Lighting the Path Less Taken

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Copied from Northern Lights w/ Linda's permission...thank you. I found it worth a read, we do need to look at pain and illness differently today and use "every" means possible to help/heal ourselves first.

When I feel my pain I do get mad and tense ready to fight, it is only when the day is done and lay abed quietly that I can address the pain and figure what really hurts and why and then address how I can help make it either subside or go away.

I recently asked here for a bit of help after slipping, then falling, that nite I lay and felt warm energy around me, knowing those who cared were helping me help myself, I felt better in all ways.
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The Secrets To Healing From Within
By Brenda Shoshanna

Modern medicine is based upon the notion of battle. We battle germs
and fight for life. As soon as we feel pain or discomfort, we
immediately try to stop it from happening, look for some way to
soothe what we are going through. We feel we must change our illness
or problems, overpower them with our expertise. But this leads to a
never ending battle, after one problem is conquered, another arises.

Healing from within brings inner peace with it. It arises in a
different way. We are taught to stop, pay attention and respect all
that comes to us. We do not view pain as bad, as something that must
be removed at any cost. Pain arises from lack of balance and brings
many messages along with it. When we see our pain as a messenger and
learn how to listen to it, healing begins in all kinds of ways.

The first step in healing from within is to see pain as an ally, to
learn how to "dialogue" with it. At first this requires a complete
turn around. Instead of tensing up and gearing for battle, we learn
how to pause and understand there is a lesson that we have to learn.
When we do this we find the pain or problem often comes holding a
gift in its hands.

Illness often comes when we feel defeated. We may not wish to
struggle anymore. Some people become ill when they are overly
exhausted. The illness is the only way they can give themselves
permission to stop, rest, and make much needed changes in their
lives. Each illness has it's own story.

When someone is in physical pain and suddenly understands what is
troubling them, the physical pain often subsides. For full healing to
take place it may be important to make changes in one's total life.
During illness the body is rebelling. It is demanding that we pay
attention to all that has been unattended. We may have been pushing
ourselves for too long. Now our body is fed up. Stop and listen to
me, it pleads. When we learn how to listen and how to reply, an
entirely new life begins. Then pain and illness become an opportunity
for vital change.

Learning To Listen

We usually listen only to part of ourselves. The rest is rejected.
But no matter what we are rejecting, soon or later we must come up
against it and face it straight on. Rejecting something over and over
never makes it go away. It comes back to you then over and over just
to be accepted.. Everything needs to be loved and accepted, including
our illness and pain. The best way is to make friends with the pain.
If we can relax into it and explore it, many possibilities arise.
When we let go, and allow ourselves to listen to what the pain is
saying to us. Incredible changes can happen then.

To do this, simply close your eyes, stop fighting, and ask the pain
what it is saying to you, what does it need from you right now? Then
become very quiet and listen deeply. An answer may not come right
away. Patience is needed. Answers come in different ways. Some hear
answers within. Others see images, some have dreams. Some sense a new
way to deal with the illness. A true exploration begins.

Exercise: Making Friends with the Pain

Look at your illness. Picture it and give it some kind of shape. What
does it look like to you? Describe or draw it. What is this image
saying to you about yourself and the life you are leading?

Next, ask the image any questions you may have and let it answer you.
(Ask what it wants from you and what it would need to go away). See
if you can give it what it needs.

This attitude is called making friends with the pain. When we do this
we become better able to understanding what the true causes are. For
example, if we feel that life is meaningless, our bodies can start to
express this by shriveling up and dying. If we have held onto
difficult attitudes, our bodies will bear the burden of them.
Persistent negative attitudes become wounds upon our entire selves.

Our attitudes are messages we give our body. Once we begin the
crucial work of taking responsibility for and changing our attitudes,
our entire body can begin to experience on-going ease instead of dis-
ease. We must look at the basic attitudes we live with and ask
ourselves if they are conducive to our health, or do they contain the
very seeds of pain?

In order to heal from within, it is essential to change negative
attitudes and patterns, to those that are positive and produce well-
being. Health comes with learning to say "yes" to all of our
experience. Wellness emerges out of the balance and harmony of all
parts of ourselves. When we are well, we feel accepting and in
harmony with ourselves and the entire world. This state of being
brings refreshment and healing day by day.

I can relate to so much of this post. I have pain, but not physical. My New Year resolution is learning to forgive and love myself. It all starts within. I've had a hard time letting go of my pain, but with my meds and reading good positive ideals I'm going to get better. I really liked the exercise: Making Friends with the Pain.

How did you know I needed to read this message?

Thanks so much for sharing and caring. :q17:

Aww, I'm glad it helped..sometimes I find things that just say "share with those you love" and you all know how I feel, so you're welcome. q13

Thank you for posting that Debs.

S.

Playing this one forward for the newer members

Another article for me to 'borrow'
Yo have been busy today lady!
Love mia xx

Last edited by the hermit on Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:34 am; edited 1 time in total

Some people just love to play
The weather closes in
The hatches are battened down
And the computer has warmed up nicely
The winds from Canada are whistling down the valley

Haha

as Momma Bear it behooves me to remind us how far we have come in the last year, reminding us of good words and thots and feelings...giving us hope and light for this wonderful year to come....even when we stumble and scrape our knees this year, it teaches us that lesson and we shine from the knowing.

Bumping this one too, worth a 2nd look or a first for the newcomers.