Physician heal thyself — over and over!
by Katherine Willow
It’s a beautiful fall day and my mood is positively grumpy. Not that I have a good reason, my mind is simply reacting to the delays created by losing my voice. Again.
At least I can see light at the end of this croaky tunnel. I know that the chronic pattern can be stopped and that I can regain the genetic strength that I should have — were it not for some intense self-destructive habits in my past which weakened my immunity. I’m one of those practitioners who needs lots of healing!
Natural medicine has saved me plenty of times; I would probably be deceased or living on disability if it weren’t for what I’ve learned.
It’s also what motivates me to reach out, seeing how far I’ve come from being consistently ill and miserable. Now I’m ready for more life. It’s time to move up to the next level of health where my body is more resilient, my mind is clearer, my emotions are not the primary driving force (which my family, staff and especially Stephen will appreciate!) and I’m more connected to my heart.
Sounds simple in theory. In practice the healing path is complex, arduous and painful. (I’m starting a Q&A column in Tone magazine soon and writing a book to describe in more detail how this process works and how to make it easier.) No wonder so many people decline to start or fail to continue! Our culture has almost no understanding or support for recovering from long-term illness, especially for the emotional component.
In fact, it enthusiastically enables chronic dis-ease with fake food, a fast-paced lifestyle, drugs to suppress symptoms and deceptive values. I needed to build a healing centre for my own process; I see the trees surrounding the centre as protection from a world where I couldn’t keep my balance. And it was always intended to share this with others. . .
Lately Felix, who is my two year old grandson that I caretake for those of you who may be new to this column, well Felix and I have taken to walking the woods every day for an hour or so, joined by our two cats. We explore the trails and absorb such natural beauty it is almost overwhelming. It gives me extra time to think, to ponder why I’m ill again and what I need to do to become stronger.
What it comes down to is not a new diet or more exercise or some fancy supplement. It’s not a physical matter. My body is pointing me to the real issue — fear. We can read the signs better than ever thanks to German New Medicine (We offer monthly introductions to this amazing material ~ my next discussion is Wed, Oct 6, 7-8:30pm; also Wed, Nov 10 & Wed, Dec 8. Go to the Clinic News website page for more info). This fear has been driving me all of my life — my destructive habits, my need to buttress myself in a healing centre, my “disinterest” in socializing, my failure in relationships, my dismal parenting when my daughters were little, my workaholism and even my almost obsessive clinging to a “healthy” lifestyle all make me feel safe from my fear or distracted from it.
This is not new for me, what is new is my willingness to admit and face the fear on a deeper level, take the risks to move beyond it and learn to use my real voice with courage and intelligence instead of reactivity and defensiveness. Luckily we have many options at Carp Ridge once we’re ready — classical homeopathy, EFT (emotional freedom technique), Murray Kelly’s Walk of Life (click here and here for more info), Journeywork (Deb Weedmark will be available again soon at the clinic), cranio-sacral therapy and another round of good old-fashioned counselling from the local Community Resource Centre. Hey, we even have free healing circles at my home on the mornings of our monthly Open Houses (next Spirit Community Healing Circle is Sat, Oct 16th, 9:30-11:30, potluck lunch until 12:30. All welcome! RSVP to the clinic at 613-839-1198 or email kjwillow2@hotmail.com).
As I said, it only sounds easy. I’ll keep you posted! And along the way the foundations of sleep, exercise and real food act as supports while we do the difficult inside work. They also give us clues to our issues when we keep sabotaging ourselves in these areas! I’ll continue with tips on that level, like making your own soymilk if you don’t happen to be allergic to it, a neat way to cook chicken and a new exercise fact that boosts your energy even more than the regular variety. . .
Wishing you well in your own recovery process and Happy Thanksgiving,
Katherine
PS: And I take back my grumpiness — what I perceived as an irritating delay is helping me find my healing path, of course. . . seems like I just went through this last month!
