“Healing” is a concept that is still new to modern society. Many in both the traditional methods of healing and ‘alternative’ circles are still just beginning to comprehend what it means to truly heal. It is not just about restoring your health and receiving additional positive effects from doing so, but true healing causes your perception and your world to drastically shift. Healing is really an experience of changing your life, often dramatically.

Regardless of which therapy or treatment you receive, whether it is conventional or alternative in nature, the most important gain from that treatment is the impetus for an internal shift.

There is an often told miracle story about a woman who endured a fatal car accident. The impact crushed her abdomen and smashed her bones. She was dying, yet during this traumatic moment, while waiting for the ambulance, she had a perspective-shifting, awakening experience. In that moment, she found a new determination to live. Her doctor told her that she would never walk again, but despite his prognosis, she started walking in three weeks. As she recovered, she started seeing her life differently. She began experiencing joy and happiness in a more mindful lifestyle, rather than a hectic and stressful corporate life. She had experienced success in her previous career, but opted for a change. She began learning healing modalities and now teaches healing arts in a college. The accident was simply a causative trigger for a life-changing healing.

Another woman developed multiple health conditions simultaneously as a result of overworking and living a stressful life. One of the conditions was cancer. She decided to pursue conventional treatments and fortunately her condition was resolved and she became cancer free. The trauma of being diagnosed with cancer; however, totally changed her lifestyle as well as her priorities and she decided not to return to the stressful job she held prior to being diagnosed with cancer. Instead, she decided to learn how to heal others, and is now a reflexologist. Again, you can observe the drastic change to her life’s circumstances.

In the famous documentary, “Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead”, the main character is severely ill due to an autoimmune disorder. He was taking countless medications, yet he remained sick. One day he decided to cure his illness naturally, only consuming green juices. He continued juicing for 6 months, while touring the United States. Not only did he cure himself, but he helped millions by sharing his documentary with the public who shared his courage, support, and hope for healing. His initial condition of being sick, and finding a healing path, resulted in a life that changed not only his own health, but likely the health of millions of others.

These stories illustrate that healing is not limited to recovery of an illness. In fact, it is a transformation. True healing usually causes us to discard our old set of beliefs. We shift into a new lifestyle, and often other changes will transpire, which reflect our newly elevated, ‘healed’ sense of self. This will sometimes manifest as a change in career or the development of a new relationship which allows us to live more freely or passionately toward those things which bring us joy.

These are just a few of the numerous, remarkable healing stories people are experiencing. Throughout each of these stories, there are common threads that show us the positive effects of true healing. As I too have undergone a spiritual transformation from a human rights lawyer into an integrative practitioner of eastern and energy medicine, I have witnessed many transformations in others and want to share the holistic benefits of a complete and total healing. Just like my patients, I endured a radical change when I was healed.

To summarize, here is what you can expect when traversing your healing journey:
 

1. Liberation from the Old

All our memories are stored in our tissues, muscles, cells, and auras, among many other places within our physical and subtle bodies. Our memories contain both our wonderful, blissful, joyful experiences, as well as the extremely negative ones. All of these memories live in our subconscious mind, which in fact controls most of our daily decision-making. Often this happens without our conscious awareness, as we are constantly in reaction to these stored emotions within us. Negative emotional or behavioral patterns may contribute to perpetuating unhappiness or difficulties in life. You may have noticed that people with burdensome loads of negative emotions often are subject to life-long, repeated incidences which seem to reinforce that negative emotional state. The same seems to be true for people who most often feel joyful or at ease.

Healing begins with letting go of old emotions, recognizing our negative patterns without judgment, and shining light on the negative ego that does not serve our wellbeing. As these emotional patterns are released from our tissues, muscles, and cells, (as well as our subtle bodies) we can then start to live life from a pure emotional state. This state is not affected by unfelt emotions which prohibit forward progress in our careers, relationships, and a thousand other circumstances that we may be experiencing in life. This liberation from stuck emotions is as palpable and real as being freed from a prison.

