For years, I have built up my knowledge in a non-formal way, studying, travelling, getting to know and experiencing realities in other parts of the world, other cultures, other lifestyles, religions, sciences, beliefs, taboos and more.
Today I recognise that I can no longer close my eyes to the system in which today’s society develops. I find it necessary to restructure the foundations of a proper health system, and this requires a holistic paradigm shift.
From the paradigm of medicine, the surgery or the magic potion that cures the discomfort we experience, we move to the paradigm of being in the present, navigating and experiencing the path of wellbeing.
This journey led me to centre and specialise in the science of natural health called Hygienism.
Hygienism (or Natural Hygiene) is a way of living in accordance with the laws of nature: as a science of wellness, it aims to develop the capacity for personal management of one’s health.
In this new paradigm, health is about living a lifestyle that helps us to be fit, strong and healthy, so that we are no longer weak and/or sick.
In the process of “healing” the body itself is able to naturally regain health when given the opportunity to restore its balance.
Breathing, nutrition, movement and mind are the pillars on which hygienism rests and through which we can recreate a suitable ground for change in ourselves.
Now, to understand how to walk the path of wellness, it is first necessary to answer the following question: What does it mean to be in a state of health?
Health is the natural, neutral state of a living being: Natural Hygiene sustains that illness is nothing more than an expression “x” or a sum of expressions “x, y, z…” of the different bodies that make up our existence.
By “bodies”, in the plural, we mean: the mental, the spiritual, the physical and the emotional.
Natural health is therefore a balanced state of presence in the present, and to reach this neutral state it is necessary to balance the different poles on which it rests.
To better understand how to walk the path of holistic living, I like to use the hygienist doctrine’s vision of drawing a balanced, horizontal system for balancing health. This is called the Triangle of Health, and the corners are: Movement, Nutrition and Attitude (towrads life itself).
These three aspects include all the factors of our life contained in three categories. This triangle must remain in balance, when one aspect is out of harmony, we say that the health is consequently out of balance.
For example, we could see a person maintaining a healthy balanced diet, with fasting windows considered healthy, having regular physical activity, and yet being emotionally unstable or going through a traumatic time in their life.
In this case, if we look it from the triangle’s perpsective, we can see that food and movement are in great balance, but this person’s attitude is one of sadness, anger, and depression. As a result, this person will not be in good health and this imbalance can manifest itself in symptoms and illness.
This aspect unbalances the rest and is the aspect that needs to be addressed.
It is worth asking ourselves in every aspect of our life, how close we are to our nature, how connected we are with our primal needs, our emotions, with our feelings, with our desires, with our life and sensations. There, beyond all theories, we will find the key to health.
Thank you for reading me,
Matteo