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How Does Healing Happen?
The next time you stub your toe or smash your finger in a door, how would you like to be able to heal it yourself in less than five minutes with no pain and no bruises? What if you could heal a burn in the same way, or get rid of a cold in under an hour? Wouldn’t it be great if long-term headaches, depression, stiffness, pain, and many other problems could disappear in an hour, a day, or even a week? Well, the ideas and techniques in this book can do just that for you, as they have for thousands of others around the world. They may not work for everyone all the time, but they will work so fast, so effectively, and so often that you will truly be amazed.
I was trained in the Hawaiian shaman system of healing, but in my life as a healer, I have explored the most advanced techniques of the Western world, the most primitive techniques of the undeveloped world, and the amazing techniques of the shamanic practitioners of Hawaii. One very significant thing I have noted is that no matter which system is used, some people are healed through it, some people are not healed through it, some people are healed without it, and some people are healed in spite of it.
Different people in different places and times have, naturally, come up with different ideas about the causes and cures for illness and other physical problems. Human creativity in the healing field is a wonderous thing to behold. The concepts and practices held dear by one culture may be scorned or laughed at by another.
A MYRIAD OF METHODS
The best way for you to get the results you want is to understand how healing works. So before you jump to Parts II and III where the healing exercises are described, let’s look at some of the ways that are used around the world to heal the body. It is worth noting that many of these methods have often been used successfully for the same illnesses.
Physical methods—herbs, drugs, other medicines, diet and nutritional supplements, surgery and bone-setting, chiropractic and massage, exercise, deep breathing, enemas and colonics, fasting, electricity and magnetism.Emotional methods—affection and attention, laughter and play, anger release, fear confrontation, forgiveness, color, aroma, and music.Mental methods—placebos, hypnosis and self-hypnosis, talk therapy, guided imagery, visualization, positive thinking, affirmation, and meditation.Spiritual/metaphysical methods—pyramids and crystals, aura cleansing and psychic surgery, therapeutic touch, homeopathy and flower remedies, acupuncture, acupressure and applied kinesiology, telepathy and radionics, prayer, faith, ritual, soul retrieval, and “spontaneous remission.”This is really amazing. If the body can be healed by all these different methods—and there are countless case histories to support the healing effects of each one—then it seems clear that each and every method is just a means by which one thing, the actual healing process, takes place. No one theory of the healing process can be considered adequate when another gets the same effect. Therefore, something else is happening instead of, or in addition to, what the theorists say.
Healing starts when there is a need for it. When a person gets into a state of disharmony (illness, disease, injury, and the like), the body responds by trying to recover on its own. Sometimes an individual consciously tries to help, with or without the aid of others. Sometimes others try to help the individual, with or without his conscious help. When the attempts at recovery and help are effective, the person gets better. As noted above, there are many varied ways to help. I’d like to look at a possible common thread that links all the different kinds of disharmony.
THE STRESS FACTOR
No matter what kind of disharmony one is talking about, no matter what the name is of the disease or illness that may be involved, and no matter whether the condition is primarily physical or mental, there is always some degree of physical tension present. It’s common to think of tension as a result of illness, except where certain kinds of stress are thought to contribute to illness, but let’s play with another idea. What if tension were not an effect of illness, but the cause? If this were so, then all one would have to do to promote healing would be to relieve the tension. Not surprisingly, that’s the assumption this book is based on.
Before I discuss relieving tension, however, it will be useful to examine the ways in which tension builds up in the first place. I’ll begin by looking at the source of tension itself, a thing called “stress.”
According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, stress is “a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation” and “a state resulting from a stress; especially one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium.” In plain language, this means that different kinds of stress can cause tension in the mind and body, and that we can get “stressed” or tense from resistance to change.