2. Awakening of the Heart

During healing, there may be a moment when the heart suddenly opens up and experiences the world differently. You will likely experience a shift in the senses, your feelings, and a capacity to give and receive – listening, speaking, and expressing your actions very differently than you did before. Instead of holding judgmental and limiting views about your surroundings, you may wish to reside in hope and make an effort to bring positive qualities and values into your life. You realize that inside of you there is something reliable that you can count on and trust, called “self-love”.

Instead of viewing the world as being against you, you will feel connected to all things, and understand that nothing can work against you, as it is part and parcel of you. You also gain the added insight which comes from an open heart. As Pema Chodron once said, “If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”

3. Discovering the Truth Within

Healing is not limited to passive learning. It encourages you to embark on a journey to search and understand who you really are. The old axiom which says, “Know Thyself” applies. The study of spirituality in modern society often relegates our development to specific goals: healing from an illness, finding the right career, finding a romantic partner, building abundance, and so on. Although these positive goals are valuable, we often limit the extent of our achievements within this fixed perspective. The ancient study of spirituality, on the contrary, has more to do with achieving internal, rather than external progress. The ancient way of understanding Truth requires that we seek wisdom which is not just self serving (of the small, egoic self), but that serves the greater whole of which we are a part.

The Truth is inclusive of our physical and spiritual planes as a whole, including our environment, society and Universe where we live. If we happen to achieve personal success in the process, this happens within that context. Our true Self, however, will always flourish.

4. Transformational

After a healing experience, many may not necessarily want to go back to where they lived before, or where they worked. They may not want to interact with the same people. They often feel that their old career, old life style, old vision, or old personal goals are no longer appropriate for their newfound Self. Of course, transformation at the physical level requires deep commitment and sacrifice of the life you used to possess, but when the urge for transformation becomes great enough, you develop the courage to actually make this commitment for change.  The healing experience is often the driving force behind a transformation of your life in the direction you wish to live.

5. Empowerment

When a true healing is completed, the Soul is empowered. When this happens, it is common to feel that you want to share your personal healing story and help others to also heal and transform. Although the people in the stories above decided to become healing practitioners after their own healing journeys, there are a number of ways that we might be called to share our newfound insights. We might feel an urge to volunteer, mentor, or develop a conscious business, and so on. The transformation often leads you to follow the path of a real conscious living, such as fulfilling your life purpose, life mission, and service to humanity.

Healing is a joy and a positive process for discovery. It is uplifting and exciting with limitless outcomes. Many are often surprised to observe how much their lives change after looking back over a true healing journey.

Why Use a Healer?

Although it is possible to obtain healing on your own, it is often much easier and faster to work with a healing practitioner or a guide. Even if we are profoundly insightful when it comes to other’s stuck emotions, we can often be blind when it comes to our own. This is because the ego develops some very sneaky and elaborate ways of keeping us in our present state of awareness. The ego doesn’t want us to grow, because this involves an ‘ego-death.’

Though we are ever-changing, the ego feels most comfortable when we cling to our old habits, and old wounds which keep us in that emotional prison of non-healing.

Building trust and a profound relationship with a healing practitioner can help us to discover those blind spots, or those emotional blocks we may be most afraid of uprooting.

As we learn to trust another’s healing tools, we can create a sound foundation for the most exciting journey of healing which awaits us.

Mika Ichihara is an integrative master practitioner, master teacher, and the founder/owner of Love & Compassion Integrative Healing Center located in Manhattan, NY. Her Center offers unique quality holistic care and total body – mind medicine. Built on her 18 years of experience, she developed integrative programs that incorporate Eastern Medicine/Japanese-style acupuncture, Reiki Energy – Soul Healing, and Conscious Medicine for for physical, emotional and spiritual issues, self-awareness and life style changes for transformation. For more information on her practice and the Center, please visit www.loveandcompassion.com.