Many Medicines

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

The words we choose as we think about things matter. Our thoughts, and how we frame them, both reflect, and help us define our belief systems. When we let someone else create the relevant stories in our lives, we cede our power over to them. Now at a time when we have done that en masse in the area of our health, we are as a nation, the sickest we have ever been, and more so than any other industrialized nation, in spite of spending more per capita on health care than any of them. The cultural story that has been most co-opted in modern times is the story of Medicine — things that connect us to Life, and heal us deeply.

Many Medicines

Have you ever danced with abandon on a carpet of grass, while birds sang and clouds scudded by in a blazing blue sky? Did you feel the flowing medicine of being connected to all the life around you? Have you ever opted to enjoy downtime with a cup of tea, instead of taking drugs for a tickly throat, and felt the medicine of tea, and warmth and quiet pour through you? Two days ago in an organic food store, a conversation that began with smiles between two strangers, ended with a hug as we acknowledged the Spirit Medicine that had just connected us, through a conversation. Kindness between two people is incredible medicine.

Herbalist Susan Weed talks to us of “Seven Medicines” that speak to diverse wellsprings of healing. (1)   My own list is similar, and the wells of what heals us are deep: Story Medicine, Spirit Medicine, Earth Medicine, Plant Medicine, Energy Medicine, and more. Your list may vary depending on your background and beliefs, but what is important is that we have a list, and that we acknowledge that there are many kinds of medicines that we can engage in for healing. Any of them can be potent enough to shift the course of illness.

How did it become just about the drugs?

Dollar sign made of pillsMedicine was not always a commodity. Before the creation, funding and monetization of the AMA and our current medical system in the USA, non-drug medicines were primary. But in making health care a commodity instead of treating it as a fundamental human right in our country, the role of the “other” medicines was deliberately diminished, cultivating a culture of dependency, where patients were told they should rely exclusively on doctors and drugs for their physical well being — and that that was the only well being that mattered!

The Story Medicine of early “doctor shows” and endless drug commercials worked, for awhile. Now, what passes for health care in our country revolves around symptom control at best; and at worst, is a system for fixing parts piecemeal, and generating repeat business. It is a revolving door of symptom relief using drugs or surgeries that cause further damage, where the patient pays dearly each time. Compassionate and skilled doctors are at the mercy of an infrastructure bent on maximizing profit, and uncaring or greedy doctors are allowed to thrive in our “health care” system.

The question surfaces:  “Would we need so much palliative care if we ate and lived in alignment with foods and cycles that our bodies already know?”

Drug-and-Machine medicine is sometimes lifesaving — but there is always a price to pay, in one domain or another. This can be fiscal, in debt that can be devastating and life changing for an entire family, or in organ failure caused over time by a drug that eases a challenging symptom at the expense of damaging an organ. Or it can be from collateral damage caused by a necessary intervention, such as when my appendix burst. Then, surgery and very strong antibiotics probably saved my life. The price? $10, 000; and I had to rebuild my microbiome, that precious colony of extraordinarily diverse organisms that live in our intestines and are collectively part of our digestive, endocrine and immune systems.

Sacred Medicines — Nurturing Health

True medicines help us deepen our connection to our bodies,
and to the forces that maintain its life.

Rest and herbs were once prescribed first, and the role of simple foods and clean water were paramount in nurturing health. People cultivated time apart to be in silence with their own thoughts. The medicine of aligning to the earth, sun and moon in their cycles were so important that personal and cultural life revolved around them. Attuning to Spirit played a role, and yes, there were miracles sometimes, from all of these.

The way of Earth Medicine is not just about taking this herb for that symptom. The deeper work is in aligning with the foods and plants our bodies evolved with, to nurture health, and restore health when it is lost. Symptoms are our bodies way of talking to us, and we can allow them, and focus instead on what’s causing the symptom. When we heal the root cause, the symptoms frequently diminish, or cease on their own.

Story Medicine can help us align with our inner knowing about our body’s capacity to heal. Food and Herbal Medicines nourish deeply, giving the body what it needs to heal itself and maintain health. Spirit Medicine reminds us that we are greater that the physical self that we see, and are a part of all life. And what of Nature Medicine? How are we not nature? Sitting or walking in nature reunites us with the environment that we came from, and that our cells remember. There we are connected again with signals from all the life around us that energize our bodies and spirits.  This is so reviving that it is incorporated into the healing systems of Japan and other countries.

Choosing Your Medicine

We do not need permission from anyone to choose the medicines we need. What Story Medicine do you tell yourself about your body and it’s ability to heal?  Your cells sing a story of vitality and regeneration — Listen!  Can you hear? What are your other best medicines? Are you connected to the earth through foods and herbs your body loves? Do you sleep enough? (It is one of the most profound medicines, reducing the risk of heart conditions, gut permeability and so many other illnesses!)  When is your sacred time – your time apart for reflection and spirit?  What comforts you?  How do you connect with the heart flows of the people in your life?  All of these bring potent healing.

As you heal with food, herbs, sleep, energy, inner work, or just time aside for the pampering comfort of a warm candlelight bath, you will surely find yourself needing drug medicine less… and less…

Welcome friend, as you return to the First Medicines.
Remembering them is a little like coming home. 

 

1.  http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/January05/healingwise.htm