Faith in the Healing Process

The body's ability to heal and evolve arose within me as a deep fascination and question that guided me toward a lifetime of dedication. The healing process was the reason I chose osteopathy as my discipline of medicine. Osteopathy is fundamentally about working alongside the body’s wisdom in self-healing and evolution.

Over the years, as I sought to understand and practice in harmony with this inherent body wisdom, I have been humbled and amazed by the possibilities within us and the journey the body takes us on toward growth and development when we learn to trust it. This trust requires courage and faith. The everyday self and intellect are awed when observing the healing process unfold. From witnessing this, it is clear to me that we are in the presence of something far greater and wiser than our everyday selves.

The Symptom as an Expression of Wisdom

When an individual presents to a practitioner for help or guidance, they generally come with a symptom.

In the early years of my practice, my focus was on identifying the root of the symptom to create a management and treatment plan aimed at addressing its underlying cause. The success of my practice was then measured by whether the symptom was relieved or persisted. If the symptom persisted, I would conduct further investigations to understand why. I had adopted this initial approach from my academic training, where we were taught that symptoms are caused by pathology—something had gone wrong and needed adjustment.

I found this approach effective at a superficial level for changing symptoms; however, in many cases, the problem resurfaced at different levels, leading individuals to return for further consultation. Working within this symptom-pathology framework became draining for me.

I had to find a new way that resonated with my inner fascination and question about the body’s ability to heal and evolve. After years of research, learning, and practice, my understanding of symptoms began to change. I started to see and experience symptoms as expressions of the body’s wisdom, guiding us to make necessary changes. The symptom is the body’s way of initiating healing and integration.

Perceiving the symptom as an expression of body wisdom rather than pathology completely changed my approach to practice. I realized I no longer needed to try to alleviate the symptom; rather, the symptom became a guide to healthy change. When we follow this guidance, the symptom transforms from suffering to integrated, healthy energy and direction.

Stopping and Making the Change

When we heed this guidance, we must change our daily lives; we are called to pause from the busyness of outer life and turn inward. This is not an easy path to take; most of us are subject to the outer rhythms and obligations of the world around us. These external rhythms and obligations can completely take hold of us. When this happens, we can lose our center and inner rhythm, leading us astray from our own path and causing us to forget what is truly important.

Heeding this guidance from the symptom and stopping our outer obligations takes courage as it requires letting go into the forgotten inner world (where we have no compass when our center is lost). In this unknown inner world, we may begin to find our center and the guidance of our inner rhythms.

Getting Out of Adrenal Survival

The adrenal glands help us awaken each day to the outer world. When our outer world consumes us, the adrenals lose their rhythm and can enter a state of survival. In this adrenal survival state, the body is in a constant physiological state of stress; our thoughts and feelings become consumed with survival, making sleep and rest difficult. As the adrenal hormones awaken us, we become cut off from the sensations of our own bodies, leading to suppressed immune function and inflammation.

If this survival state persists, we lose our center even further and become increasingly consumed by stress and anxiety. In this adrenalized state, we search for our center in the periphery while going in circles.

Only when we find a way to stop and break out of this cycle can the adrenals finally rest and exhale. With this adrenal out-breath and relaxation, we begin to feel our fatigue; inflammation and immune function are no longer suppressed, prompting us to take action. We then reconnect with our bodies, which may be in pain and restriction due to having lost their rhythm. Stopping the outer daily rhythms and engaging with a body that has lost its own rhythm can be a daunting experience. This is often where the true symptoms of healing begin.

Many people would prefer to return to the adrenal treadmill, filled with nervous energy and unaware of their bodily pain. Once again, the adrenal hormones suppress immunity and inflammation.

We need the immune system to integrate the body; inflammation is a healing response that breaks down old tissues and patterns while bringing in new nourishment. Ultimately, fever represents whole-body integration. Without integration and healing, the body becomes weakened, losing its vital forces, which then leads to pathology.

To understand the process of healing and its full potential, we must learn not to fear symptoms but to trust them as a guide. Treatment then becomes reassurance and guidance for the individual undergoing this transformative process.

Trusting the Process

Once the adrenals have let go and are in a state of rest and renewal, the immune system—and thus inflammation—is able to awaken and begin its work. The immune system's job is to integrate the body, breaking down old patterns, tissues, and cells. Following this, the acidity and toxicity held by the old patterns and tissues need to be excreted through the mucous membranes, skin, and kidneys.

During this integrating and detoxifying process, individuals may feel incredibly tired, unable to access their everyday intellect, and generally unwell. Reassurance of the importance of this process as a sign of good health is vital. Taking any form of medication to inhibit the immune system may provide symptomatic relief, but it will also hinder the process. If the process is inhibited, the immune system may attempt to reinitiate healing, but its efficiency diminishes with repeated suppression. As health practitioners, it is crucial to understand the importance of this process as a major milestone and victory within healing.

The Safety of the Healing Process

The body will only digest what the individual can manage at any given time. Therefore, no healing occurs when life is loud and busy; the body will wait for a quiet moment. When that quiet time comes, the body will assess what the individual can handle. If there has been considerable emotional strain and the individual cannot fully let go during this quiet time, only a small amount of healing will occur.

If the body feels it is the right time to unpack years of unprocessed experiences or trauma, a perceived healing crisis may unfold; though daunting, the body knows it is the right time to do so. If we trust and follow its principles without anxiety, there will be a beginning, middle, and end to the process. However, if we do not trust the process and, through anxiety, try to alter or suppress the symptoms of healing, problems can arise.

Dangers of Suppressing the Healing Process

When the healing process is initiated and the old patterns and tissues are released through the immune system, the acidity and toxicity must be eliminated from the body. The individual will feel generally unwell and tired as elimination begins through the mucous membranes, skin, kidneys, and bowels. The immune system and elimination processes can easily be suppressed by stressful situations or the various readily available medications, which often aim to stop the process so that we can continue with our everyday lives.

When the immune system is suppressed, the healing process halts, and the individual feels tired and unhealthy until the adrenals are activated again. If this cycle repeats, the body never finds its rhythm, and the individual may become reliant on medication to maintain some form of physiological balance, ultimately leading to increasing unhealthiness and the onset of true pathology.

When the process of elimination is suppressed, acidity and toxicity are pushed deeper into the body. The body will find another way to expel these toxins, but if this is also suppressed, the excess acidity and toxicity may either be encapsulated or pushed deeper into the system. Repeatedly forcing these toxins deeper can lead to inflammation or infection in the blood (sepsis), heart (pericarditis), or central nervous system (meningitis), which can become a medical emergency.

With this in mind, the practitioner must be fully committed to holding space and not suppressing the healing process once it has been initiated.

Benefits of the Healing Process

The intention of the healing process is to integrate and evolve the individual on all four levels: physical, physiological, emotional, and spiritual.

Although the healing process may be uncomfortable for a period of time, the individual emerges more fully as themselves. The body and physiology become better integrated with the individual, allowing them to work in unison with their body’s wisdom, ultimately becoming a stronger, independent person who can take their place and act within the community of humanity.