How Does Perception Affect Healing?

When we are faced with health issues, we must take a look at not only the physical aspect of healing, but also our positive and negative perceptions. As you already know, being too negative is not healthy. I'd like to expand your thinking and say that being too positive can also slow your healing.

You're probably thinking, "No way! Positive thinking is the only way to go!" Yes, there is truth to this, but understand that balance is important in all things. Traditional Chinese Medicine-especially five-element techniques, which I will discuss shortly-observes balance in the emotions as being important to healing. An excess or deficiency in any area affects the healing process.

Here's an example of imbalanced emotions. When a health problem occurs, and we decide to focus on and exaggerate the negative aspects of it, and minimize the positive aspects, we will feel the emotion of resentment.When we resent something, like the illness, we are over-emphasizing the negative aspects of it. Too much resentment creates an imbalance which, in turn, will slow the body's healing ability.

On the other hand, if we exaggerate, overemphasize, or focus on only the positive aspects and completely minimize the negative ones, we experience the emotion of infatuation or over-excitement. Surprisingly, this excess emotion will also slow the healing process. What goes up, must come down. I must emphasize that I am not suggesting that a positive mindset it not appropriate, only that over-excitement creates imbalance.

Both situations are simply an imbalance in the thinking process. During my own health crisis, once I began to see both sides of the situation, both positive and negative, I was able to balance my feelings and experience accelerated healing without the stressful emotional roller-coaster ride that I had experienced in the beginning.

Were you ever in a situation that you perceived as extremely bad or extremely good? Then, over a period of days, months, or even years, you acknowledged that either the bad situation was the best thing that could have happened, or that the good thing turned into something terrible? The point is, don't take sides when it comes to healing by focusing on only one side of the equation. Keep it real by looking at and acknowledging both sides.

During my time of healing, I was guilty of taking the positive state of mind too far. As I began to feel better, my ego would take over. I had thoughts like, "See how good I can help myself heal? Nothing can stop me! I am the greatest self healer! Blah, blah, blah!" Well, before I knew it, I experienced a relapse. My strength returned, and I approached it with a cocky attitude and overinflated ego. Within one week, I started losing strength again until I was unable to move. Back to square one! Balance is the key. Staying in the middle and not allowing one side or the other to control your emotional state is crucial to your healing. It is easy to see the negative in any health crisis, so begin by making a list of the positives.

Every situation we experience contains an equal number of positive and negative aspects. Our challenge is to keep looking until we find the balance between them. The following story illustrates this point.

The Story of The Farmer

A farmer had only one horse to plow his fields, and one day the horse ran away. The neighbors came to console him over his untimely and terrible loss. The farmer said, "What makes you think it is so terrible?"

A month later, the horse came home-this time bringing with her two beautiful wild horses. The neighbors became overly excited at the farmer's good fortune. Such lovely strong horses! The farmer said, "What makes you think this is good fortune?"

The farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. Such bad luck you have! The farmer said, "What makes you think it is bad?"

A war came, and every able-bodied man was drafted and sent into battle. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, remained. The neighbors congratulated the farmer for his good luck. "What makes you think this is good?" said the farmer...

Being overly excited and then extremely depressed is indeed a rollercoaster ride, better known as drama. This is not a balanced way of living. The universe in which we live maintains harmony and a perfect equilibrium. Rarely are we able to see the bigger picture, and realize that there is a reason for everything that happens, even though it may not be fully understood for some time.

We can experience this perfection of balance when we observe our current state of awareness and our belief system. Yes, acknowledge your emotions, but avoid being drawn into excessive elation or depression by daily events. This can be accomplished in part through the practice of prayer or meditation.

If we truly understood that perfect universal balance is orchestrated in our favor based on our highest values, then we wouldn't want to change a thing. We would experience gratitude and true love for what it is, the emotional state where the healing process begins.

What do you believe to be of the most value in your life?
Are you exaggerating or minimizing positive or negative situations?
Do you embrace the perfect balance that Mother Nature offers you?
What do you believe to be your own personal truth?
What would you do if that truth was challenged during a life threatening crisis?

As I was confined to a hospital bed, paralyzed, unable to move any part of my body except for my eyes and hands, my fears began to overwhelm me. The health practitioners reminded me of the dire prognosis, and I couldn't get it out of my mind. It was then that I began to understand the meaning of the word focus.

This is an excerpt from Dr. Aristotle's book Change The Way You Heal.