Modern medicine is based on the notion of battle. We fight germs and fight for life. As soon as we feel pain or discomfort, we immediately try to prevent it from happening and look for some way to calm what we are going through. We feel that we must change our illnesses or problems, dominate them with our experience.
This orientation leads to an endless battle with everything that affects us. After a disease or problem is overcome, another one arises. We live in a state of constant insecurity where there is little room for tranquility.
Healing from within brings inner peace. It arises from a different orientation in relation to all life experiences. We are taught to stop, pay attention and respect everything that comes our way. It is as if we are focusing on a camera, receiving our experience through a different lens.
There is usually a profound feeling that the pain is severe and must be eliminated at all costs. The pain is not bad. The pain arises from a lack of balance and contains a lot of information. It carries many messages. When we see our pain as a messenger and learn to respect and listen to it, healing begins in many ways.
The first step towards inner healing is to learn to see pain as an ally, to learn to “dialogue” with it. For most of us, this seems almost unthinkable.
At first, this requires a complete change. Instead of getting tense and preparing for battle, we learn to take a break and understand that there is a lesson we must learn. When we do this, we find that the pain or problem usually comes from holding a gift in our hands.
The disease usually arises when we feel defeated. We may not want to fight anymore. Some people get sick when they are very exhausted. Illness is the only way to allow yourself to stop, rest and make the necessary changes in your lives. Each disease has its own history. The same is true of psychological or personal problems that intensify and demand our attention.
When someone is in physical pain and suddenly understands what is bothering them, the physical pain usually goes away. For complete healing to happen, total changes in life can be essential. Cancer can be suppressed for many years and then comes back. When it reappears, we must ask ourselves, “Why not? What’s going on in my whole life?”
“We get sick and act sick”. Louis Jourard
We’re all experts at brushing things under the rug. Then the carpet starts to roll in the corners and it feels like it’s peeling off. During illness, the body rebels. It requires that we pay attention to anything that has been overlooked. We may have pushed ourselves too long. Now our body has had enough. Stop and listen to me, beg. When we learn to listen and respond, a whole new life begins. Then pain and illness become an opportunity for life-changing.
Learn to listen
Usually, we only hear part of ourselves. The others are rejected. But no matter what we reject, sooner or later we have to face it and face it head-on.
Throwing away something over and over never makes it go away. In fact, it will come back again and again, just for you to accept. Everything must be loved and accepted, including our illness and pain. The best way is to befriend pain. The fight intensifies it. If we can relax there for a while and explore it, there are many possibilities.
Natural healing is always available in all situations, but it can be interrupted by struggle and fear. When we let go and allow ourselves to talk about the pain and listen to what it has to say, incredible changes can happen.
To do this, we simply close our eyes, stop fighting and ask our pain what it is telling us, what does it need from us right now? So we are very silent and listen deeply. The answer may not come immediately. It takes patience. As we repeat this process, the fear disappears and we start to listen.
The answers come in different ways. Some hear answers inside. Others see pictures, some have dreams. We learn to be open to whatever comes and in that openness we learn.
Exercise
Look at your illness or problem now. Imagine it inside and give it some kind of shape. What would you say? Describe it or draw it. Now take a closer look at what the image actually means. What does this image tell you about you and the life you lead? Listen carefully.
Then ask the picture any questions you might have and let it answer you. (Ask what he expects from you and what it would take to disappear). See if you can give him what he needs.
This attitude is called making friends with pain. When we do, this disease doesn’t turn into something weird and scary. We become better able to understand what the real causes are.
For example, if we have been sad for a long time and haven’t cried enough, our bodies may start to cry for us because of the illness we are going through. If we feel that life has no meaning, our bodies may begin to express it by withering and dying. If we have held onto difficult attitudes, our bodies will bear the brunt of them. Persistent negative attitudes become wounds throughout our being.
Our attitudes are messages that we send to our bodies. Even if we don’t realize it, if we feel like life is a dirty battle, we tell our bodies to be tense with shame all day. Once we have started the crucial work of taking responsibility and changing our attitudes, our entire body may begin to experience continued calm rather than sickness. We need to look at the basic attitudes we live with and ask ourselves if they lead to our health or if they contain the same seeds of pain.
To heal from the inside out, it is essential to manage these long-standing patterns, see them, and transform them into attitudes and patterns that are productive for well-being. Health comes from learning to say “yes” to all of our experience, by being willing to live it as it is. Well-being comes from the balance and harmony of all parts of ourselves.
When we are well, we feel complete, accepted, and in harmony with ourselves and with the whole world in which we live. Like a stream of cool water, this state of bringing continuous refreshment and healing day after day.
