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The Principle of Health and Healing
Nothing is more valuable to us than vibrant health and wellness. Nothing gets our attention like pain or illness. Pain, therefore, is an effective means of communication from our inner Self and selves. The language of the heart, mind and spirit is physical sensation or symptoms. Understanding and interpreting this language allows us to get to the root of mental and emotional imbalances, misperceptions, or disturbances.
Physical pain warns that something is toxic in the body. All illness has its primary origin in the mind rather than in the body. Although a person’s physical health can be imperiled by certain emotions, this concept goes beyond the physical level. Pain results from imbalances somewhere in our being, evidence of some form of toxin. It may be toxic food, toxic emotions, or a toxic relationship. It may be a simple lack of water. The question then becomes, why do you deprive yourself of water? What is the emotional or mental root of your failure to provide yourself basic needs, or protect yourself from toxins?
Emotional pain, such as a sense of loss of a loved one, insecurity or low self-esteem can manifest itself in symptoms like rejection, loneliness, anger, jealously, inability to concentrate, depression, boredom, restlessness, hostility, violence, crying, guilt, or a poor-me syndrome.
Mental pain expresses itself in scattered thinking, mental blocks, limiting beliefs, and misperceptions. Symptoms may include over-sleep, sleep deprivation, loss of work, or overwork, stress, worry, difficulties in relationships, and lack of consciousness. At the spirit level of our being, all is experience and growth. At the spirit level, there is only oneness. As that oneness is experienced on the mental, emotional, and physical levels, one comes into alignment with his/her source and discovers instant manifestation and a relief of pain on the physical, emotional, and mental levels.Body, mind, emotions, and spirit only SEEM to be separated. This belief in separation is part of the illusion of life. Some imbalances which occur within our system overlap one another. That is, when the body is injured or ill, the mind functions poorly as well. When we are under emotional strain, we find it difficult to concentrate. Bickering and hatred among family members can bring on social and physical illness. Our emotional and physical states are tied up in our attitudes.
Because disease has its roots in thoughts and mental attitudes, it would follow that Self-mastery is perhaps the greatest of accomplishments. It is apparent that when we come into alignment in all of our bodies, bringing us into a state of being that is totally healthful and rejuvenating.Self-mastery requires awareness of where we direct our thoughts. What we focus on expands. Focusing on what is "wrong" causes that to expand. Just as every cell of our body has intelligence of what its function is within the system, it also perceives the emotions inherent in that system. In this way, the specific ailment of our body can give important clues to its origin, or underlying emotion. For instance, anger is often held in the jaw, or in the arms, or behind the knees. Grief is often manifest in the heart, lungs, or other organs of the heart chakra. Fear might manifest itself in our solar plexus. A wonderful resource describing which emotions affect which bodily function is a book entitled The Bodymind Workbook; Exploring How The Mind & The Body Work Together, by Debbie Shapiro. Generally speaking, Ms. Shapiro teaches that within the body, hard tissue, such as bone, deals with spiritual issues; soft tissue, mental issues, and fluids are emotional issues. For instance, problems with blood suggest problems with love.Our entire being acts as a unit. The health of one level influences the health of the others. It is a system of operations, each affecting the others. To heal any disease, whether mental, emotional, or physical, we must go to the source of the condition and change the perception. By meditation and listening, the spirit can assist us in changing the perception creating the disease. This is not to say that "positive thinking" or "denial" are the answers to our health concerns. Rather, one must root out the cause of our feelings, and find ways to reframe them within current paradigms. Reclaim your health by claiming and exercising your ability to respond. Feelings Buried Alive Never Die is the name of a book by Karol K. Truman, which aptly describes the dilemma of trying to deny feelings, and offers ways of identifying and processing them instead. We heal ourselves by recognizing our own worth; we heal others by recognizing the wholeness and divinity within them. When we perceive health in another, we heal ourselves. We make health real in others by believing in their health. This is the basis for healing in any mode or model. Since we are all mirrors for one another, what we see in others, is what we believe to be true of ourselves. In other words, it is our own innate process that creates the health we experience.Letting go of our perception of what health looks like can also be very healing to our own being. Many of us spend energy looking outward to see if those around us are healthy or ill. By doing so, we exert our energies in a process called judgment and labeling. Consider what might happen to you if you were to release this pastime and begin to perceive those around you as whole and complete, full of love and light.As with all of the principles of the life skills, gratitude is a key to healing. Appreciate what you have; accept yourself as you are. Keep your sense of humor. Laugh at yourself. Trust the seasons of life. Choose again the things you like. Practice new ways. Release outdated habits and behaviors. Touch others with music, art, writing, praise, appreciation, love, or a hand on the shoulder.
Daily exercise will release chemicals in the brain that heal depression and fatigue. That includes exercise on all levels, creating within yourself the feelings of gratitude, peace, love and healing and a willingness to share those feelings with others.Since our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies are all connected, remember that exercising your emotions and thought processes is every bit as important to your well being as exercising your physical body. Express yourself! Educate yourself! Open your spiritual nature to the divine![Most of the above, spiced with my own observations and comments, is taken from the Life Skills Workbook published by the Rapid Eye Institute of Salem, Oregon.]
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