Healing and Disease - The Big Picture (Part 1)

Disease is a process, Healing is holistic

What does it take to heal a disease?

Is it a magic pill? An injection? A surgical procedure? A mechanical device implanted in your body?

Is it food? Nature? Sunlight? Therapy? A prayer?

There’s never a simple, trite answer to this problem - for disease is unique to each individual and their situation. There are countless factors that contribute to its incubation, escalation, and persistence.

But by examining the root causes of disease, we can begin the journey of discovering what’s really wrong. We can peel back the layers of problems, like an onion, releasing and healing them one at a time.

In the evolving field of new medicine, there is a core tenet that informs my own coaching and healing practice…

The root of most disease is:

1. Emotional trauma

2. The belief systems we build around them

3. The environments and experiences we shape around those beliefs

This week, multiple synchronistic events tested and reinforced this hypothesis.

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Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

It began with a family emergency - my father was admitted to a hospital due to a kidney stone and an infection. He’s OK now, after a miraculous recovery which I’ll detail in Part 2 of this series. But for now, know that this event set the stage for this next experience.

After visiting Dad at the hospital, my partner and I attended the Somatic Trauma Healing Immersion conference in San Diego. Headlined by legends in the field such as Gabor Maté PhD, Arielle Schwartz PhD, Peter Levine PhD, and more; I must admit I had a bit of a ‘fanboy moment’ watching them live and getting my books signed.

It was interesting to hear these titans illuminate the gap between traditional clinical education in a hyper-capitalist system and the lived experience of healers in the field. A key theme was this new wave of somatic healing; focusing on the inextricable connection between the mind and body.

Dr. Gabor Maté speaking at the Somatic Trauma Healing Immersion conference

Dr. Maté states:

Doctors are trained to understand disease as a random event usually caused by external agents — bacteria, viruses — or genetics. We’re not taught to look at patients’ formative experiences or multigenerational stress patterns.

When was the last time your surgeon asked you: How stressful is your life? How are your emotions? How is the relationship with your parents, your siblings, your partner? What emotions are you holding onto?

In the legacy medical world, these mental and emotional concepts are considered completely independent of your physical body and its ailments. But based on a growing body of research, that is simply not the complete truth.

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What is Trauma?

We often think of trauma as a physical wound we receive from a freak accident or some act of violence. But it’s deeper than that. Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside.

It’s the story we cannot release - of our pain, the identity we attach to it, and the emotions we feel because of it. It’s the accumulation of that ongoing perception of suffering, stored in our nervous system and subconscious, literally reshaping our brain and body.

This is simultaneously a physical, emotional, and energetic manifestation within our bodies.

Emotions and Thoughts Change Your Genetics

Well documented in the research of Bruce Lipton, PhD (Biology of Belief), our bodies respond directly to our environment. This happens at the cellular level (epigenetics) and in direct relation to the energetic signature of our thoughts.

These messages trigger gene expression, where the DNA in cells send proteins (or certain types of RNA) to different organs in the body, informing them to behave in certain ways: turn on, turn off, repair, heal, etc.

We are not controlled by our genes, rather it is our consciousness and adaptive response to environmental stimuli that controls our genetics.

The Body Keeps Score

Putting this knowledge into context of trauma, the story that you create about your wounds are reinforcing. Your body is listening to you, following instructions.

This process is researched and explained in Bessel Van Der Kolk’s M.D.’s book: The Body Keeps The Score.

Traumatic memories are stored with a genetic imprint within your brain, your nervous system, your muscles, your fat cells, your organs, your skeletal structure. It is embedded deep within your subconscious and emerges as emotional reactions, physical symptoms, or unexplained behaviors.

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What is Disease?

Here’s a new way to look at disease: at it’s core, illness is a manifestation of problems in your life. It’s the result of a cascading process within you, not a singular event. It has a history, and that story has something to teach you.

Disease is your body’s last resort to respond to stimuli that are not good for you, whether it be what you ingest, what you’re exposed to, how you feel, or the nature of your inter-relational dynamics.

Think of it this way: your immune system and emotional systems serve as boundaries. Immune cells and phagocytes kill invading germs and unfriendly viruses. Your anger keeps away toxic or dangerous people.

These systems are deeply integrated with your hormonal and nervous systems. United, they keep you safe and healthy. When one of them weakens, the rest of your system weakens.

Consider studies that demonstrate how trauma (eg PTSD) suppresses the immune system. When your mental health suffers, so does your ability to fight off disease.

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Expanding the Healer’s Toolbox

Healing a human being requires seeing the full picture of their life - their mindset, their emotions, their stories, their surroundings. It requires a deep connection to their very soul.

This is unique to every individual, and ultimately I believe the best approach is to empower them with knowledge and choice.

Whatever path you BELIEVE is the right way for you to heal - is the right one. No one knows your body, your mind, your journey, better than you.

The medical industrial complex has lost touch with this truth on the road to efficiency, scalability, and profit.

This is not to say that traditional techniques from western medicine are worthless or irrelevant. On the contrary, these are essential emergency tools that we need in times of crisis. They save lives.

My hope is to expand the options we have available to healing; a holistic, systemic, progressive, proactive approach. We need to consider the integration of a person’s:

• Emotional state

• Belief systems

• Stress and environment

• Sleep

• Nutrition

• Relationships

• Spirituality and energy

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll continue this exploration with some stories, some fascinating new research, and some additional hypotheses. Until then, may your week be peaceful, joyful, and healthy!

Healing and Disease - The Big Picture (Part 2)

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What I’m Doing This Week

Gratitude

I’m grateful my father is safe, healing, and happy.

Lesson Learned

Resist the urge to constantly DO, and simply BE. Watch how beautifully life unfolds for you.

Listening to

Just Because by Cape Francis

Watching

A vulnerable and profound conversation around trauma, addiction, food compulsion, healing, and forgiveness. Danny Morel and Jillian Acosta delve into deep emotional truths that many of us are not fully conscious of or are too afraid to confront directly.

Reading

Yes, they’re real. 🐉

Paleontologists discover a 240-million-year-old 'Chinese dragon'

Self-care

Meditation, yoga, HIIT, stretching, muscle scraping, sunlight, nature, naps, honest conversation and compassionate reflection