Healing Journeys with Suzie Daggett
As we welcome the New Year, many people are looking for ways to heal old wounds or patterns, whether they be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. They can look to one local doctor, Dr. Emmett Miller who has had a continuing interest in mind, body, spirit healing since the 60’s and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers in Mind/Body Medicine. He is a physician, musician, author, poet and a firm believer in how beliefs and images become actual physical events in the body, leading to disease or health. He offers patients specific ways to change their lives through Deep Healing – his time honored techniques which have you take part in changing patterns of your life to reach your fullest potential.
What are some of the main ingredients of mind-body-spirit deep healing?
How is illness created in the body?
From that moment the first living cell was created (whether you believe this to be by intelligent design or evolution), life had to know how to heal itself. The homeostasis or equilibrium of cells had to be maintained, and a broken cell membrane would mean certain death, unless the cell could repair it. In other words, the life force and the healing force are simply two aspects of the same vital phenomenon. Every species of animal can heal from all the usual challenges, and humanity has added to this an array of drug and surgical approaches, which have allowed us to successfully treat even diabetes, severed limbs, meningitis, and the like. The result is that today, most of the illness we experience in the Western world are of two varieties: those that are caused by the stress of living, and those whose healing is inhibited by the stress of daily life.
What does stress have to do with health?
Stress is basically friction, or internal conflict. The inner conflict comes, for instance, when a person hates their job or relationship, and is unable to leave or change it. This can result in problems like headaches, ulcers, or colitis, as well as disease-producing behaviors like smoking and chemical abuse. Also, stress can inhibit the healing of nearly every known disease. Internal conflict - stress, may also produce emotional imbalance–anxiety, rage, panic attacks, insomnia, exhaustion, or depression. Such inner states (which we may not be consciously aware of) lead to an exhaustion of the body’s ability to respond. The helplessness a person feels when they are in the thrall of such emotions is transmitted through the nervous system to the organs of the body. Eventual the weakest link fails, and the person begins to experience more obvious symptoms, and will go on to be diagnosed with an illness or disease of an organ or organ system. This exhaustion may also show up in relationships, where behavior such as uncontrolled anger outbursts, withdrawal, social anxiety, obsessive behavior, agoraphobia, and other dysfunctions may result.
How does the spirit of a person enter into the healing equation?
Anyone who is a student of the human condition has recognized that there is inborn within us, and so clearly visible in young children, the capacity to be joyous, and to feel inner self-confidence. Every one of us started out with a profound fascination with life, and the ability to trust, to love, and to create. Adults who are able experience these qualities are often referred to as “inspired.” Religious disciplines refer to something within each person that is deeper than desires, drives, fears, and thoughts–a kind of inner knowing, a spark of the divine. Often referred to as “essence,” “spirit,” or “soul,” this aspect of Self is believed to enable us to heal through its contact with a “Higher Power,” or “Universal Spirit.”
Where does the mind fit in?
Like many physicians, I noted that fear, anxiety, rage, anger—all the stress reactions—clutter the mind and distract people from their inner potential to heal, and to perform optimally. To counter this, in my practice, the first step is to help people to see how their habits of thinking, speaking, and behaving are at the core of the imbalance responsible for their illness. I guide them to a place of deep calm and serenity through the use of deep relaxation. They learn how to relax their body of tension, and to relieve the mind of distracting thoughts.
In this especially vulnerable state, they now open to their deepest level of wisdom, their “inner ally”—to the spirit or Self within. From this level, understanding, wisdom, guidance flow. Through guided imagery and future pacing, the person literally reprograms their deeper mind to think, feel, speak, and behave differently. The restored inner balance can now bring healing to the cells of the body, emotional and social stability, and an amelioration of illnesses and symptoms. To make this change permanent, the re-scripting part of our appointment is provided on an audiocassette. Upon repeatedly listening to the cassette, the mind and body are retrained, and made more responsive to the healing guidance of the spirit. I call this Deep Healing.
Dr. Miller, author of “Deep Healing; The Essence of Mind-Body Medicine,” can be reached at 530-478-1807. His books and Self-help CDs are available at www.DrMiller.com.
Healing Journeys is a column written by Suzie Daggett for the Grass Valley Union newspaper. Suzie interviews a variety of health practitioners most Fridays in the Wellness section. Click here to read past articles. Enter "Suzie Daggett" in the search box to get listing of all articles. |
