Читать книгу Natural Environments and Human Health - Alan W Ewert - Страница 32

The quality of life, depends upon the ability of society to teach its members how to live in harmony with their environment—defined first as family, then the community, then the world and its resources.

Ellen Swallow Richards, founder of ecology (1842–1911)

Since the dawn of humanity human health has been explicitly tied to the natural environment. Our ancestors lived with the daily reality that nature influences health and well-being, and early systems of medicine (medicine as derived from Latin ars medicina or the art of healing) were constructed using this concept of interrelatedness and a systems approach to healing. Even today, it is estimated that about 80% of the world’s population relies on nature medicine, largely in the form of plants, for their healthcare. In regions and cultures around the world the deep reliance of people on nature for healing is a recognized and respected part of daily life. For example, Amchis, the Tibetan Medicine healers in Nepal, currently use up to 1800 plants in their work (Adhikari, 2009). However, as societies around the world industrialize, modernize, and urbanize, a frequent side-effect is the perception that nature is separate from humans—perhaps something to be observed, preserved, conserved, or consumed—but not something with which we are integrally connected and therefore is necessary for our health and well-being. In this chapter, we explore facets of the history of humanity that focus on the specific use of nature to maintain or increase humans’ health and well-being. As we trace this history, a strong thread of connection or integration with nature is found. Recent research that supports these nature-based healing practices is also presented.

Our connection and interrelatedness with nature is such that we receive healing and medicine from nature and the next section explores that history. See if you can interpret possible paradigms or WorldViews that may have been present as you read this chapter.