In our modern, fast-paced world, we’ve been conditioned to interpret symptoms as something to fear—signals of malfunction to suppress, silence, or override. But in truth, symptoms are the language of the body, messages from the deeper self calling for integration, balance, and ultimately, wholeness.
At Options Naturopathic, we honor a radically different perspective: healing is not about suppression—it is about expression. Healing is a sacred return to Self, a reconnection to the core intelligence that animates the body, known in traditional terms as the Vital Force.
The Vital Force: The Living Intelligence Within
The Vital Force—sometimes described as life energy, Qi, or prana—is the animating essence that governs all aspects of our being. It drives the body’s functions, orchestrates responses to stress, repairs damage, and facilitates communication between organs, microbes, thoughts, and emotions. This is essentially the directive, healing power inherent in all of nature, of which the human being is also a part.
When the Vital Force is strong, we express health with vitality and resilience. When it is suppressed by trauma, toxicants, emotional repression, or pharmaceutical interference, the body’s ability to express and self-regulate diminishes. Disease sets in when disconnection and stagnation replace flow and communication.
This is why healing reactions can appear uncomfortable. They are not signs of disease getting worse—they are signs of the Vital Force reawakening, microbes reorganizing, and the system shedding the density of the “old you.”
Healing Follows a Lawful Pattern: Hering’s Law of Cure
Homeopaths and many traditional systems of healing have long recognized that healing follows a predictable order. Dr. Constantine Hering (1800-1880), a German immigrant, formulated this as a natural law:
Hering’s Law of Cure states that healing progresses:
- From the inside out (emotional and mental healing precedes physical resolution)
- From more vital organs to less vital ones (e.g., lungs healing before skin)
- In reverse order of symptom appearance (the body retraces its steps to wholeness)
- From the top of the body downward
Understanding this principle is essential, especially when symptoms flare up during a healing program. These are often healing crises, also called Herxheimer reactions, or what we call at Options Naturopathic: expressions of outfection.
Outfection: The Emergence of Healing
Contrary to the model of “infection,” which portrays microbes as invaders, outfection describes what is really happening: your body is releasing the imprinted past—on the level of microbes, memory, and matter.
Your microbes are not the enemy. They are responding to your consciousness. They live within your internal terrain, acting as the bridge between your inner emotional states and physical expression. As you begin to reconnect to your Self and address the underlying causes—be it grief, anger, toxins, or suppressed vitality—your microbes shift accordingly. They shed, transmute, and evolve.
This is why healing often looks like a temporary regression—fevers, rashes, fatigue, emotional release, or digestive upset. These are signs of recalibration, purging, and the system reorganizing at a higher level of coherence.
A New Understanding of “Illness”
- Chronic disease results from a disconnection—from Self, nature, rhythm, and vitality.
- Acute illness arises when we reconnect, and the body moves energy outward to release.
- Suppression (especially through synthetic medications) can mute symptoms, but at the cost of vital momentum and depth of healing.
Here’s a way to view the graphic in reverse:
Therapy Type | Orientation | Effect on Healing |
Synthetics (Medications) | Suppressive | Diminishes symptoms without addressing the cause |
Surgery, Chemo, Hormones | High-force intervention | Removes parts or blocks signals, weakens vitality |
Structural Work (Cranial, PT, Chiro) | Addresses form & flow | Supports the movement of stagnation/stuck energy & e-MOTIONS |
Natural Symptom Management | Modulates expression without suppression | Gentler, still can risk bypass |
Foundations (Nutrition, Stillness, Movement) | Rebuilds terrain | Cultivates resilience |
Hydrotherapy, Homeopathy, OM/MindBody, Inner Work | Stimulates the Vital Force, shifts consciousness | Initiates a true cure: reconnecting to Self. |
The Healing Journey: A Conscious Unfolding
Healing is ultimately a metaphysical process. You are not just a body with biochemical needs. You are a conscious being with stories, trauma, beliefs, and evolutionary purpose.
When we support the body gently, honor the process with patience, and stay attuned to inner shifts, healing becomes a reclamation—not just of health, but of identity.
Symptoms are signposts, not enemies.
Microbes are messengers, not monsters.
And the Vital Force is your ally, not something broken.
Final Thoughts…
Patience, Trust, & Empowered Awareness
As your body begins to express and unwind, it’s important to trust the process. You may feel worse before you feel better, but you are releasing old toxicants that you’ve held for too long. And that arc mirrors all true growth.
You are not “catching” something.
You are releasing something.
A past version of yourself is dying, and a more vibrant, integrated, connected version is being born.
This is not a setback—it is a sacred metamorphosis.
And we are here to support your return to wholeness.
