Healing the Emotions
by Barry
S. Weinberg
If there's
ever gonna be healing,
there has to be remembering and feeling,
so that there can be forgiving,
there has to be knowledge and understanding.
-- Sinead
O'Connor
 Healing is a
process. It is a path that bestows great benefit merely by
walking upon its soil. Often, we enter this process with the
hope of reaching a certain destination, achieving a certain
goal, or reaping a certain reward, only to discover that when
we arrive, the path continues into the horizon offering
greater rewards and larger goals. With this realization, we
learn that healing is not about the outcome, but who we become
in the process.
As you
continue to journey on a clear path to healing, it is very
common for different feelings and emotions to arise. Old
guilt, anger, and doubt may enter your mind and heart from out
of nowhere. Likewise, new fear, anxiety, and sadness may
develop if you see no end to the path before you. Although all
these feelings are shared by all of us on our healing path,
when you are experiencing them yourself, you may feel that you
are alone in the process. The world may suddenly seem like a
very big place, and that you are the only one on the face of
the Earth.
During the
healing process, these feelings are normal. Every human being
walks the same path and feels the same feelings. If you
experience such feelings, know that you are not alone.
Recognize these uncomfortable and frightening feelings for
what they are -- signs and signals that you are healing and
that you are on the right track.
In walking the
clear path to healing myself and assisting hundreds of people
to do the same, I realized that there are seven emotions
common to all of us, and seven Processes of the Heart that
move us through each of these emotions. As you read this,
remember two things:
"The only
way out is through," and "You have got to feel it,
to heal it."
EMOTION
#1: Doubt
I place doubt
at the top of the list, because I feel that this is the
greatest obstacle on a clear path to healing. When doubt is
present, nothing is possible. We learned that what we think
creates a vibration that attracts to it whatever was imaged by
the thought. When experiencing doubt, we send out a vibration
that states that what we wish to manifest in our life is not
possible, therefore the impossibility is attracted into our
life.
Doubt is like
a tiny bead of black ink dropped into a glass of clear water.
The water is forever tainted, forever clouded. If you focus on
your vision, speak positive affirmations, and live in
gratitude, you have no doubts. However, as soon as you allow
the tiniest seed of doubt to enter your mind, your mind
becomes tainted, clouding your vision and hindering the
process of healing.
The doubt we
experience may be directed towards our health practitioner or
whatever procedure or protocol we may be utilizing. It may be
directed towards the universal principles that govern the
universe or towards the healing process itself. Whereas all
doubt will slow down the healing process, the doubt that will
bring the healing process to a complete stand still and very
often send it into a tail spin, initiating a dis-ease process,
is doubt in ourself.
When we doubt
ourself, our talents, and our abilities, specifically our
ability to heal, it creates changes in our body both
energetically and biochemically that make it impossible to
heal and often cause our bodies to create dis-ease. In Candice
Pert's book, Molecules
of Emotion, she describes a study that was conducted to
determine the effect of thought on our immune system.
In this study,
they asked for the assistance of people who had contracted
AIDS. They divided the subjects into two groups. One group was
instructed to look in the mirror each day and affirm positive
statements such as, "I can heal myself. I am a wonderful,
strong, and a powerful person. Everyday I am becoming
healthier and healthier. My life is worth living." The
second group was also asked to look in the mirror, but instead
to affirm negative statements, such as, "I am worthless.
I could never possibly heal this disease that has no cure.
Death is certain."
What they
found is that in the first group, the T-Cell count rose
steadily, whereas in the second group the T -Cell count
plummeted and the subject's condition began to deteriorate. To
confirm their findings, they then reversed the groups, having
the first group do the negative affirmations and the second
group affirm the positive.
Immediately
the T -Cell counts started to shift, and the condition of the
subjects reversed in both groups! Realizing the powerful
effect of the experiment, they brought the study to an abrupt
halt and had both groups begin positive affirmations. As you
can imagine, as soon as they started declaring life-affirming
statements, their T -Cell counts immediately began to rise and
their condition dramatically improved.
What this
study shows us is when we experience the certainty and
unwavering faith that we can achieve, all doubt is removed
from our mind, everything becomes possible, including the
healing of a seemingly "incurable" disease. As soon
as doubt again enters the mind, the healing process is halted
and our quality of life begins to deteriorate.
In his book, Anatomy
of an Illness, Norman Cousins describes how he healed
himself of an "incurable" disease called Ankylosing
Spondylitis (A.S.). A.S. is a chronic inflammation of the
spinal joints in which over time the spinal bones, or
vertebrae, begin to fuse together. It is very painful and can
often lead to organ dysfunction. According to the diagnosis,
there is no cure, and the prognosis is death.
