Traditional European Naturopathy TEN

Traditional European Naturopathy TEN

Traditional European naturopathy (TEN) is an umbrella term for an empirical natural healing system developed over the past 2500 years. Its theoretical framework rests on humoral pathology from the Greek world. The four elements were, and are, understood as dynamic phases in the processes of a whole, the holon, encompassing both the person and their living environment. Humoral pathology developed from this framework, regarding the humours as active principles whose mixture and degree of purity lead to health (eucrasia) or imbalance (dyscrasia). More recent branches of TEN emerged from folk medicine, including Hildegard of Bingen, Paracelsus, Sebastian Kneipp, Johann Schroth, Wilhelm Heinrich Schüssler and Alfred Pischinger. TEN concepts and methods are now examined for effectiveness and consistency from the perspectives of both natural sciences and humanities. The ultimate aim of TEN interventions is to restore the whole person’s capacity for adaptation and regulation. Dietetics, understood as guidance in the art of managing one’s life, therefore plays an important role. Where possible, it seeks to remove harmful habits that favour illness and improve lifestyle. Therapeutic procedures mainly use natural means and physical therapies, dietary approaches, movement therapies, so-called detoxification therapies and various manual therapies. Herbal medicine, in different preparations and applications, is a central therapeutic pillar. Modern technology-based therapies supplement traditional tools: biophysical information therapy (bioresonance), bioenergetic therapies and magnetic field therapy.