Naturopathy, or Naturopathic Medicine, is a form of alternative medicine based on a belief in vitalism, which posits that a special energy called vital energy or vital force guides bodily processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and adaptation. Naturopathic philosophy favors a holistic approach and seeks to find the least invasive measures necessary for symptom improvement or resolution, thus encouraging minimal use of surgery and unnecessary drugs. According to the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges, "Naturopathic medicine is defined by principles rather than by methods or modalities. Above all, it honors the body’s innate wisdom to heal."

The term "naturopathy" is derived from Greek and Latin, and literally translates as "nature disease". Modern naturopathy grew out of the Natural Cure movement of Europe. The term was coined in 1895 by John Scheel and popularized by Benedict Lust, the "father of U.S. naturopathy". Beginning in the 1970s, there was a revival of interest in the United States and Canada in conjunction with the holistic health movement.

Catherine Nash, Professor of Human Geography, University of London.

Nash studies Feminist cultural geography, geographies of relatedness, Irish studies. Recently, her work has regarded the meaning of ancestry and origins in the making of ethnic, national and diasporic identities through research on traditional and new forms of genealogical practices.

She teaches at the Department of Geography at the University of London.

Yogiraj Shri Vethathiri Maharishi (1911–2006) was a spiritual leader and founder-trustee of the World Community Service Center in 1958 in Chennai. He had founded over 300 yoga centres around the world and wrote about 80 books, many of which became academic textbooks. He was declared the 19th Siddha by the Dravidian University.

Shri Vethathiri Maharishi was born in 1911 in the village of Guduvancheri, 30 km south of Chennai, India, into an indigent weaver’s family.

After spending several years in various minor employments, he established a textile concern that grew to employ over 2,000 workers on a profit-sharing basis. Maharishi regularly participated in intense meditation and introspection which he claims brought him full enlightenment at the age of thirty five. At the age of fifty, he closed his commercial ventures and devoted himself solely to spiritual service. However, he remained a “householder”, i.e. he did not brake his family ties or take vows of renunciation, but rather lived in the indigenous Siddha tradition, maintaining family ties. At the age of 72 , he adopted an American national Ms Keith Fitzcharles {later renamed as Arulnidhi Uma Vethathiri} as his legal heir filing a suit in Coimbatore Sessions Court in 1983 , to take care of him & the Organisation .