Mr. Cousins
disagreed. He believed that although the disease had no
"cure", the body and mind were capable of
"healing" anything including A.S. So how did Mr.
Cousins heal this incurable disease? He took very large doses
of Vitamin C and watched funny movies all day. He proved that
"laughter is the best medicine". Watching "Marx
Brothers", "Three Stooges", and other early
comedy teams, he caused himself to laugh all day. Over the
course of a few years, Mr. Cousins treatment worked and he
healed himself of A.S.
Had Mr.
Cousins believed the doctor's prognosis and doubted his own
ability to heal, he would have succumbed to the deadliness of
this disease. Instead, he believed in himself and he healed.
By becoming
aware -- the first process of the heart -- that doubt inhibits
healing, replace it with certainty and belief and accelerate
the healing process.
EMOTION #2:
Apathy
If you
continue to live in doubt, and fail to reach the certainty and
faith in your ability to heal yourself or in a healing
facilitator who will help you, you may enter a period in which
you feel apathy. In this state we no longer care whether we
get better or worse. We may become lethargic and enter a state
of hibernation in which we do nothing, say nothing, and want
nothing. What's the use? We're not going to get better anyway,
so why even try? If doubt doesn't taint the water, apathy
surely will.
In my healing
practice, it has been my experience that at this point the
condition of most people begins to deteriorate. I often offer
a few words of encouragement and tell an inspirational story
to lift them out of doubt, however, once they reached the
point where they had given up and didn't care whether they got
better or worse, there was generally nothing I could do to
help them. It was up to them. If there is no desire or
intention to heal, healing can not take place.
Should you be
in a state of apathy, and have a desire to move on, the only
way to replace it is with care. The only way to replace apathy
with care is through acknowledgment, the second process of the
heart. When you begin to acknowledge the wonderful healing
power within you, all feelings of apathy fall away, and you
begin to participate more in your healing process, igniting a
spark under the flame of health.
EMOTION #3:
Anxiety
Quite often,
we have complete certainty and faith that our body can and
will heal itself, yet we begin to feel impatient in regards to
when. We may have certain discomforts or symptoms that we
understand serve an important purpose, yet they are very
uncomfortable and inconvenient and we wish that they would
serve their purpose already. This anticipation can often cause
another emotion to arise in the form of anxiety. Anxiety is
the experience of wanting something now, while understanding
that it may not happen for quite some time.
Healing is a
process and processes take time. Just as it takes time for dis-ease
to develop, it takes time for healing to occur.
Comedian
George
Carlin eloquently said, "Time is something we made up
so that everything doesn't happen at once." And that is
exactly right. The only place the future and the past exist is
in our minds, specifically in our memories and imagination.
The only time that truly exists at any moment is the present
moment -- now. Likewise, at any one time, we are nowhere...
that is, now - here.
Imagine you
are in a boat floating on a river. As you careen around the
curves, flowing with the current downstream, you can only be
at one place at any one time -- exactly where you are. Where
you have been represents the past, and the river before you
represents the future, yet your boat can only exist here and
now. When you leave that here and now, you find yourself in a
new here and now, with the old here and now becoming a there
and then. (Whew!)
Now imagine
yourself floating in a hot air balloon. Soaring in the blue
sky amongst the beautiful clouds, you look down to see the
entire river from beginning to end. From this vantage point,
you realize that there is no past, present, or future. There
is only one river. So it is with time. In our finite existence
on the physical earth, we can only experience the now moment,
just as we can only be one place on the river. Just as we can
see the river in its entirety from above, when we increase our
awareness and level of consciousness, we can begin to realize
that there really is only one time and one place -- here and
now.
Another result
of anxiety is worry. Worry is the anticipation of something
terrible happening in the future. If you focus on your vision
of health and stay focused in the here and now, all worry,
like anxiety, falls to the wayside. By placing your attention
upon where you are at the present moment you can begin to
accept -- the third process of the heart -- your current state
and relieve yourself of anxiety and worry and begin to feel
secure and calm.
EMOTION #4:
Helplessness
If we never
become aware of our ability to heal ourself and acknowledge
the power we all possess, and continue to live in doubt and
apathy, we will reach a point in life where we give up. In
this state of mind, we begin to believe there is no hope and
that our condition or situation that we are living in is
permanent. We forget that everything is in a constant state of
change, and we lose sight of our bodies' innate intelligence
and infinite healing capacity. We despair that all possibility
of recovery and an improved quality of life is lost.
