The experience of illness is a call to a genuinely religious life. In that sense, it is for many people one of the best things that ever happened to them.
—Marianne Williamson
Like most people who have read the Bible, I knew about the miraculous healings performed by Jesus. So when I was told at the age of seventeen that I had the gift of healing, I assumed that people would be instantly and miraculously healed when I laid my hands on them. Yet, as I look back over the past forty-two years of performing spiritual healing, I have seen very few such instant healings. Of course, one explanation for this is that I am not Jesus. But there is another reason too—one that is the focus of this book. Healing is a process that involves much more than the physical body. It must occur at many different levels—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual—for us to be truly healed.
Judy Pearson, one of my former spiritual teachers, introduced me to the idea that most illnesses have emotional roots. She taught me that if we don't address our emotions when we feel them, and if we stuff them instead of expressing them, they won't just go away but will stay inside our bodies and slowly turn into physical problems. Unexpressed feelings and unresolved emotions have no other way to get our attention than for the body to become sick or be in pain.
At first this concept was difficult for me to accept. I was raised with the belief that disease and illness are just a matter of luck. If we are lucky, we don't get sick. Illness randomly strikes us, and there is little or nothing we can do about it except to see a doctor. Worse yet is the belief, held by many, that disease is a form of punishment that comes from God. Judy helped me see that none of these explanations were quite accurate, that we aren't just poor souls who happen to be unlucky and get sick. She was inferring that we each have a role in creating our state of health.
In my practice as a spiritual healer and psychic, I have learned a great deal about people and their health challenges. Above all, I have seen that there are many and varied reasons that we experience such challenges. For most of us, illness can be a tremendous teacher. For some, it is a way to make an exit from life here on Earth.
I am continually reminded of what I have learned from Judy and writers such as Louise Hay and Alice Steadman, whose excellent books have helped me to change my thinking (see You Can Heal Your Life, by Louise Hay, and Who's the Matter with Me, by Alice Steadman). Their work has helped me to see that I don't have to be a victim who is always asking why life is doing this to me, challenging my health or placing problems in my path; rather, I can start thinking in terms of what I can do to have more choices about my health.
Through my work and the changes I have experienced in my own healing journey, I am continually made aware that most illnesses do have emotional roots and until we look at the unresolved emotions in our lives, our health challenges cannot permanently disappear. We may get temporary relief from a healer, a drug, or even a surgical procedure. Our health challenges may go into remission. The physical pain may stop. But if we don't address the emotions behind an illness, it will remain in our body, only to rear its ugly head at some time in the future.
That's what your healing journey is about: the unresolved emotional pain from the time you were born until today, and what you can do about it. You will learn how to expel all the harmful things you are storing in your body so they can no longer affect your physical health or influence your life in a negative way. Whatever you are storing is keeping you stuck in one way or another. You can go to all the doctors, healers, and health practitioners you want. You can say affirmations until you are blue in the face. You can even pray for miracles. But unless you are willing to feel the unresolved conflicts and pain, explore the negative belief systems, listen to the voice inside, and heal the hurt from your past, you will staystuck. It's all in there. Your whole history is in your body, and it needs to come out to be dealt with consciously.
In the pages ahead, we will look at issues from this lifetime. We will also look at possible solutions, such as what to do if you are sick now, whether it be having therapy, finding a good medical doctor, connecting with an appropriate support group, exploring alternatives in healthcare; or learning more about prayer, meditation, affirmations, forgiveness, and intuition; or finding out how to make new choices in your life that will better support your healing process. We will even explore how to just bring more fun into your life.
As you read this book, and as you do the journal work that it suggests, remind yourself from time to time that this is your journey. It is an exciting one. At times it will be painful. But just remember that the pain, which you may experience as you go along, is now sitting in your body. Once you are able to release it, truly release it, you will be free of it forever!
Our illnesses can be our best teachers, guiding us not only to a new freedom from pain but to a better way to live our lives, to a fuller realization of the passion of our true gifts. Allow the process to unfold, and receive whatever it is you need to accept your gifts and yourself. This is perhaps the greatest purpose of the healing journey.
As you embark on this incredible journey, remember that healing does not happen overnight. For most of us, our pain began long ago. When we are able to stay mindful of this and give ourselves all the time we need to do the work, we find the freedom we need to thrive as the children of God that we are.