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There is an old saying, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” Today’s health conscious converts might change that old maxim to: “Everyone wants a healthy body, but nobody wants a health crisis.” And, we might add, nobody wants to take responsibility for their own body.
A healing crisis is a severe symptom, or set of symptoms, which may appear quite suddenly or unexpectedly during the course of natural healing. If patients are not educated to the normal re-balancing act the body must do to regain equilibrium, they might possibly become frightened or distrustful of the treatment they are undergoing, be it chiropractic, acupuncture, nutritional, homeopathic, etc. Holistic practitioners often assume that their patients understand the self-healing process, or are afraid to tell them that they might be feeling a whole lot worse before they begin to feel better.
While western allopathic or systematic medicine focuses on offering instant relief by relieving distressful symptoms, disease (dis-ease) is not generally acquired (or cured) overnight. Rather, it is a gradual build-up of toxic material and the resulting weakening of the immune and other body systems. A toxic body exhibits acute symptoms, screaming for attention, and is then rewarded for its vigilance with techniques of suppression. In western medicine, symptoms are treated with experimental chemicals, narcotically dulled, or the body is surgically invaded to remove the offended organ or body part. There are genetically inherited diseases, accidents, and contagious illnesses, but most of mankind’s problems are of a chronic nature.
Every body, (everybody) being unique, responds differently to natural healing techniques. Holistic practitioners observe that detoxification encompasses a wide range of uncomfortable symptoms, including headaches, nausea, body aches, boils, swollen glands, and other flu-like miseries. Human bodies have an enormous ability to handle and store toxins. But once a true healing process has been initiated, these toxins begin to leave the tissues, and enter the circulatory system toward elimination. The sudden overload of these putrid substances creates a healing crisis, a natural ally to the healing process; less to be feared and more to be respected for the miraculous role it plays in reestablishing health.
Although I trust natural healing alternatives such as fasting, cleansing, and herbs, I also know the value of a good osteopath, dentist, or pediatrician. If a problem has been ignored for too long, the offended part needs to be cut out, as in the case of a gangrenous appendix, abscessed tooth, or other too far gone situation. A broken bone needs to be set, and a baby sometimes needs an emergency C-section. Doctors are useful with their advanced technological and diagnostic tools, but often lack any empathy for their patients, and have little patience with patients who start talking about taking some of the responsibility for healing into their own hands with the use of herbs and other alternative, less invasive healing techniques.
Much of the healing process depends on faith in the techniques and knowledge employed by the health care practitioner, whether Native medicine man or woman, holistic caregiver, religious leader, or regular M.D.. If I have been previously healed through the use of herbs or from a combination of methods and a healing blessing, then when I am sick again, I will seek the same help, regardless of all other medical advice. On the other hand, I can understand that someone with little herbal experience or religious background would more naturally gravitate toward a scientific approach to their health problems. It all boils down to where you will put your hope and faith.
Traditional Chinese doctors were paid to keep their clients well. Modern health care professionals benefit when their patients are sick. What is their incentive to keep people well? If their patients are well, they don’t need medical services, and aren’t subject to billing. Since doctors often lack a complete understanding of the healing process, determining the root cause and educating patients is not high on their list of priorities.
Thankfully, many doctors today are worried about losing their patients to alternative doctors, and are incorporating alternative offerings in their practice. As usual, the bottom line is profit, but it’s better than the previous antagonistic attitude.
Since it is your life we are discussing, shopping for medical specialists is a bit like shopping for a safe and conscientious airline. In both cases, you are putting your life into someone else’s hands. Thomas Edison said that “the doctors of the future will give no medicine, but will interest their patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause of diseases.”
It stands to reason that the more we can learn about how our bodies work and what kind of fuel they operate best on, the more responsibility we take in determining what outcomes will manifest themselves in our bodies further on down through the years. It is much too common to assume that bad things just happen to people as they age. We may slow down a bit, but there is no reason to give up and die just because we hit some predetermined age that is considered old. We need to keep doing the things that bring us joy, and perhaps we can even try something new. My neighbors are about 98 and 96, and they are always out in their yard, hoeing weeds, and working their garden and flowers over with a fine-toothed comb. Another Gentle Survivalist, Evelyn Lercher of Utah, 78 years of age, loves to run . . . performing her first competitive long and high jumps at 60, and even learning to roller blade at 74!
SIMPLE SELF-DISCIPLINE: Sophisticated medical care is costly, but who, at death’s door, will keep their money in the bank if there is the slightest chance that a new procedure can offer them hope? Money pales in significance when measured against the preciousness of life. It is a rare person who, when offered a few more days, says, “No . . . I’ve had a good life, and I’m ready to go.”
Temporary life extension is medical science’s last feeble attempt to preserve life in the face of the inevitable. That the cost is astronomical and can
wipe out a family’s savings is of little concern to hospital administrators.
Caught up in the maelstrom of emotional and financial turmoil, most elderly patients and their families are in denial of death. On some level, they are aware that most life saving procedures are only gambles for a few more days or weeks, but are willing to take that chance . . . even feel that it is their duty to do so. Their desperate tug o’ wars with the angel of death for last minute extensions are futile at best in their advanced state of deterioration. These ghoulish bids to preserve life using heroic measures could, in most cases, have been avoided by simply adhering to common sense dietary habits.
Most chronic suffering and deterioration of organ functions are a result of a chemical imbalance brought about by over-consumption and poor food choices. These imbalances result in dis-ease. The key to simplified health care is learning to take responsibility for one’s own health through education, exercise, strengthening the immune system, eating judiciously, and regular checkups with a health care provider that one can trust and interact with like an intelligent adult.
In Egypt, an ancient hieroglyph warns future generations: “Man lives on one-quarter of what he swallows. Doctors live off the other three quarters.” Thousands of years ago, wise men had already found out that the key to a long and healthy life is simple self-discipline.
As Gentle Survivalists, I hope we are working to maintain our earthly temples in a state of balance and health. Give them premium fuel in the form of fresh seasonal foods, regular internal cleansing, periodic fasting, some hard work or exercise every day, and the proper amount of sleep. If we learn to listen to the wisdom of our bodies now, we won’t have to relinquish all rights to it in the hands of some doctor practicing medicine at the close of our lives. We need not be poked, prodded, and hooked up to machines to see how many more days or weeks science can squeeze out of us, when we deserve to leave our tabernacles in quiet dignity.
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