Vitalism

How do you handle your health & wellness? Do you take a proactive stance & focus on prevention? Or, do you wait until you are expressing symptoms to take action? If you are having a health challenge, do you focus on treating only the area that hurts, or do you support your entire body so that you may heal more effectively? Your answers to these questions help identify which health care paradigm you value. There are two main paradigms within health care; vitalism & mechanism.

Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

is a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from physicochemical forces; a doctrine that the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part self-determining.

Vitalism stands in contrast to mechanistic thinking, which is the basis of traditional allopathy. Mechanists believe that life can be explained in strictly physical terms. Traditional medicine is based on the reductionistic approach, explaining health in terms of purely physical & measurable phenomena. When there is a problem within the body, the focus is on treating that one area & the approach is outside-in, meaning either you must take something (drugs), or you need something removed (surgery).

It is clear to see the differences in these two health care paradigms. Through understanding these differences we may better understand the application of chiropractic & how it can bring us closer to optimum health and wellness.

Chiropractic is a vitalistic approach to healthcare. There is more to life than simply the sum of all body parts & processes. The laws of science do not fully explain life. There is an innate intelligence that resides in the body. This intelligence is responsible for the organization, maintenance & healing of the body. The body is a self healing & self regulating organism. Healing is modulated through the function of the nervous system, the master control system of the body. Thus, healing occurs from inside-out. Vitalists recognize & trust this inborn intelligence of the body. They acknowledge that only the wisdom of the body can heal. Doctors do not heal. As chiropractors, we remove the interference from the nervous system, so that the innate intelligence of the body can function as intended & the body can heal itself.

An interesting fact to share is that the first object to form in utero is the neural tube, which develops into the nervous system (brain, spinal cord & nerves). The nervous system functions as the master control system of the body, through which all other processes are directed. It helps us to grow, repair & heal from conception to death. The innate intelligence of the body is able to communicate with the body through the nervous system.

I am reminded of the amazing innate capabilities of the human body in watching my 13 month old son. Since I learned that I was pregnant, I have been in awe of human development. Throughout our pregnancy, his body developed & grew at a remarkable rate. He was born a gorgeous little man, with every cell, tissue & organ functioning, perfectly. How did his body know how to do this? How do cells know how to replicate & differentiate into the heart, lungs, digestive tract, etc? From the moment he was born, this inborn intelligence helped him to eat, sleep & eliminate. Within a few weeks, he was holding his head up. By six months, he began crawling. We did not have to teach him how to crawl; he simply did it. This soon progressed to pulling up & eventually walking. If you have ever watched a child develop, perhaps you too have been amazed. These developments are not chance, rather they are the mark of inborn intelligence.

This intelligence doesn't leave us as we grow up. We may fail to recognize it as we grow older, but it is always there. Start trusting your body & its inborn intelligence. It was able to guide you through your life, to where you are today. Pretty amazing if you ask me. The body needs no help, just no interference. Think about this next time you are having a health challenge. Ask yourself, is my body functioning at 100% right now? If your answer is not yes, you may consider having a chiropractor check your spine & nervous system for interference. Why not support the system that constantly supports & regulates you?