Superhealing: Engaging Your Mind, Body, and Spirit to Create Optimal Health and Well-Being (ARC) (28 page)

In the months that followed, John began to consciously confront

and heal the old wounds and pain in concert with facing his father and attempting to repair their relationship. His father initial y denied ever abusing him, but then he final y admitted it. John’s ulcer began to rapidly improve during this period of emotional healing.

His symptoms disappeared, and he was able to discontinue his medi-

cation and treatment.

***

about your relationships on the Life Inventory work sheet in the Introduction.

CHAPTER 9

Engaging Your Superhealing Spirit

Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

—Zen proverb

Some years ago while walking through the parking lot of a

major big box store, I saw a beautiful little boy sitting in a shopping cart being pushed by his mother. His arms were outstretched as if to embrace everyone in his presence, and as they approached me, he

turned his joyful smile in my direction. As he looked at me, beam-

ing, he held out his arms toward me. I felt his heart embracing me, as though he’d actual y wrapped his arms around me, and I also felt my heart returning his embrace.

It all happened in just a few seconds, but it was a powerful and

beautiful moment that I will never forget.

His mother looked and me and said, “He’s like this everywhere we

go. He just wants to love the world. It’s so embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” I replied. “He’s beautiful.”

I believe babies and young children are our purest and most ac-

cessible example of spiritual engagement. They live entirely in the moment and are always express their truth. Upset one moment, they

can become happy with lightning speed. It’s not until much later in life that we linger in sadness.

Children haven’t experienced enough involvement with the ex-

ternal world to displace their natural awareness of love, and they are natural y and openly connected to their spirits. There are no

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prolonged interfering thoughts or emotions that separate them from their spirits. They remind us of who we are and of the beauty that lies within us. Over time, however, that engagement with spirit dwindles, and as adults, we shift our focus to the physical realm. Stil , spirit remains the core of our being and waits for our conscious return to it.

Since the dawn of civilization and throughout antiquity, teachers and priests encouraged an initiate to “know thyself.” To know ourselves means knowing that our spirit is our essence that expresses itself through the mind and manifests as the body. Actively engaging ourspirit is the most direct pathway to discovering our essence and unfolding who we real y are.

Our spirits long for greater expression, recognition, and conscious engagement in our daily lives. This cal s for reconsidering our sense of purpose and enhances the meaning and rewards of life. Engaging

our spirit fosters a growing awareness, an honesty of perception, and an acceptance of what is. The more we nurture our spirit, the more we will experience greater harmony and joy of being.

Engaging with our spirit allows us the opportunity to obtain a

greater knowledge of our inner being and a broader appreciation for and understanding of our lives and our world. It is the primary doorway to health and well-being if we want to resolve an illness or an imbalance. I also believe that it will lead us to the manifestation of the world we desire. Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying, “If we could

change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”

In our modern world, we’ve been led to believe that the physical,

including the body, is the ultimate reality and that external rewards such as material gain and fame are the most important things in life.

This focus on the physical has caused many of us to ignore our inner lives. Then, because we are out of touch with our spirit, our days lack meaning and purpose.

Engaging our spirits is a quest that leads us to discover personal

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harmony, empowerment, and our greatest truth. On this journey we

learn to trust our inner guidance that comes from living in tune with our spirits. Engaging our spirit occurs primarily through feeling, so this requires us to be more aware of our feelings than of our thoughts.

Once we commit to that awareness, it becomes one of the easiest

things we will ever do. It is not so much a matter of thinking or doing as of allowing the truth of who we are to be expressed. The obstacles of thought and resistance will dissolve as we focus on our inner being.

The mind is the doorway, and the body is the manifestation of this process. That is, how we feel is reflective of how we are aligned with the true nature of our spirits. The essence of our being is a space where peace, joy, and love abide. When we feel that joy, are in awe, or experience love, beauty, grace, and appreciation, we are in alignment with our spirits, and our minds and bodies reflect that harmonious engagement as wel .

This is why our spirit is the source and foundation of superhealing.

The practice of engaging our spirit allows us the awareness of its qualities throughout our daily lives. It’s not necessary to reserve joy and love for a certain day or time; we can experience them continuously. Engagement unfolds uniquely for each of us, whether as the

result of an effort to improve our health, reverse a condition, or enhance emotional and spiritual well-being.

Optimal health and well-being is not an end but a process, an ad-

venture along the pathway of self-discovery. I’ve shared this journey with many people who, even in the midst of deep pain, touched

upon their spirits, a part of their being previously unknown to them.

Watching this blossoming occur from the turbulent waters of pain

and regret has been a privilege for me. We suffer unnecessarily when we ignore our connection to our spirits, to others, to all of life, and to our oneness with the Divine. Opening up to our spirit leads us to a greater knowledge of the positive aspects of ourselves, the truth 196

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about our imbalances, an appreciation of our unfolding growth, and an awareness of life’s purposefulness and meaning.

This, in turn, enhances our relationships with others and our-

selves and affords us a deeper enjoyment of every area of our lives.

Aligning with our spirit through being and expression gives us the chance to live beyond the seemingly boring and repetitive nature of our daily existence that has captured a large portion of our awareness. We need to commit to permanent, dynamic change, consis-

tently embracing new perspectives and lifestyle routines, and have the courage to drive our journey in life forward.

