Natural health is concerned with wholeness and the harmony of body, mind, emotions and spirit. Our bodies have amazing inbuilt mechanisms for defense and self-healing, so when illness occurs the holistic approach is to ask why and try to determine what has caused the imbalance rather than to suppress the symptoms. This requires you to look at your lifestyle as a whole: your nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress levels, emotions and your degree of happiness and fulfillment. Are you over-stressed or neglecting your needs in any way? Is your body alerting you to any changes you should make in certain areas of your life such as your job, relationships or environment? Until the underlying problem is identified and addressed, your symptoms are likely to recur. Natural therapies can be used to strengthen your body's healing mechanisms and rebalance your energy flow, and the symptoms should disappear naturally as your body restores its own health.

The natural health approach emphasizes preventative health care and positive well-being through a healthy lifestyle: good food, fresh air, exercise and sufficient sleep.

There is a wide variety of natural therapies available, most will achieve similar results by different means so it's a case of choosing the one that's most in tune with your personality and philosophy.

The natural health approach is complementary to conventional medicine and it seems sensible to combine the best of what each has to offer. For anything other than minor ailments, always consult your GP for their diagnosis first and discuss the natural treatments that you are considering.

Self Help Techniques

Body scan meditation

Guided imagery

What makes your heart sing?

Healing Centres

Penny Brohn Cancer Care - formerly Bristol Cancer Help Centre. Offer specialist support including complementary therapies, nutritional advice and counselling.

Claridge House - Quaker centre for healing, rest and renewal in Surrey. Offer relaxing breaks and a wide range of courses associated with healing and creativity, such as: art, music, creative writing, meditation, yoga, reiki, kinesiology and circle dancing

Harry Edwards Healing Sanctuary - situated in 30 acres of beautiful Surrey countryside. Offers spiritual healing and retreats.

The Hale Clinic - Complementary medicine centre in London with over 90 practitioners