We often pray for healing. We go to healers, to doctors, to mountaintops and to books looking for this mystery, but what is it? What is the inherent property that gives us the impetus to get well? What is healing?
In order to heal, we have to think that we are ill and that we dislike being ill. One of the funny and great things about us as people is that if we go to a doctor and we get a diagnosis, a typical reaction is, “no, this is not what I have, that is not me.” Some people would call that denial, but there is more to it. Under that reaction there is truth. The truth is that even if your body is experiencing sickness, illness is not who you are. This is part of healing. It is the first step to healing.
Anytime we accept that we are sick or a sick person, we stay sick. If we accept that we have the remotest capacity to heal, we begin to grow back into health. If we know we are the healer, this process speeds up.
It is idiosyncratic for most people in a western society to think of themselves as healers, but consider it this way. We have many fix-it shows on television that teach people how to mend their houses, re-do a dining room, make new curtains or retile a bathroom. We don’t have to be professionals to try these techniques and, if we do, we may feel the joy of a job well done as an amateur carpenter or upholsterer or designer.
Consider allowing yourself to be an amateur healer for your body, mind and spirit. Consider amateur in the sense of a person who does something for love and not money. Allow yourself to entertain the notion that you could be a healer to life for the love of it.
Amateur Healing
Step One: Look inward for what is already whole. Look inside for that part of you that feels one hundred percent complete, worthy, happy, healthy, spiritual, fulfilled, beautiful, perfect and incapable of lack. Allow yourself to nourish that part simply by acknowledging that it is there. Many times in life we notice the parts of us that do not feel whole. We tend to give attention to what feels lacking, incomplete or doesn’t feel well.
Try spending half your healing time turning inward to note that there is a person that is whole here, loving here, true, devoted, loyal and beloved here. See that person. Acknowledge him or her through conversation, meditation, mantras, writing, dancing, prayer, a long walk, a hot shower, a deep breath, anything that feels right for you. Trust that it is healing to be with and live as who you are.
Step Two: Healing is mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. Typically, it takes a long time for us to get sick. Lifestyle changes and choices bring about sickness, even coming down with a cold. There are reasons we get sick or choose to get sick. Have you ever become sick when you didn’t want to do something or really wanted some time off to rest, think, recover or redirect your life?
It is important to consciously make choices to get well and not just when you are feeling physically ill. A gentle way to start is to move to what might feel better. Start to note where you are feeling a psychological crunch, a physical burden or an emotional challenge.
Note the little things, is your back uncomfortable while you are sitting in a chair? Can you get a back support, a foot rest or another chair? Can you change positions or do more stretching? Do you always feel sick after you eat potato chips? Could you try another snack? Give yourself permission to make changes. See if they work. If the first solution doesn’t work, try another one. Experiment with feeling well.
Step Three: Healing is everywhere. Give yourself permission to adopt the philosophy that healing is everywhere and in everything you do. Let yourself agree that healing is there for everyone and can be a collective process, particularly when you engage in it consciously. In this way, healing is a step from feeling out of balance physically, mentally or emotionally back into a place where you can function more like who you really are. If you adopt this philosophy, healing not only makes you well, but makes you whole.
If you see that healing is part of health and health as a mind, body, spirit process, you can see that every interaction with everyone can be a part of healing. How you talk about yourself affects how you feel. How you talk to others affects how you feel. How you act when you are around others affects how you feel. What you are thinking affects how you feel. Fortunately, you have the power to change each of these things at any moment.
Consider how you think about yourself. What messages do you send to your body and your mind? Are there messages you would like to change? If there are things you say, do or even think about yourself that do not feel healthy, particularly when you are with other people, allow yourself the freedom to feel what it is like to try something new. See if you can allow yourself to see these as moments to heal and gently change what you are thinking, saying, doing or projecting with your body language.
Step Four: Get your spirit on board. Ask your Self, your Heart, the Love you are, the greatest part of you, your higher consciousness, your Soul, God, Truth, Inner Wisdom, your Guides, Mentor or Angels to help direct your process. Ask for guidance and ask more for patience as you start this new process. Ask for everything you do to be part of your healing path and allow yourself to know that your healing path is undivided from your spiritual path or simply your path to be a more loving, kind or compassionate person.
Step Five: Let yourself be guided. Once you open up to truth and trust on any subject, answers are everywhere; they abound. They will fly out of the mouths of your co-workers and children. Information and solutions for healing will be there on the bookshelves and on the internet. Take them to heart. By that I mean, honor each suggestion and see Step One. Go to a quiet place with your inner self and ask which ideas feel right for you.
Part of healing is trusting yourself and learning to interact kindly with other people. This is part of emotional and spiritual healing. From this viewpoint, you can trust that there is a reason you are hearing everything everyone says to you about healing or recovery, even if you don’t decide to follow their advice. What you may be healing is a tendency to dismiss other’s advice too quickly. Part of healing is being open to changing anything in ourselves that does not feel healthy.
What we are often healing is ego and its resistance to change. Moving from a place of sickness to health is a big change. There are fears and frustrations around all kinds of change. When we heal or even accept that we can heal, what we are healing is anything about us that feels stuck, immobile, out of balance or in contradiction to health. Accepting that part of the reason you got sick was to heal, emotionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually or all of the above, helps you to be your own healer.
Prayer
Dear Lord of Love That I Am,
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Hi Atala, I really enjoyed reading this latest post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDelete--Sherri