The Healing Process

I have been giving some serious thought to healing based on several conversations that I have had in recent times with people about issues in their lives from which they are still healing. This dialogue helped me realize that no matter how instantaneous or long lasting a particular movement toward healing; the process is the same. The healing process as I understand it is the purpose of this particular writing.

What is the healing process?

Heal – to make or become well; to mend or cure

Process – a continuing development involving many changes

So the healing process is a continuing development involving many changes to make or become well; to mend or cure.

What does the process entail?

Herein lies the crux of this message; healing happens in four primary phases which are:

- Injury – harm or damage

- Awareness – knowing, realizing, conscious of

- Attention – mental concentration or readiness; care or consideration

- Recovery – to get back; to regain

Injury

This is where the necessity of healing begins…with the injury itself. If one is not damaged on any level healing is not needed. There are three basic levels upon which damage can be inflicted. These are the body, the mind and the soul.

Injury to the body comes in the form of cuts, bruises, fractured/broken bones, lost limbs, paralysis, disease, rape, molestation, etc. Dependant of the depth and/or type of the bodily injury the mind and soul may be injured as well.

Injury to the mind comes in the form of painful ideas; worthlessness, hatred, fears, and the list goes on. These types of injuries can result in injury to the body since life happens from the inside out. However it should be stated and I am sure many will disagree the majority of mental injuries are self inflicted via agreement with the ideas someone else has of you because an opinion of you is not true until you accept it.

Injury to the soul is a tricky one; for the soul is a piece of God and therefore cannot actually be injured but the acceptance that the soul is not a piece of God does the injury of separation from Creator and Creation making all other injuries possible and in some cases desirable.

Awareness

Because injuries occur in levels it is possible to be injured and not know. Bodily harm is most often the easiest to detect because of visibility, but even that can be hidden from self and the awareness of others as is often the case with disease and rape. When one knows of a particular bodily injury and keeps it hidden; this is often due to embarrassment or shame which is in fact injury to the mind. And ultimately since the body is created to be aware of itself via the senses healing tends to be automatic in most situations.

Mental damage is not so easy to detect especially in a situation where the damage stems from upbringing. One may think this is just the way life is supposed to be and remain ignorant to the harm done within them. Another may be aware and simply compound the injury via certain activity. A molestation victim may become promiscuous; not that I have a judgment on those who choose to be promiscuous but if they are doing so in order to cover up a deeper issue such as molestation then they may want to go to the root of the problem.

Although like the body the mind is not only aware of itself it is the source of the body's self awareness healing could be automatic but the mind has the power to hold on to things and once injured people hold the pain close to provide themselves what they perceive as peace. But the definition of peace that we are given is the absence of war, struggle, or in this case pain. That is not peace. Peace is not an absence it is a tangible presence of serenity and calm; an ability to accept what is without attachment or aversion.

Two people could be diagnosed with cancer and one will be at peace with the idea they may or may not go through chemotherapy may or may not think they are going to live and the other will be constantly at war within themselves asking why me; hating life and thus themselves accepting that they are going to die. One of these people has cancer the other one is had by Cancer. There in lies the difference with mental injury.

Awareness of the soul's true nature and a piece of God by whatever name or lack of name you call is the beginning of total healing. Ignorance of the soul's true nature is beginning of all injury and suffering. The difference between knowing and not knowing is of dire importance as it determines how you will respond to a given set of circumstances.

The broader one's scope of self the broader one's scope of possible healing. If you consider yourself only a body you can only be healed of bodily injury. If you consider yourself a mind with a body you can only be healed of mental and bodily injury. If you consider yourself as a soul expressing itself through the mind and body all healing is possible even the healing of others.

Attention

Once the awareness has set in at whatever level the injury requires attention in the same way that children do. Children will say/do things to get the attention of the parent because energy follows attention. When the child has the parent's energy the child feels loved and a loved child becomes comfortable with itself, its interactions with the world, and is able to integrate into the whole of society. An injury is trying to re-integrate in the whole of the body, the mind, and/or ultimately the soul; which has the sole purpose of re-integrating with God.

Attention is simply caring enough for the whole of you in order to love all of the parts even the ones that have become damaged in some way. A scraped knee for example screams in pain for your attention. So you cleanse it with water and/or peroxide and apply and bandage which you change periodically. You are careful to not injury the same place again until the body creates its own bandage in the form of a scab. You are helping your knee re-integrate into your body and move toward the final step which is recovery.

Recovery

This is the easiest and most difficult part of the process in every level/type or healing it is the same. BE STILL. You have been hurt. You are aware of the injury. You have given it some functional attention. To recover completely you must be still. In a world of constant movement inside and out being still seems next to impossible there is always something to do and somewhere to go or so we think. The bottom line is that all of the places you go and things you do are of your own volition; no one makes you do these things. You may have accepted that some force outside you has put you into your current predicament but you are mistaken. You may be obeying some rules that you have been taught and that is fine simply learn to incorporate being still into your process.

The fact that recovery is the last step in healing for me is a sign that recovery is a part of our daily existence. How so? Well the answer is simple although we may not be injured daily every day our actions wear on our bodies and minds; we therefore require some recovery time daily. Sleep is daily recovery if it is used for rest but some of us are so worried that our sleep becomes yet another expression of that worry. Sleep is a time when you get the opportunity to be still and detached from your current existence. We must learn is that in order to heal we have to teach ourselves and each other to detach while awake. Waiting until you are sleep is fine but then it is not a decision you are doing this because your body will not hold up anymore. I know people who stay up for days at a time and finally fall out but the decision is not to rest. We have to choose to rest it is the only way our healings can ever be complete.

Ask Yourself

Am I among the unaware wounded?

Am I wounded, aware and simply denying my wounds the attention they need?

Have I given my wounds attention but simply refused to rest (recover)?

Have I healed of my wounds completely and am given myself the periodic rest I know I need on a regular basis?

Where ever you fit on the scale of the healing process. Take the initiative to complete the steps and then continue to practice being still daily. For if being still becomes a part of who you are so does healing. The playing out of the steps can occur in multiple ways which is why I did give any rigid guideline to follow because truth is nothing works the same for every person even things that achieve the same results.

Love you the way God loves you

And if you don't believe in God

Love you the way I love you

Peace within

Be a Blessing