In this state
of helplessness, healing is impossible, and unless we replace
it with confidence, strength, and inner power, our condition
may begin to deteriorate. When we begin to appreciate -- the
fourth process of the heart -- the power of the healer within
all of us and the gifts and strengths we all possess, the
helplessness is replaced with power, and the healing process
takes a quantum leap forward.
EMOTION #5:
Sadness
When we
experience pain, dis-ease, and other forms of suffering, it is
difficult not to focus on the suffering. We know that in order
to create health, we must focus on healing. When we want to be
strong and vibrant, we must see ourselves as such. Yet, when
we are constantly reminded of our dis-ease by our limitations
and discomforts, it is a challenge to keep our mind focused on
health. This challenge can often cause us to lose sight of our
vision. With the overwhelming constant reminder of our
condition, our thoughts may begin to focus on our suffering,
our disease, and everything that we may be lacking.
Unfortunately, by focusing on images of misery, it only
creates more of the same -- misery loves company. When all we
see is our suffering, and we lose sight of our healing vision,
what remains is sadness.
From sadness
comes grief. Grief is the feeling we experience when we focus
on what we have lost or are lacking. Again, by focusing on
what we lack we only create more lack. Yes, I agree that a
certain period of grieving is necessary in healing, especially
when we have lost a loved one. However, when we can begin to
focus on the joy we experienced with that person and the
wonderful life they lived, the grief turns to joy and the
spirit of their memory continues to live with us through the
rest of our lives.
If you are
feeling sadness or grief during your healing process, focus on
what you wish to create and affirm it -- the fifth process of
the heart -- everyday. By doing this, not only does your
sadness turn to joy, but the image in your vision begins to
manifest in your life.
EMOTION #6:
Anger
When we
overcome our helplessness, sadness, or other emotions during
our healing process, we may begin to feel angry. We may think,
"Why did this happen to me?" We may have lived a
life of virtue and responsibility and still entered some form
of dis-ease process. When this occurs, we may feel angry that
such a thing could happen.
In order to
feel angry we must blame someone or something. We choose
something outside of ourselves and make it the culprit. By
blaming the culprit, we make ourselves the victim. As the
victim, we become angry that the culprit has done something to
interfere with our lives. In this state of anger, we no longer
need to accept responsibility for what is happening, because
it is their fault.
From anger
comes guilt. Guilt is the experience of blaming ourselves for
some past thought, word, or action we committed that resulted
in our dis-ease. Even though long-term guilt can be very
devastating to the healing process, it can actually be the
first step towards accepting responsibility. By removing the
fault from someone else and putting it on ourselves, it begins
our liberation.
To free
ourself of anger and guilt we must be open to forgive,
specifically in the form of atonement or at-one-ment -- the
sixth process of the heart. When we realize that we are not
separate from our dis-ease, we accept what is occurring and
accept full responsibility for what has occurred, without the
need to find blame or fault in another or within ourselves.
True forgiveness occurs when we understand that what is
happening is actually in our best interest for our fullest
healing and we become one with the process.
EMOTION #7:
Fear
I left this
emotion for last because it encompasses all the others. In
order for there to be doubt, helplessness, apathy, anxiety,
sadness, or anger, there must be some degree of fear. We
experience fear when we are uncertain of our future and we
envision in our mind only the worst. When we see no hope of
recovery and no end to our suffering, we feel fear. When it
seems that our end is near and nothing can help us, we
experience fear. Fear is at the heart of all the other
emotions discussed. As said in the book, Dune,
by Frank Herbert, "Fear is the mind-killer." By
removing fear all together, we can eradicate all emotions that
interfere with healing.
In its truest
essence, fear is the absence of love. When we are in love,
there are no limits to what we can accomplish. When we are in
awe -- the seventh process of the heart -- nothing is
impossible and healing becomes something that always amazes
us, but never surprises us.
 This
article is excerpted from:
A
Clear Path to Healing
by Dr. Barry S.
Weinberg.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Dream
Reality Productions, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. ©2001.
Visit Dr. Weinberg's website at www.placeforhealing.com.
More
info or order this book
More books by this author
About The
Author
Dr.
Barry S. Weinberg is the chief doctor and founder of A Place for Healing
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Barry (as his patients affectionately
call him) is a dedicated healing facilitator, teacher, writer, musician,
and public speaker. He has been in private practice as a Chiropractor
since 1994. He has a Bachelors degree in Nutrition, as well as a
Doctorate in Chiropractic. Through his extensive studies, Dr. Barry has
acquired a vast knowledge of health, psychology, physics, spirituality,
and success principles. He gives seminars and workshops across South
Florida. He is also the author of To
Face a Dragon. Visit Dr. Weinberg's website at www.placeforhealing.com.
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