The Healing Process : Spirit, Nature & Our Bodies (Foundations of Anthroposophical Medicine)

These broadly ranging talks outline the contrasts between conventional medicine, based on natural science, and what has come to be called anthroposophical medicine, which expands conventional medicine by considering the human spirit. Rudolf Steiner emphasizes the need to understand the human being as composed of three superimposed and diverse systems: the sensory nervous system; the rhythmic (respiratory and circulatory) system; and the metabolic and limb system. He also describes the relationship between "natural" and "disease" processes as well as the dual nature of the human nervous system. We are shown that the heart is not a "pump" and that its motion is the consequence rather than the cause of human rhythms. On the basis of this and much more, Steiner points to a practice of medicine that extends diagnosis and healing to include our soul and spirit. Specific topics include typhoid, hay fever, sclerosis, cancer, tuberculosis, mineral therapy, polarity in the human being, and remedies. This book further develops many of the ideas presented in "Introducing Anthroposophical Medicine."