Physician Healer

Issue 27 Reflections on Healing

Reflections on Healing

I’ve had a lot of time these past few weeks to really think about my own evolution in the topic of healing and how far I’ve come. In normal circumstances, my attention is solely on the other person whom I’m treating. Everything I’ve studied and learned on my own, the purpose of all of that was to give meaning to the lives of the patients I treated. It was always about them. My light always shone on them, and yet, lately, I realized that I hadn’t really spent much of my waking hours thinking about me, my health, my wants, my needs and where am I going.

Come to think of it, I have been on the go, go, go since junior high school, on through college, med school and onto working in the real world. There was always certainty. Would I pass my own clinical evaluation and assessment? Curiously, I discovered that the light shining on me was not all that comfortable. Now that I have had the opportunity to come to a full stop and feel the obligation to contemplate my life’s purpose, what has this lengthy pause propelled me to learn about me? But, enough about me for now. (I will perhaps touch upon my own evolution and transformation in a future issue)

For a great many years now, I have relied on my traditional education to screen acute health issues (new lump, new pain, new headache, new wound) that required immediate standard medical care and provided appropriate action. This was actually the easiest part of my job. The more challenging aspect involved individuals with more chronic complaints, things that have plagued them for months, years, and even decades. Here, we are talking about the chronic migraine, the chronic joint pains, the chronic heartburn and abdominal pains, the chronic inability to sleep or feel happy, the chronic feelings of nervousness and anxiety, weaknesses, fatigue, and so on.

Because much of the above had been going on for a very long time, the majority of the folks had already been through the mill of seeing multiple physicians, having undergone a multitude of testing whether blood or imaging, and then various non-invasive, minimally invasive and significantly invasive procedures only to discover eventually that they were not feeling any better and the symptoms persisted. At this point, they would be told that there was nothing more to offer and that they would just have to live with whatever and were discharged from care.

I felt sad to see so many patients were stuck in this situation. They were alive but really not living well. They were not thriving. I remember thinking,

“Well, they’ve seen everyone and they’ve done everything by the textbook, so what more is there?”

And then, I thought that maybe I could do some searches for more information, of what I don’t really know, but maybe something was driving these chronic symptoms that could not be treated in the usual manner. The medications were either not working or they were causing adverse effects, and for most, the procedures they went through brought them temporary relief at best. There was really no one else to see and seemingly nothing left to do at least in the traditional sense. Much of the personal growth and self-improvement literature talks about the phenomenon that if your purpose is to help and you have innate curiosity, a way will be shown.

I started seeing these sites on nutrition, supplementation, and meditation come up in my search engine and I remembered reading about subjects with which I was familiar and those less familiar. However, for the most part, they all represented new territory for me and begged the question,

“Why wasn’t any of this in my medical school curriculum?”

I wondered at first if there was validity in any of what I was reading that seemed so foreign for me. But, literature after literature, there were so many individual inputs, personal stories that were shared by people all over the world that other modalities existed which could be brought into the treatment arena to maximize well-being and healing of people.

And, I also found it interesting that the patients, instead of actively trying to find a way to resolve their, let’s say, physical limitations in movement (neck, back, shoulders, hands, hips, knees, and so on), frequently gave up and said to me,

“I know nothing can be done. I know I’m just old and I’m feeling it.”

It’s as if they think that aging is somehow inevitable and that it is to be expected. If they only knew there are actually many folks around the world who have unlimited range of motion and are thriving in their later years who don’t regard aging as expected or inevitable. To them, it is life as usual.

I realized almost right away that if the patients were willing and in agreement, I could give them back their power to heal themselves. At first, I placed them on George’s Always Active Aloe (free of aloins and athraquinones) and probiotics that had a minimum of 50 billion CFU and 15 strains (my patients mostly took the Garden of Life brand but there are many others). As for the ingestible aloe, there are many brands out there, as well. I can only vouch for the George’s because it was the first brand with which I started and it has been the mainstay for me, my friends and family; plus, it has been the only brand that has been highly effective in bringing back my patients to a high level of wellness. This was my method of priming the gut’s microbiome. (Note that I do not receive any compensation for any of these suggestions).

