- Vitality is the innate healing force or the self curative force within each of us.
- Vital energy preserves and promotes health and prevents and cures diseases.
- Vitality is the fuel for everyday living available to everybody, it is the state of being strong and active.
- It is also defined as the person’s capacity to live, grow and develop.
- Vitality is called by many names like LIFE FORCE, qi, PRANA, MANA, ZEST and DRIVE.
- According to Naturopathy, the vitality or also known as life force energy mainly responsible for all healing or coping process to recover from disease state.
Therefore all the regeneration, repair and defense mechanism are consider to be either part or related to vitality.
- Vitality is the subjective sense of aliveness and it may serve as a meaningful indicator of good physical and mental wellbeing.
- The people with more vitality are often achievers, happier and independent.
- We all are born with certain degree of energy or vitality.
- To preserve cellular health, vitality is required.
- A healthy cell combined with a healthy tissue creates a healthy organ, a healthy organ creates a healthy organ system and a healthy organ system creates a healthy body.
- A positive vibration spread throughout 50 trillions cells signifies health and vitality.
- Vitality is the idea that the existence of living things depends on a unique force that guides the processes of metabolism, growth, reproduction, adaptation and interactions.
- Vitality is the directing force that accounts not only for the maintenance of life but for the development and activities of living organism such as the progression from seed to plant, or the development of embryo to a living being.
- Bircher J and Hahn EG have offered a health model called Meikirch Model where they have described that every person possess both biologically given potentials (BGP) and personally acquired potentials (PAP).
- The BGP is the natural gift that each person is given at birth.
- It speaks for the biological foundation of humans.
- After birth, its potential declines progressively and reaches zero at the time of death.
- The term PAP is used to characterized all the physical, mental and spiritual abilities and individual might gain during his or her lifetime.
- The more a person is engaged in spiritual growth and healthy behaviours, the more PAP increases.
- A positive family setting, environment, community and friends contribute to increasing personally acquired potential.
- Various mindfulness techniques are shown to be beneficial in increasing the personally acquired potential.
Vitality can be compared to the combination of biologically derived and personally acquired potentials. So, vitality can be increased by conserving biologically derived potential and enhancing personally acquired potential.
- The activating force is life force/vitality/prana. It is coming from the parents i.e., Innate vitality and maintained by acquired vitality. If the physical body has enough space only then prana enters into the cell.
- To maintain the optimal life force within the human body, it should be free from toxins. When the physical body is not in tune with nature, the innate life-force cannot be circulated and it will depart from the cell. We call it as Death of the cell.
Physical Vitality:
- This is the energy to do things; having the strength and the stamina.
- It is not only important to athletic activities but it’s also valuable in our businesses, in our day to day tasks.
Spiritual Vitality:
- Your level of connectedness to the spirit that dwells within, in addition to our connection to others.
- When you have spiritual vitality, you recognize and live from your authentic truth as spiritual energy comes from a belief system.
Mental Vitality:
- Being mentally vital or having that vitality is having the mental energy to think clearly.
- It means that you are in good mental shape that you have sufficient mental powers and thinking stamina to handle problems.
Emotional Vitality:
- Emotional vitality which refers to having, sort of an upbeat, way of being.
- You have an enthusiasm. You are also able to deal with various challenges and stresses as they may come about.
Vitality and disease
- All disease is caused by something that interferes with, diminishes or disturbs the normal inflow and distribution of vital energy throughout the system.
- Naturopathic philosophy believes that a persons vital force determines their susceptibility to illness, the amount of treatment necessary, the Vigor of treatment and the speed of recovery.
- Those with inadequate vitality may suffer more quickly , require more therapy need softer treatments and take longer to recover.
- So the individual vital force plays an important role in healing.
- A naturopath always intends to boost and channel the vitality in the body properly for optimal functioning and homeostasis.
- Lowered vitality is regarded as the cause of disease which hinders the elimination process and subsequent accumulation of waste in the body and toxaemia.
