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Modern medicine is based upon the notion of battle. We battle germs and fight for life. As soon as we feel pain or discomfort, we immediately try to stop it from happening, look for some way to soothe what we are going through. We feel we must change our illness or problems, overpower them with our expertise. But this leads to a never ending battle, after one problem is conquered, another arises.

Healing from within brings inner peace with it. It arises in a different way. We are taught to stop, pay attention and respect all that comes to us. We do not view pain as bad, as something that must be removed at any cost. Pain arises from lack of balance and brings many messages along with it. When we see our pain as a messenger and learn how to listen to it, healing begins in all kinds of ways.

The first step in healing from within is to see pain as an ally, to learn how to "dialogue" with it. At first this requires a complete turn around. Instead of tensing up and gearing for battle, we learn how to pause and understand there is a lesson that we have to learn. When we do this we find the pain or problem often comes holding a gift in its hands.

Illness often comes when we feel defeated. We may not wish to struggle anymore. Some people become ill when they are overly exhausted. The illness is the only way they can give themselves permission to stop, rest, and make much needed changes in their lives. Each illness has it's own story.

When someone is in physical pain and suddenly understands what is troubling them, the physical pain often subsides. For full healing to take place it may be important to make changes in one's total life. During illness the body is rebelling. It is demanding that we pay attention to all that has been unattended. We may have been pushing ourselves for too long. Now our body is fed up. Stop and listen to me, it pleads. When we learn how to listen and how to reply, an entirely new life begins. Then pain and illness become an opportunity for vital change.

Learning To Listen

We usually listen only to part of ourselves. The rest is rejected. But no matter what we are rejecting, soon or later we must come up against it and face it straight on. Rejecting something over and over never makes it go away. It comes back to you then over and over just to be accepted.. Everything needs to be loved and accepted, including our illness and pain. The best way is to make friends with the pain. If we can relax into it and explore it, many possibilities arise. When we let go, and allow ourselves to listen to what the pain is saying to us. Incredible changes can happen then.

To do this, simply close your eyes, stop fighting, and ask the pain what it is saying to you, what does it need from you right now? Then become very quiet and listen deeply. An answer may not come right away. Patience is needed. Answers come in different ways. Some hear answers within. Others see images, some have dreams. Some sense a new way to deal with the illness. A true exploration begins.
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Exercise: Making Friends with the Pain

Look at your illness. Picture it and give it some kind of shape. What does it look like to you? Describe or draw it. What is this image saying to you about yourself and the life you are leading?

Next, ask the image any questions you may have and let it answer you. (Ask what it wants from you and what it would need to go away). See if you can give it what it needs.

This attitude is called making friends with the pain. When we do this ee become better able to understanding what the true causes are. For example, if we feel that life is meaningless, our bodies can start to express this by shriveling up and dying. If we have held onto difficult attitudes, our bodies will bear the burden of them. Persistent negative attitudes become wounds upon our entire selves.

Our attitudes are messages we give our body. Once we begin the crucial work of taking responsibility for and changing our attitudes, our entire body can begin to experience on-going ease instead of dis-ease. We must look at the basic attitudes we live with and ask ourselves if they are conducive to our health, or do they contain the very seeds of pain?

In order to heal from within, it is essential to change negative attitudes and patterns, to those that are positive and produce well-being. Health comes with learning to say "yes" to all of our experience. Wellness emerges out of the balance and harmony of all parts of ourselves. When we are well, we feel accepting and in harmony with ourselves and the entire world. This state of being brings refreshment and healing day by day.

Cc/Dr. Brenda Shoshanna/2007