'Fix it' or Heal It - You Choose
The need for healing assumes that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. Obvious, right? But what if there was nothing that needed to be fixed and it was all playing out perfectly with everyone learning the exact lessons they needed to learn from the exact circumstances they were exposed to. Now that’s a thought! And a frightening one for most.
‘Life’, or nature, does not get it wrong – we are just good at misinterpreting it. When it comes to health care, we are trained to look for what is wrong, awry, pathological, dysfunctional – all the while ignoring what is right about our various physical manifestations. What if our bodies, inclusive of the physical aberrations we might label as illness, were always trying to keep us safe? What if our physical conditions were indicators, and often compensations, for a deeper unrest?
Of course the aim of any health care is to aid the return to wholeness, health, function, longevity and general well-being. The modus operandi of modern health care is to add a chemical or substance, or remove or change a bit - in order to catalyse this return to optimal function. That seems like a reasonable, expected approach and it is the imperative of the health care provider to do what they can, in as expedient fashion as possible, to support their patients’ return to wellness.
However, particularly for those more entrenched conditions that might defy the medical model, treating our bodies like machines in need of being ‘fixed’, is very often lengthy, expensive and inadequate. The 'fix it' approach to health care, though appropriate and lifesaving at times, runs the risk of forgetting the person behind the condition, the history behind the person and the messages our bodies are trying to give us.
True healing involves that delicate balance between surrendering to what one’s body is currently manifesting and heeding the signals, while doing what one can to relieve the condition. We can take care of the details of treating the condition whilst being aware of the bigger picture. It is about treating and supporting the body as best we can while exploring the undercurrents that might have given rise to the illness in the first place.
If we get a quick fix there is less incentive for us to make the lifestyle changes and do the inner work to help resolve the problem. It is easier to go on the cholesterol-lowering medication than to change one’s diet! We do not have to do the work on ourselves if it is all given to us from the outside. To sustain one’s return to wellness, something within one’s being has to change. Passive healing and therapies given from the outside might help that surface symptom or condition, but if the underlying cause is not dealt with it will find another outlet – often another body manifestation. That little white pill will only do so much!
Healing, particularly for those more complex medical conditions, involves perceiving some meaning behind the illness, rather than seeing it as bad genetics, bad environment, bad luck or just an affliction that one has to overcome. People would prefer to hear that their illness is due to bad luck rather than being related in any way to their inner selves. We are not trained to appreciate the mind-body’s wisdom and the messages it is trying to impart to us. We rarely ask – “What is this illness or symptom trying to tell me?” This is just not part of the medical culture – as yet, and would seem like self-indulgent madness to many. However, the body knows before the intellect does and we would be well advised to tune in.
Every health care approach has its place and it is often a matter of ‘different courses for different horses’; and we need to respect individuals’ choices regarding what health care approaches they prefer. And common sense has to prevail - if one presents with a heart attack or acute appendicitis it is generally not a good time to go and process their childhood!
Our collective understanding of health care is still focussed on making the illness the enemy to be overcome rather than gaining insight from the experiences of our health challenges - thus the 'fighting stance' that we so often adopt in our approach to illness management.
Healing and transformation are very different concepts to treating and fixing. Healing, which means return to wholeness, involves integration and insight rather than just adding substances or removing bits. Hard to do in a 10 minute consultation!
Dr Catherine Fyans is a holistic medical practitioner/conscious health facilitator and the author of The Wounding of Health Care: From Fragmentation to Integration