What Works Well for You in Your Self-Healing?

Right now is the perfect time to consider what works well for you in your self-healing. As you reflect upon last year, perhaps you will want to take some time to think about what has brought you the greatest healing.

If you do this, I suggest becoming a real observer of your reality. (Something I talk about in greater depth in the first chapter of my book, The Root of All Healing.)

You may have had a lot more going on that contributed to your healing than a medication, herb, homeopathic remedy or treatment, though of course if you discovered an approach that worked for you it is important to take note of that too. In addition, consider the circumstances you created in your life, your diet, exercise habits, emotional well-being, beliefs, relationships and the time you devoted to your healing as variables that contributed to your healing.

Perhaps you only experienced moments in which you felt well or free from pain, or maybe you healed completely from some condition. Maybe you are still healing a condition, but had a few peak moments when you felt better. You will probably find it helpful to ask yourself some questions in order to discover what (out of everything you were using) may have made the biggest difference for you.

What were you doing? What had you done just before you felt better? Had you been watching funny movies? Perhaps you were engaged in creative activities or service to others. Or perhaps you were allowing yourself longer periods of rest. Maybe you were really committed to a special diet and that’s when you felt your best. You might discover you had let go of an old belief and adopted a new one that seemed to help you make some progress. And maybe, a specific treatment really made the difference for you.

More likely than not, some combination was taking place when you felt your best. As an observer of your reality, recall and record what you were doing. If you don’t remember everything, and perceive that you need to have a better understanding, I recommend you make an observational chart for yourself, which is described in Chapter One of the book.

Many of us are challenged by more than one physical ailment. So if you found some relief and healing from one condition, you might find this reflection helpful in determining how you could approach the next condition you would like to heal. If you responded really well to herbs in curing one condition, you probably want to discover what herbs will best support you in healing another condition. Maybe your body loves essential oils or reiki or yoga. Maybe you need someone to help you lay out a regular integrated self-cared regimen. Perhaps you have discovered you simply have to have a certain amount of time every day or week devoted to your physical care, without any family- or work-related distractions.

For example, I know I do best when I meditate every morning, preferably for an hour to an hour and a half. Twenty minutes is the absolute minimum, and only rarely. My body loves energy medicine, so that’s what I like to use first, including healing sounds and symbols. From my meditations and personal sound medicine sessions, I usually get intuitive insights about what else I need—changes in diet, herbs to add, or changes I need to make in my beliefs or behaviors. Or I’ll get an insight about a healer I need to visit. On some occasions a healer will come directly to me, offering his or her help. If the help feels right, I accept the offer.

I know that I need to attend to difficult emotions the minute they arise, in order to keep my psyche in a calm and open psychological space for healing to happen. I need a certain amount of routine to maintain a healthy diet, rigorous exercise several days per week, good water and lots of fresh air. I do my best not to rush my life because that pushes me into illness. I don’t chase after a cure. I open the healing space within me and follow what my body and psyche teach me about me.

Your own best, integrated approach to healing will be unique to you. It very likely will include what you personally need to do for each of these aspects: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. If you abandon any one of these areas, you have abandoned part of yourself, and at some point the result of that abandonment is likely to show up as illness in your body.

If you are a committed observer of your health, you might want to reflect upon any decisions you made that seemed to set you back in your healing, while you are also looking at what helped your healing progress. Then you are in a position to make some choices for the coming year that can make the biggest difference for you.