Healing Crises: The Road to Better Health

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HEALING CRISIS

The Road to Better Health

by Walter Last

http://www.health-science-spirit.com/healingcrisis.html

 

I routinely recommend to my patients to adopt a high-quality, low-allergy

diet right on their first visit. When they come back two or three weeks later,

they often say that they feel much better now but a week ago they had a cold.

When I ask about the symptoms they turn out to be mainly a profuse mucus

discharge, sometimes also diarrhoea, but rarely are there signs of a real

infection.

In fact, these patients just experienced their first healing crisis on their

long path to better health.

 

This concept of a healing crisis clearly shows the opposite perceptions that

drug medicine and holistic medicine have of health and the healing process. In

drug medicine it is assumed that a patient who is free of disease symptoms is

more or less healthy and the aim of drugs is to achieve this condition by

removing any disagreeable symptoms. Frequently alternative or complementary

medicine is used in the same way, instead of more or less toxic drugs just more

benign remedies are being used. This is what most patients want and according to

their beliefs they either use drugs or natural remedies for this purpose.

 

However, holistic medicine, following in the footsteps of the old nature cure

movement, aims much higher. Here, health is regarded not just as a temporary

absence of disease symptoms, but as a state of profound physical, emotional

and mental wellbeing so that we simply cannot develop or catch a disease.

 

Animals living in an unspoiled natural habitat in the wild commonly display

this kind of health. If we want to come close to such outstanding health, we

have to work for it by consciously minimising the multitude of negative

influences on our health and maximise positive factors instead.

 

However, experience shows that we do not follow a straight line of either

health improvement or health deterioration. Similar to periods of illness

interspersing times of relative wellbeing on the common road to chronic

degenerative

diseases and death, so we have also ups and downs on the road to superior

health. The main difference is that the road to deteriorating health on average

is

sloping downhill while the other road on average goes up in health.

Travelling downhill is easy, we do not need to do anything about it, but

improving our

health requires consistent effort.

 

Contrary to the often-lengthy periods of ill health on the downhill road, the

dips on the uphill road are usually short and sharp. They are called 'healing

crisis' although I prefer the less dramatic name 'healing reaction', also

'cleansing reaction' or simply 'reaction'. After each reaction we advance to a

higher level of health than before the reaction.

 

Holistic therapists realise that the road to better health follows a definite

pattern. The old school of nature cure called it

 

HERING'S LAW OF CURE:

 

" All cure starts from within out, from the head down and in reverse order as

the symptoms have appeared. "

 

Dr John Whitman Ray has developed a method specifically designed to help us

travel the long road to superior health. He called it Body Electronics, using

nutrition as well as press point therapy to facilitate emotional release and

expansion of consciousness. Out of this work Dr Ray found it necessary to modify

Hering's Law to the following

 

LAW OF HEALING CRISIS:

 

" A healing crisis will occur only when an individual is ready both

physiologically and psychologically. The basic foundation for all healing is

nutritional

preparedness. A healing crisis will begin from within out, in reverse order

chronologically as to how the symptoms have appeared, tempered by the intensity

of the trauma. The individual will have the opportunity to re-experience each

trauma, both physiological and psychological, beginning with the trauma of

least severity. It must be recognised that traumas involving emotions, which

include all traumas, will be released in order, beginning with unconsciousness,

then apathy, grief, fear, anger, pain and eventually enthusiasm (love), in

conjunction with the appropriate word patterns for each emotion and thought

pattern (sensory memory) which are accessible at each level. Unconditional love

and

unconditional forgiveness are the keys to apply and transmute any resistance

at any level, once these resistances are brought to view through the

application of the laws of love, light and perfection.

 

With this definition Dr. Ray emphasises the importance of the emotional side

of our health problems. Each disease, accident or surgical intervention

contains a strong emotional component which needs to be re-experienced during a

reaction, otherwise the healing will remain incomplete and the problem will

present itself again at a later time for healing at a deeper level.

 

This also means that the body selects the kind of healing crisis that is most

appropriate at the time, taking into consideration its needs and abilities to

have a certain area healed or improved. We can consciously influence this

choice by working on a particular problem. I also noticed that the body self

tries to select a timing, which does not disable us during important events

coming

up. I have no doubt that we are guided on our healing path by our inner

intelligence, which has our best interest at heart.

