Anthroposophical Medicine Health Article

Definition

Anthroposophical medicine (AM), or anthroposophically extended medicine, is a system of healing based on the spiritual science that was developed by Rudolph Steiner.

Origins

Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925) was a philosopher and teacher who founded anthroposophy (anthropos meaning human and sophy meaning wisdom), which is a worldwide spiritual movement that seeks to apply a scientific approach to spiritual perception. Steiner, from Austria, believed that everyone has spiritual powers that can be activated by exercises in mental concentration and meditation. During his lifetime, he was an active teacher, attracting many followers to his spiritual ideas. Steiner founded several schools, wrote nearly 30 books, and gave more than 6,000 lectures around the world on subjects including education, medicine, agriculture, social issues, science and art. His ideas have remained influential. The Waldorf school system, which he began, educates thousands of young people each year. Many health food stores carry products produced by Steiner's system of agriculture called biodynamic farming, which considers the health and purity of the soil, water, and air to be of central importance.

Anthroposophical medicine is based on Steiner's concept that spiritual awareness is the foundation of individual health and of the health of society. Steiner believed that many of the oldest systems of healing, such as traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and Tibetan medicine, were based on a spiritual perception of the world that modern science has lost. Steiner wanted medicine to get back in touch with spirituality, and at the same time keep and use wisely the gains that science and technology have made. Thus, conventional medicine needed to be extended beyond physical science to include a holistic spiritual science.

Steiner formally began application of his philosophy in a series of 20 lectures in the early spring of 1920 to the medical community of a town in Switzerland. It was the first such course for physicians and medical students. He and Dutch medical doctor Ita Wegman co-authored a foundational work for physicians wanting to expand their practice according to anthroposophic principles.

Anthroposophical medicine is still in its early stages. Steiner believed that it would take many years for his medical ideas to be fully applied. There are thousands of anthroposophical doctors and researchers practicing in Europe, where the main school was founded. In America, practitioners can be found in several large cities, but the overall number of anthroposophical physicians is very small.

Benefits

Anthroposophical medicine can be used to treat any health condition. It is particularly recommended for preventive care, infections, inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, and the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases associated with aging. It is also recommended for pediatric (child) care, with its avoidance of toxic drugs, and is beneficial for children's conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental problems.

The anthroposophical concept of the body

Anthroposophical physicians have a different view of the body and health than the conventional scientific model. Human beings are made up of four levels ("fourfoldness") of being. The first level is the physical body. The second level is the life or etheric body, which corresponds to the Chinese idea of chi and the Ayurvedic idea of prana. The third level is the soul, or astral body, and the fourth level is the spirit. AM doctors believe that all levels of being influence a patient's health.

The physical body is made up of a three-fold system, including the "sense-nerve" system that comprises the head and nervous system, supporting the mind and the thinking process. Second is the "metabolic-limb" system that includes the digestive system for elimination, energetic metabolism, and voluntary movement processes, all supporting aspects of human behavior that express the will. Finally, the rhythmic system that includes the heart and lungs in the chest, is responsible for balancing the head and digestive systems. According to AM, these systems tend to oppose each other in functioning and characteristics, similar to the Chinese concept of yin and yang. For instance, the digestive system is associated with heat and helps to dissolve elements in the body, while the head system is associated with cooling and helps in the formation of elements in the body. Illness is caused when the systems of the body become out of balance. AM involves a broad understanding of the three bodily systems, and the illnesses associated with each system and its imbalance. This model provides practitioners a means for therapeutic insight now recognized as mind-body relationships in health and disease.

In anthroposophical medicine, illness is considered a significant event in a person's life, and not just a chance occurrence. One role of the doctor is to understand, and help the patient understand, the significance of the illness on all levels of being. Conventional medicine tends to suppress illness, using drugs to block the symptoms. AM doctors believe that true healing must first bring an illness out in order to heal it, and that healing requires change and development in the patient on several levels.

AM also asserts, as did the early healer Paracelsus, that every illness has a cure that can be found in nature. Paracelsus is the pseudonym for a Swiss-born alchemist and physician who lived from 1493–1541. Nature and the human body are made up of the plant, animal, and mineral kingdoms, and thus AM doctors use medicines that are made from plants, animals (usually in the form of organ extracts), and minerals. AM remedies are usually given in homeopathic doses, which are very diluted, non-toxic solutions.