When the essence of your life, which is consciousness, connects to something like another person or your work, a commitment is formed. A superficial level of commitment happens when your consciousness connects to the thoughts of something and you are just left committed to your own mind. The most common example of a deeper commitment is when your consciousness connects to another’s heart and you are conscious of more than your own mind. In this article, we will explore how commitment is used in healing.
We are too often committed to our mind, as though we were locked in a prison cell and cannot get out. That can be interpreted as dedication, but real commitment has to involve more than your thinking mind. When you are truly dedicated, your entire being is involved and not just the thoughts or illusions in your mind.
Now, most people do not consider thoughts illusions, but think of a piece of your favorite pie. Then try to eat it. The thoughts of the pie are symbolic; they only represent the pie and actually do not exist. Think of anything and your thoughts are symbolic, even thoughts of family, country and God. Realizing thoughts are symbolic allows you to commit with more than your thinking mind.
When people are in a health crisis, they often find a deeper commitment, especially when their life is threatened. This is a practical example of the need to have commitments that go beyond the thoughts in your mind. Of course, if you are committed to healing an illness, it is natural to find out more about it; but to actually heal you need to have more than thinking to be involved. You need what I call the Wisdom of the Body.
Healing, or even consciously coping with an illness requires life skills which are more than ideas. If ideas were all that were required to heal, doctors would never get sick. Healing requires the Wisdom of the Body. That is where we all have powerful inner resources that we were born with and did not learn in school. Being committed to heal demands that you become conscious and activate this beyond-thought inner reality.
When we get medications and treatments for an illness, the Wisdom of the Body is what responds the best. If you totally identify with your ego and thinking, medical treatments may be limited by your ability to respond on that level. All of our conditioned limitations are rooted in our thoughts and habits, but if you develop a commitment to the Wisdom of your Body, you will respond the best.
We may not have thought this way before, but the fact is most of us already connect to that deeper inner wisdom. Here are three important actions we can all develop that enhance this commitment:
• The expression of the heart and the ability to love and be loved. This includes the ability to love yourself.
• A focus on your breath that can take you beyond thinking and connect you to the Wisdom of your Body. You can consciously develop habits of breathing into the silence beyond thinking and consciously activate inner wisdom.
• Spiritual aspirations have the ability to take you beyond the limitations of your thinking mind. If you believe in God or not, these aspirations have the ability to connect you to the Wisdom of your Body.
There may be many more things we do that take us beyond our thinking mind, like art, sports and making love.
Being committed to your body’s wisdom has the ability to provide quality to your
life, even if you are sick. Sometimes, the threat of illness has the ability to move consciousness beyond conditioned habits and give you a new perspective to live from. Of course, these qualities may not be the final cure for an illness, but these qualities help
a patient utilize their powerful inner resources to be an active partner with doctors in the healing process.
© 2012 Marc Lerner and Life Skills Institute
Marc Lerner is the President of Life Skills Institute and has been working since 1982 with people in a health struggle. He is the author of A HEALTHY WAY TO BE SICK, which teaches you how to consciously create yourself in the midst of a health challenge. Marc was the host of the internet radio show, A Healthy Way to be Sick. Go to: http://lifeskillsinc.com to listen to all archived shows.
Marc has had MS since 1981, is legally blind and in a wheelchair. The idea of a healthy way to be sick reflects a positive spirit during difficult times. If a patient consciously approached the healing process, they would become valuable partners with their doctor. Marc has been working with people in a health crisis for decades and knows that this is a significant resource in a national health plan. Marc has developed simple techniques that transport your consciousness to powerful inner resources which can reduce medical expenses and personal anxiety.