 

In the beginning our healing reactions will be mainly on the physical or

biological level, but more and more we will experience the release of emotional

blocks and changes in consciousness, preparing us for greater activity on the

spiritual level.

 

PATTERNS OF HEALING

 

In every real healing, the sequence of our health deterioration will

automatically be retraced. This means that old, long-forgotten disease symptoms

may

suddenly flare up again in the form of a healing crisis. The reason for this is

based on the very nature of disease.

 

At first, when the body is still vital, it will react forcefully against

invaders; the resulting battle causes fever and inflammation. If the body is not

strong enough to win completely, the acute battle symptoms will eventually

subside, with the remaining invaders leading a somewhat subdued existence in a

weakened gland or organ. Repeated attacks will result in the degeneration of

this

body part, causing chronic disease.

 

At some stage on the road towards health, the body will feel strong enough to

start the fight again for healing the diseased organ, and inflammation will

result. Such healing reactions are usually short lived, but can be rather

violent. If one supports the body during this period with rest, cleansing diets

and

so forth, then the organ will eventually acquire a much better health than

before the flare-up. If, however, drugs are used to suppress the healing

symptoms, then the inflamed organ will return to its subacute, chronic condition

and

wait for another opportunity to heal itself

 

The healing pattern of other health problems that are not related to

immunological processes and infections follows a similar line to that outlined

above.

Healing takes place on many different levels: at the biochemical level within

the cells, in the blood circulation, the nervous system and especially in the

flow of bio-energies. Healing activity will be increased on all of these

levels

 

At the bio-energetic level, the increased energy flow may cause congestion at

various places, in the weak body part itself as well as in related

acupuncture points and zone reflex areas. Excess energy in such places may be

noticed as

pain, heat or tension: the common symptoms of inflammation. In time, the body

itself will clear the obstruction in the energy flow.

 

One may support this process with specific healing methods or just by healthy

living in general. However, trying to suppress any inflammation may leave the

body part permanently weak Inflammation in itself is a healing energy release

and it may be best overcome by removing the blockage in the energy flow.

 

SKIN REACTIONS

 

Another common form of healing reaction is the development of a rash or other

skin problem, especially over a weak body part, for instance at a hip or

shoulder. This skin reaction signifies that the energy that had been bound

internally in this area in the form of muscle armouring, stiffness and

accumulated

metabolic wastes, is now surfacing and dissipating. Thus the affected joint or

limb will become much freer and stronger. However, if the skin reaction is

interfered with and made to go prematurely, then the suppressed energy and

metabolic waste will remain in that body part, keeping it in a state of pain or

weakness.

 

Thus there usually is no need to interfere directly with skin diseases or

other healing symptoms. On the contrary, that may only drive the problem

'underground' to affect internal organs and body structures. Natural healers

have

noticed that by artificially producing a rash over an arthritic joint, the joint

greatly improved, but when a rash over a joint was artificially suppressed,

then arthritic symptoms may appear in that joint.

 

You may actually learn much about yourself, your body, your health problems

and your emotional reactions by patiently observing the healing process instead

of rushing in to do something about it. What you should do, however, is live

healthily in general, cleansing the body, helping the suppressed energy to

come out and dissipate and to be optimistic about it all.

 

Frequently, boils and increased mucus discharge (colds) may appear during the

initial stages of the healing process, sometimes starting already one or two

weeks after improving the diet and beginning to take supplements. This

indicates that the organs of elimination are congested. During such times take

little

food, but generous amounts of herb teas, fresh vegetable juices and water.

Preferably go on a cleansing diet.

 

You may notice an advance warning of an approaching healing crisis in the

iris, when a formerly grey or brown reflex area becomes whitish. At the same

time, the reflex points underneath the feet and on the hands, as well as

pressure

points related to the activated organ, become more tender and should be

pressed. Such healing crises may appear from time to time separated by weeks,

months

or even years bringing us ever closer to our distant goal of superior health.

 

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

 

Some further problems may develop during health improvement. Formerly, the

body responses may have been dulled - it did not react to harmful foods or drugs

- but now the reaction is often immediate and forceful.

 

Foods that you may have eaten habitually before going on a cleansing diet may

suddenly cause a gastro-intestinal upset, making you feel sick and miserable

for days. However, such reactions do not need to happen if you take proper

precautions: find out to which foods you are allergic and try to avoid these as

well as foods that may be a problem for you. If you eat out and do not know

what to expect, take plenty of digestive enzymes and lecithin during the meal,

and try to eat foods in correct combination; if allergy symptoms appear, use

alkalizers together with calcium ascorbate.

