Originally posted October 15, 2015
In my practice, I meet all sorts of people dealing with all sorts of issues. The feeling of powerlessness when the body attacks itself with an autoimmune disease is especially acute.
What is an autoimmune disease?
Autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body’s tissues are mistakenly attacked by their own immune system. The immune system contains a complex organization of cells and antibodies designed normally to “seek and destroy” invaders of the body, particularly infections. Patients with autoimmune diseases have antibodies in their blood that target their own body tissues, where they can be associated with inflammation.
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Type 1 Diabetes are just two examples… but there are roughly 80 autoimmune diseases that can wreak havoc on organs, blood vessels and connective tissues, and more.
Energetic Reasons
Science is hard at work trying to understand why the body turns on itself. At best, there are many good drugs available to help keep symptoms at bay.
Let’s look a step deeper and consider the energetic reasons behind the situation.
The following is advice from a wonderful healer by the name of Misa Hopkins. You can find her at the website Self-Healing Secrets.
Misa has a lot of terrific blog posts where she has meditated on the reason behind a number of health issues.
You might also want to consider reading her book, The Root of All Healing; Seven Steps to Healing Anything.
When it comes to autoimmune issues, here is what Misa has to say:
The Inner War
Autoimmune diseases are the physical manifestation of an inner war going on inside of us. Understanding what the inner war is all about provides you with some insights about what changes you need to make in your beliefs in order to experience the emotional and spiritual balance that will help you physically heal.
Rheumatoid arthritis is about being angry with yourself for what you did not do or accomplish that you think you should have done.
Here is what Louise Hay suggested about it: Deep criticism of authority. Feeling very put upon.
So let’s put these two perspectives together:
Rheumatoid arthritis is about being angry with yourself for what you did not do or accomplish that you think you should have done. It includes a deep criticism of authority and a feeling of being very put upon.
When you put these two insights together it becomes apparent that in order to heal rheumatoid arthritis you will need to develop some new perspectives and some skills. Here are some suggestions for focusing your energy:
Self Healing
1. Discover that deep intuitive voice within you that knows what is absolutely right for you to do, regardless of what other people (knowledgeable or in authority) might think.
2. Hold yourself in compassion for the choices you regret that you did not make. Honor yourself for doing what you thought was right, or felt pushed into doing, even though it may have gone against a deeper intuitive wisdom. After all, intuitive wisdom has not received much societal acknowledgement until lately. Stop blaming anyone else or yourself by finding compassion for making the choices that you did.
3. When you have held yourself long enough in compassion, you will find yourself really noticing your critical inner voice—you know—that bullying voice you learned from someone else and you have now adopted as your own. You need to know what you tend to criticize and why, because if you stay present to the voice you are likely to discover that what you are really angry about relates to your own expectations about you and life.
4. Gently and lovingly begin replacing critical words with words of gratitude. For example, when you catch yourself saying something like, “I wish she would show up on time,” quickly change the statement and the energy behind it to, “I’m grateful she is coming.” Pretty soon, you’ll find the critical thoughts start dropping away, and in their place you are affirming a more positive reality.
5. Give yourself permission to start following your intuitive wisdom, even if it makes other people unhappy with you for a while. Consider this: you’ve probably been deeply unhappy with yourself and others for a long time. So why not do what it takes to make yourself happy? Other people will get used to you being happy and either join you or they will give up, step back and let you be. After all, it’s difficult to argue with happiness.
Discover Your Joy
While you are doing all of this wonderful inner work, discovering what really makes you happy in the world, I suggest doing a little research about foods and toxins that contribute to inflammation. Discover choices you could make that would reduce inflammation and enhance your flexibility and physical healing.
Most importantly I hope you are following your intuitive guidance so that you can be happy every single day, and let the critical, authoritarian voice within you finally get some rest.
Healing Diva - Sherri Dmyterko 