Many articles have already been written and continue to be written about the significant benefits of restoring and maintaining gut health, calling the gut “the second brain,” because it communicates directly with the brain. They have discovered that there are more neurons in the digestive system than there are in the brain. This is not a surprise as it is linked to the evolution of our species. Survival was heavily connected to our ability to find food, so the saying, “gut instinct” is not a random invention. Current research now ties the gut health together with brain function, indicating that only a healthy gut facilitates proper hormone production to allow the brain to function normally. The gut and brain are bosom buddies.

If the patient reported that there was complete resolution of most or all of the initial symptoms reported on day 1, I then addressed stress management with them, teaching them the Meridian Therapy technique, as well as basic principles of meditation. If they were not interested, I left it at that and respected their decision. People have to be ready and receptive for treatment to be effective. If, however, they needed more help with the gut, I’d have them add other herbs/supplements. Some of the more effective ones have been marshmallow root and slippery elm. Comfrey and fenugreek were others that were effective. Others found turmeric, zinc, and L-glutamine to also be of help. Again, nothing is universally effective and tolerated by everyone, but the majority of my patients found tremendous relief with these methods. Eliminating gluten and dairy was also recommended and emphasized to reduce any chance of systemic inflammation.

Whether or not some of the patients chose to move forward with the spiritual part of the formula (Meridian Therapy and meditation), my best success stories were those who participated in the spiritual aspect of treatment. Healing and wholeness consist of 3 arms — the mind, the body, and the spirit. There is a basic understanding that we are made of energy. A simple example is why we use the electrical paddles to bring a person back to life when the heart has stopped. Even if some of us weren’t convinced about energy fields moving through and within our system, we understand that we are at least electrical and that is also the reason why lightening can zap us if we are not grounded with rubber soles. We are excellent conductors. But, more on stress management beginning with breath work. Most people don’t realize that slow and long breathing in and out signal the body that the environment is safe and that we can relax. Shallow breathing in which we keep the breath within the chest cavity is usually what we do when there is danger in the environment, causing us to be anxious.

To demonstrate, try the following simple experiment:

1) Close your eyes and inhale through your nose following the breath all the way down to the belly, expanding the chest cavity and the belly, time it so that this lasts 7 seconds.

2) With the eyes still closed, exhale slowly through the mouth with pursed lips, counting 7 seconds again.

3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 for a total of 3 times (or more if desired). Then, breathe normally.

4) Continuing with your eyes closed, find the areas corresponding to your chest areas that are bordered by the collarbones the breast bone (under the collarbone and to the side of the breast bone) and gently use light repetitive pressure (tap these areas) from the finger tips onto these areas. For example, if you were to pledge allegiance to the flag with your R hand, you would place your R hand to your L chest and then curl the fingers and began lightly tapping the area. You could also do the same thing with your L hand positioned at the R chest. These sensitive areas span roughly 3 inches in diameter, so you can move the tapping fingers around the entire circle. Once you are familiar with the areas you can access the R chest with the R hand and the L chest with the L hand simultaneously without having to cross the hands awkwardly.

5) Do step 4 for about 5-10 minutes when you are just starting and say the following words:

—Why am I so peaceful now that I didn’t notice before?

—Why am I so relaxed now that I didn’t notice before?

—Why is everything going so smoothly for me now that I didn’t notice before?

—Why am I so healthy now that I didn’t notice before?

—Why am I so happy now that I didn’t notice before?

—Why is there so much magic in my life now that I didn’t notice before?

(You can modify and change the words as you see fit or repeat the above until your 5-10 minutes are up; again, as time goes on, you can do this for a longer period of time)

(Of note, there are also many other points on the body that can be accessed and I will speak about those in subsequent issues. These are, by the way, acupressure end points that affect our energy pathways by unblocking them)

You should begin to feel a little lighter, a little less anxious and more calm and relaxed. If not, it’s ok, try again later or the next day. The secret is consistency, persistence and most importantly, patience and belief.

Remember that it is always wise to let your physician know what you’re doing.

Thank you for reading. Until next time, remember to journal your gratitudes, dreams remembered, and next steps to take to go for the win if there are things you feel could be improved as you move forward in your life’s journey. Remember to gear up your nutrition with whole foods in the form of fresh green and colorful vegetables, berries, nuts, seeds, avocados, eggs, sustainable fish and lean meats (unless vegan), and most importantly hydrate with plenty of water (not soda, milk, fruit juice or coffee).

With love and gratitude,

Celeste Amaya, MD