I first heard the term “inner pharmacy” when watching a
Deepak Chopra video on healing the body.
In Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient form of medical practice originating
from India, accessing the inner pharmacy
applies to using all your senses in the process of healing. For a complete description of Ayurveda: http://nccam.nih.gov/health/ayurveda/introduction.htm
In my coaching practice,
I use the term “inner pharmacy” to apply to our mindset and ability to
leverage your body’s natural ability to heal itself. Our bodies are amazing self-healing
machines. Every 3-4 days your stomach
lining regenerates, your body creates and replaces skin cells every 27 days,
and several million red blood cells are replaced every second. The better we can get at supporting the
body’s own ability to heal itself, the more quickly we will heal and the longer
we will stay in a healthy state.
Some ways to support your body naturally are to develop
healthy habits in dealing with stress, exercising as a way of life, and using
food as medicine. When I have a
headache, I don’t immediately reach for aspirin. I check in with my body to see if I’m
dehydrated, hungry or under stress. Then
I can either meditate, eat, drink water, or use supportive herbs to lessen the
pain.
That’s not to say that I am against modern medicine and
drugs as there is definitely a purpose for these things, but probably not as
our first choice or “go to” for every little ache and pain we have.
As a health coach, I believe in an integrative approach to
health, incorporating both allopathic and alternative methods of healing. When we equip ourselves with all the tools
we can to support our best health, we
are more confident in our ability to heal.
