Inner Healer

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We are currently living in an epidemic of environmental illness and repressed emotions manifesting as dis-ease, especially here in the United States. This may sound strange to many. That’s okay. It would have sounded strange to me twelve years ago when my body began presenting with mysterious and debilitating symptoms that I had never in my life faced to such a degree. In my decades-long healing journey, I learned a tremendous amount about the importance of diet and lifestyle as vehicles for healing, and at the root of it all was my ability to question everything.

At the root of my healing journey was my ability to question everything.

Around the turn of the 20th century, medical schools as we know them today underwent a monumental shift. Traditional medicine, which included the use of botanical and herbal remedies, holistic medicine, and homeopathy, was replaced by the Western pharmaceutical model of healthcare. Learn more about medical education reform from The Flexner Report (and here), which served to elevate the standards of medical schools in North America (and for good reason, as at that time standards for licensing allopaths, osteopaths, chiropractors, and naturopaths was quite loose and were tightened up significantly in the decades to follow! Read more.)

Medical approaches that did not advocate the use of treatments such as vaccines and medications to prevent and cure illness were deemed quackery. Funding was readily available for scientific research into these vaccines and medications, but the study of herbs, plants, nutrition, and holistic health had little to no support, and therefore, were not able to officially receive scientific backing from those with the power and money to provide it.

Photo by Taisiia Stupak on Unsplash

As the pharmaceutical model took hold, these interventions steadily replaced holistic, lifestyle, and plant-based approaches to healing. Modern medicine became a slippery slope into a dependence on medical band-aids in lieu of fostering a strong innate immune system and harmonious physical body. Treating symptoms has become the norm in our society, while deep healing—healing from the inside out—is struggling to find its way back into the mainstream.

Environmental toxins like pesticides, plastics, and heavy metals have been linked to an endless number of illnesses from cancer to autoimmune conditions. Ironically enough, the pharmaceuticals that are being used to treat these conditions are often filled with the very toxins that contributed to these disease states in the first place. And when these pharmaceuticals are injected directly into the bloodstream where our normal detoxification barriers—skin, digestive enzymes, liver, kidneys, mucosa, lymph—aren’t able to filter the harmful components, the impact to our bodies is even greater. Add to that the current pandemic of fear created by our media and governments, and those repressed emotions that often lead to dis-ease in the body are going from a simmer to a fast boil at lightening speed.

At this point in time, we find ourselves in a conundrum. So many are trapped in bodies with immune systems unable to heal themselves. Co-morbidities and chronic illnesses are rampant. Many are too far away from reclaiming their inherent regenerative abilities swiftly enough to face our current pandemic. Modern medicine is the only choice for them. The body wants to heal, and it needs time and attention that isn’t necessarily possible for those who have been led along a path that has strayed so far from their inner healing capacity.

Western medicine has undoubtedly changed humanity for the better in many ways. We know this. And, have we possibly come to rely on it too heavily? Do we unconsciously take it for granted? Does knowing that “there’s a drug for that” make it easier to push our bodies to their limits, ignore their whispers for attention, and disassociate mind from body?

Humanity is at a critical fork in the road. If we follow the path of mandated interventions and further our reliance on these interventions to keep us “safe,” we risk future dependence on medications, jabs, and AI to keep us alive. If we reverse course and find our way back to connecting with and enhancing our natural immune systems, then we’ll be able to harmonize with Mother Earth and our inner healing capacity.