From the Heart Not the Head

I was not always into homeopathy and alternative therapies. I was brought up by pretty 'normal' good working class Scottish parents. I studied science at university then psychiatric nursing: all good reasons for sticking to the 'straight and narrow' of the conventional medical world.
My first experience of holistic medicine was receiving homeopathic treatment 11 years ago for what I thought was a purely physical problem that my doctor had run out of ideas to treat. Not only was my physical problem sorted out very quickly, but a week after a course of 4 tablets only, my mood was so much better than I had experienced ever! It felt great to be alive!
Working in the mental health field, this emotional aspect fascinated me, and I set about studying the subject for the next 5 years.
Each time I received a good remedy, I made leaps in my understanding of myself, and felt a bit further along my personal journey.
Pretty quickly I discovered the opposing force of the conventional medical world and the skeptic, but the more I treated family, friends and my patients, the more I knew this treatment was much more powerful than the 'placebo' (sugar pill) reaction that many skeptics claim to be the reason for it's success. I didn't need scientific studies to convince me, and neither did my patients. Only some of the doctors I worked with seemed to need this too. I did for a while get concerned about this and look into trying to find evidence for homeopathy's effectiveness mainly just to defend my practice. There is evidence available, though not for many specific ailments as it's a holistic treatment. Nowadays I don't feel the need to pursue this line of enquiry, as it takes good energy away from what I really want to do, which is to get on with it!
Somehow I was pushed to the fringes of society, just because I found something that actually worked for the mental and physical health of myself, my family, friends and patients, and it was safe to take!
I would say (though not in those early days) that homeopathy can only take you so far in personal growth. I had been looking at other self help and new age authors such as Brandon Bays and Louise Hay, and doing their courses, and the Silva Mind Control helped me move forward a little more. However, the most powerful book to 'change my life' was 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle, which made me realise the power of awareness of my thoughts. I discovered just by watching my thoughts that I was still essentially a negative, critical person, and learned that they are only thoughts and could be changed. This set me further along a journey which made me look at mindfulness, psychosynthesis and cognitive behavioural principles which have been the main recent influences in my writing and practice.
I was very thankful that I worked in the NHS, and not principally as a homeopath, because it led me to find ways from within oneself to solve emotional pain.
My most recent discoveries of EFT (emotional freedom technique) and Z point process, have helped further move on my growth process to the point I am at now. (By the way, I am still 'only toty!'). My aim now is to get this information out to others. It's a bit evangelical for me!
My point: I never set out to look at alternative therapies. I discovered something that worked though I didn't know how. In doing so, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for treatment and self help.That appeals to my increasingly rebellious independant sub-personality I wasn't even aware of before. I am not a hippie, irreverant 'tree hugger', but a pragmatist who has found something that works because I was open to the possibility that it might.
Give it a try yourself!
Read my articles on www.stressalternatives.co.uk
Liz Temple