Once upon a time, before there were laboratories and test tubes and innocent animals to experiment on, there were anecdotes. Anecdotes were the stuff of stories. Stories reveal what is happening in the world in real time, with real people, in real living contexts.

Where it concerns healing and curing, health and wellness, these important stories took on great significance and special meaning. Why wouldn’t they? The wisdom that they contained was responsible for keeping the people alive and well and thriving.

Over millennia most of these anecdotes and stories were passed down through the culture via the Oral Tradition. Eventually many of these stories were written down and systematized so that the teachings could be accessed in a methodical and efficient way.

Whether we speak of East Indian Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine, Native American Shamanism or Unani Herbal Medicine, all of these venerable healing traditions began with powerful stories in the form of anecdotes, which contained indisputable health and wellness wisdom.     Continue reading →