Ever have the feeling that dis-ease is controlling your life?
Perhaps it's not even a chronic illness. Do you harbor anger?
Resentment? Frustration?
Maybe it's just me and I'm talking to myself, but I've let all of
these rule my life at some point. I suppose that's why I had a
complete epiphany this week after listening to the audio lecture
program “Why People Don’t Heal” By Carolyn Myss. Therefore, for
this weeks offering, I thought we'd take a look at the work of
Ms. Myss and the important insight it gives us. Coupled with my
own (ever expanding) view of health and wellness vs. dis-ease, I
give you: "Four Creative Steps To Healing." From it, I hope
you'll gain insight into yourself, your behaviors and perhaps the
way you deposit or withdraw from your own health currency.
Step One:
Understand Your Energy We've all heard about the aura that
surrounds the body, but what could this possibly have to do with
our health? According to Myss, in her experience, the energetic
exchange that happens within this field is where our thoughts
become translated into energy (or what she terms as one's
biography becoming their biology). Translation: These cycles or
waves of energy that surround our body are a function of our
thoughts. Thoughts are energy waves then, that affect our health
in a positive or negative way. Let's look a little closer to see
why this happens:
The contributors to this energy surrounding the body are the 7
major "chakras" (chakra in Sanskrit means "wheel or vortex"). It
may help to note that Myss refers to each energy wheel as a
"computer," one which collects and interprets information and
“perceptions” the mind has about the world. It has been shown
scientifically that each of these 7 wheels of energy corresponds
to a particular endocrine gland in the body. Translation: In
light of the adage, "you are what you eat" we could conclude with
with some degree of certainty that "you are what you think."
Step Two:
Let Go Of Old Wounds Now that you've been (hopefully) examining
your thoughts and translating all of your negative energy into
positive, Myss throws another curve ball. Would you agree with
her that "healing is unattractive?" I needed some time to think
about this: Why in the world would healing unattractive?
Answer (According to Myss): Our wounds give us power! And after
careful contemplation, I've outlined three ways I have done this,
myself.
Ask yourself: Are you leading with your wounds? You'll know if
you done any of the following:
1. Used Wounds to Manipulate a Situation or a Person. Let's say
we find a situation unsavory, scary or inflaming a personal "hot
button." Have you ever avoided a situation when you really needed
to face head on? Or, how 'bout this one: "I just can't get into
this relationship - I've been burned before!" Okay, maybe I am
just speaking to myself here, but I admit, I've used my wounds
(more times than I care to admit) to refrain from loving
unconditionally.
2. Use Them to Attract Other Wounded Souls Who Want to Exchange
in the “Wound” Game. I’ve done this myself, too. In listening to
another share their wounds, I’ve given up compassion for wound
ante ? “Ill see you and raise you one.” Agreed, there is a
difference between healing from a wound and “leading with a
wound" but, in my humble opinion, I'd be willing to bet that we
know the difference between being healthy and not. For example,
I know when I’m healthy when I can listen with empathy, void of
getting out my toolbox to “fix" or laying out my wounds
unsolicited.
3. Give Up Our Ability to Listen. Dr. Bernie Siegel in his book
"Peace, Love and Healing" basically says, listening is the work
of angels. Many times listening is all we have in a situation
when someone calls on us for help. If we express what Ms. Myss
calls "woundology" or "leading with our wounds" we're saying that
we can’t stand the loss of power and desire all the attention for
ourself.
Since I'm laying out all my laundry here today (And what would
Myss have to say for this?) here’s an example of the way I’ve led
with my wounds: Recently someone confided in me about a situation
where they had lost a loved one. While listening attentively, my
mind searched its experiences for a similar event. All this so I
could say: “Oh that’s terrible! Don’t feel so bad though,
because I’ve been through this thing that is so much worse!"
To reclaim my character, however, (and after I realized what was
happening), I caught myself. In reality, all this person really
needed was my ear to listen unconditionally.
Step Three:
Learn To Forgive Yourself and Others The final two steps are
remedies which can help heal our anger, resentment and
frustration. Step three then, is simply forgiveness. For to
forgive in earnest then takes our energy out of its emotional
investment in the past. We give up the need to spend wasted
energy making negative deposits into this account and to
paraphrase Myss, is the fastest way to bring our energy into real
time. Translation: Trust me, you'll know authentic forgiveness
when you experience it. The body literally “lets go” of the
weight of the past.
Step Four:
Love Yourself The final creative step to healing? Loving
yourself, of course! This is the most challenging concept, in my
opinion. Why? To begin we must start where we are, and love and
accept ourselves for who we are, today. How does this help our
health? It's simple, when we realize that we are stunting our
personal growth and health through negative self talk, we can
then begin to love ourselves one piece at a time.
Here’s how it’s done (Author's note: beware, this practice may
seem untraditional yet, if you'll consult Louise L. Hay's book:
"You Can Heal Your Life" - you'll find that this is one of the
remedies she used to heal herself from cancer):
Every day spend 15 minutes in the mirror sending love to
yourself! Start small by finding one part of yourself where you
can find perfection. Each day, or week, or month choose new
parts of yourself to love. Before long, you'll find an image of
perfection before your eyes. And you'll have purified your
energy, to boot!
In closing, we could make all of these steps very simple, indeed.
For there is only one step here that will make you healthy and
happy. Remember: It's when we've learned to love ourselves that
we can truly be healed.
References:
Myss, Carolyn, Ph.D. Why People Don't Heal. Colorado, 2001.
Sounds True Audio.
Siegel, Bernie, M.D. Peace, Love and Healing. New York:
HarperCollins. 1989.
Hay, Louise L. You Can Heal Your Life. California: Hay House.
2004.
|
