The bottom line is that we can heal quite quickly. But sometimes, healing quickly takes courage. And it takes what can sometimes be viewed as a sacrifice in order to do that. The sacrifice is stopping what we are doing/seeing/experiencing now, re-evaluating pretty much everything that is going on in our lives at the moment, and starting out anew. This is not always as easy as it seems. And the more people we have in our lives that are very much invested in the way we are/what we do today, the harder it will be for us to make the drastic changes needed all at once. Thus, sometimes healing can take a great deal of time.
We must face any fears of change. We must let many things go. Doing either of these things can make us feel unstable and uncertain. This can be very difficult to do. And then we must add new things – ideas, behaviours, substances – that we have not yet come to love and trust. The things we add back must be chosen carefully – looking out for our highest and best opportunities. This can also be a challenge.
Flu Season
I recently experienced the cold/flu that was circulating around this season. I spent some time with the folks, who were both under the weather (who both diligently got their flu shots btw), and a few days later came down with similar symptoms. (Yes, I know some of that is an energetic sympathy factor. Whatever.) But nonetheless, I came down with the symptoms, and part of my observation was in gauging was how long I took to recover relative to them, based on my “new age” alternate healing practices i.e. heavy doses of ginger, lemon and honey – as opposed to heavy doses of cough medicine, cold and flu medication, and microwaved rice bags.
OK, yes I am younger, and so by this factor alone I should recover sooner. So my observations are not all that scientific. But regardless, in my “down-time” of healing and recovering, I did come up with some observations:
- Sometimes you get worse before you get better, even after you have started down the healing path. I have always had eczemic reactions to too much citrus. Oranges. Lemons. Oddly cilantro as well. But one thing that I also know, is that when my immune system is compromised… it needs vitamin C. So, in those times, I bite the bullet and drown myself in citrus – lemon tea, oranges…. regardless of the fact that I know that I will inevitably experience skin irritations. The skin heals. And actually always comes back smoother and more radiant than ever. Yes, I could take pills or some other form of delivery of vitamin C that may not give me the skin reaction, but researching exactly what would work in this complex world of “marketing” is a process in and of itself. Lemons work. This I know. So this is what I do.
- The quicker I give in and accept that my system is compromised, the faster the healing can begin. Going to bed early on the day you feel the first pangs of “something” goes a long way to speeding up the healing process. Often we are so ingrained in our lives and our responsibilities that we don’t feel we have the time or the ability to “get sick”. So we push ourselves even harder. To stay awake. To get all of our “tasks” done. Until our bodies simply collapse, and we simply cannot move at all anymore. Of course, at this juncture, the road to healing is going to be a tad more difficult, and probably take even longer. But there is a lot of “cultural” support for this way of thinking, and this behaviour, particularly for women. It is something we should all be re-thinking.
- Masking the symptoms does not speed up the healing process, but sometimes temporary relief of symptoms goes a long way to improve our mental condition – which is also very important. Healing is not just a physical exercise. Healing also has a lot do do with our state of mind. How we feel, what mood we are in, and our degree of optimism has a lot to do with how fast we can recover from something. I don’t like to take anything that simply masks the symptoms of my illness, because I believe symptoms are there to show me something. Symptoms “talk” to me. If I simply mask them, I cannot communicate as well with my body, and observe what is truly going on. On the other hand, there are times when the symptoms get so intense – like a brutal headache, for example – that one just needs to break down and take something – anything – for relief from the pain. This last time around I did try some hands-on energy healing on my headache, and it did help. I was actually quite impressed. But, alas, I also have to admit that I broke down and took some allergy/headache tablets as well at one point. There is a balance.
What Changes Did I Make?
So what did I let go very quickly? for starters, I went to bed and slept. Which means I had to let go of any tasks and obligations I felt I needed to do. I had to change my mindset… from doing things and going places to focusing on one thing and that was healing. And I bit the bullet and ingested things that would flush my system – tons of hot water, ginger and vitamin C – but knowing in the short term my sensitive skin couldn’t keep up with the toxic outflow and I would suffer a rash or two or three. This “short term pain” led to quicker healing, but it is a decision that has to be made. I offset this somewhat by spending a great deal of time in a hot bath, which opened up the pores and increased the “flushing” capacity.
I had to reconsider what I was putting in my body. I had to re-assess what I had been eating and drinking lately. Had I slipped away from eating mainly organic foods? Had I been varying my diet enough? Had I really been providing my body with all the nutrients it required? The answer was no. I had not. I needed to change that.
I also had to reconsider how much fresh air and exercise I was getting. I know this seems like a boring concept because we hear it over and over. But, especially in the winter, we need that sunlight. We need that “real” vitamin D. We need that “real” oxygen. Houses, as clean as you may keep them, are not “natural”. We need the breath of life from trees and plants. It is a very symbiotic relationship. I vowed to go outside more often and for longer periods of time.
