The Ancient Way to Wellness: Spirit Medicine
This post was written by Dr. Eva Selhub, the facilitator of our Spirit Medicine retreat. Dr. Selhub is a medical doctor, author, motivational speaker, scientist, stress management and resiliency consultant, life coach and a CrossFit Level-1 trainer. You can read more about her here.
According to ancient mystic healing traditions, everything is living and so too, everything has a spirit. Taking care of the spirit is thus tantamount for true healing to take place.
Modern medicine, unfortunately, over the past hundred or so years, not only made claim that the mind was separate from the body, but also that the spirit, if such a thing existed, was not related to the health process, as there was no scientific evidence to prove it. As such, our current medical model has come to involve offering a host of medications and expensive procedures, many of which have saved lives, but at the expense of moving farther and farther away from ancient healing practices that invoke the individual’s and his or her spirit to be involved in the healing process.
Fortunately, in the recent past, both scientists and spiritual healers have worked to merge the worlds back together, to find scientific explanation for things that can’t be easily explained. Though we are far from having shamans or energy healers working in the hospital, many doctors and healthcare practitioners are finding that there is some credence to helping their patients heal their spirits along with their body.
In my clinical experience, treating the symptoms without treating the mind and the spirit is not true medicine, and therefore cures are not really possible. On the contrary, when my patients connect with love, with the strength of their spirit, healing is more possible. Often my patients can get off medications, overcome traumas, poor sleep, cancers, depression, anxiety and many other ailments.
Ultimately, we may never really know why these successes happen. I believe, however, that one reason lies in the ability for any person to tap into their ability to believe in infinite possibilities. Such a belief ignites the reward centers in the brain, which allows for stress to diminish and healing to happen, much like the healing that happens when someone takes a sugar pill thinking it is the real medication (as seen in the placebo response).
Perhaps you can ask yourself: Am I a body, a mind, a spirit or all of the above?
While you are contemplating this answer, also think about a problem that you do not have a solution to, and notice how this makes you feel. Notice how your mind amplifies negative thinking and your body contracts. How accessible is true healing, success or happiness now? What is the answer to the initial question?
Now think about being in your favorite place in nature. Imagine yourself breathing, gazing, exploring or simply being. Or perhaps you can imagine being in love, or with someone you love, laughing or gazing into their loving eyes. How do you feel now? Do you not have more access to positive thinking or manifesting? What is the answer to the initial question now?
Though this is a simple example, it is nevertheless an example of tapping into the strength of our spirit to love, be expansive, attractive, happy and whole. It is this love, this part of our spirit that is often left unattended to, disabling us from truly being whole and healing.
Alas, I do believe there is no separation therefore, between the mind, body or spirit. Never has been, and never will be.
Blessings, Dr. Eva Selhub
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, we encourage you to look into our Spirit Medicine retreat with Dr. Eva Selhub.
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