Your Role in Healing

Healing is not a passive activity. A shaman or other healer can only take the healing so far. For healing to fully occur, the person in need of healing has to take an active role.

The extent of that role depends on the healing required. A scraped knee from playing a game, for example, requires only that the person’s physical body actively fight potential infection and rebuild and repair the torn skin. Someone who has experienced a more traumatic event, such as the loss of a loved one, exposure to a war zone, or physical violence or rape, can only achieve full healing if he or she attends to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of his or her being.

As a shaman, I take each of these areas into consideration when working with a client. The physical healing is often the easiest. The human body is programmed to repair itself and works without any prompting from us to do so. However, in my experience, it is rare that healing is only needed at the physical level.  In fact, many physical illnesses or dis-eases have a basis in mental, emotional or spiritual imbalances, which are much more challenging.

The mind can be used as a healing enabler or inhibitor. Whatever you think and believe becomes your personal reality. If you believe that you cannot heal, you will not, even if you have the best medical team in the world working with you. When we focus our mind on a belief, outcome or desire, it creates energy to make that focus become real. That is the job of the mind – to create. It is a powerful instrument that is often misunderstood and underused in healing.

Our emotions serve as an indicator to us. Unfortunately, many people think that they are their emotions instead of recognizing that the role of emotions are to let us know whether or not we are in balance in our lives. When we feel light and joyful, we are in our natural state. When we feel and hold onto a negative emotion such as fear, anger or hatred, our emotional body is telling us that we are out of balance.

Our spiritual body is pure love and light. Regardless of our physical, mental or emotional state, our spiritual body remains true to its core. When we are able to tap into this body, and let that love and light resonate through us, we are allowing healing energy to flow through us.

As you go through your healing process, here are some questions to consider:

• What does my physical body need to heal (e.g., rest, pure water, organic food, sunshine, movement)?
• What thoughts or beliefs do I have that might hold me back from healing?
• What old wounds or situations do I continue to revisit that keep a negative or unhealthy emotion alive?
• What fears are preventing me from moving forward?
• Am I holding onto a specific negative emotion? Why? What would happen if I release it?
• Do I feel love? Can I tap into my heart and my true being to spread healing love through my body?