"'This psychosomatic network requires a new way of thinking about physiology in order to be understood. In the reigning-paradigm mind-set, the term psychosomatic is used pejoratively, as if symptoms that are psychosomatic are false and don't deserve attention or treatment. After all, they can't be 'real,' because they're all in your mind!
"But in the new view of medicine and wellness, a psychosomatic state is the basis for a fresh approach to healing disease; for feeling well emotionally; and for creating a different, more desirable reality. Yes, your symptoms are in your body, but they are also always in your mind, either consciously or subconsciously. Mind and body are not split in two, so what happens in one occurs in the other, too. This is the fundamental tenet of what I call the new-paradigm physiology.'"
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) began this dualistic split between spirit and body in the 16th century. Up until that time the Church frowned upon scientists probing the body to find its "secrets". It was pretty much simply forbidden. Because he was a mathematician & scientist, he looked at everything in those terms. Mathematics defined the entire physical world. The physical could be seen, but the mental (emotional & spiritual) could not, and Descartes separated them into two completely different realms. In his mind, neither one had anything to do with the other. If the mental, meaning spiritual, can't be measure then it all fell outside the walls of the scientific castle. It was left to the priests to decide. Scientists wouldn't touch it.
This all worked well for a couple of centuries, as it kept the scientists out of prison for meddling in spiritual affairs of the mind. It also has given us today a very mechanical sort of medicine. Take a pill and all will be well. Most physicians aren't taught, nor have, or take the time today to ask a patient what is going on in their lives, meaning emotionally or spiritually. Thus, we still are suffering the effects of Descartes' philosophy. It's doesn't seem to be serving us too well anymore.
Illness is more than just a mechanistic breakdown of the body. And the paragraph above from Dr. Pert shows, there is a new approach to medicine. Much more is happening than meets the physical eye. Our emotions and spiritual state do impact our health. In fact, they probably impact us more than we could ever rightly imagine.
As this new approach and the new scientific evidence continues to mount, it is time we all begin to reexamine our health in light of these new, or resurrected, ideas. Spirit was once part of medicine, back centuries, when the whole man was treated. Unfortunately, centuries ago we didn't have antibiotics or surgery to help heal, as we do now.
Many of the complementary "energy medicine" modalities of today are beginning to reconnect these 2 realms. If the emotional health impacts physical health, why not use both to treat disease? Why not explore & "pull out" any negative emotional events, and then treat what is left of the disease with modern medicine? Sometimes, negative emotional events can also be associated with some spiritual issue, too, like unforgiveness or unconfessed sin. Illness is the effect of sin in our world. Because EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) does ease many physical symptoms because those same symptoms are rooted in emotional/spiritual events of the past, maybe time has come to consider using it in addition to conventional medical treatment?
For more information, go to www.eftforchristians.com
Always remember to take complete responsibility for your own health and well-being.
Sherrie Rice Smith
Author of EFT for Christians
EFTforChristians.com
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