INTRODUCTION TO HEALING
This booklet gives an introduction to healing. It contains information on what creates disease, and looks at ways of maintaining balance such as correct breathing, healing affirmations, relaxation techniques, subtle nutrition and boosting the immune system.
DIS-EASE & THE HEALING PROCESS
What Is Disease ?
Before looking different types of healing it will be useful to examine what disease is. When the word is split up we gain insight into what dis-ease is: it means we are not at ease with ourselves or environment. It means dis-harmony or imbalance.
Why Do We Manifest Disease ?
Disease is one of the greatest teachers we could wish for. It is a way of our physical bodies, emotions, mind and soul to tell us something is not in balance. We are very sophisticated at dealing with imbalances when we are in tune with our body, mind and emotions. For example, if you eat something poisonous your body will eject it as soon as it can. Colds are the body’s way of releasing toxins that have built up. Depression can be caused by many things but is really a stage of psychological growth towards accepting a new concept as a reality. People go from denial to anger to bargaining to depression, and then if the depression is worked through to acceptance. All disease can be seen to be positive if we listen to its message and learn from it.
Western Medicine’s Approach
Western medicine has undoubtedly made some tremendous advances but remains incomplete. Because of its approach to only treating the physical body, the emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects have been ignored. Therefore it is very much symptomatic treatment and often works against our natural repair mechanisms. When most people have a cold they will consume chemicals such as aspirin, paracetemol or iboprophen. These drugs may bring relief from the symptoms of the illness but may actually prevent the toxins escaping the body - the purpose the cold appeared! What’s more the body now has a new foreign element to deal with. The treatment of depression has become just as much a knee-jerk reaction with prescriptions of Prozac and other tranquillisers now totalling one million per week in Britain. I am not blaming our doctors who are overworked and under great pressure from pharmaceutical companies, but a time must come when the causes of disease are addressed and treated not just the symptoms.
The Holistic Approach
Western medicine can benefit enormously from the knowledge gained from thousands of years of holistic or so called "alternative" therapies such as Yoga, acupuncture, or flower essences. Holistic medicine treats the whole person, which means it accepts the relationship of body-mind-soul to put it in popular terms. Psychiatrists believe that 75% of all physical disease has it’s origins in the mind, and this is a conservative estimate. The relationship of the spiritual, mental, and emotional parts of our being on the physical is very important to grasp if healing is to be understood. A great deal of information, like the knowledge of healing, is denied to the mainstream population because it is a threat to the status quo, where vast interests lie in maintaining the present paradigm, or belief structures.
The Three Bodies
Due to conditioning many people have associated with there physical body to such an extent that they believe they are the physical body. As the above examples illustrate this is clearly not the case. Therefore is we base healing on just treating the physical body and its symptoms we are have a severely limited perspective. More people are becoming aware that we have three bodies which encase the soul. The soul or higher Self stores the information of who we really are. When Jesus said that "the Kingdom of God is within you" he was referring to the soul, the true reflection of God that each of us is. The physical body is the like a dense outer coat which allows us to experience this 3 dimensional world and evolve through the experiences we have. Inside of the physical shell is the astral body which is non-physical and here lies the functions of sensation, thoughts and ego. The physical body is connected to the astral body by a subtle thread along which vital energy passes from the soul to the physical body. The causal body is even more subtle and as the seed body, like the seed of a plant, stores the impressions that guide the formation and growth of the other two bodies. The soul, or life-force relates to the world through these three bodies. With an awareness of this we can now understand how dis-ease reaches the physical body. Any emotional disturbance will manifest first in the subtle bodies. This creates blockages in the flow of vital energy along the subtle nerves or meridians, which will result in dis-function of the mental and physical processes. If this disharmony in the feeling body is not treated it will later turn into mental and physical dis-ease.
An example will illustrate how this occurs and also how disease can build up cumulatively over a long time. If warning signs are ignored or suppressed the consequences can be fatal. A young school teacher suffers from mental pressures at work so to cope with the stress he has a class of wine when he gets home to relax. His work-load increases and now when he gets home he needs a whole bottle to forget his tension. The alcohol certainly makes him forget his tension but it doesn’t treat it, the stress moves to another area in the body. Furthermore every day the teacher has an accumulation of toxins building in his body. The teacher now middle-aged, filled with years of convenience food and little exercise due to his greater workload, has two bottles of wine to cope with the increasing stress of his job. Ignoring the warning sides his body tries to tell him due to his inebriation he collapses one day with a heart attack. Our story has a happy ending because whilst off work he decides to accept a lower paid, but lower stressed job, and takes up gardening and Tai Chi, limits his alcohol to one glass a day and lives a happy life. Whilst our story had a happy ending many do not.
