How to support the healing power of our body (2/4)
In my last post, I talked about how we are all interconnected, linked to each other and traversed by a flow of energy.
According to Indian and Chinese traditions, we are also made up of several bodies of varying density. In order of decreasing density, there are the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies, or planes. Therefore, we’re connected to our environment, and these bodies are interconnected. So when pain becomes physical, it means that all the other bodies are affected. This is also true, for example, in the case of depression or burnout. The thoughts we have at that moment have an impact on our emotions, the way our body functions and our connection to the world around us.
To treat an illness, pain or mental state, we need to explore what is happening at each level.
Let's take an example: one day, after a hard day's work that didn't go exactly as he'd hoped, one of my patients missed the last step of a staircase and twisted his ankle. He went to see a doctor, who gave him everything he needed to manage the pain. He also prescribed rest (at least for the ankle). My patient, whom we'll call Nicolas for simplicity's sake, was doing everything he could to relieve the pain and help his ankle recover. Unfortunately, the pain didn't go away.
At that point in the story, Nicolas had treated the physical level of his injury. That could have been enough, but it wasn’t. He came to see me and we started looking into other levels. He realised that he was a bit confused about which direction to take in his career, while respecting his personal life. He released a fear of the unknown and an excessive need for control. Then we worked on the belief that he had no right to make mistakes, at the risk of no longer being liked or loved. Finally, we approached acceptance of what is and what he is: human and perfectly imperfect. This doesn't mean that he has completely abandoned the habit of controlling and planning, to dwell purely in intuition and sensation. We've just restored the balance between these two equally necessary behaviours and released certain limiting beliefs.
The pain went away, never to return.
For Nicolas, the imbalance manifested itself in an accident, a sprain; but it could have likewise been insomnia, skin problems, an ulcer...
Finally, each body or plane does not necessarily need to be treated specifically, because acting on one has repercussions on the others. But the following questions are worth asking, in order to become aware of ourselves:
What's going on for me on a physical level?
What do I feel in my body?
What do I feel emotionally?
What are my thoughts?
Am I struggling with what's happening to me?
Being aware of what's going on in and around us is a good habit to get into, to support our body's self-healing power. It can be a game, a challenge to be taken on alone or with others, with the help of professionals or not. It's important to keep a light touch through the whole process. Let’s remember that the ingredient that changes everything and adds flavour is joy!
Image by Karin Henseler from Pixabay