The world of medicine is based on three foundations, like all other phenomena in the
universe. These days, the idea of "personalized medicine" is becoming popular, and
this is a very positive development toward fitting the treatment to each individual
according to his or her circumstances and conditions. However, without relying on the
three foundations of medicine, there cannot be real personalized medicine.
These foundations present some basic principles about what health and medicine are –
principals, which have been almost forgotten. In our modern world, information of all
sorts has become very accessible to all of us, and everyone knows a few experts and
consultants, but the more information and advice we are exposed to, the more
bewildered we become. This is especially so, when it relates to the huge, wondrous
and only vaguely known area of medicine. The world of medicine is also especially
intriguing to us, as it relates to our health and well-being. It is, therefore, crucial that
we possess the right tools, to be able to decipher and discern correctly the huge
amount of information all around us.
Every phenomena in the physical world is based on these three foundations: Earth,
Water and Fire. There is another base, which is air or space, but it is amorphous and
its main function is to contain all phenomena and the function of the other
foundations within it. The three foundations of the world of medicine are these: the
mental facet, nutrition and movement.
In other words, our mental state predominates all. It also dominates the other
foundations of nutrition and movement. Everybody loves talking or hearing about
nutrition and sports. In America, there are endless experts, dietitians and nutritionists,
and these subjects of what to eat, how much and when, and what sports are good for
us and how much of it……. So everyone is on some sort of a diet, and they do
jogging and Aerobics and this and that – and what is the end result? The rates of
obesity and overweight are rapidly increasing every year.
This proves, that there is a much more fundamental factor influencing the success of a
diet or sports. This factor is the mental state, and there are a few examples, how the
mental state dominates – for example – nutrition. There are surveys and studies
showing that when a person is depressed, even if he or she consumes the best foods,
these foods will turn into poison in the gut.
Even when one's mental state is supposedly fine, most people in the modern world are
too busy, rushing here and there and all the time "on the go". For them, eating
resembles very much fueling a car: they eat quickly, hurriedly, do not chew properly
and consume their food very much like a vacuum cleaner. So, we can talk all day
about proper and healthy nutrition, and it is all very interesting, but the basic rule of a
healthy nutrition is how we eat, much before what we eat. A human being needs to sit
down relaxed for the meal and eat with awareness, unhurriedly and away from
distraction, such as technology, news, phone calls, etc.. Even if such a person was
eating junk food in their meal, he/she will derive from this junk food much more
benefit than the person, who might be an expert in organic food and the right
combinations of foods, but he is stressed, anxious, and in a hurry to go elsewhere.
The third foundation of medicine is that of the right movement. Here too, we have an
important and unknown principal: the movement that helps the most in a healing
process is resting!
In the Hebrew language, the word for medicine or the process of healing is "Refuaa",
and it comes from the same root as "Harpaya", which means Relaxation. This is one
of the most difficult thing to do in these modern times. Simply resting, staying put,
not engaging in any activity sounds sometime intolerable to many people. Here too,
the ability to rest and relax has to do with the mental state of mind. Most modern
practitioners of any health system today advice their patients to engage in some sort
of sports and work out activity. Even after long hours of work, sometimes standing or
running around all day, they are supposed to put on their sports shoes and jog, or walk
quickly, or go to the gym, or what have you. This is not the right advice in every case
and in all circumstances and age groups. A good practitioner discerns what fits each
and every one individually, and many times, the best advice is to send the person to
rest.
In conclusion, we have surveyed the three foundations on which the world of
medicine is based on. These three foundations complement each other into one whole
discipline needed for every complete treatment course. We have established that the
right process of eating is the ground rule for a correct nutrition. Even though the
knowledge of nutritious foods and food combinations is important, it cannot
guarantee by itself the results of a proper nutrition. We first need to address the right
process of eating, the way we eat. We also presented the ground-breaking innovation
that the foundation of movement actually means proper resting in many of the
treatment processes and in life in general.
