|
Lifestyle October 2023
"Wholeness & Well-being"
You could go up to almost anyone and instead of asking “How are you?”
You could ask “Where does it hurt?”
-Henry B Eyring
What is wellness—and what is health? And, what is necessary to achieve good health, true, lasting wellness and vitality? This is probably the million dollar question, which at some point, everyone ponders—at least to themselves. A person may have a thousand dreams when healthy, but only one dream when they are not. So where is the missing piece?
Naively, over the centuries, we have believed and separated the “parts” of ourselves into “No Touch” parts that have made it almost impossible to really heal ourselves under the premise—“Only the physical body”— which has been modern medicine’s path, thus far. Perhaps we need to reconsider what it means to be human?—And therefore what true health and well-being means?—Including and giving ourselves permission to reunite all these “lost and forgotten parts” of ourselves in the healing process? I say, “YES!” The time has come full circle to connect the parts we see and those parts we do not that have been ignored or forgotten by “modern medicine.”
Back in the 17th Century René Descartes made a “turf deal” with the pope. Descartes was a mathematician, philosopher and is considered to be the founding father of modern medicine, according to Candice Pert, PhD., in her book Molecules of Emotion. Descartes needed bodies for dissection. Descartes agreed he wouldn’t have anything to do with emotions, the mind, or the soul—“those aspects of human experience under the virtually exclusive jurisdiction of the church at the time—if he could claim the physical realm as his own. Alas, this bargain set the tone and direction for Western science over the next two centuries, dividing human experience into two distinct and separate spheres that could never overlap, creating the unbalanced situation that is mainstream medicine as we know it today.” Perhaps, it’s time to revisit that place, until recently, has been verboten?
When we go back in time . . . to that place that predates “modern medicine”, we find that these “parts of ourselves” were neither separated or ignored. The whole body or holistic approach included the mental, emotional, physical and the spiritual parts of ourselves. Nothing was excluded in the ancient civilizations which innately understood our emotional make-up, our traumas and our conflicts shared an intimate connection with our well-being and were inseparable from our physiology. “It is our emotions that link mind and body”. As Pert writes, “This more holistic approach complements the reductionist* view, expanding it rather than replacing it, and offers a new way to think about health and disease—not just for scientists, but for the lay person also.”
Professor Ludwig Max Fischer, PhD, adds this important thought, reasoning, “Not scientifically proven means that it doesn’t fit our limited and relatively young tradition of ‘modern’ medical science, which has only been around a couple hundred years. This concept of ‘allopathic’ medicine came into existence in 1810. Contrasted with so many of the so-called ‘alternative’ sciences which have been refined by great scholars and healers for thousands of years, taking into account many variables that our scientists haven’t yet considered, many of which our instruments can’t measure.”
Shaman MD author Dr. Eve Bruce, plastic surgeon, brings indigenous wisdom to the table and bridges two worlds. She pens “for true change to occur, external physical change has to be coupled with an internal change.” Dr. Bruce continues . . “Later, during my apprenticeship with shamans throughout the world, I came to understand that there is no separation between the internal and the external. Our internal beings—our emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies—are one with our physical body. The notion that the physical is somehow separate from the internal and spiritual is a long-held illusion.” (In modern medicine)
Argentinian Professor Enrique Bouron, continues this thought. He has been teaching biological decoding since 2007. He studied with some of the best medical doctors worldwide that were frustrated that they were’t curing their patients. Enrique, a systems analyst by training, states it this way: “With the word we create our concepts, we define our universe, our fears, our emotions. We define everything that surrounds us. And that's how our brain begins to communicate with us, through our own words. The only difference is that our brain will not pronounce the words, but will pronounce them using our biology.”
Deb Shapiro simply says, “Your body speaks your mind.” She also is a pioneer in appreciating and applying the fact that all thoughts and feelings get translated into chemicals that run our entire physiology. She asks, “What are your symptoms and illnesses telling you about yourself?”
Throughout the centuries, the philosophy of Chinese Medicine’s approach is to address and treat a person’s mental and physical health problems as one. Their wisdom and principles for treating illness developed over 5000 thousand years ago, and its core practices have changed little since then. The philosophy is based on the theory that sickness stems from an imbalance in a person’s life force energy. The Chinese refer to this as “qi”. The goal is to restore harmony and balance within an individual. The disease or illness is not the enemy, it is only an indicator—a messenger from within ourselves.
The same is true with India’s long history of Ayurvedic medicine. It is another one of the world’s oldest medical systems still practiced today. It is based on ancient writings that rely on a “natural” and holistic approach to physical and mental health. Ayurvedic treatment combines medicines, mainly derived from plants, but also includes diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
Some of you reading this may have heard of Ester Hicks. She channels Abraham. This was excerpted from a conference in Philadelphia on 5/13/2002. Abraham says it like this: “Wellness that is being allowed or the wellness that is being denied—is all about the mindset, the mood, the attitude, the practiced thoughts. There is not one exception, in any human or beast; because, you can patch them up again and again and they will just find another way of reverting back to the natural rhythm of their mind. It is all psychosomatic. Every bit of it, no exceptions.”
So how do I define holistic and why is it so important? Holistic is characterized by the belief that parts of something are interconnected or entangled. In this case, our thoughts, emotions, beliefs and our physical body cannot be separated. If we bring it into the world of medicine, and true healing is to occur, we must consider the whole “holistic” person—taking into account these mental, emotional, lifestyle and social factors rather than just the symptoms of dis-ease or this imbalance within.
And yet we cannot neglect another factor vital to our well being. That is our spiritual side. You must ask: What is it I don’t understand? What do I really want? Is there a bigger picture or lesson for me in this? Where is the gift? Am I living as my true authentic self or am I living my life as someone else believes I should? These are just a few of the important considerations that are vital to this wellness puzzle.
There is no “one-size fits all” as far as our health is concerned. We are as unique as the snowflakes that fall from the sky. And, each of us must follow our own remarkable path. Sometimes, things are carried over to be solved in another expression. Is it a lesson of love? Is there something I came here to learn? To grow? Is the anger still necessary? What is the ankle, shoulder, hand, head or heart’s message to me? What imbalance initiated my cancer, diabetes or lupus?
Are you able to rewrite your old story and empower yourself, discovering your true magnificent beingness and discarding that unworthiness that has followed you, forever? Remember, the ancients knew that all parts of ourselves must work together, as nothing separated us from our whole divine nature. We are slowly rediscovering that ancient wisdom again today. The personal treasure hunt is ours to discover and healing must begin from within our being--mind--and our story.
And, Yes, sometimes we need a little help along the way. It is up to us to take the responsibility to create the life we want. “Healing is dealing—dealing is feeling and feeling is healing”. As the shamans of old believe—we dream our world into being. What’s your dream for health and well-being? Are you up to “the deal”?
For more help and information, please visit: Cathrinesilver.com.
*Reductionistic: meaning; breaking it into many parts
🌿 In Love and Light,
Cathrine Silver, BA, HC, AADP
Shaman, Healer, Sage 🌿
"Inspired Wellness from Within"
| 