It is a challenge to realize that every moment is a gift, that all we truly have is right now, and that living ful y present in the moment is the only thing we can ever do. Lingering in the past, dwelling in our minds, and fearing the future interfere with our ability to live in the here and now. The past and the future are memories and thoughts,

respectively; they are constructs that, if focused on more than the present moment, keep us out of alignment with our true regenerative and health-enhancing capabilities. Now is the only time and

here is the only place in which our ability to superheal our lives resides. While there are many ways to engage the our , they all require being ful y present in this moment. When we are aware of our spirits, we are living in the present moment, the eternal now.

We’re going to take a look at the two primary ways of engaging

our spirit: being and expressing.

BEING

Being is a state of dwelling in the high-energy qualities of the spirit—

love and bliss—as a continuum of mind and emotion. Being can be experienced and explored through activities such as prayer, meditation, creative endeavors, and sharing through giving, generosity, and compassion.

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Engaging ourspirit allows us to live more simply and ful y. As we

do so and begin to consciously express our spiritual aspects, or coherent states of being—joy, peace, enthusiasm, creativity, wisdom, compassion, and generosity—our minds and our bodies will physiological y reflect them.

There is an infinite array of possibilities in the process of expressing ourspirit’s wholeness. It is not a path of extremes but one of awareness and balance. Engaging our spirit leads us to the peace,

fulfillment, and purpose that are our essence. And it will harmonize the seemingly fragmented aspects of our being, shedding light on

the wholeness that resides inside. The greatest journey we will ever take is the one we take within.

Life is good. It is a precious gift, and when we begin to conscious-ly engage our spirits, the aspects of being become more frequently present and apparent in our feelings. It becomes apparent to us on a deeper level that the being comes first and expresses itself through a variety of experiences. It is not the situation that brings us joy, but the expression and engagement of our spirit that does so.

I say this without knowing your personal circumstances, bless-

ings, or challenges, because it is all good. It just depends on your perspective. Whatever you are currently experiencing has brought you

to the place of desiring and actively seeking more. Otherwise, you would not be reading this book. A good life is not a matter of having no problems. It is about making the challenges softer, and when they come, resolving them with ease and appreciating them more.

Engaging our bodies, minds, and spirits is an evolving process; it changes from moment to moment and is unique to each of us. Superhealing is unique, and its unfolding occurs at the right time for each of us.

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EXPRESSING YOUR SPIRIT

You express your spirit when you involve your body and your

mind in your own form of being and engaging. This can occur, for

example, when you volunteer or when you are creative through writ-

ing, singing, dancing, painting, hobbies, and so forth. Techniques for expressing our spirit have been used around the world since the beginning of time. Many of these ancient methods are now employed

by medical professionals and have been shown to significantly ben-

efit the healing process of patients experiencing a variety of diseases.

Gratitude

When we are grateful, we are consciously engaging with our spirit.

Being grateful heightens our awareness of the blessings we’ve been given. There is much more to be thankful for than we are usual y aware of as ourattention is directed to the demands of our daily lives. If you went one by one through all the functions, cel s, and biochemical activities of your body, it would take a lifetime to give thanks for them.

Giving thanks, appreciating what we have on a daily basis, can

transform our emotional state and provide other powerful health-

giving benefits by altering, strengthening, and uplifting our entire physiology.

Thank you
is one of the most wonderful expressions we can say and hear. Conveying appreciation is beneficial to us as individuals and strengthens the bonds within relationships.1 Gratitude is an expression of love rather than judgment. In addition to gratitude, the perspective that all things work together for good, even when the

good is not apparent, is a great asset.

I can’t give thanks and praise enough to the Divine for all the

blessings that have been bestowed upon me. Yet I don’t recall all of them, and I suspect that neither can you.

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Creativity

We are creative by our very nature. Our creativity is a direct line of expression of the Divine, since all things are created by the all-loving force of which we are a part. I recently heard someone say

that creativity is no different from prayer; it is communication with the creator. Every part of our lives reflects our creativity, yet we often remain unaware of its expression. Consciously engaging in self-expression through the arts, music, dancing, writing, singing, and any purposeful activity arouses our natural feelings of passion.

A variety of approaches, from art to music to dance, are now used

in clinical settings. Beyond promoting general health and happiness, these activities invigorate the renewal of the mind, emotions, and body. Creativity relieves us of stress in a most wonderful way. Studies say that the stress of work is consuming many of us. Stress can lead to weight gain, elevated glucose levels, upper-respiratory infections, and cardiovascular disease.

I express my own creativity in many ways through my work as

a physician. What I do is based not on rote memorization but on a

creative engagement with my patient, my inner guidance, my knowl-

edge of medicine, and my holistic superhealing approach.

Nevertheless, ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted to draw and paint. It was a burning desire that remained at the forefront of my mind for decades. During medical school, I learned calligraphy

as an artistic expression, because I believed I couldn’t draw. A few years ago, I decided to start painting abstract works to appease my desire to create, since I was unable to sketch the beautiful flowers that I wanted to paint. After several months, I became very bored

with that particular form of expression. And my desire to draw

heightened. Suddenly, the thought dawned on me that if I stopped