The difference between fixing versus healing.

Have you ever tried a natural therapy but been left wondering whether it actually helped?

If you're assessing your results based on the conventional medical model, then you'll look at how quickly your symptoms were resolved.

If you have a headache, the objective is to get rid of it. If you choose to use a homeopathic remedy over tylenol and your headache persists, you might conclude that the remedy isn’t working.

In the case of simple acute symptoms, I can see how that thinking makes some sense.

However, most of what ails people has an underlying chronic component. 

Our symptoms are woven inseparably into the fabric of our life stress. What ails our minds or our bodies is an expression of what’s out of balance. Symptoms alert us to the fact that some part of our mind or body can’t calibrate to the load we are carrying, past or present.

The key question I ask when I seek treatment at my osteopath, chiropractor or homeopath, is whether the treatment has guided me closer to restoring my own balance. 

Here are the types of things that throw me out of balance, which then shows up as some kind of weakness.

Is there a persistent worry that’s weakening me? 

Am I obsessing about something that’s out of my control? 

Am I eating something that doesn’t agree with me?

Have I been doing too much and maxed out my nervous system?

Have I spent too many hours at my computer in lieu of my much needed time in nature? Is one of my relationships out of balance, perhaps I’ve said too much or too little?

Have I been listening to my inner voice and following what’s best for me?

There are endless possibilities of how we get in our own way of feeling good. The objective is never to be perfect but rather to be self-compassionate.

I’m grateful for holistic care that shows me where I’ve gone off course and empowers me to gently redirect myself. It may be a more circuitous route but the healing is deeper and longer lasting.