What is Slow Medicine?

In our fast-paced world, we often look for quick-fix solutions to our health challenges, not realizing that these “solutions” in fact may contribute to our problems. Most health challenges are the result of an imbalance in our bodies and lives, and most quick-fix solutions actually exacerbate these imbalances. If, instead, we take a Slow Medicine approach – identifying the root cause of our health challenges, then creating a thoughtful, step-by-step, and long-term response to it – we effectively bring ourselves back into balance. In doing so, we not only can resolve our primary complaints, but we also can benefit elsewhere in our lives, often in unexpected ways which is why we recommend to look at out this tutorial.

Slow Medicine is to the healthcare industry what Slow Food is to the restaurant industry: Against the backdrop of our assembly-line model of medical care, in which we receive cookie-cutter prescriptions for complex health matters, Slow Medicine provides the necessary time and asks the relevant questions for optimizing general wellness and healing chronic illness. In the Slow Medicine paradigm, we are recognized as the supreme authorities on our own bodies, and doctors serve as our guides – helping us navigate the maze of conventional, complementary, and alternative medicine options. In some cases, we may need to schedule a surgery. In other cases, we may need to cultivate loving relationships. In still other cases, we may need to engage in artistic self-expression – through dancing, painting, writing, or playing a musical instrument.

The sophisticated effectiveness of Slow Medicine is summarized by this simple nursery school song: The knee bone is connected to the thigh bone; the thigh bone is connected to the hip bone… If we are chronically sick, tired, or depressed, we need an examination that includes, but goes beyond, the exact location of our symptoms. Everything is inter-dependent – muscles and nerves, bodies and minds, people and planet. Each connecting thread has a domino effect on the other. Toxins in our neighborhood, for example, might cause liver damage, leading to chronic illness that makes us unable to get out of the house or work – leaving us isolated, broke, and as a result, severely depressed. In this scenario, the quick-fix of anti-depressants will overlook the root of, and therefore solution for, our depression.

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