For redefinition, I was thrown back to myself, to my inner knowing… Marilyn Sewell, Cries of the Spirit

The Authentic Voice Project: Week 8 (New Moon)

H is for Healing

The medical world believes healing is taking a patient with a clinical diagnosis and controlling their physical symptoms enough for them to function as “normally” as possible. The emotional and spiritual state of the individual is rarely taken into consideration. In fact, in many instances “healing” involves suppressing these aspects with drugs.

The mind and body have been split asunder. Our memories, past abuses (self or other-inflicted), old traumas, our psychological complexes, our cultural “rules,” and religious indoctrination – all the “stuff” that makes us who we are – are not questions on the intake survey. Those body workers who do consider these aspects of the whole person, masseuses, chiropractors, energy healers, and other “alternative” medicine providers, are considered woo-woo by the establishment. The body is just a vehicle to be patched up when its bits and pieces get rusty, like any old car.

True healing is not duct tape on the bumper or a tin can on the muffler. These things may keep the car running but the rust is still there underneath, eating away at the structure.There is extensive evidence that psychological wounds eventually and inevitably manifest as physical ones. Keep something suppressed long enough and it will let you know there is a problem. Stiff back, digestive problems, sore throat, swollen joints… while natural elements of aging, they are also flags that it is time to address your inner life. Mid-life crisis? Just a shove and opportunity for new self-discovery and growth. Ignore this and you get psychologically more discontent and physically uncomfortable.

I am not saying there are not externally-generated illnesses, viruses, chemical disruptions, or accidents that hurt our physical body, obviously there are. What I am talking about is the body issues that slowly (or suddenly) make themselves uncomfortably obvious. Our psychological, physical, emotional, and spiritual lives are all connected – interwoven, linked, one in the same. To truly heal ourselves we must acknowledge every level of ourselves, down to the deepest and most difficult to see. But every connection we make in our lives, inside and out, heals by bringing us closer to balance and wholeness (the word “heal” means “to be made whole”). (I wrote more about the healing of connections here.)

Yes, you can pop a pill. Or you can take the time to honor your whole self and ask, “what is wrong, really?” and “what do I need right now to be my best self?” Release the pain from your body by acknowledging your true feelings and sensations. Connect to them and really heal them.

Photo credit: sideshowmom from morguefile.com