What I’m Learning as I Face a New Frontier

I am currently going through a big time of change and inner transition on many fronts. Part of it is a sore right leg and hip that has caused me to cut back on some of my physical training and has steered me in new directions as I work to heal it. Part of it, I’m sure, is due to my upcoming 75th birthday. I’m also pretty sure a big part of what I’m experiencing is an “empty nest” adjustment as my daughters get older and get more involved in their own lives. I believe all these thoughts, feelings, and physical issues are connected in some way, and there is probably much more to learn as I weather it all.

This all started to present itself to me about six weeks ago, primarily as a feeling of being stuck, somewhat lost, and afraid. I began experiencing a visceral feeling that things were changing and evolving, and that I needed to pay attention to them. Meanwhile, the long-dormant issue with my right leg started “waking up” and demanding my attention again.

As I write this, I have made some real progress on all fronts, confirming that my initial hunches, plus a few more, are all involved. It seems to herald a new, unexpected yet now very welcome, chapter in my getting older, one that I initially felt only as fear. I will write more about it in coming posts but for now want to share a few thoughts about healing in general, and especially big healing like the inner change and evolution I’m going through. Life has many stages, and each one requires an appropriate outlook and gameplan if we are to live this stage to its best potential. Healing, at least as I’ve defined it in my book and in these posts, is the core process that brings us into harmony—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—with whatever stage of life we are in or facing.

Healing has been around since the beginning of life on this planet, starting about 3-4 billion years ago. The health and survival of even the first cells were and continue to be an organic part of the life system. That includes the internal systems to maintain and repair any organism that is alive. Evolution is also an organic part of the life system. Each and every cell and organism on the planet is imprinted with its own ability to adapt and improve its chances for survival. This is our heritage, and the power of this healing and evolving system supports our health to this day. Every second we are alive we live in the its grace and providence.

That said, here are a few things I’ve been learning and that are working for me in my current healing process.

Healing Is Already Inside Us

The power to heal and grow already exists in every one of us. We are born with it in abundance. It happens automatically, in daily maintenance and repair, unless it is hindered and its core strength is somehow diminished. In our modern lives that diminishment usually comes through lifestyle, injury, or aging as well as a genetic component.

Everything Is Up for Grabs

The Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh once said, “We should not be caught in what we think we know. We have to be ready to release what we know in order to arrive at another level of knowing and understanding.” I am finding that taking all things in, following the prompts of my body and my being, and allowing for all causes and solutions, some conventional and some unconventional, have brought me new insights about what I’m going through, as well as possible roads to healing. For instance, my sore leg has responded to both physical and emotional prompts, and I’m quite sure that both of those are relevant in my healing process. To the best of my ability, I am trying not to name, categorize, or define anything that’s happening but only experience it and practice solutions to see if they work.

Don’t Be Afraid of Being Afraid

Injury, disease, and change all come with some degree of fear and anxiety. It is part of our mind and body’s natural reaction and is a necessary part of stimulating healing. There is nothing “wrong” with me when something happens. Tolerating the anxiety while seeking vibrant health and solutions to specific issues is part of the process of living and healing.

I Am Worth the Effort

It sounds obvious, but given my childhood history, which is full of being told what to do and not being allowed to express myself, being benevolent to myself involves reinforcing the mantra that I am worth healing, that my life and being have value, and that I matter.

Patience

Healing has its own rhythm. The deeper the healing the longer and more involved things can take. As I learned when I had a debilitating case of Lyme disease a few years ago, real healing involves progress, delays, spurts, and reverses. Unfortunately, taking two steps forward and one step back is not unusual! The same zigzag path applies to my journey now.

Seeking Help and Guidance

To address my sore leg and inner transitions, I have gone to most of my trustworthy sources, inside and outside, for help on all fronts. In addition to my own trusted “toolbox” to stay healthy in mind, body, and spirit, I have enlisted help and guidance from friends, my regular therapist, yoga instructors, a physical therapist, and an osteopath. Plus, I have a trusted sports medicine doctor waiting in the wings should that be necessary. In addition to my own inner guidance, these special people make up my extended health toolbox.

Have Faith, Keep Practicing, and Listen to Your Body

I truly believe self-benevolence is the core of healing. Healing is not a “thinking” process; it is a deeply visceral and emotional process. Your feelings, intuition, hunches, and just allowing extra space and time for solutions to emerge can be much more important than conventional solutions to healing, although these approaches can certainly work together in tandem. I work at keeping my problems in a kind of gentle, self-benevolent focus. They have been presented to me as obstacles to overcome if my life is to be better. Issues like the ones I’m facing—whether they are physical or emotional or both—can cause significant turbulence. Sometimes addressing these issues can require a great deal of effort, and sometimes it requires peace and rest. Let your body decide that rhythm.