Healing, what is it and what does it mean to you?
Today Spirit wishes for us to talk about your physical health and healing. There are some of you who have become discouraged by the fact that you’ve developed a disease, sought healing, yet still have the disease, or are in some way still hindered by it.
Spirit has two points for you to ponder today. The first is this: you cannot expect health and healing if you continue to view and present yourself as sick. The second point is that we need to reevaluate what healing really is and what it means to us individually.
Let’s address first this notion that we cannot expect to have health and healing if we continue to view ourselves as sick. Now, this doesn’t mean you are not struggling with health issues, what it means is that you should not own them, nor should you be owned by them. Many of you are asking for healing, yet clinging to the disease. It has become a part of everything you do, and it is this attention and energy you give the disease that Spirit would like for you to reconsider.
Closely related to this is Spirit’s desire for us to reevaluate what it means to be healed from a disease or illness. I personally struggled with this for a long time, as I have had several health issues to contend with in this life. One day Spirit brought before me a quote, whose origins are unknown to me, and when I read it the first time, I was flooded with freedom and understanding regarding some of my own health issues. The quote goes something like this: healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed, it means the damage no longer controls our lives.
For example, I lived with a misdiagnosed thyroid disease for many, many years. For me healing came in the form of an accurate diagnosis, surgery and medication. I feel better than I have in 25 years, the surgery scar is fading and the weight is slowly coming off. I am claiming this health concern as healed, even though the “damage” is still visible. Similarly, my aunt was required to have her leg amputated. Her limb is not going to grow back, so is healing possible for her? Absolutely! For her, healing came in the form of an awesome prosthetic and an increase in mobility.
You see, we must remember that we are currently housed in human bodies. These bodies can be broken and torn. They can have damage inflicted upon them from outside forces as well as inside forces, but they are resilient, especially if we encourage them. Our bodies can heal from injury and disease, yet still carry the visible signs of the illness that was endured. Spirit began to show me things that I had never considered before, such as the way I speak about my body, as well as the way I treat my body affects how it functions. How I think about disease affects my healing process, and that in some situations I needed to learn to coexist with disease, but without owning it or becoming it.
So how do we accomplish these things? How do we learn to coexist with the disease, without ownership? In part, by establishing a new normal and reevaluating what healing really means. Following are some simple practices you can integrate into your daily life that will help to bring about a shift in your perception of your physical issues.
*Look for the lessons to be found in the disease or illness. Is the disease here to teach you discipline? Compassion? Tolerance?
*Adopt a healthy lifestyle – eat cleaner and exercise to the best of your physical abilities. Drink plenty of water. Rest. Consider giving up less than health habits. How we treat our body affects its performance capability and its ability to fight off disease.
*Do not own the disease. There is a difference between saying “my arthritis is acting up” versus saying “the arthritis in my finger is acting up”. Your body is listening to your words and assumes that what you say is what you desire. If you claim the disease as your own, your body will comply.
*Don’t accept everything you’ve been told about yourself. Just because you carry a family tendency toward certain afflictions does not mean that it is your absolute fate, so don’t bring something upon yourself due to passive acceptance. What you nourish will flourish.
*If you can no longer do the things that you used to, stop mourning the past and find a new passion or activity. Stay engaged.
*Look for ways that you can be of service to others. Volunteer or offer emotional support. Simply, step outside of yourself and your own situation and change your focus.
*Work on any emotional issues that may be connected to the physical disease you are contending with. Unresolved emotional issues will eventually fester to the point of physical disturbances.
*Partake in some form of holistic, non-invasive maintenance, such as reiki, acutonics, yoga, chakra balancing, etc. This helps physically, but also acts as salve for the soul and an elixir for the mind.
*Learn to see the positive. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In every negative, there is a positive, you simply have to look.
I wish you all well on your journey to living a healed life and establishing a new normal that allows for you to thrive in your current state.
Namaste,
DeAnna VandeZande