Let’s Not Spend Too Much Time Worrying About How We Became Ill While We are ill.
We are sick for a reason. We were exposed to something that overwhelmed our systems. How we came to be exposed to something may be about choices we ourselves have made in the past, but many times we are exposed to things without our knowledge or awareness, and yet it takes us down just the same. Life happens. Environmental toxins are everywhere. One cannot live their life shut away from everything in fear of “coming down with something”. There is a trade-off. We must live. We must breathe. We must experience. We must drive that car instead of letting it rust away in the parking garage. We must sail that boat instead of letting it rot away in the dry dock. We are here to get wet. So, what we really need is a “game plan” of what to do when we do get sick, as opposed to worrying so much about whether we are going to get sick or not:
Step 1: Remove Thyself From any Toxic Environment
Yes, the sooner you remove yourself from the environment which may have contributed to your illness is imperative. It is almost impossible to heal if you are still exposing yourself to the same toxins. Whether that is physical poison, or an emotional poison. You have to find a way to remove yourself from that which helped make you sick.
Step 2: Don’t Worry About Fixing Anything Other Than Yourself
There are things wrong on this planet. Yes, things need to change. Yes, sometimes through the process of becoming ill there is information that you have just come to know that others could benefit from knowing. This is great. Write it down. Perhaps it could prevent others from encountering the same problems in the future. This is all good. But for now…stay FOCUSED. There will be plenty of time to share these bigger picture issues once you heal. In the short term, it is most important that you put all of your energy at the moment into finding a path to your own healing.
Step 3: Pay Close Attention to Your Body, and Your Mind
Monitor your thoughts. Ponder your dreams. What are you thinking about? What are your dreams trying to tell you? Maybe draw some pictures or create some structures if your need to express yourself more physically. What colours are you drawn to? How is your focus and/or concentration? What are you needing to express?
Tune into your body. Where are you aches and pains? Does it change? Have things migrated? Or is something stuck somewhere? What are you craving? Do you feel compelled to do something? Go somewhere? Do you crave a certain type of food? What is the key ingredient of nutrient in that food? Your body is an incredible messenger. It tells you what it really needs when we take the time to listen.
Step 4: Get It Done
Be responsive to your body’s needs and desires. Healing is a series of steps. Take things one day at a time. The more responsive your are to your daily needs, the faster your body will be able to move on to the next step of healing.
Facing Fears of Change
When we become ill, we understand that we have been exposed to something that our bodies cannot process. Our bodies are having a hard time dealing with “something”. But, oddly, much of what we have been exposed to that our bodies are rejecting has probably become “comfortable” to us. Most chronic illnesses take a long time to develop. Even most cancers take 7 years to become a “problem”. Our bodies are pretty good at withstanding, or brushing off, fairly strong blows on a one-off situation. But when a behaviour, or a substance, is introduced to the body over and over and over again, our resistance eventually breaks down. By this point in time, this behaviour or substance has become part of our daily routine. It feels like it is part of us. This can make it very difficult to part with.
The Downside of “Letting Things Go”
When we let things go, we can be left with a feeling of emptiness and uncertainty. And sometimes we encounter a fear that what is about to fill that void could be even worse than what we had before. And it is true, that on occasion, when people have let go of things, they replace it with something even worse. This has happened. Think of a friend you know who went from a mildly abusive relationship to a full-on abusive relationship. You ask yourself – “how did that happen?”
When we let things go we create a void. We must therefore be incredibly pro-active as per how we are going to fill that void. And I mean that. Incredibly pro-active. This is the time to write up your nutritional goals. This is time to create your dream board. This is the time to do some goal setting. This is the time to spend some quality time thinking about your highest and best opportunities. This is a very, very important part of the healing process.
If you don’t spend the time pro-actively finding things to fill that void, there are many out there who spend a great deal of time searching for someone who have a void they can fill with their own trauma/drama initiatives. And this never works out well. Get it done!
Healing is a process.
We must heal ourselves at the pace that we can handle based on a great deal of variables. So, on many occasions, if healing does not appear to be happening as quickly as you would like it to, sometimes that is a good thing because perhaps you just need a bit more time to really get it right. To really flush things out of your system. And to really become invested in what you add back.
But, if you feel this is not the case, and you wish to escalate the process – try letting more things go more quickly – including beliefs you are attached to, perspectives that no longer serve you, and behaviours that simply exacerbate the problem. And while you are at it, allow yourself to dream of all the things you would like to add back to make things so much better – now that you have the room to do so. Dream big. Explore opportunities. Become inspired. Your state of mind is what will ultimately pull you through. And it has a great deal of influence on how fast this all occurs.