Your Animal's Vital Force: How to help it flow
Updated: Nov 22, 2023
In this blog post: An exploration of the philosophical concept of Vital Force, its origination in ancient healing modalities, its relevance to your animal, and how you can help your animal to have a healthy, flowing vital force for optimal health and wellbeing.
Some of the first things you learn when studying animal naturopathy are the philosophies and principles of naturopathy. One of the key philosophies and principles is that of vitalism.
Vitalism is a key tenet of many ancient healing modalities - Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Ancient Greek (Hygeian) Medicine and Indigenous medicine the world over. You may have heard it mentioned before but with different descriptors such as 'prana' or 'qi (chi)'.
Essentially, Vitalism is the healing power of nature that exists within all living systems, which establishes, maintains and restores health.
This power is 'vital force' - an invisible, yet super powerful, force that flows through every being.
Physical or chemical factors can't begin to explain the existence of vital force.
It's an innate, all knowing wisdom that flows throughout the body, self-directing and self-correcting or self-healing as necessary.
In Ayurveda, a 5000-year old medicine, they refer to it as 'Prana' or 'the breath of life'.
In TCM, a 3000-year old medicine, an imbalance of 'Qi', of that vital force, is recognised as the root of all illnesses.
In Hygeian Medicine (which was based on the teachings of Hippocrates), the mind and body are connected, the body has natural healing processes and healthcare practitioners simply facilitate these processes.
As you can see, Vital Force is a concept of ancient healing wisdom. One that is still relevant today, in both human and animal.
Your animal has a vital force flowing through them. It is that same force that runs through you and through all of nature. We are all connected in this way.
The health and longevity of your animal is actually governed by this vital force. If this force flows steady, your animal will have a good state of health and wellbeing (physically, mentally, emotionally). If it flows weak (in deficiency) or too strong (in excess), your animal will likely have a poor state of health and wellbeing (physically, mentally, emotionally).
How can you correct the flow of vital force within your animal?
As mentioned earlier, the vital force is self-correcting. It can go a long way at returning balance to the body. But sometimes outside assistance will be necessary, to reignite the flow, to correct any imbalances, deficiency or excess.
In nature, there are foods and plants that can help to balance the flow of vital force, to return it to a healthy, flowing state.
Feeding your animal healthy, whole, clean foods that they are designed to eat will help.
Giving your animal plant medicines, like herbs, will also help.
Herbs are ancient medicine too. Existing since the dawn of time.
Animals have been using herbs for centuries, to expel parasites, settle their stomachs, manage fertility, treat pneumonia and so on.
Even domestic animals use herbs to treat / support themselves. Does your pet eat grass? This is an intentional, instinctual wisdom as they know that eating grass has a purgative, cleansing effect.
In The Herbal Sessions, I offer teachings about how to use herbs for animals. This will be a great opportunity for you, if you would like to learn how to use herbs to:
support the flow of vital force within your animal's body for vitality and longevity, and
correct health imbalances within your animal.
Across six modules, you'll receive teachings and guidance from me to help you navigate the world of animal herbal medicine, learning how to use herbs in a traditional and holistic way that corresponds with nature and your animal's entire being. You can find out more and enrol here.
PS Check out these resources for further exploration:
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