Physician, heal thyself

A dear friend of mine posted on Facebook this week about her journey of staying true to herself while dealing with the medical establishment. It was a subject dear to my heart. I have nursed some of my closest friends through chronic diseases and especially cancer: some have survived, some have not (but each has had challenging decisions to make along the way in terms of how far to surrender into the hands of the medical profession).Anyway, my friend has had a benign tumour on her brain for some years now and, though advised by doctors to take corrective medication, has chosen to follow her own 'soul truth', as she puts it, and work on it in her own way (this has included working with various natural medicine practitioners... I was, at one point, one of them).Recently, she was told that without this treatment she could develop osteoporosis (not much fun in your mid-thirties), 'if she had not already'. She had her bone density measured and, guess what - it was about that of an 'above-average 20 year old'!Her story brought to mind an encounter I'd had with the medical profession in relation to my own health about three years ago. I had 'been through the mill' a bit for several years and certain physical symptoms over a period of time meant that I was having brain scans for MS and being tested for auto-immune diseases ('complement levels' in my blood showed that I could have lupus, an 'incurable' degenerative disease of the immune system).As you're probably aware by now, I like to use things in my life as mirrors. And of course, as an energy medicine practitioner myself, I have a commitment to 'walking my own talk'. And so I looked inside and felt out what my symptoms were trying to mirror back to me. Auto-immune disorders like lupus are characterised by one part of the body attacking another part of the body: what or who in my life was attacking me/ who (or what aspects of myself) was I internally 'fighting with'?I quickly found the answer - it was a relationship dynamic with someone close to me. I had already cut the ties with this person to a certain extent (and resolved to continue this process at least until I had got a handle on this situation), but there were remnants in the way I was dealing with things internally that meant that certain unhealthy chemical processes were still taking place. So, I kind of 'went in under' the issue with my consciousness and made a few tweaks.When I did this I realised that there was yet another issue here - and it was around 'standing in my own truth' or 'power' (I know some people have issues with the word 'power' but I find that when someone - male or female - is truly aligned to their power in a centred, balanced way, there is nothing more beautiful). So, from here, I began to live my life more directly from what I would call my core self - and what began was one of the most wonderful phases of my life. And when I was tested again a couple of months later - surprise, surprise - levels had normalised.But it's not, for me, about normalising my levels on conventional tests. What do they know about what's 'normal' for me? What it is for me is about using illness or imbalance as a mirror to look at where my consciousness is out of balance, making the necessary adjustment - and growing as a result.An illness or imbalance is always there for 'a reason'. And sometimes it's not meant to shift. Well, not yet, anyway. I sometimes find that something has to change in my consciousness - often through a certain amount of 'inner work' - before the condition can itself change. But the thing I have learnt is not to be fooled by the condition, or the label that a medical practitioner gives it. It is there as a tool for your consciousness. And that alone. And whether it is clinical depression or heart disease, there are always new levels of understanding to uncover. As with my friend. She is continually using her condition to mirror back to herself her own truth. And I have great respect and love for her for doing so.