 

Basically, one may say that your body now trusts that you will not hurt it

any more in the old ways. But if you do, your body is very offended and lets you

(your mind) know about it in no uncertain terms. This is the most effective

language that your body has. However, if you learn to listen, your body will

first try to tell you about its requirements in a more subtle way - an

intestinal rumbling, an itch, a slight muscle weakness or a passing pain. There

are

numerous ways a body expresses its needs and each one has its own language of

symptoms.

 

Furthermore, if you are honest and persistent in your desire to become a

friend of your body, it will eventually let you know its needs by intuition, by

its likes and dislikes, you will rediscover your lost body instincts. This is

what we really should aim for: to become independent of outside expert advice

and just do what our body tells us is right for us to do, not only in the field

of nutrition, but in everyday living and with important decisions as well.

 

While one can usually gain relatively quick relief from distressing disease

symptoms, rebuilding a strong and healthy body is a slow process and takes a

long time. It requires a great deal of experimenting in order to find our

individual conditions for healing, and it also needs solid determination to

carry

through with a program for many years.

 

Generally, recently acquired chronic weaknesses are the first to flare up and

become healed, while our oldest and most persistent health problems are the

last to yield. Thus there appears to be an orderly sequence in our health

improvement. Healing proceeds in a wave pattern with an upward slope. On the

peak

of a wave we feel much improved, while in a trough we experience cleansing

activity or a healing reaction and feel down. The overall movement, however, is

towards greater wellbeing.

 

Just looking at the symptoms of a reaction, you will not be able to

distinguish a healing crisis from a disease crisis -a flare-up on the downhill

road to

degenerative disease. In fact, the symptoms are the same because the

underlying process is the same.

 

The body always tries to heal itself and an acute inflammation is an

important tool for this purpose. An inflammation makes the walls of the blood

vessels

porous to allow an increased flow of lymph fluid to move in immune cells and

remove accumulated toxins. At this stage it is just an acute inflammation and

we can choose to turn it into a healing crisis by supporting the body mentally

and nutritionally or we can choose to suppress the acute condition and return

to a chronic degenerative condition.

 

Therefore, anything that suppresses an acute inflammation prevents healing of

the affected area. This includes not only anti-inflammatory drugs and

remedies, but also strong alkalizers that reduce the release of histamine. The

pain

and heat in the inflamed area is the price we have to pay for it being healed.

 

However, anti-inflammatory agents and alkalizers have their place to ease the

discomfort of a chronic inflammation until the body has been nutritionally

and mentally prepared for a healing reaction. Furthermore, the symptoms during a

reaction may either be too severe or come at an inopportune time. Then you

can lessen or temporarily stop them by adding cooked food to a raw food

cleansing diet or by alkalising the body and using anti-inflammatory remedies.

 

Usually we can select a suitable time for a healing crisis by starting a

strict cleanse on raw food only, especially fresh vegetable juices or fruit,

possibly also vegetable salads. A fruit cleanse is more suitable for insensitive

individuals and vegetables are much better with an over-acid and sensitive body.

 

One of the main factors reducing the severity of any symptoms is a clean

bowel, regardless whether the reaction was triggered deliberately or

involuntarily. The easiest way to do this is by taking a tablespoon of Epsom

salts (more or

less according to bowel reaction) in water at bedtime or on rising. If no

solid food is used then take a teaspoon of psyllium hulls several times daily in

a glass of unchlorinated water. Too little water can cause constipation.

 

Another way to ease or shorten a reaction is press-point therapy: strongly

press into tender points on the feet and body related to problem areas until the

points lose their tenderness. This may take hours or days with some key

points. You can further support your body with light, enjoyable outdoors

activity.

Also prayer and meditation or guided imagery are recommended.

 

As you can see, there is no simple path to completely avoid health-related

suffering. We can only choose in which way we want to suffer. We can either

deliberately and cheerfully endure the unpleasantness of repeated healing crises

with the promise of better health to follow, or we can expect to suffer

involuntarily and in an uncontrolled way from chronic-degenerative diseases as

we get

older. The choice is ours.

 

 

 

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