Healing is not Direct

Healing isn’t a very straightforward business. We want it to be. We expect when we go to the doctor that they will tell us what is wrong and tell us exactly what to do to fix it. If we follow the directions correctly then the result is a resolution of the problems.

I wish it were that easy.

The reality is that healing happens in cycles more than direct lines. We want to fix X and we think we just need to do Y for it to happen. That’s what most of our medical profession is based on and, to be honest, it sometimes works very well. More often, though, if you really want to resolve X, you probably have to deal with G, M, Q, L, and Z first. The path to healing can be convoluted and twisty.

The problem is that we haven’t been taught what we really need to heal. We think that our knee hurts, so that’s all we need to deal with. However, the hurt knee is usually a physical manifestation of a whole lot of smaller problems that have built up over the years that need to be healed. These smaller problems can be caused by all kinds of things.

In my post Healing is Complicated I talk about how we are not just physical bodies; we are also emotional, mental, spiritual, and energetic beings. Any time something disrupts one of these bodies but cannot be resolved, it creates an energy block. This energy block can be big or small. Your body might be able to work around it, or it might not. Over time, though, if you can’t clear these blocks, they build on each other and multiply until you have larger problems to deal with. When you experience physical symptoms, it’s usually the result of multiple underlying problems across all the other layers of your being.

It’s not just that your knee hurts and needs to be fixed, it’s that many energy blocks have built up over the years that keep your knee from healing. Perhaps you had a traumatic experience in your 20s. Add environmental chemicals that have built up in your body. Then add your belief that as soon as you turn 35 your body will start to break down. You can also add issues with your liver that has been overwhelmed from too much junk food. All these individual issues create energy blocks that make it hard for your system to heal. Then to top it all off, you go through a particularly stressful period of life and suddenly your body is so overwhelmed it simply can’t heal anymore and your knee is the first place you feel it. Now you have a knee problem that isn’t just a knee problem but the culmination of all these other things.

The good news is that if you remove all those energy blocks, then the body is free to do what it does best: self-heal. Your knee will feel better and your body will no longer have to work around all those little energy blocks. You end up healthier than you were before with a greater capacity for self-healing.

When I finally got fed up with my increasing food sensitivities, I started going to a practitioner of Autonomic Response Therapy (ART). I told them my problem and thought we’d work on that directly. I was surprised to discover that they essentially asked my body what it needed to work on first. Before we could even start dealing with my digestive issues, we had to work on a virus affecting my heart, heavy metals, emotional blocks, and a number of other things first. It was a little frustrating (all I really wanted was to be able to eat food again!) but I decided to stick with it and trust the process. After several months of work, we started dealing with some of the bigger issues affecting my digestion. Then we took some side trips to deal with other energy blocks before circling back to my digestive system again. It took more than two years to really get to the bottom of my food sensitivities. We kept cycling back around to work on the issue in different ways. As we did that, we peeled back a lot of layers of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and energetic blocks that were keeping my body from healing. There was no single issue underlying my digestive dysfunction, but several big ones (parasites, emotional blocks, Lyme) and a myriad of smaller ones. Healing was not direct and I worked with many practitioners along the way to resolve all the interrelated problems. Despite the challenge, I’m really glad I did the work (you can read more of this story here).

How many of us know that healing is such an indirect process?

Not many.

There’s plenty of reasons for this. Most of us don’t realize how well our bodies are able to heal if they aren’t energetically blocked up. We don’t even know that energy blocks are a thing. We also aren’t aware of how interconnected our layers of being are. Most health care providers only work on the physical level. There is a better understanding now that there are other things like trauma and stress that affect our physical bodies, but overall the medical establishment is still pretty bad at understanding how these elements interact (this is a whole post for another day). Psychology is making huge strides into figuring out how mental and emotional factors are affecting physical health, but they still often ignore more subtle interactions of energy and spirituality. There are practitioners that work on the more spiritual side of things such as angel healing, shamanic healing but who can ignore basic physical causes for problems. Our whole system is designed to compartmentalize healing which makes it hard for us to know what our options are.

Which is exactly why I tell people that there are many ways to do your healing work. Healing is a complicated process that will require different kinds of work and help from a diverse group of professionals who can all assist you in various ways. Don’t think that you can get one person to do it all for you. Don’t expect that one pill or one visit to one energy worker will do the trick. It’s unlikely that any one thing will meet all your needs.

When I started dealing with some serious health issues in my 20s, my first consultations were with medical doctors. After ruling out some of the most serious issues, they didn’t have much else to offer me, so I knew it was time to move on to other options. It was many years of trying other things before I started getting into energy work and learned about why my health issues were so complicated. I was trying to approach the issue from a purely physical standpoint. Although some of my problems were physical, a lot of them were the result of years of energy blocks making it really hard for my body to heal. Once I figured this out, my paradigm shifted and I was able to approach healing from a whole new place.

We can’t find our path to healing if we don't know what to look for. Which is why simply knowing more about how healing actually works can be exactly what you need to start the process. If you know that healing is not direct and will require work in various areas, then you will start your journey with more appropriate expectations.

