Download the article: Book Review: The Fourfold Path to Healing
Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutic Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine
The first time I met Dr. Tom Cowan, he was speaking to a group of teachers and described how a disease is merely the body's healthy response to a situation and that healing is not merely elimination of symptoms. Healing is a transformation or integration of some underlying conditions that the body responded to. That thinking was a breath of fresh air for me.
Thomas Cowan's own path in medical practice underlies the approach he takes in this book that attempts to offer "accurate information and effective advice" for the patient. Dr. Cowan decided to become a doctor after reading Weston Price's Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. After his training in family medicine, he began his medical practice twenty years ago. He came to believe the reason long term diseases were so hard to treat was that the wrong medicines were being used. So he turned to alternative approaches and natural remedies including herbs and homeopathy. There were some good results, but still a number of patients did not respond. So he began to think about the mystery of why some get better and some don't and began to think about lifestyles and personalities and many other non-biological factors in the patient's situation. He discovered the work of Rudolf Steiner, which radically affected the way he thought about the human being.
This in-depth book is truly a fourfold look at healing the human being. The healing of the physical body is affected in large part by nutrition. Right diet leads the way here, and Dr. Cowan is indebted to Weston Price for his thoughts on the food we eat. Also included in the book is a chapter on food preparation and recipes. In the realm of the etheric body, or life-force body, healing for Dr. Cowan is especially through natural medicines, homeopathy and herbal extracts. The emotional body, or soul, the part of the human being involved in all sorts of relationship with other human beings and life itself, finds healing through movement and exercise. The fourth realm of the mental body or spirit can attain health through discovering one's own life purpose on a path of self-observation and meditation. Dr. Cowan stresses the importance of finding a healthy balance and integration between the working of the various bodies of the human being. His goal is "healing on all levels and all of us are moving toward that goal. The wise physician no longer dispenses drugs to treat a catalog of symptoms. She realizes that the medicines she prescribes and the therapies she recommends must be aimed at specific imbalances. She knows that diet, life-style, exercise and the life of the mind must all be addressed for true healing to occur.
Sally Fallon (Nourishing Traditions) and Jaimen McMillan (Spacial Dynamics®) were both inspirational and supportive in the writing of this book. Their specialties (diet and nutrition, and movement) are integral in the healing approaches brought by Dr. Cowan in this unique book that attempts to transform our thinking and offer a practical approach to healing. This book is filled with exercises, both physical and mental, descriptions of the processes of various diseases, understandings of particular herbs and remedies, and a plethora of useful information that can build up a wide and deep understanding of the activity of healing. Bravo, Dr. Cowan, for offering a fine resource on all aspects of human healing!