Once you have become aware of an aspect of yourself that needs healing, as well as what may have caused its separation or movement towards dis-ease, you can begin to acknowledge both that it is in a state of dis-ease, as well as your potential to heal it. The process of acknowledgment can be both a conscious decision, as well as an automatic response. However it may arise, acknowledgment is the next step in healing and is necessary in order for you to move on.
Although you may be aware of something does not necessarily mean you have acknowledged it. Very often, an individual may experience a healing process in the form of a chronic illness such as cancer, AIDS, or heart disease. They know that they are having this experience. They are aware. Yet, they may deny their experience in an effort to alleviate the pain and protect themselves emotionally. When we are told by our doctor that we “have” a disease or condition, especially those as socially cursed as cancer, it can be very painful to our psyche. We may think thoughts, as well as hear them from our loved ones, such as, “Oh my God. How can this be happening? What have I done to deserve this? This can’t be happening!” By asking such questions, we deny that we are having the experience, and parts of our self become separated from the whole. These parts of our self that are suffering need our attention and acknowledgment, so that we may remember them and unite, or re-member, them once again with the whole.
There is a joke that denial is not a river in Egypt. Actually denial may be a river in Egypt. Let’s look at the story of Moses and the Hebrew slaves from the ancient scriptures. This story from the Book of Exodus holds a profound truth about denial and the power of acknowledgment. You may have seen the movie Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston or the cartoon The Prince of Egypt. They tell the story of Moses and the Hebrew people being held as slaves in Egypt. This story is a wonderful metaphor for the healing process. The word Egypt in Hebrew is “Mitzraim,” which translates to from distresses or troubles.
For four hundred years, the Hebrew people were slaves to the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, being forced to work under horrendous conditions. They were fed barely just enough to keep them alive. It was only when the Pharaoh’s stepson, Moses, a Hebrew orphan, became aware of his Hebrew heritage that things began to change. Seeing the suffering amongst his people, he left Egypt, and wandered through the desert for forty years. During this time he became more and more aware of the importance of his people and his responsibility to free them. The name Moses actually means “to draw out.”
After the forty years had passed, he returned to Egypt to demand the Pharaoh free his people with the famous line, “Let my people go!” He expressed to the Pharaoh, as well as to his people, that the Hebrew slaves were the chosen people of the one and only God that created all things, and that he demanded that they be freed. Upon hearing Moses’ demands, the Pharaoh increased the work of the slaves and decreased their food. The Pharaoh was made aware, yet this awareness actually caused the people to suffer even more.
Often when you become aware of something, the discomfort may increase. Have you ever had your arm fall asleep? You may have woken up in the middle of the night to feel a strange arm next to you. You throw on the light and realize that it is your arm! You rub it, squeeze it, and pinch it to get some feeling back into it. How does it feel when sensation begins to return to the arm? First it tingles, then it stings, then it burns, then it throbs, then it just outright hurts! After the pain subsides, your arm comes back to life.
When I started Chiropractic school, I was invited to a house-warming party of a fellow student named Helene. At this party, I met a woman named Cathy who was in a wheel chair. We began talking and she told me that she had been paralyzed from the waist down since the age of six after what seemed to be a minor fall. After the fall, the feeling in her legs began to disappear and after a few weeks she could no longer move them. It was now over 50 years later and she had never regained her ability to feel or move her legs. The party ended, I said my good-byes, after which I would sometimes think of her, but never thought I’d ever see her again.
Four years later, it was time for graduation. My friend, Helene, who had the original house-warming party, invited me to a graduation party. We were having a great time, when suddenly a woman walked into the room who looked so familiar. I asked Helene who that was? She said it was Cathy! I couldn’t believe it. Here was a woman who four years ago had been confined to a wheelchair for over 50 years, and now she was walking into the room!
I stared at her like a little child who was seeing an angel. She saw my stare, recognized me, and came over with a smile and said, “Nice legs, huh.” I laughed and tears came to my eyes. I asked her, “What happened?” She explained to me that she had been under Chiropractic care, specifically Network Spinal Analysis for the last four years, getting her spine adjusted every day, sometimes three or four times per day. The process was slow, but the feeling and mobility had returned to her legs. I asked her what it was like, and do you know what she said? “It was the most painful experience of my life.”
This wonderful true story demonstrates that healing can often be a very painful experience. Even though pain, discomfort, or other symptoms are increasing, it does not mean the problem is getting worse, it just means you are beginning to feel more. Healing is not about feeling better, it is about being able to better feel.
Let’s get back to Moses. He made the Pharaoh and the slaves aware of their importance and the need for them to be free, yet the pain and suffering increased. The healing had begun. Ten plagues came down upon the Egyptians (symptoms?). Each plague came down with every denial of the Pharaoh, becoming worse and worse each time. After the last plague killed his son, he finally acknowledged who the slaves were and let Moses’ people go. The people were free and they experienced well-being for the first time in four hundred years. It is only when we acknowledge, or accept as true, that which we have become aware, that we can begin to heal.
The story does not end there however. Realizing what he had done, the Pharaoh once again denied the Hebrew people and chased after them to destroy them. Unfortunately, Moses had a wonderful ability to split large bodies of water and eventually the Hebrews escaped and the Pharaoh and his Egyptian troops drowned beneath the waters (an ancient symbol for emotion). The moral of this story is to acknowledge who you are and don’t let doubt bring you down. When you acknowledge the innate intelligence within you and the powerful healer you are, you release the chains and shackles that once held you captive and free yourself from the slavery of apathy. When you become aware of your awesome power and acknowledge every aspect of yourself, healing will occur. You can then begin to accept who you are, what you are going through, and who you can become.
In the next entry, we will explore the third “Healing Process of the Heart” – Acceptance.
Adapted from an excerpt from the book, A Clear Path to Healing, by Dr. Barry S. Weinberg
With Love and Appreciation,
Dr Barry