A poster of Jesus Christ meditating in Padmasanam posture indicates that there is something special about Bethany Nature Cure Yoga Physiotherapy Research Centre. Add to that the soft strains of Om from the top floor where a yoga class is in progress and you know that there’s something different inside those utilitarian walls. Naturopathy expert Reverend Father Philip Neri, founder-director of the centre, perhaps the first naturopathy hospital in the city, smiles when he sees the surprise on our faces. “I venerate and worship God as a creator. Yoga therapy is beneficial for our physical, mental and spiritual health,” explains Father Philip. “Yes, there have been naysayers from within my religion and outside who questioned the practice of yoga at a Christian institution. But it’s not a question of faith. I forged ahead with my faith in yoga and as always, the proof is in the people. Many of my Muslim, Christian and Hindu brethren have embraced yoga at the centre,” he adds.
Indeed, there’s much that we can learn from the 64-year-old priest, who has been living in commune with nature for the past 40 years now. “Naturopathy is an alternative medical system that relies on the healing power of nature and the body’s ability to heal and maintain itself. More than a treatment, it’s actually a way of life. It was popularised in India by Mahatma Gandhi,” he says.
Father Philip established the Centre in 1976, when he was barely 24 years old. “Even when I was studying theology in Pune, I had always wanted to do something related to the medical field. In 1974 I was ordained as a priest and my first posting was in Neyyattinkara. Soon afterwards, I happened to attend a Naturopathy camp in Hyderabad and was immediately drawn to the holistic approach to health that naturopathy advocates,” says the priest, who studied this system of medicine at the Gandhi Nature Cure College, Hyderabad (now the Gandhi Naturopathic Medical College and Nature Cure Hospital). “In my final year as a student, we held a camp at Nalanchira, which soon blossomed into a hospital,” says Father Philip, who is also the director of the Bethany Navajeevan College of Physiotherapy.
For the first four years, the hospital functioned out of a small room inside the Bethany Ashram. Now, it’s a 30-bedded hospital with three doctors, which offers a range of preventive treatments such as hydro therapy, massage therapy, physio and electro therapy, yoga therapy and diet therapy. Lifestyle and stress-related health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, obesity, migraine, and rheumatism are treated at the Centre and do not involve the use of any kind of allopathic medicines, injections, or invasive surgery.
The centre’s popularity is a given, considering that their clientele reads like a who’s who of the city, from actors, politicians and bureaucrats to authors, judges and anchors, not to mention hundreds of ordinary folks. “Naturopathy is not an easy way of life, it’s a slow process and it involves much dedication born out of a desire to change. One also needs to have the will power to see it through,” says Father Philip, idly fingering a thazhuthama ( Boerhavia diffusa) plant, which has medicinal properties, one of the many plants, herbs and trees that he grows on the 15 or so acres that surrounds the hospital. He also rears cows, goats and a few hens.
“I am aiming for self-sufficiency. I am also looking into the possibility of turning the acreage into a fruit, flower and herbal garden, where people can come and breathe fresh air. I have already spoken to officials at TGBRI to suggest the best plants for the same,” he says.
