Samgra Integrative
Modernity is simply an ‘evolving tradition!
"Integrative medicine reaffirms the importance of the relationship between the practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic and lifestyle approaches, health care professionals, and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing."
The philosophy of integrative medicine has been talked about for ages. But was overlooked as an accepted medical care system because of the influence, acceptance and rapid evolution of "reductionist philosophy" by modern science. The philosophy of reductionism by the 17th century French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) strongly proposed separation of the mind from the body to protect unknown spirit from the science. He proposed that if we could reduce natural phenomena to simple components, we could understand the larger whole. For example, to learn about a clock, all we need to do is study its parts. He strongly believed that mind and spirit should remain the domain of the church, leaving investigation of the body to science. This philosophy led to the “Cartesian split” of mind–body duality.
From then onward, the modern scientists never looked back. John Locke (1632–1704) and David Hume (1711–1776) furthered the reductionist movement influencing and shaping the modern science and medicine. Reductionism facilitated significant discoveries that helped humans gain control over the environment. Despite this progress, clinicians had few tools to treat disease effectively.
The reductionist philosophy appeared very attractive, progressive, and quickly gained popularity because of the ease of performing quick physical experimentations. A great divide developed between the wisdom and the knowledge gained from the scientific observations made from experiments conducted inside the laboratories and outside in the physical world. However, the history of modern "sustainable" scientific progresses of the last 2500 years from Socrates, Aristotle, Archimedes, Newton, Einstein, and many others were not snapshot views into the observed phenomenons. This confirms that the temporal division of knowledge systems into ancient or modern was a grave error. Integrative medicine reaffirms the importance of the relationship between the practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic and lifestyle approaches, health care professionals, and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing. We are witnessing a shift toward recognizing the benefits of combining the external, physical, and technological successes of curing with the innate mechanisms of healing, both physical and nonphysical. Aristotle (384–322 BC) was simply able to experience, observe, and reflect on the human condition. He was one of the first physicians to believe that every person is a combination of both physical and spiritual properties with no separation between mind and body. It was not until the 1600s that a spiritual mathematician became worried that prevailing scientific materialistic thought would reduce the conscious mind to something that could be manipulated and controlled.
