Do we have the power to heal ourselves?

I found an intriguing article by Celeste Yarnall, Ph.D. entitled, “Do we have the power to heal ourselves?”, and it led me to reflect on what I’ve learned over the years in my transition from neuroscience to epidemiology to health coach/energy practitioner.  While I’ve always believed in the importance of
maintaining one’s health via a healthy diet, exercise, meditation and yoga, if I wanted to heal from the flu,  or if I was injured, or if I had stomach pain, I’d rely on my doctor for guidance. But I’ve never been a fan of pharmaceuticals or surgery, and have always favored more natural remedies if I could find them.  I started with the “Doctors book of Home Remedies“, and then later bought various books in natural healing.  More recently, I’ve found some wonderful do-it-yourself remedies over the web.  I’ve also used technological solutions and brain training.   The problem I had with most of these remedies, like most pharmaceutical drugs, these impressed me as being solutions to mask symptoms I was experiencing, but were not getting to the root of the problem.  Furthermore, while these were remedies I found myself, I still relied on either technology, brain training tools, herbal remedies or receipes from my kitchen.  It wasn’t till I was introduced to energy medicine, first via Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) that I realized the true power we have to heal ourselves.

With Emotional Freedom Technique, we simply use our hands to tap on acupressure points while venting.  In practice it is easy, your success depends entirely on how much you are interested in learning about different ways to apply the technique, and your persistence.  But the neat thing about using EFT is that often the effects were long lasting and permanent.  Roger Callahan who invented Thought Field Therapy, (a method similar to EFT), used it to get rid of a woman’s life long fear of water!  EFT is often used to help people get rid of phobias and traumas.  There have been other reports of EFT completely alleviating chronic pain or helping people to get rid of cravings.  I’ve experienced much of this myself and with my clients.  But there are other times when EFT seems to serve as more of a temporary fix.  Persistence is key here, and it suggests that we also need to find the underlying cause to get rid of the problem.   Overall however, its applications are endless, and in fact most EFT practitioners, including myself quote its inventor, Gary Craig, who says to “Try it on everything”!

The power of EFT and other techniques from energy medicine have convinced me that we have a much greater power to heal ourselves that most of us realize.  While I’ve long recognized that much of our health is mostly our own responsibility, I did not fully appreciate how much we could take into our own hands.  While I continue to see a doctor for emergencies, as long as I am able, I will use techniques from energy medicine to support my healing process.  Now with a cold or the flu, I am able to recover within 24 hrs by these techniques and herbal remedies.  I no longer use pharmaceutical drugs, nor do I need to seek a professional for emotional support.   I’ve become much happier and healthier than I could have ever imagined.

Caroline Myss says ‘Belief in oneself is required for healing.’   These techniques have helped me believe in my own power to heal myself, and I believe they can do the same for you.