Self Healing
In 1995, the National Institute of Health reported that meditation and visualization and other relaxation techniques are often better treatment for a variety of illnesses than is drugs & surgery.
I have learned that each of us have three billion letters describing our genetic code or DNA and 99.9% of those letters are identical within all of us. What makes us unique as individuals is a combination of environmental effects and genetic variations mostly consisting of changes to single letters of DNA scattered throughout each of our genome. (Source: Creation of Health: Merging Traditional Medicine with Intuitive Diagnosis by C. Norman Shealy and Caroline M. Myss).
This may explain how genes program some of us to one day face cancer or heart disease and why minuscule differences in our DNA could explain why some people respond positively to certain drugs while others do not. We can stack illness contributors on top of each other and that stack can teeter and collapse at any time but the higher the stack the more unstable it is. Start with genetic code, add smoking, then lack of exercise, poor diet, excess weight, exposure to germs and bacteria, and finally our emotions and it is usually when we add our emotions anywhere in the stack that it falls depending on how much stress is packed into those emotions.
I understand that stress is devastating to the body and understand it is not life’s events that cause stress but rather my reaction to those events that causes the stress and I can choose my reaction to all events. I understand that chronic diseases develop as a result of mostly unconscious continual dysfunctional emotional fears, spiritual patterns, and resentments that create ongoing stress. These unconscious patterns blend into what I may consider my personality or basic nature and I can find myself continually irritated, angry, or anxious without necessarily knowing what the cause of the tension is.
Cancer leads to introspection and introspection teaches us that we are alive so we can challenge obstacles that prevent us from exploring our development. Cancer is an indication that something is taking place inside of me that has sufficient force to prevent me either from successfully entering into the next phase of my life or from furthering my emotional, psychological, and spiritual growth.
My health will not tolerate prolonged obstacles to my growth. Disease is a messenger and we should remember the messenger is not the enemy.
I know there is a continuous connection between my mind and my body and my body responds positively or negatively to my thoughts and emotions. I know that I must first identify negative emotions at their roots and develop ways of releasing them. I know that my imagination is powerful and that I can use it to set in motion the responses I want my body to make. I know that if I use my imagination with enough determination I can transform myself away from anger, self-pity, intolerance, ego, and illness and toward kindness, calmness, forgiveness, service, love; and, the more I move in this direction the more I can recover from progressive disease, hopeless illness, and a troubled life. The more positive I think, the healthier I am.
I know that if I live a life devoid of love or of any degree of human warmth, I am a prime candidate for disease. I know that laughter and a good sense of humor creates a barrier that disease has a hard time penetrating. I know that that when I participate in the natural give and take of life, that if I am flexible, and respond to the needs of others and reach for what I need from a position of inner strength and confidence, have an effective voice in making my own choices, disease has a much harder time sticking to me.
I know that when I am open and determined to visualize with my mind without any pessimism, I can control the connection that exists between my mind and body–a body that is otherwise reacting to my non-orchestrated changing thoughts and emotions. I know that what can be spontaneous healing for some can take two years for less determined others. I know that my body responds to the messages of my mind exactly as I transmit them. I visualize my body as fully healthy now and do not build time into the healing process. I believe that for me to be truly healed, not just relieved of symptoms, or be in remission, I must invoke the power of compassion for myself and others and at that point I would be in a position to heal others as well.
I know my automatic responses come from my subconscious and when I do the same thing in the same way, with enough repetition my subconscious will make it a habit. Observing others can help me understand how my habits might be changed to serve my health. I need to ask why do some people laugh when others get angry, why do some retreat when others charge, and charge when others retreat, regardless of the appropriate action? Who seems to breathe shallow and who breathes deeply, who seems to smile the most?
I know that if I were to suffer from depression or chronic illness there are subconscious tools to deal with unfinished business of my past and accelerate and enhance my healing process. I know that it is not the germ but the soil the germ lands on that cultivates illness and therefore I can be exposed to germs without becoming ill because germs do not grow on me.
I know that in first half of life I go to school, find a career, make relationships, perhaps get married and have children. These activities ground me in earth life and create the perspective I use to explore my inner world in the second half of life. At midlife I should take a fresh look at myself and ask if I have succeeded in my goals and if so ask what is next and if not think about why. But my big question is am I doing what I came into this life to do? Do I feel a gap between whom I am and who I want to be? Do I feel that time is running out and if so am I tempted to act out in ways that cause pain to myself and loved ones? I know the latter third of my life should become more and more spiritual and at age 45 to 50 I need to make sure I am moving in that direction.
I know that the truth shall set me free, set me free of myself. Obeying the divine law of charity to all, love to all, finding fault with none, being patient with all, showing brotherly love and brotherly kindness in thought, purpose, and intent will help free me from chaos and destructive forces. If my life is disturbing, if I have a sad heart or have pain in my body somewhere in my total existence I may have bungled the law, or may have had tendencies to bungle the Law that have yet to be fully recognized or corrected. I can do better and am blessed when I get a friendly nudge for it is better to recognize the friendly nudges and act upon them rather than requiring the hard pokes before I make changes in my thinking, purpose, and intent. I should not think of my body as a haphazard machine or that things happen to me by chance. I am aware that which comes or begins first may have been conceived in spirit, then grew in the mental, before manifested in the material.
I know Michelangelo was right when he said “The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” But I also know that an eagle thrives on a lofty perch while a quail thrives in the brush. I know my goals should reflect my unlimited true nature. I also know that I should help others thrive.
I know eventually we are all going to evolve spiritually—some faster than others—some willingly—some kicking and screaming, but evolve we will. For those bodies and minds that are hooked on drugs, alcohol, sex, power, greed, ego, hate, and fear or are starving, wet, cold, diseased—evolving spiritually is most difficult. Just surviving another day is the challenge. When the great majority of us advance spiritually we will all be healthier, our planet will be cleaner, our prisons will be far less full and more spiritually focused, there will be global peace, and our economy and technology will be more global.
I know that white foods such as refined flour, sugar, grains and fats from red meat are less healthy than brown things such as whole unpolished grains and natural sugar in fruits and honey. I know that lean meat is healthier than well marbled meat. I know that lots of fruit and vegetables in my diet are mandatory for good health. I know that dark leafy greens like spinach, collards, kale and mustard greens are good for me as are blueberries and strawberries, and that eating fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines two or three times a week is great for my heart. I also know my diet should include Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans, as well as Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage. I also know that I should exercise regularly and stretch, and I Know I should always think positively, and recognize and then release old fears, angers, and resentments.