photo: Sarah on flickr

­­­Dear Meli,

I’ve been getting headaches recently and I wasn’t sure why. My doctor suggested an eye exam and Voila! They say I need glasses. Here’s my problem with this. I’ve been told by my spiritual teacher that I can heal any physical malady with my mind. And I don’t want to wear glasses. Help!

Easy on the Eyes

Dear Easy,

I agree with your spiritual teacher that physical maladies can be healed with the mind! However, I don’t believe this is true 100% of the time. And I don’t believe that – even when it is possible – it is always worth it.

Bear with me.

There are many different reasons why the body becomes ill. Many times when a body becomes ill, it’s in response to being mistreated or neglected. In this case, after a time of not receiving the loving care it deserves, the body can’t continue to thrive or – in some cases – survive. It simply doesn’t have what it needs to do so.

Other times, it may be our soul’s greatest journey for our human selves to be faced with a health challenge. Those of us who are born with physical disabilities and life-long ailments acquired in childhood come to mind as examples. In these cases, it’s the highest good for us to be faced with this exact challenge.

Then, there are varying opinions about what one should expect as healthy aging. Some would say we should be able to thrive until our end. I tend to agree – if we take exquisite care of ourselves and our consciousness. Few Americans do this, though. And even still, our bodies do change. (Some would argue the truth of this. I agree that it may indeed be unnecessary to age, but one can only do so much in our current world.)

Of course, there are psychosomatic ailments! In fact, I believe there are more of these types of conditions occurring today than the medical community acknowledges, or perhaps even knows! These ailments are a result of the unconscious mind, but this is by no means saying that these ailment are “only in ones head.”

Many physical challenges are caused by something Dr. John Sarno calls TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome). The work of Dr. Sarno goes into great detail, and there is another post on this site about his work too.

In my words, TMS is the unconscious mind loving and attempting to protect us. In this type of psychosomatic disorder, the unconscious mind constricts blood flow to an area of the body. The resulting lack of oxygen creates physical pain, sometimes debilitating. This pain successfully distracts us from emotional feelings or reactions. In particular, the unconscious distracts us from feelings we might deem “not okay” to have.

All of this leads me to another question: If it is possible to heal your eyesight with your mind, is that where you want to expend your creative power and energy? If so, I say go for it!

For me, I decided I wanted to save my creative energies for other priorities. So I accept my need for reading glasses.

But I break out the commitment to healing when it comes to, say, migraines! And some would say they’d just as soon take pill for that too.

I guess my summary here is that I do think you might be able to heal your eyesight. And yet, you might not. You would have to know you can, absolutely, and then do the work in consciousness that’s necessary to pull it off. And if this is your chosen priority, again I say go for it.

But most importantly, whatever you decide, please be gentle with yourself! Be kind with you and your body. If you need glasses, get some that you feel fabulous wearing! Reframe the way you think of yourself. Decide that your glasses make you look smarter!

But more than anything, don’t judge yourself! Loving kindness for your sweet self is the best road no matter where you’re going.

Blessings and Love to you in all you do!

Meli

What is your experience with healing your body with your mind? Share your comments below!