The most common question I get asked is “What should I take for ___________?”. I think this is probably the biggest disservice that western allopathic medicine has contributed to the human condition – reducing how we think about and pursue health to a medication or treatment. This can never bring real, sustained health because it reduces wellness to one point in time. Rather we need to operate out of the understanding that our health is dependent on what we have done and what we do right now and what we do the next moment and the next and the next. In other words, health is a lifestyle, a dedication to discerning what our being needs all the time, right now, for all eternity.
The other problem with the above question is that it assumes the symptom we are having is the problem and needs to be gotten rid of. What if symptoms are what our being is doing to bring healing and by honoring them, we can gain understanding into the root cause and support that true healing? Then the right question becomes, “Why do I need this runny nose or chest pain or diarrhea or cancer or anger or depression or getting drunk or emotional shutdown and on and on?” A much harder question to answer and that quite often has an answer we don’t want to hear. But a question that, as we answer it, yields a much more profound and lasting healing.
Of course, what this means is that we are the expert when it comes to our health. Accepting this truth is hard because western society has abdicated personal responsibility to “the experts”. But sociological research shows that those who have the best medical outcomes are those who are non-compliant. In other words, anything we do for our health needs to make sense to us.
So, the next time you are “sick” (or your doctor tells you, “You have ______.”) ask yourself, “Why do I need this symptom?” “What is this symptom doing for me?” And then figure out how to support your body in doing what it is doing. In short, love yourself into healing. And if you can’t figure it out, then ask for help. And do what makes sense to you.