Anatolia is filled with Healing
Health and healing tourism is one of the world’s fastest growing sectors in recent years. However, Turkey has the potential to stand out not only with its “aesthetic” and “thermal” centers but also with its thousands of years of traditional wisdom. Cihan Kılıç Aydın, Founder of Health Life, who said, “Anatolian Healing Surpasses the West,” explained forgotten healing traditions and the Anatolian richness that is an alternative to the concepts imposed by the West.
Anatolia’s treatment methods that are thousands of years old are still practiced by local people. Cihan Kılıç Aydın has stressed importance of Anatolian Healing that is way beyond Western concepts such as wellness, mindfulness said, “It is time for Anatolian Healing to become a world brand! Anatolian Healing will, for sure, surpass the West because we have inherited a history that is thousands of years long. Spas, aroma therapies, treatments with music and water as well as methods such as blood letting, leech therapy (Hirudotherapy) are still practiced by local people. Also, many years ago, we were treating the mentally ill while the Western civilization was burning them, and such treatment methods have survived until today and are still in practice.”
From Spa to Cupping, from Water Healing to Breath Therapy…
Mrs. Aydın who has underlined that traditional methods did not remain in the past has highlighted that Anatolia still has an active map of healing and said, “Balikligol (fishpond) of Sivas is creating miracles for psoriasis. Tokat has a gigantic cave that is good for people suffering from asthma. Marmaris Sultan Thermal Springs are very effective for rheumatism and genital diseases. This information is only used and known by locals but it is time to tell the entire world about such information and make these places known.”
Ottoman Medicine and Anatolian Social Complexes have gone unnoticed
Cihan Kılıç Aydın, who emphasized that modern health tourism should not be focused solely on ‘medical intervention’, said, “We excluded the medical complexes, Mevlevi dervish lodges and herbalist traditions inherited from the Ottoman Empire. Those concepts were, in fact, deeper and holistic equivalents of today’s ‘retreat’, ‘detox’, ‘mindfulness’ understanding.”
“We need to Remember, but we don’t need to Turn it into a Brand”
Cihan Kılıç Aydın, drawing attention tot he fact that Anatolian Healing needs to turn into a global world brand, said “It was already a brand. We just do not remember it. We envy Western words but we are reluctant to make our indigenous concepts known far and wide. However, these lands are filled with healing. Now, we have both sources and knowledge. Anatolia is a mine of healing and we are ready to highlight it with pride. Because the world needs this healing.”
Cihan Kılıç Aydın has added that Turkey is not only a center for aesthetic and health and emphasized that it should be remembered that Turkey is a civilization of healing based on spirit, body and nature balance.