In another part of the definition, I have substituted the word “thing” where Webster used “body or body part.” This section says that stress is a “constraining force or influence, as a force exerted when one thing presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another thing; especially the intensity of this mutual force [and] the deformation caused in a thing by such a force.” The plain language translation is that stress is not only the action of pressing, pulling, pushing, compressing, or twisting; it is also the reaction of pressing, pulling, pushing, compressing, or twisting against the other force. Stress isn’t stress unless there is resistance. It is the resistance that causes the tension, and the tension that causes the problems. Note also that a “constraining force or influence” can also come from a lack of something, such as food or water or love, and is not limited to something active.
Stress, in and of itself, isn’t bad. It’s vital for building muscles, moving, breathing, motivation, and a number of other things that are useful and necessary. But if you try to lift a heavy weight for too long, the muscles will break down instead of build up. If you eat so much healthy food that your stomach is ready to burst, you are doing yourself more harm than good. If you try to save the world by making people change, you’ll be so stressed out that you’ll accomplish very little. Examine your own experience and you will find that it is not just the ordinary stress of daily living, but excessive sudden stress (acute stress) or sustained excessive stress over a period of time (chronic stress) that causes the severe problems. Too much tension, one could say, although “too much” will differ among individuals and circumstances. From now on, when I talk about stress I mean the excessive kind.
What kinds of stresses would cause too much physical tension in the body?
The Physical Stress Factor
Physical stress is a relatively simple phenomenon to describe. After engaging in physical effort for a long time the body begins to resist the activity more and more until exhaustion or accident forces it to stop. I would point out, though, that the more enjoyable the effort seems to be, the longer you can continue it, because you are not resisting it as much. Less resistance means less tension, and less tension means less effect from the stress. If you love to play volleyball, you may be able to do it for hours and hours and end up pleasantly tired but exhilarated. If you hate to do housework or clean out the garage, however, you may end up exhausted and achy after a couple of hours.
Another kind of physical stress that produces tension occurs when you are poked or prodded with something sharp, hard, or excessively hot or cold. Although you don’t think it’s strange to be cut or bruised or burned by such contact, some people’s injuries remain for a long time, while others are able to heal very quickly, and still others can walk on fire or get punctured by nails without harm. Having walked on extremely hot lava rocks barefoot without injury, and having healed broken bones, burns, and bruises of my own in under an hour many times, I can tell you that reducing tension as quickly as possible is a critical factor in the length of the healing process. In the Mindblower Technique described in chapter 7, I’ll tell you exactly how to do that.
Physical stress can also come from reactions to the environment. Allergies are so common that many people take them for granted, and some people are highly sensitive to trace amounts of natural and man-made chemicals and to electromagnetic radiation. The body tries to protect itself against such intrusions not only by internal chemical means, but also by creating a barrier of muscle tension (note that our internal organs and nerves are surrounded by muscle tissue). And then there is the stress caused by such things as hunger, thirst, and lack of movement. It isn’t very hard to see how physical stress can cause physical tension.
The Emotional Stress Factor
Emotional stress is usually thought to be generated externally, in other words, created by what someone else is doing to you. This perception is so widespread that many people are paid compensation for the emotional stress that others have caused them. In fact, emotional stress happens only when you become afraid or angry or excited, and all of these are internally generated responses. It’s easier, and sometimes financially profitable, to blame others for making you feel bad, but you really do it to yourself. One person may be bothered excessively by a situation that would be taken in stride by another. Your attitude toward what others do has more effect on you than what they do.
The emotions most likely to cause stress are fear, anger, and excitement. Of course, there are variations and levels of these emotions. Emotions related to fear are anxiety, panic, terror, and embarrassment. Some related to anger are jealousy, envy, sadness, depression, and grief. Excitement includes enthusiasm and positive anticipation.
In a state of fear, your body is trying to get away from what is fearful. It would actually run if it could. If you decide not to run, the impulse to do so is still there, and the conflict between the impulse to run and the decision not to causes physical tension. In extreme fear, the tension can become so great that fainting occurs or body functions are impaired.
Copyright © 2020 by Serge Kahili King