So, now that you have a better understanding of the healing process, let’s go back to the imaginary scenario where your knee hurts. You know that it’s likely not just a single problem but is probably a buildup of a number of smaller energy blocks over time. You will have to work on all the little things so that your body can heal enough to take care of the knee issue itself. How in the world do you go about figuring out what is going on and dealing with it?

The answer is that you already know what you need.

To be honest, you likely don’t consciously know everything you need, but somewhere inside your body, mind, and soul you know exactly what you need to heal. Not only that, but your unconscious wants to tell you what it knows. It will give you the answers if you are willing to listen long enough to hear them.

The most important thing you need to do is trust your intuition. If it says, “go to the doctor,” then do that. If after seeing the doctor it says, “I didn’t like that answer, let’s keep looking,” then do that. If your intuition says, “Let’s try Reiki first,” then do that. Maybe your Reiki practitioner recommends you see someone else such as a medical doctor or a trauma therapist. Then you listen to your intuition and decide if you want to follow that suggestion or not. Stay open and follow up on whatever you feel is important, even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Healing might require that you start therapy to deal with some emotional stuff you’ve been ignoring. It might require that you break off a relationship that’s gone wrong. It might require that you get off your butt and start exercising again. It might require that you try something that feels weird like getting acupuncture. You have to trust that what your intuition is telling you is somehow related even if it feels strange to you.

Obviously, I have had good experiences with energy work, but I do want to say some things generally about energy workers. They come in all shapes and sizes and practice all kinds of modalities. Like doctors, there are some that are better than others so don’t be afraid to try different people until you find someone you are comfortable with. Most energy workers are sensitive to the emotional, mental, and energetic aspects of your being. They can provide valuable suggestions of different ways to address your underlying issues. A Reiki practitioner might be able to give you some insight into some of your energy blocks. For instance, they might tell you that the pain in your knee is not purely a physical problem but has significant emotional aspects or ties to people from your past. You can use that information to assist your intuition to lead you to the correct things you need to work on.

I’ve worked (and learned from) a lot of energy workers over the past eight years. I can say that they have all been helpful in significant ways but no single one had everything I needed to heal. Sometimes I did exactly what they said and it helped me significantly. Other times it didn’t work as well as I had hoped. Only once in a while was their advice a flop, but even in these instances the flop actually led me to the next step I needed to take. In the end, I was the one who took their advice and decided what to do with it. It was my body and mind leading the way even though I asked for outside input from all kinds of professionals.

I just want to emphasize that I don’t believe that anyone, no matter how spiritual or connected they claim to be, actually has all the answers. I don’t follow gurus or think that there is one way that works for everyone. Even when I work with clients, I give them my take on what is going on but then I encourage them to follow their own intuition and do what they want with what I’ve shared. I never claim to have all the answers. If you meet someone in the health and healing world that does claim this, then I recommend being suspicious.

So, let’s just recap for a minute. Most health issues are the result of multiple energy blocks that occur on various levels of your being. You will likely need support in various areas to heal all the underlying issues. No one person will be able to guide you every step of the way to your healing so must learn to trust your intuition. As you learn to listen to your body and mind, it will tell you what you need to heal.

Sounds complicated?

It is a bit. But it is possible. It is possible because all healing is self-healing. Your body, mind, and soul want you to resolve your energy blocks and bring your body back into a state of harmonious balance. All it takes is you learning to listen to its messages and trust yourself.

Does it sound hard?

Yes! Partly because we’ve been conditioned to believe outside experts rather than ourselves. Partly because we like easy, simple fixes. Partly because dealing with problems such as our emotional baggage, limiting beliefs, and family issues are uncomfortable. But if you really want to heal, you need to wade through all that junk and start to deal with it.

Why?

Because healing is about becoming more yourself. It’s about stripping away those pieces of your past that have hidden who you really are. It’s about reconnecting with your true self and rediscovering your dreams and passions. It’s about revealing your purpose and figuring out how you can create a better world.

Healing is a lot bigger than just making your knee feel better. It might start there, but if you really want to heal the problems behind your knee issue then you’ll have to deal with your smaller issues on physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and energy levels. You’ll follow rabbit trails of healing different things and cycle in and out of dealing with your original problem. But it will all be worth it because along the way you will grow and change and bring your whole being back into the best possible version of you.

So, if you are tired of dealing with your pain, illness, relationships, beliefs, or anything else keeping you stuck, then it is time to start working on this deeper healing. Once you start the journey, some things will resolve quickly. Others will take longer. Some things you will do on your own while others will require help. Some things will be easy and joyful while others will be challenging and really hard work. But it will be worth it, because along the way you’ll discover the person you are supposed to be. You’ll find peace from your past and create a better future for yourself. You’ll learn to be whole again.

If you want some help on your healing journey, read more of my blog to get a better idea of how healing works and different ways to do your work. If you’d like help figuring out how to listen to your body and get started, then contact me. I do energy and coaching sessions that help you figure out what your body needs and give you the tools to start healing your underlying issues. I’m supportive of people doing multiple modalities as once and trying different things. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I can offer a lot of insight that will help you on your way. You are the healer, I’m just energetic and moral support! Send me a message and let’s talk about where you are trying to transform in your life!