on the practices of Native American Indians. Many of the treatments or medications that were applied to the body were made using teas, leaves, salves, flowers and berries. These were natural treatments that were believed to offer healing powers. Penicillin is one of the most profound discoveries that can be contributed to Native Americans.
The invention of penicillin began from one of the ancient Native American remedies that involved fighting infection using mold. Even before penicillin was discovered by physicians, it was being used by the Native Americans to fight sicknesses. Native Americans are not widely accredited with the discovery of penicillin, but they used it before anyone else. Now penicillin is used to save millions of lives. This shows that there is real validity and healing powers attributed to the healing traditions of Native Americans.
When Were They First Practiced?
Many of the healing traditions that were created by the Native Americans were first discovered many years ago. The exact timeframe is not known, but it ranges from 15,000 to as many as 38,000 years ago. It is important to note that there is not just one type of Native American healing tradition. There were many different tribes living during this time period and there were slightly different standards of healing for each. However, many of eth healing traditions are widespread and were used by most Native American tribes. There were more than 500 nations of Native Americans, so there were different healing traditions and beliefs.
Passed On In Secret
The Native American healing traditions were seen as sacred and were often kept secret. This means that they were not documented or written down for posterity. They were simply passed down from those older Native Americans, through spiritual guidance and through initiation. It was not seen as a good sign to be too open in sharing healing practices. It was better to keep these healing techniques secret and only share them with very few. This was believed to be most pleasing to the spirits and made the healing practices more effective as a result.
Benefits of Native American Healing Traditions
There were many benefits that could be gained from Native American medicine. This type of healing was designed to offer wholeness and balance to your life and was highly spiritual. There was a distinct belief within Native American medicine that ‘white men diseases” required different medicines. Native American healing traditions are also given a lot of credit when it comes to treatment programs that deal with both physical and mental illnesses. For example, present day alcoholic treatment plans treat both the physical addiction and the mental component of this illness. This can be attributed to the Native American approach to medicine using both the mind and body.
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