Limiting Wellness Beliefs: Healing Requires A Healer or Remedies

I recently heard Bruce Lipton say that most of us hold the limiting belief that we need a doctor to get well. Surely I thought I was not one of those people until I listened further.

He asked if you ever got better once you scheduled your appointment or were on your way. Yes, I remembered a few times when my persistent symptoms mysteriously disappeared before seeing the doctor.

Most of us are conditioned to think we need a doctor from birth. Were you born in a hospital? Did you start seeing a doctor before you were even born? Did you take pills, shots or remedies because you "needed them" to get well? Yes again. I'm starting to see how easy it is to have beliefs programmed into the unconscious mind without ever realizing it.

Of course, that's just the tip of our healthy needs belief system. We've been conditioned to believe we have to eat a well balanced diet, get vaccines, and do a variety of things to get and stay well. Most of us would agree these are smart things to do. Yet there are reports of people who appear perfectly healthy (I do have to wonder how true it is) who never eat or drink. They are called breatharians because they live on prana or love. Or perhaps you've heard of the woman who only consumes beer and the gentleman who has only eaten fruit for the last 12 years.

Those examples are extremes and I'm only presenting them to push at the boundaries of our beliefs a bit. The idea is not to become a prisoner to the limiting beliefs that you will only get well if you see a doctor, behave a certain way, or have a specific remedy. It's the difference between using these various forms of help as saviors you can't live without or as resources that facilitate the self-healing abilities of your mind and body.

I think the real danger in this belief system isn't that it leads us to seek help, which could be a very good thing, but that we disempower ourselves by turning over our decision-making power and responsibility for our health to others or a little pill. We trust someone or something else over our own wisdom and intuition. We want it instant and easy without doing what it takes.

Do doctors, healers and remedies really heal us?

We may all be surprised some day to learn that the vast majority of all healing interventions is little more than a grand placebo effect.

I remember as a young child hearing people laugh about my grandmother. For years she took her little white anxiety pill. Heaven forbid she ran out. She'd carry on and faint. She was the only one who didn't know it was a sugar pill. In those days it was legal and probably quite wise of her doctor to 'treat' her in this way.

In recent years, we've seen successful results from placebo surgeries for knees, Parkinson's disease and even bypass surgery. Pharmaceuticals have a hard time beating out dummy drugs to make it to market.

All this has left many people wondering if the primary benefit of many medical interventions is mostly in our heads. The mind believes strongly that it will make us better so it does.

The truth is that your unconscious routinely initiates healing. Your body is very capable of healing itself. It does so all the time. We expect cuts to heal and colds to go away. Cells are repaired regularly, cancer cells are suppressed, infectious agents are gobbled up by your immune system, wounds heal. All without any awareness on our part.

Does this mean that you should never go to a doctor, healer, or favorite saint? Of course not. If you have a serious injury, please hurry to the nearest emergency room. If you believe in the power of prayer, then pray. There is great wisdom in knowing when it's appropriate to use the resources that are available and get help.

The point here isn't whether you should get medical treatment, or reiki or dab on some tea tree oil or not. All these modalities are tools in your self-healing toolbox. We all need some help sometimes. We all want help sometimes. It's all good if it puts you in a better space. Use what appeals to you. Work with who and what feels right to you and what you believe in.

Did the people who had the placebos really need a healer or a drug or energy medicine? No, in the sense that it truly was only their own mind that initiated self- healing. Yes, in the sense that they needed these helpers to activate their beliefs. When that happened, so did the self-healing. They were healed according to their belief system. This isn't a bad thing. In a way it's rather miraculous. Much of it is still a mystery. My philosphy is "whatever it takes".

So I encourage you to examine your own beliefs about who or what you require for healing. Open your mind and entertain possibilities. Ask your mind and body how and why it is healing itself. Ask who or what they needs or want in order to heal. You don't even need to consciously answer. Just offer the question every once in a while and let your subconscious mind work it out. Do follow your inspiration. Make empowering choices. Do for yourself what you can and get help when needed.

Try this simple belief shift. Instead of saying "I need a (doctor, healer, pill, remedy)", say "I choose to get help from ..". Notice how different these statements feel.

Let us know where the road takes you. Share your comments below.