We have this idea in the Western World that \u2018dis-ease\u2019 is some sort of frightening threat to our wellbeing and disruption to our everyday life with symptoms that must be stopped, as soon as possible, so we can carry on as normal.<\/p>\n
Whilst there are some diseases that can kill us if left unchecked and the Western Medical model is an essential part of our toolkit to keep us whole, healthy and well, it is not the only tool in the bag and health is not just about the physical.<\/p>\n
We rely far too much on the allopathic input and too little on our selves. My studies on Transpersonal Psychology, Yoga, Healing – Sound, Spiritual, Reiki and Shamanic models, as well as in psychotherapy, Counselling, the therapeutic relationship and all manner of approaches to psychological wellbeing in particular have led me to understand that we humans are both creatures of habit and, in the main, more than willing to hand over our personal responsibility to those we deem have more learning\/knowledge\/experience\/authority that ourselves. It is how we are trained from nursery to university and on into employment.<\/p>\n
However, modern medicine is rooted in a mechanistic, materialist and often reductionist world-view. In other words, medicine views us as meat machines, perhaps with a little emotional energy present. Also, it values the physical and mental aspects of us, but still, even in this era of understanding the placebo effect, largely underestimates the value of our emotional and spiritual lives with regards to their effect on our health and wellbeing. When I say spiritual I mean not religious, but relating to meaning, purpose, our values and our sense of belonging, connection and community.<\/p>\n
Despite this generalisation about the medical model, which largely holds true, the tide is beginning to turn. It seems that we are going through another renaissance \u2013 a transformation which will radically alter the future of medicine, of health and of psychology.<\/p>\n
Already psychological understanding and practice are changing and embracing tools such as mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion based therapy, as well as others that stem from traditional spiritual approaches to consciousness, healing and wellness (despite a complete lack of acknowledgement of the Transpersonal Branch of psychology, which has been studying and exploring these practices since the 1960s).<\/p>\n
These \u2018new\u2019 therapies are becoming mainstream due to their efficacy in transforming mental and emotional health, which also then affects our physical wellbeing. These practices originate in Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Shamanic and other traditions that work with mind, emotions, consciousness, will and our spiritual sense of connection to something greater than ourselves. Psychology itself has its roots in Jewish Mystical practice, in fact most effective modern practices that help us to improve our health holistically, such as yoga, mindfulness and meditation, which can really improve our health on every level have their foundations in ancient spiritual traditions.
\nI am on a healing journey, a process of transformation, one that is represented to us in all the fairy tales from Snow White to Cinderella and in the myths and stories of nearly every nation on earth. The journey to maturity, to health, to death is represented in these tales. The psychological journey to health has been described as a descent into the \u2018long dark night of the soul\u2019. It is the falling apart of the self, the breakdown of the ego\u2019s defences, entering into the unknown territory of chaos and rebirth, typified in Joseph Campbell\u2019s archetypal model of the Hero\u2019s Journey. It is one that is reflected in nature by the caterpillar changing into a butterfly. In order to be reborn as a butterfly the caterpillar must die, must dissolve into a genetic soup and reorganise itself around a new pattern that its\u2019 soul contains the template for. This is a beautiful metaphor for our healing journey.<\/p>\n
Science is beginning to catch up with this eternal wisdom. Soon health will not be seen as illness and cure, but as a journey like any other with ups and downs and many tools to use along the way. Tools to created harmony when we are faced with dischord.<\/p>\n
As John Beaulieu, N.D., Ph.D. states in his essay on dissonance; \u2018Nobel prize winning physicist Dr Ilya Prigogine discovered the importance of dissonance while investigating chemical systems. He termed his discoveries \u201corder from chaos\u201d. Prigogine proved that for a system to change and go into a higher state of functioning it must first pass through a state of disruption or chaos. The sonic term for chaos is dissonance\u2019.<\/p>\n
He also points out the \u2018crucial role dissonance plays in living systems evolving into higher levels of order or resonance\u2019. So, the challenges and trials in our lives can cause us to break down and become ill and descend into chaos, where we can then reorganise ourselves into a new higher level of functioning or we get sicker and die. On the Hero\u2019s journey there are helpers and trials. The Hero always has to ask for help, and be willing to receive it. And follow the advice and support of the helpers, because as we know we cannot fix a problem using the same level of consciousness as that which created it.<\/p>\n
We see this truth about dissonance reflected in music as well. Dissonance in classical music moves the melody and comes to a resolution.<\/p>\n
