Transforming to regain health
Healing a cold or indigestion is easy. The body heals itself. But how can you overcome chronic ailments you’ve been carrying around for years, or a serious illness? Healing can then become a true quest that requires commitment, courage, perseverance… and faith. Here are some keys to entering the virtuous circle of healing.
1. Understanding Illness
No one is immune to being affected by a serious illness or suffering from chronic disorders (allergies, migraines, diabetes, depression, etc.).
Yet, health is our natural state. According to Chinese medicine, it corresponds to a state of harmony. Illness is therefore the result of disharmony.
It is necessary to examine the source of this disharmony in order to resolve it. Illness is a warning signal, inviting us to clean up our lives and therefore make changes.
A major obstacle to healing is resistance to change. The patient will invent excuses to avoid pursuing what can be beneficial. Overcoming this type of self-sabotage requires real introspection. This work, however painful, plays a vital role in healing.
2. Be the actor of your healing
Healing cannot be bought. Because it is not the doctor who heals the patient, but the patient who heals themselves with the help of the therapist.
It is therefore ineffective to shift the burden onto the doctor by relying on them to perform miracles. Too many patients thus adopt a passive attitude, hoping that the doctor will cure them without them having to do anything.
This is pure illusion!
The therapist supports the patient in their healing, providing them with their energy and tools. But healing is first and foremost the patient’s responsibility.
3. Question Yourself
Human beings need security. They find it in familiar territory. Therefore, the sick person will naturally seek this security in their lifestyle… and therefore in what they know.
But if an unsuitable lifestyle has led to the illness, healing involves questioning it. It will therefore first be a matter of seeking the cause of the illness. Then we will make improvements to our lifestyle.
This includes our thoughts and emotions, which play a major role in our health. This can go as far as a concrete change: of job, living space, or even partner in some cases… And this is where the main challenge lies.
4. Think health
We will therefore need to be brave enough to explore uncharted territory. In clinical practice, we sometimes see people who prevent themselves from seeking treatment for reasons that seem trivial compared to the expected benefits.
Some will refuse to try acupuncture even once for fear of needles. Others will be so disgusted by the Chinese herbal potion that they refuse to swallow it. The ego has a thousand ways to prevent us from changing, and therefore from healing.
Allopathic medicine focuses on illness. It likes to name diseases, even going so far as to create names for syndromes that it admits it doesn’t know how to treat! Moreover, by focusing on the symptom, it fails to treat the cause.
Furthermore, the chemical treatments it offers generate side effects, and therefore new ailments. We thus enter a vicious circle that distances the patient from their health.
Conversely, traditional medicines use natural techniques (diet, plants, massage, acupuncture, etc.) to restore and then maintain health. These techniques restore harmony through a holistic approach.
As balance is restored, the patient regains their ability to self-heal.
Thinking “healthy” means avoiding obsessing over illness, whatever it may be. Worry and fear prevent one from regaining health. Many patients identify with their illness to the point that it becomes a part of themselves. Their illness thus becomes their thing; “my illness,” they will say.
It is by honoring life that we keep illness at bay! This requires maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which includes practices aimed at improving health and longevity.
5. Be resolutely positive
The body and mind are closely linked. Cultivating a positive mindset has a positive impact on healing and will lead to concrete actions such as:
- Change your diet,
- Take a significant break from work,
- Go on a nature retreat,
- Fasting,
- Practicing a physical activity….
6. Learning to manage emotions
Emotions play an important role in our overall balance. Chinese medicine associates each organ with an emotion, and therefore if the emotion is excessive, or repressed, it will attack the associated organ.
It is therefore essential to be aware of our emotions and to learn to distance ourselves from them.
Some will consult a traditional doctor (Chinese, Ayurvedic, naturopathic), or a psychotherapist. Others will start practicing meditation, qi gong, or a martial art. These disciplines allow people to learn to manage their emotions and to know themselves better.
7. Return to universal rules
Nature has its rules. Man, being part of this nature, must respect them to be healthy (see article Yǎngshēng).
Unfortunately, most people, especially city dwellers, live against these rules. Giving ourselves the means for a healthy life is therefore about getting closer to Nature and its rhythms… and thereby to our nature.
However, implementing these principles comes up against obstacles, one of which is time. Where can I find the time to cook my own vegetables, to prepare my fresh juices in the morning, to meditate, to practice qi gong, or simply to rest?
Choosing to take this time is already a step on the road to recovery.
Spirituality: an essential dimension of health
Largely inspired by the observation and contemplation of nature, Taoism invites humanity to be modest in the face of the universe, Nature, and its rules. Wise people therefore choose to live in harmony with the universe, understanding that it is in their best interest to respect the laws that constitute it.
Indeed, their health can only be complete if they accept this fundamentally spiritual dimension as they accept their material dimension. Balance is the foundation of Taoist philosophy. This balance is found in the complementary opposites of earth and sky, yin and yang, etc. Nothing in the universe is conceived as intrinsically evil. Good needs evil, and vice versa.
By fighting against nature or trying to dominate it, human beings find only unhappiness. However, humans who demonstrate humility can learn from their mistakes, correct them, and thus move closer to a state of harmony, and therefore health.
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