What does the lungs look like in a person who have been smoking for 30 years? They are black, right. But how does the lungs look just a few years after the same person quit smoking? Well, the lungs have recovered and regained it’s normal pink color. There is hardly any trace left of the tar from the cigarette smoke. If we think about it, this change is nothing less than a miracle. But how has this miracle happened? Advanced surgery? Targeted drug delivery? Gene therapy with the latest CRISPR technology? No, the only thing that have happened is that we gave the body the ability to heal itself by removing the root of the problem – the cigarette smoke.
If I let bananas lay out too long, I eventually create an environment that attracts fruit flies. I can then try to eradicate the annoying fruit flies with various chemicals, which we can compare with medicines. But far more efficient would be to fix the cause of the problem and simply throw out the overripe bananas, or as in the case above – to quit smoking.
Another example of our body’s excellent healing ability is when we break a leg. After fixation, the leg entirely heals by itself. No medicines are needed to help in the process. The body can handle it on its own and this self-healing is also nothing less than a miracle.
Want to do everything in my power to NOT end up at the hospital
Any store we go to that doesn’t have what we are looking for, we continue until we find a store that offers what we want. If we are not satisfied with our bank’s terms, we change bank. Similarly, as visitors at a hospital, we are their customers. If we have a health problem and want to get to the root of the problem, it is not certain that all healthcare providers can offer this. Then it’s important to realize that we as customers have the opportunity to choose another health provider.
When we act as a customer, it helps us to open our eyes and realize that we have choices other than those offered in the healthcare industry, such as surgery and drugs, which is far from always the optimal way to health. While we as customers need to wake up, put ourselves in the driver’s seat and take responsibility for our health, the healthcare industry also has a major responsibility.Within the health care field, there is a strong belief in surgeries and medicines. This is natural because a great deal of the curriculum in the medical schools focus on this. However, it is not the lack of Tylenol that gives us the headaches. Even though Tylenol can be amazing for a pounding headache, the cause is not addressed, but simply the symptom is being masked. Helpful short term maybe, but most likely not in the long run.
With the highly specialized skills and knowledge combined with the exaggerated belief in surgeries and drugs there is a risk that the bigger perspective is lost. Something as obvious as our breathing is unfortunately often overlooked. On my lectures and courses I have asked thousands of people if they ever got the question from their doctor about how they breathe. 98-99% answer no. Albeit unfortunate, it is not surprising given that the doctors have no education of how impaired breathing habits adversely affect our health.
In order not to lose more customers and cause more unnecessary suffering, my general advice to doctors is to lower their mightiness and become more humble.
Authoritarian statements such as…
– It’s chronic; you’ll have to live with this for the rest of your life
– It’s genetic; unfortunately you were unlucky in the gene lottery
– Sorry, there is no cure, so there’s nothing to do
– You have six months left to live
– It’s an autoimmune disease where the body attacks itself, etc. etc.
…should always, always, ALWAYS be preceded by a humble “With my knowledge, experience and education as a doctor, I believe that ….”
Our body is our best friend, learn to listen to it and start healing yourself
An insight I got when I participated in a three week breathing study at Stanford, USA, was that the hospital environment risks to making us passivized. It feels highly unlikely for a patient to leave the hospital full of inspiration to make major lifestyle changes and start taking more responsibility for ones health.
All the tests, drugs, complex devices and experts entails the risk that we, as customers, feel lost and powerless and therefore hand over all responsibility for our health and well-being to the healthcare professionals or higher powers.
It is the environment that determines our health. The environment we provide to our cells and organs. So to take responsibility for our health means that we provide a good environment for our cells. When we give our body what it wants, we release the full power of the most advanced self-healing system that ever existed. And what’s striking is how many of the most important things our body and mind wants and needs are actually free – oxygen, sleep, water, physical activity, touch, friends and meaningfulness.
The two most important questions we need to ask ourselves if we do not feel well are:
a) What is the most important thing or things that causes my problem and
b) What can I do to create the conditions for my body to heal itself?
If we look inward and listen honestly to what our body wants to say, we often find the answer there. Our body is our best friend. It is always on our side and never against us. Learn to listen to it and start healing yourself.
