This weekend we learned of the passing of a well-known and loved connector of holistic and green living enthusiasts.  She fought cancer for months using a host of local natural treatments as well as traveling to South America for shamanic ceremonies.  Now that her fight has ended, some question why “alternative” (ancient) medicine did not lead her to health.

We might all do well to first remember that we never truly know what goes on inside another.  We cannot know the cause of their illness or dis-ease, nor can we know how much or little any treatment(s) actually help to heal or prolong life.  Ours is simply to love each other through this very individual journey of life.

In light of recent conversations, I feel guided to explore some of the reasons why holistic treatments may be perceived to fail, or at least to fail our expectations.  (Note: the following in no way reflects on any specific individual.)

We don’t really get to root-cause. Our bodies are conscious energy and space designed to flow. As we move through the challenging lessons here in Earth School, we often carry forward pain and anger from experiences.  Harboring these tensions in our body, our energetic flow is blocked, the regions where we hold these feelings become dense and stagnant, and disease manifests. Like finding and removing a damn from a river, if the builder remains, another damn will likely soon appear. Our responsibility is to go into these strong, long-held emotions and release them so we can truly heal at the core.

We don’t believe it will work.  Just as the placebo effect proves we can get well with virtually no medicine beyond the power of the mind, so can believing something will not work guarantee that it will not. Our minds are infinitely powerful.  If we do not believe it will help, the honest truth is that it will not, no matter how much we may wish it would.

We don’t really want to get well. Before you say I’m crazy, consider a moment with me. We learn a lot from sickness and disease. Have we learned all that it can teach us? Maybe we’re afraid of what life will be like on the other side of this, so we unconsciously stay sick to avoid moving forward into the scary unknown of the future. Sometimes we have been starved for attention our whole lives and now have someone taking care of us. Do we know how to get those needs for affection and support met when we are well? Are we lonely and really don’t want our caretakers and concerned well-wishers to go away? The reasons can be as unique and numerous as we all are, but possibly we don’t really want to get well.

We are not working with a clear practitioner. If a holistic practitioner or energy worker has unresolved issues of their own that they are unaware of, they may unconsciously bring that energy into their practice. For example, if you have a practitioner with unresolved anger, (s)he may be sensing anger in you that is really his/her own. Ask your Divine guidance about this and trust your intuition before working with anyone.

We may be using incompatible modalities. Eastern and western medicine can work well together, but each needs to know about the other and be open to working together. Hiding one range of diagnoses and treatments from another modality of practice can be ineffective to downright dangerous (as in not disclosing conditions or medications before beginning another practice, routine, or ceremony.) Many paths lead to the same place but we should be open about what we are doing with all our tour guides.

We weren’t listening. Sometimes we can get so distracted in our earthly busyness that we get completely sidetracked from what we came here to learn and do. If we are not listening to our Divine guidance any other way, this may be the only way for our Spirit Guides and Divine guidance to get our attention. How can we know if this is the reason? When we finally get still and meditate regularly, all our questions are quickly answered. It is not in the doing but in the listening that we know truth.

We may have a contract for this illness/injury/disease. Much like the last one, we may have agreed to take this on as part of our karmic journey or an element that would help us in fulfilling what Carolyn Myss so thoroughly describes as our sacred contracts .

What are your experiences and insights on this topic?  Please share so we can grow together in healing ourselves and life on this planet!

Namaste and much love,

Sheryl Sitts, Founder ~ Journey of Possibilities