I learnt around 20 years ago that imbalance can occur at any one of the several levels of our being \u2013 energetically it can manifest in our subtle bodies as a stressor at an emotional or mental level, where it can be ignored (as we are often wont to do) sometimes for years before if finally manifests as a physical symptom. Or, we can get a physical problem, say in an accident, which can then cause mental\/emotional issues.<\/p>\n
An example: Not a real one, a hypothetical example.<\/p>\n
I am afraid of and shamed by father as a child on a regular basis \u2013 in order to protect myself from these painful feelings I unconsciously hunch my shoulders when I get yelled at. Over time this becomes a pattern of feeling and behaving until I do it every time I see him or hear his voice. He is an authority figure, the primary one in life. I now have learnt to fear being shamed and humiliated by authority figures and as I grow up I project this onto my teachers at school, then my boss and other authority figures in my life and I encounter lots of these as I age. <\/em><\/p>\n Over the years I have unconsciously hunched my shoulders and bitten down my anger, suppressed my feelings of powerlessness and given my power away to Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, bosses, anyone I perceive has more power and authority than myself. <\/em><\/p>\n I give my power away to these people (my solar plexus chakra becomes weak and unbalanced) as I block my own flow of power and authority, confidence and self esteem. I develop anxiety (also solar plexus) which leads to stomach ulcers and by the time I\u2019ve hit middle age I have chronic neck, back and shoulder pain from the tightening up I\u2019ve done to ward off the perceived threats of humiliation.<\/em><\/p>\n Eventually I have a bad neck, upper back, shoulders, IBS and ulcers, an alcohol issue (I think it calms me down and helps me relax my aching body) and am unable to speak up for myself when I need to.<\/em><\/p>\n If we had dealt with the father issue during childhood none of these illnesses would have occurred. If we deal with this root or core issue now, the rest can be transformed and released and slowly the body will come back to balance and heal itself. But instead we get medication, muscle pain cream, meds for ulcers, tranquilisers for anxiety and others for our IBS and we still have all the emotional issues that keep us stuck in these behaviours and reinforce the blocked energies that should be in balance, the powerlessness that keep us stuck in the same habits and we continue to reproduce all the symptoms as well. Now that\u2019s CRAZY!<\/p>\n We distract ourselves from feeling, we don\u2019t allow ourselves to deeply explore our inner worlds, we do all we can to avoid the underlying pain of powerlessness, unworthiness, shame, guilt, unloveableness, or whatever core fears we have about ourselves. This avoidance prevents us from healing and transforming ourselves. When we can\u2019t see our demons we can pretend they aren\u2019t there\u2026 and eventually they will get us!<\/p>\n But instead of facing our fears, our monsters and demons we are taught that it is better to distract ourselves from the silence and stillness that lead us to our pain. We reach outwards instead to things to fill us up, numb us out, stop us from feeling. The louder our pain calls to be healed the more powerfully attractive our distractions appear to us, until they become addictions. Sexual addiction is actually the most common and least dealt with \u2013 in the forms of pornography, promiscuity, adultery and the thrill of serial monogamy without commitment, friends with benefits, they are all often used as ways to avoid real intimacy \u2013 InTiMaCy \u2013 In to me see \u2013 the vulnerable, authentic self which we avoid we can\u2019t let others see either \u2013 in case they see how crap we really are (in our minds at least).<\/p>\n Other more obvious distractions and addictions are drugs and alcohol, retail therapy (although therapy is the wrong word, this doesn\u2019t help, it harms), computer games, television, gambling, partying, work, noise, loudness, busy-ness.<\/p>\n A sabbatical can be a time to fall apart, into yourself, into chaos which can allow us to discover our authentic self, our whole self, our true needs, desires, gifts and find our balance and wholeness, and the template to remake ourselves.<\/p>\n I believe that this \u2018illness\u2019 or dis-ease that I have is my soul calling out to me that it is time for another butterfly effect. I have done it before \u2013 it can take a few transformations along the way as we move from one stage to another. We are somewhat more complex and have greater potential for creativity than a simple butterfly, so one transformation is not usually enough. That\u2019s why we go in 7 year cycles of change. I will speak more about that later. During each transition I have become more myself, that means more calm, confident, peaceful, joyful, radiant, creative, loving, compassionate, empathic, soulful, a better wife, mother, friend, healer. Maybe, when I have finished this stage I should run \u2018butterfly effect\u2019 retreats \u2013 to share tools for transformation! I shall have to meditate on that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have this idea in the Western World that \u2018dis-ease\u2019 is some sort of frightening threat to our wellbeing and disruption to our everyday life with symptoms that must be stopped, as soon as possible, so we can carry on as normal. Whilst there are some diseases that can kill us if left unchecked and … <\/p>\n