BREATHING
Breathing or respiration is an essential function for all species of life. Correct breathing is one of the simplest ways of helping to bring balance and vitality to the body, emotions and mind. (See article on Breathing)
HEALING AFFRIMATIONS
The principles behind the practise of scientific affirmation are similar to prayer. Affirmation is the stating of an intention, whereas most prayer tends to be a request. It works by the repetition of an idea we would like to make part of our lives. It is easiest to illustrate by an example. To aid the healing process I would affirm: "I am healthy, I am peaceful, I am made of the substance of God. Dis-ease is no part of me."
Affirmation is particularly effective because it works by stating what we truly are, it doesn’t suggest weakness, it encourages strength. In essence we are spirit-soul, one with God. We are pure love, harmony, peace, health, and bliss. All weaknesses, impurity, and limitation is due to the illusion of the ego - the delusion that separation exists between each of us and creation. All negative emotions, habits and actions have their root in this delusive separation. Affirmation overcomes this separation by the firm intention of what we really are. It is best to practise affirmations just after waking in the morning, and just before sleep to impress the subconscious mind with the reality creating intention. However, use affirmation whenever you feel it is needed. It is suggested you pick a suitable affirmation and after a deep breath repeat it loudly, then softly, then silently, keeping deep concentration of its vibration. Yogananda said of affirmation: "Sincere words or affirmations repeated understandingly, feelingly, and willingly are sure to move the Omnipresent Cosmic Vibratory Force to render aid in your difficulty."
RELAXATION
Complete relaxation comes when the body, mind and emotions are relaxed and balanced. The following technique will help you achieve this state, so important for maintaining good health. Relaxation Technique Lie on the your back with the arms 10 inches from your sides and legs 20 inches apart. Let gravity take you muscles, feel them sink into the floor. Breathe deeply. Start focusing on the feet and mentally say "my feet are relaxing" feel your feet relax and be free from tension. Move to the ankles and repeat as for the feet. Move to the shins, knees, thighs, buttocks, stomach, solar plexus, chest, hands, arms, shoulders, spine, back of head, jaw, face and the top of the head. Feel relaxation in all of the body and continue to breath deeply.
SUBTLE NUTRITION
The phrase "you are what you eat" is certainly true but beyond gross food there is much that effects our system. Many everyday products may not directly affect the physical system but some are very damaging to the subtle elements of our system and therefore should be avoided if possible. The following list contains some items that you may wish to avoid.
Aspartame
This is an artificial sweetener found in drinks and other foodstuffs. It is a mental suppressant and does a great deal to lower our higher mental faculties.
Fluoride
Put into our water supply and toothpaste as a matter of course, Fluoride is a toxin 12 times stronger than arsenic. It is a waste product from the aluminium and nuclear industries which is very difficult to dispose of. The solution to this problem was by propaganda to convince people it prevents tooth decay. Not one study conducted anywhere in the world has yet proved this. Fluoride numbs are mental faculties and poisons the body.
Meat
The poisons and living conditions of animals slaughtered in factory farming makes me wonder how anyone can still eat this. Remember "you are what you eat."
Mono Sodium Glutamate (M.S.G.)
A flavour enhancer found in an alarming number of processed foods, M.S.G has been directly linked with causing cancer following studies in Australia. One Australian visitor commented to me "..mate, I can’t believe they allow M.S.G. in your food." Avoid!
Sodium Laureth Sulphate
Found in shampoo and related products such as toothpaste, this in synthesised form (the natural Sodium Laureth Sulphate is okay) closes down the bodies immune functions and adversely effects our subtle bodies. When you notice how widely this chemical is used you see how much unnecessary disease is caused. Swap your chemical bathroom products for natural ones!
Washing Up Liquid
The residue left by the harsh chemicals of most washing liquids affects the "free radical" production in the body which help to fight off harmful bacteria. It is recommended to use on of the natural washing up liquids or at least rinse off all residue of the chemicals in clean water before drying.
(See Ten Ways To Boost The Immune System for more info)