By Jennifer McCartney
Each of us was born with the inherent ability to heal. As you read and participate in the exercises in this article, you will discover how this is scientifically true, and how all true healing takes place by accessing this deeper power.
Dr. Emmitt Miller, author and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine and co-creator of joined Tammy Mastroberte, founder of Elevated Existence, for the “Living an Elevated Existence Mind, Body & Soul Summit Season 2,” to talk about healing mind, body and spirit.
“By far the most important factor in all human illness from the common cold to stage four cancer is the mind,” Miller said during the call, giving the example of someone with a genetic predisposition to develop diabetes. Whether or not they develop it depends on three factors: genetics, behavior and our amount of stress and anxiety he or she holds within. “Increasing [stress] will increase our likelihood of developing this illness.”
The idea that we can heal ourselves is often a difficult concept for people to grasp, Miller explained. “Our culture and society, for the most part, is not designed to give us power over our mind and over our bodies,” he said. There are a lot of societal rules that keep us in line—from what to wear to how to act. “We grow up with a certain inability to know ourselves,” he said. “Most of us our stunted in our ability to use our life force for healing.”
The stresses we have from modern life, the unresolved anxieties, our body issues, our negative emotions, etc. stand between us and our ultimate health and wellness. “What we need is some way to clear the slate, to get rid of those distractions,” said Miller. “There are certain basic tools we can use to increase the likelihood of healing. The first tool has to do with coming into the present moment.”
This can be done through mindfulness, meditation, deep relaxation and prayer, he said. “It has to do with emptying your mind of unnecessary thoughts, and emptying your body of unnecessary tension. Secondly let go of the distractions in your mind…when we have that sense of peace we’re experiencing one half of a very important cycle within us. It’s called the stress relaxation cycle.”
In order to help us relax into the present moment, Miller offered a sample meditation we can use:
“Choose a point in the distance to look at and focus on that point. This is your way of telling your brain and your body that you’ll be in charge for a while. There’s nothing else you need to do at this time and no problem you need to solve at this time. Give yourself permission to relax. Take a deep breath in and out and think of the word ‘relax.’
“As you slowly lose focus, you’re shifting to an internal focus. Your eyes will begin to signal that they want to close—let them close when they’re ready. Let your eyes roll upward until you’re looking at the back of your forehead. Imagine that you can see the word ‘relax’ written there. Feel how heavy your eyelids are. Feel your face muscles relax and let that relaxation flow down into your shoulders, arms, to the tips of the fingers. Notice how it feels. Take a deep breath in. When you let that breath out feel yourself letting go completely. Feel each breathe empty your of stress and tension.
“Imagine that you’re floating on a magic carpet and are heading to a pleasant place. Notice the unnecessary thoughts and let them go. Let go of questions, doubts or criticisms. Picture your special place and imagine you’re there. And with each breath out say to yourself, ‘I accept myself exactly as I am.’ On your next breath out, say ‘I have the power to relax myself and heal my body.’ And on your final breath, ‘I give myself permission to have a relaxed beautiful enjoyable loving day.’ As you come back from your journey you bring back relaxation with you. You should now have a hint of your potential to heal yourself.”
Creating Healing Visualizations
Whatever ailment we are suffering from or trying to heal, the key is to visualize a specific healing exercise that would bring relief. “You can train yourself to think, you can train yourself to believe,” said Miller.
For someone suffering from hypertension, he would ask the person to create personal imagery designed to relax the blood vessels in the heart. Another person might imagine antibodies going after cancer cells, or a cool blue liquid flowing through the body to ease arthritis pain.
“Asthma is the tension of the bronchial tubes and the lungs, headache is tension in the muscles in your neck and scalp. The moment you come into the presence you’re restoring the balance,” he said. “Once we begin to relax we can begin to reset.”
However, it isn’t an instant process, he noted. “After a lifetime of living under stress and having no sense of who you really are, and having no sense of the power that’s within you,” results will take time, he shared.
“There are two parts to every illness. In order to heal, we need to ask ourselves: What is the contribution of the outside world, and what is the contribution of our own body,” he said.