Breaking Thru the
Healing Barrier
by Neil F. Neimark, M.D.
Within each one of us there lies a
"healing system" capable of fighting
off disease, combating infection and bringing
us greater energy, vitality, and well-being.
In any medical text we can read about the
"digestive system", the
"circulatory system", or the
"nervous system", but nowhere can we
find a chapter on the "healing
system". Yet it is this very
"healing system" which allows all
our other "systems" to function with
brilliant precision. Our healing system
is the organizing force through which all our
body systems function with a deep intelligence
and miraculous sense of balance and wholeness.
Bernie Siegel, M.D., the famous Yale surgeon
and author, speaks of this healing system
eloquently when he says "as a surgeon, I
cut into the body and I rely on it to heal.
I don't have to yell into the wound and tell
it how to heal." The body, in its
own infinite wisdom, knows how to heal.
The healing system lies within us. Our
body has its own natural ability to heal.
Though in certain situations, surgery or drugs
may be life saving, it is our internal healing
system which allows ultimate life.
We all know of patients who have lost the
"will to live". No matter how
valiant the efforts of medical experts, how
advanced the technologies, how genuine the
prayers of friends and relatives, these
patients will continue on a downhill course,
until and unless they find within themselves
some sense of meaning with which to embrace
life and connect to something greater than
themselves, something greater than their sense
of illness or despair. It is this
"will to live", to prosper, to grow,
to contribute, to engage life with passionate
involvement, which most directly contributes
to the overall health of our "healing
system".
Norman Cousins, the great author and
humanitarian says that "the highest
exercise of a physician's skill is to
prescribe not just out of a little black bag,
but out of his or her knowledge of the human
healing system". It is this
knowledge of the healing system that
distinguishes the technician from the healer.
We recognize the doctor as "healer"
by what we call "good bedside
manner", "compassion", or
"empathy". It is in fact these
qualities in the physician that reflect his or
her intuitive understanding that each patient
is an utterly unique individual, whose
ultimate health and well-being depends upon
their unique lifestyle choices, belief system
and sense of purpose in life.
Cousins goes on to say "the doctor has a
role beyond the prescription pad to invoke the
patients own bodily resources" for
healing, the patient's own healing system.
"Healing" comes from the root word,
"whole", to be one. In
searching out our own individual path for
health and healing, we will inevitably embark
on a journey that leads us into our own sense
of wholeness, uniqueness and self-discovery.
It is important to understand that no two
patients are alike. In fact, two
patients with the "same" diagnosis
of migraine headaches will, in most cases,
require two completely different treatments,
based on their own unique stresses, genetic
background and lifestyle choices. So, in
reality, two "cases" of migraine are
two different diseases. Healing, in its
essence, is an adventure in self-discovery.
NEW REALITIES: NEW CAPACITIES
One of the greatest discoveries of the human
potential movement is that as new realities
are demonstrated, new capacities come into
being. How many of you remember Roger
Bannister? He was an Oxford medical
student who was the first person to run the
mile in under four minutes. He broke the
"four-minute barrier". Until
that time, it was believed that no human could
break that barrier. No such reality was
ever demonstrated. Now the most
fascinating part of the story is that within
46 days of Bannister's breakthrough, John
Landing broke the four-minute mile. And
now, at this time, literally thousands of
runners have broken the four-minute barrier.
So we see that as new realities are
demonstrated, new capacities come into being.
The challenge for all of us is to open
ourselves to the "new realities"
that have been demonstrated through recent
advances in mind/body medicine and
psychoneuroimmunology. These new medical
disciplines are beginning to detail the many
ways in which our thoughts, our feelings, our
psychological and spiritual beliefs affect our
physical health. By recognizing these
"new realities" of what is possible,
we can begin to develop "new
capacities" for health, healing and
greater well-being. These new capacities
can help us access our own healing systems.
In ending, I want to relate a story
that Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., a physician and
healer in northern California, tells.
This is the story of the acorn. For one
moment, imagine an acorn trying to make sense
of itself, trying to understand itself, by
describing itself. It might say
"I'm about 1 inch long, flat on one side,
pointed on the other, brown in color, hard to
the touch, etc. etc.". But this
description fails to capture the true essence
of the acorn. "It's important to
realize", Dr. Remen says, "that an
acorn cannot make sense of itself without
knowing about the oak tree and without knowing
that deep inside of itself, there is a
mechanism waiting to unfold which knows
exactly how to become that fullness of
expression" of the oak tree. She
says "there is an impulse, a yearning in
each one of us, towards our own
wholeness", our own fullness of
expression. It is this impulse, this
yearning towards our own wholeness which leads
us into the healing process.
We
can access our
healing system, and begin the adventure into
self-discovery and wholeness, allowing us to
fully realize our capacities for health,
healing and a sense of well-being.
The Handbook of Journaling: Tools for the
Healing of Mind, Body & Spirit by Dr.
Neimark
Info/Order this book.
Mind/Body
Solutions for Surgery: A Guided Imagery
Relaxation Tape (For a healthy speedy
recovery from surgery.) by Dr. Neimark.
Info/Order
this tape.
Neil F.
Neimark, M.D. is a
board certified family practitioner with a family practice in Irvine California. He is the author of Less Stress Surgery: A
Guided Imagery Relaxation Tape, Contacting
Your Inner Healer: A Guided Imagery Exercise
and his latest book and audiotape: The
Healing Power of Attitudes & Beliefs: A
Journey Towards Self-Discovery. This article
is excerpted from his newsletter Mind & Body: The
Newsletter for Health and Healing. His
books and tapes are available through his
website. He specializes in the mind/body connection
and he offers a free monthly newsletter on
his website: www.mindbodymed.com
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