From Chemistry to Homeopathy

From Melissa M., Calgary

Alternative medicine was never a strange concept or odd practice in my family. Since I was a child my grandmother used a great variety of natural remedies when I was not feeling well. I remember her saying that all the secrets for understanding how disease can be prevented and cured are hidden within nature in the forms of herbs, oils, foods, vitamins, nutritional supplements and homeopathic remedies. Without a doubt, my family and I reaffirmed several times the effectiveness of the use of natural remedies, especially when we were fighting off common illnesses like stomach flus, migraines, burns, colds, allergies etc. We usually felt much better, more alert and more vital in a shorter period of time compared to conventional medicine that very often had adverse drug reactions and side-effects. This is the reason why we learned with time that the best option for investing in our health was to use natural remedies. While I was growing up, I had an increased interest in having a vegetarian diet, emotional health, and playing different sports. I started to pay more attention to my grandma’s words and became more aware of how important it was to really listen to the body’s messages. Soon enough, I developed a better comprehension of the relationship between the body, the mind and soul. I learned that they are not separated entities, on the contrary they always work together in order to keep the body at their optimum level. The years went by and my interest for practicing alternative medicine grew more within me. It was then that I found the urge to study the mechanisms and processes behind it. I always was very curious at school and I found myself taking as many science courses as I could, especially in the chemistry and biology fields. Back in High School I met a great teacher, her name was Mrs. George, and she was an extraordinary chemist herself, but likewise a very kind person. She was like any other teacher, she immensely enjoyed teaching to her students not only about regular chemistry but also about all the different applications of chemistry that we have in our daily lives and we often ignored. One day, she taught us about “The Chemistry of Life”, how she used to call it; this consisted in a very old theory from a Homeopathic physician in Germany, called Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Schuessler. Wilhelm Schuessler stated that diseases are the result of the lack or disturbances of the 12 vital mineral salts, which he called “ biochemic tissue –salts”. He explained in this theory how salts are formed through the chemical bonding of acids with metals or through the reaction of acids with basic substances. A number of mineral salts are found in the human body in solution and participate in important essential energy exchanges during metabolism. When such tissue-salts are partially, or worse, entirely missing, the metabolism is so disturbed and weakened that viral invasion (disease states) arise through cell fermentation. In this process, normal cell respiration is pathologically inhibited and the cell can turn cancerous or other deterioration can occur. Mrs. George added that in order to have a good health we all must have all the essential elements of the human body at its best in order to avoid a viral invasion on the organism. Today we know that all life sustains itself, directly or indirectly, from the chemical metabolism of the food we eat. These words were the right calling for me that not only chemistry was something that I needed to learn in greater detail, but eventually I needed to find the link between science and all the books I read about alternative medicine. A couple of years after, I went to college and studied Chemical Engineering Technology. I was fascinated with all the different types of chemistry courses they offered. Nevertheless, it was special courses that I took that really struck me the most - Biochemistry with emphasis in pharmacology. My teacher talked about a large number of remedies that have been in use for thousands of years, and it was the practice of herbalism and other disciplines that made it possible for so many of our conventional drugs to be created. However, I could never understand how the pharmaceutical companies isolate and often synthesize the active ingredient of the plant or  herb knowing that by isolating the active ingredient of the plants it produces very powerful and often toxic drugs. As a result, we have been encouraged by the pharmaceutical companies to adopt the “pill-popping” approach to health. The crisis conventional healthcare is now facing is the result of its own philosophy. By taking a pill or taking some sort of conventional medicine, we do experience a relief of the symptoms associated with the disease, but the main cause or illness still remains. This is how I came to realize that I did not want to be part of that system, instead I want to create greater responsibility for our own health. After this experience, I decided to do some research on which discipline resonated more with my principles. I watched an interview of George Vithoulkas, who is a well-known international professor of Homeopathic medicine; he was asked how Homeopathy works and his answer blew my mind completely, he said: “energy”. Homeopathic medicine works on an energy level. You could say it is a matter of finding similar frequencies in disease and cure. After hearing these words I knew exactly what I was looking for all these years. I knew what he was referring to when he mentioned “energy medicine”, electro-dynamic force, and vital force in the interview. It became crystal clear that homeopathic medicine aims to change the body’s energy level, which lies at the root of disease and this without a single doubt was the approach that I wanted to learn and practice. Homeopathy, it’s a whole world on its own and I am very interested to get to know it well and to practice it to perfection. I finally feel like the right time has come and I am ready to start up my new journey at CCHM!