By Kim Hutchinson
As much as a person may desire health, there are often deep-seated fears and beliefs which must first be addressed before physical healing can occur. These fears and beliefs are the reason for the illness, and unless they are healed, the illness will most likely reoccur. Many of us have belief systems in place which cause us harm. Almost all adults have experienced trauma and tragedy of some nature, but when you let that tragedy overshadow your life and define your reality, you prolong the suffering and you harm your health. Dr. Bruce H. Lipton, former medical school professor and research scientist, discovered that genes and DNA do not dictate your biology. Instead, your DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts. That means you can literally think yourself well, or sick, depending upon what you choose to focus.
Unhealthy Beliefs
Here are some ways in which you may be harming your health.
Owning an Ailment
The way you think, feel and talk about your health strongly determines the state of your health. For instance, talking about a disease as “my disease” makes it much harder to heal. That is because you identify with illness rather than with health, and wherever your attention goes grows.
Symptoms:
- Using possessive pronouns when talking about your health issues (i.e. my arthritis; his cancer)
- Feeling attached to, and identifying with, the ailment
- Believing that the health issue defines you
Inherited Health Issues
Many people believe that their health is determined by DNA. They say things like, “Cancer runs in my family”, or “All of the men in my family died young”. Scientists like Dr. Lipton are helping to prove that this is not true. Your belief in these assertions is what compromises your health and helps to turn your fears into self-fulfilling prophecies.
Symptoms:
- Believing a disease or health issue runs in your family
- Believing your family’s medical history is your future
- Believing only genetics determine your health
Negative Storytelling
Repeatedly revisiting, retelling and rehashing past hurts and traumas is a trap many adults fall into without realizing it. The older you get, the more hurts you accumulate unless you learn to release them. Letting the negatives in your past cloud your present robs you of present and future happiness, and compromises your body’s immune system.
Symptoms:
- Feeling overly attached to the bad things in your past
- Replaying negative experiences in your mind like a bad movie*
- Repeatedly telling people about your health troubles
*If severe, you may have PTSD, and you should seek professional counselling.
Benefiting from an Ailment
Being unwell may benefit us in ways that make it hard to get better. For instance, having the flu can mean time off work or school or, depending on your health insurance plan, a more series condition could lead to long term sick leave with benefits. Whatever the ‘perk’, it would probably feel better to be healthy and to make positive choices that increase your enjoyment of life rather than suffering with ill health and watching life from the sidelines.
Symptoms:
- Using your ailment to avoid aspects of your life that make you unhappy
- Feeling secretly proud of your health issue (i.e. how much you’ve suffered)
- Enjoying the attention and care you receive because of your health issue
Lack of Faith
The road to healing can be long, depending on the severity of the issues. It is also cyclical, meaning the same issues crop up repeatedly until they are fully healed. During this process, it is possible to lose heart. You may end up seeking help from a variety of sources believing that treatment is not working. Then, not seeing results, frustration and a feeling of defeat seep in. Having faith can prevent this downward spiral.
Symptoms:
- Bouncing from one healer/modality/remedy to another without allowing enough time for results*
- Letting ego’s fear – both yours and others – cast shadows of doubt regarding your healing
- Not believing in your body’s recuperative powers
*This is different from seeking a second opinion, or looking for the right fit for you. It is also different from believing that one healer is meant to help you with everything.
Victim Consciousness
Outside of therapy, focusing on past trauma is a sure-fire way to re-experience all the fear and angst associated with being victimized, while enforcing a feeling of powerless and ensuring that you continue to live in fear of being victimized again. This activates the fight or flight response in the body, and overworks your adrenals glands, which can lead to chronic fatigue and other dis-eases.
Symptoms:
- Thinking no one really understands your problems and suffering
- Believing others are responsible for your health issues
- Feeling your lot in life is worse than other people’s
- Feeling like people around you don’t care
- Becoming defensive when people try to cheer you up
Bad Luck
Things may have gone wrong for so long you began to feel as though you were cursed or born under an unlucky sign. Truth is you make your own luck. Bad luck comes from giving away your power as a divine co-creator and master manifestor, and/or from using your creative energy to manifest your fears.
Symptoms:
- Feeling like you cannot get better due to outside forces
- Believing you are prone to repeated injuries and illness
- Feeling that you are fated to be unwell
Remedies
You have to break the cycle by clearing away the old beliefs and deep-seated fears. To do so, you must shift your awareness away from illness. Focusing on the bad will only attract more reasons to feel unwell. The following are a few suggestions on how to adjust your outlook and expectations so that you embody joy, love and light which in turn makes you a vibrational match for happiness and good health.
Crown Chakra – Mindfulness
Practice mindfulness. Slow down and focus on your breath, or go for a walk and focus on every step you take. Stop multitasking. Be as present as possible. Kids and pets are great teachers! They demand that you to focus on the Now. Mindfulness helps to curb the need to revisit the negative, and it cuts down on the critical self-sabotaging ego talk.
Third Eye Chakra – Vision Boards
Create a vision board of all your happiest moments along with anything that makes your heart sing. Include photos, stories, clippings and other mementos to have you remember these glorious times. When you’re feeling down, look at the board and savour each memory. By focusing on the pleasurable moments in life, you send a message to your body that all is well.
Throat Chakra – Positive Affirmations
Start every day with positive affirmations. Write down everything you wish to achieve. For each goal, write, “I am (state your goal positively and in the present tense)”. For example, “I enjoy perfect health”. Language and DNA are intimately connected. You can literally reprogram your health with positive affirmations.
Heart Chakra – Gratitude Journal
Keep a gratitude journal and write 10 new things every day for which you feel grateful. Do this every morning for a year. Challenge yourself to keep coming up with new things. By seeking the good in life, you focus on what you want instead of your dislikes. This focus on the positive translates into positive health because you are what you feel.
Solar Plexus Chakra – Positive Intentions
You must intend to be perfectly healthy. Your intention is what sets the manifestation process in motion. Without a clear intention, results will be mixed and unsatisfactory. Own your power, and focus on what you desire, not what you fear.
Sacral Chakra – Creative Inspiration
Find a creative outlet, and then give yourself over to this pleasurable pursuit on a daily basis. When you are inspired you are in-spirit. That joyful other-worldly energy transports you up and away from your mortal body and the suffering that comes with being human to the level of spirit where only perfect health exists.
Root Chakra – Grounding
Stay rooted to Mother Earth for she is the greatest healer of all. Extend energetic roots out from your tailbone and feet and send them down into the heart of Gaia. Let her healing energy imbue your body and ease your suffering. Walk barefoot on sand or soil whenever possible. Know in your heart that your Mother loves you dearly, and that she wants to heal you completely.