Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!
I had a question a few days ago regarding health and what my perspective as a shaman was. Mary asked, “These days with our polluted industrialized unnatural ways of living, it seems that many new illnesses have come forth such as autism, MS, chemical sensitivities, gene mutations, cancer, etc. Thus, these physical things are deemed causes of illness. Most alternative doctors are focused mostly on detoxing and strengthening the physical body. But what happens if people continue to be ill and dysfunctional despite doing all the right things? Some say that all (physical) illness starts “in the mind”, and that ultimately, the way to heal is with healing the mind (emotions), and/or spiritual.
How does the shaman see chronic physical health problems? Do you feel that we can separate the causes of illness? Emotional, spiritual, mental, physical, or is everything truly connected? We have all heard stories about people who did not even do anything different on the physical level, yet something in their body healed on it’s own….(a miracle happened, which some say, if a shift in perception). What is your perspective?”
This is a great question. One thing that I think our western view of medicine has not caught up to yet is this idea of the mind-body connection, as if the mind was separate from the body and visaversa. The way I see the body, there is no mind-body connection because there is no separation. Our physical bodies are encased in our emotional/mental body, which is encased in our mythic/soul body, with in turn is encased in the energetic body, (and some healers can see several layers in that body as well.) An injury at one level effects everything else. The energetic body isn’t just an outer shell–it goes through all the bodies, and the soul body goes through the mental/emotional body and physical body. In other words while it might be helpful to think of these bodies as nested shells, they really aren’t.
If you have an injury at one level, it will at some point show through at the other levels. If you have a cancer that starts at the energetic or the mythic level from soul loss, you may be able to surgically remove it at the physical level, but if it is not treated at the mythic level, it can recur. If you come into your body with an injury from a previous lifetime or from a family imprint, it could be set up at the mental/emotional level as mental illness or a physical problem. Their is no one-size fits all to these health issues. Each person is different! And of course, if you eat terrible food and breathe in polluted air, that is going to hurt your physical body and perhaps start hurting you at the mental/emotional as well. If you endure a terrible tragedy on the emotional level, this can cause a deep imprint at the mythic level. It simply all depends.
Of course, we must take responsibility for our health and our healing, and yet we need to be realistic and gentle with ourselves as well. I’ve had several clients come to me and tell me they’ve created their cancer or other chronic illness. Our system is simply too complicated to assume that. Yes, there are cases in which a person can shift at the mythic and energetic levels and their physical problem goes away completely. That is wonderful, and that is real. However, with many chronic health problems, telling ourselves we’ve done it to ourselves isn’t always helpful.
My take on health is to look at how I am doing at the physical, emotional/mental, mythic, and energetic levels, and treat myself well. Am I eating right? Am I getting the exercise my body likes? Am I limiting my exposure to environmental toxins? Am I hanging out with people that make me happy and inspired rather than irritate me and drain me? Am I limiting my intake of bad collective news that I can do nothing about? Am I able to be at the mythic/sacred level without anything in the way? (If not then I go to my shaman for some work) Am I up to date on keeping my living space clear energetically? Am I unentangled in my relationships? All of these will affect our health, and deserve attention.
On top of this I am an Empath so I need to be extra careful about taking on the vibration of friends and family that I am very close to when I am worried about them or when they are ill. Some of you have heard about how I developed gall stones when my father did, and how those miraculously disappeared after he had surgery. Most Empaths tend to process emotional overwhelm on the physical level–we can help ourselves out by putting that extra emotional energy into a sandpainting. We can create better boundaries with our loved ones by building altars around the relationship. Empaths can also tune into the collective and make themselves chronically ill as well. We have a few more challenges than non-Empaths to deal with!
So, yes, health is complicated. Mary, if you are suffering from chronic issues, and you are an Empath, you want to make sure that energetically you are fully “in” your physical body. Many Empaths aren’t. For that you will need to go to a shaman or another energy healer that can help you get all the way in. Sometimes this happens because of a hard birth experience. When we aren’t fully in our bodies, other vibrations can start taking up partial residence. Those will need to be evicted so to speak. Again, a shaman can help you with that. I’m going to assume that you are taking care of your physical issues by seeing good doctors that you trust, and that you are taking good care of your emotional health by making sure your relationships are healthy and supportive. If not, find those trusted health professionals and also a good therapist! Eat the best food you can afford, treat yourself as kindly as possible. Look at yourself from these different levels of reality and get the best medicine that you can afford. I hope that makes a difference in your health and happiness!
much love,
Elaine