Positive Health Online

In this 20^th anniversary year of Positive Health PH Online, the political climate appears to be heating up, although I don’t suppose that there was never any heat - just perhaps that we weren’t as aware of all the back door campaigns to maintain the supremacy of non-natural treatments for health conditions and denigrate natural treatment approaches

There is currently an intense focus on the political  dimension of natural health-related subjects, which spans the complete spectrum from advertising, political / economic links behind interest groups behind campaigns to discredit complementary / alternative therapies including homeopathy and nutritional and herbal medicine, to proposed changed to the 1939 Cancer Act which renders illegal the treatment cancer patients with alternative treatments, i.e. anything other than the standard treatments of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

House of Lords Discussion on the Saatchi Medical Innovation Bill 24 Feb 2014: http://saatchibill.tumblr.com/     www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qqF6ELQPNB0 …

War On Health | A Gary Null Production: http://youtu.be/tvsjxzkPPZg

Attempts to expose bullying tactics of the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority):

http://anh-europe.org/New+film+unmasks+UKs+Advertising+double+Standards+Authority?utm_source=The+Alliance+for+Natural+Health&utm_campaign=adf9c8ab44-140312_ANH_Intl_e_Alert_No_1893_12_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_aea8a87544-adf9c8ab44-84938700

http://asa-the-truth.org.uk/

http://asa-the-truth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/WDDTY_ASA.pdf

In the present frenetic atmosphere of gazillions of social media, blogs, websites, emails, texts and all the other paraphernalia of communications, the somewhat rhetorical question I ask physicians and practitioners is how they can find the time to do their official job/business / therapy, write books, function on all the layers of social / electronic media, as well as be a parent / family person. And sleep, eat and perform all the human social functions, including looking after elderly parents, being ill, recovering health, etc. etc. And occasionally take a vacation.

It is patently obvious that it is becoming impossible to fully do all the above, although the majority of senior figures I know manage to juggle an amazing number of tasks with minimal or no support staff and not much remuneration. There are mantras and solutions which supposedly help us to organize our time: prioritize, delegate, automate / use virtual outsourced workers; however in small organizations or single person businesses / practices, someone at the top has to take responsibility for all the work delegated to others. This is what  I suppose accounts for the massive degree of fatigue and burn-out experienced amongst health professionals - complementary and conventional.

Returning to or refocussing upon Positive Health PH Online Issue 213, this issue once again embodies the many disciplines encapsulated across the spectrum of mind-body-spirit health, including mind-spirit articles including Working with Sound and Flower Essences, Everything is Relative , Aromatic Camino™ and How to Achieve Inner Goals, clinically oriented features regarding Research, Marshmallow, Cancer Diagnostic Tests, Migraines, Turmeric, an environmentally-oriented feature discussing Chemical-Free Cosmetics and Personal Products and Bodywork features including Craniosacral Therapy, Massage and Cancer-Related Fatigue and Gokhale Method™ for a Pain-Free Back.

This will be the last Column for the time being from Expert Regular Jonathan Lawrence BA DO Cert Ed Osteopath who will be taking a break for the current while. We wish him a genuine rest.

Returning to the political dimension of healthcare, I would be remiss if I didn’t also draw PH readers’ attention to items in the Letters to the Editor, including how independent midwives may be forced to stop practising due to insurmountable EU regulations regarding insurance and the many Research Updates for Issue 213.

In view of the above and the vital relevance all our work embodies, on reflection, I therefore surmise that as natural health care practitioners the old adage if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen just doesn’t apply to us. Carry on we must - it makes a huge difference albeit in tiny, isolated increments of progress.