- When a person as an acute illness, vitality exerts enough effort to remove the disease’s root cause from the body.
- a person may experience acute signs of inflammation such as redness, swelling, pain, heat and loss of function.
- If the vitality is left to do its job, the body will cleans itself of toxins and health will be restored, nevertheless, if the vitality is suppressed by the prescription of medications, it may advance to chronic stage.
| STAGE | ACUTE | SUBACUTE | CHRONIC | DEGENERATIVE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitality | Weak | low | Poor | Very low |
| Toxicity | Toxic discharge | Toxic absorption | Toxic encumbrance | Toxic necrosis |
| Symptoms | Pain, redness, heat, swelling, loss of function | Lowered activity, relapsing symptoms | Persistent symptoms, accumulation of cellular debries | Cellular destruction, toxins overload |
Vital Economy
- Vital Economy- That which maintains health, and restores it when lost, is life. The fivefold food-medicine furnishes only the needed repair material. But the power that accomplishes these ends is life and life alone. This is evident from the fact that, without the vital response to the measures of health or cure, there is no cure.
- Like water stored in a lake or reservoir and spent economically through sluices, vital power that is stored up in the body serves in all possible ways to safeguard health.
- Also like money deposited in a bank and added to from time to time, vital power is available for all the urgent needs that may arise from time to time.
Vitality and nature cure
- Nature cure is based on the realization that man is born with a specific vitality/vital energy- the innate healing power that keeps him/her healthy and strong in accordance with the principles of nature. The violation of natural laws can affect the vital power resulting in unhealthy and diseased condition.
What can we do to increase vitality?
- “Return to nature”, following the principles of healthy living and leaving the body and mind “free” is the only resort for lowered vitality.
- To provide opportunity to vitality we need to be on total rest
- One old school physicians and the public in general seem to think that this can be done by consuming large quantities of “nourishing” food and drink and by the use of stimulants and tonics.
- Healthy Eating:
- Enjoy eating a variety of foods
- Enjoy lower-fat and complex carbohydrate foods more often
- Meet the body’s energy and nutrient needs through consistent healthy enjoyable eating for a lifetime
- Take control of how you eat by listening to your hunger clues.
2. Physical Activity:
- Value and practice activities that are moderate and fun.
- Be active your way, every day.
- Participate for the joy of being active.
- Enjoy physical activities as part of your daily lifestyle.
3. Positive Self-Concept:
- Accept and recognize that healthy bodies come in a range of weights, shapes, and sizes.
- Appreciate your strengths and abilities.
- Relax and enjoy the unique characteristics you have to offer.
- Be critical of messages that focus on unrealistic thinness (in woman) and muscular bulk (in men) as symbols of success and happiness.
Hendry Lindlahr discussed the following techniques to conserve vital energy in his book “philosophy and practice of nature cure”
- Sufficient rest and relaxation
- Deep breathing
- Detoxification by maintaining healthy eliminative channels
- Expression of emotions
- Healthy mental outlook
- Proper nutrition
- Fresh air and sunlight
- Mindfulness/ meditation
- Sexual continence
- Exercise
By these measures, the foreign matter is eliminated and the body lightened, and then more vital power flows into the body from its mysterious source, whatever it may be.
When there is abundant vitality, the body feels light, the tissues are clean, and the bodily figure is normal and pleasant to look. By excessive attachment to enjoyments one comes to disregard the rules of hygienic living; and this leads to loss of vitality. By communion with the five higher sources of health—namely Ether, Air, Fire, Earth and Water—Vital Power is maintained.
| INDICATORS OF OPTIMUM VITALITY | INDICATORS OF LOWERED VITALITY |
|---|---|
| Imagination | Dullness |
| Creative | Depression |
| Cheerful | Heaviness |
| Optimum healing | Unhealthy appearance |
| Perceptive | Slow healing |
| Abundant energy | Lethargy |
| Radiance appearance | Pain and sickness |
| Inspired | Sluggish |
| Mental alertness | dependent |
| Acute sense | |
| independent |