Summer heat has Jan Elisabeth reaching for cooling herbs.

In the world of CAM, healing is often described as a balance of systems—physical, emotional, and spiritual—involving the whole person.

The overview explains that integrative medicine and health, complementary medicine, alternative medicine, and CAM are related but not identical terms. It also notes that many CAM practices come from long-standing healing traditions and are often discussed alongside conventional medicine.

Gobble's Take: A whole-person frame tends to make room for more than one kind of care.

Source: Overview of Integrative, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine

Summer heat has Jan Elisabeth reaching for cooling herbs.

In her forest-house notes from Finistère, she describes heat entering the body as overstimulation: sleep lightens, moisture recedes, and the body feels held too close to the surface of things. Her response is to reach for herbs that soften, cool, and restore moisture, and for gentle bitters when heat feels sticky, itchy, or sluggish.

Gobble's Take: Sometimes the move is not to push harder, but to soften the surface a little.

Source: A litany of herbs - Alchemical wonderings with Jan Elisabeth

Acupuncture and some manual manipulation treatments are examples of CAM.

The overview says CAM includes a variety of healing approaches and therapies that historically have not been included in conventional Western medicine, and that some CAM therapies are now offered in hospitals and medical systems in many countries.

Gobble's Take: The CAM table is broader than it used to be.

Source: Overview of Integrative, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine

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