All my regular readers should be well versed in my Month of Healing by now. I literally spent the whole of February blogging, discussing and living the idea, so if you haven’t heard of it – where have you been?
I kid; I guess I'm just trying to point out that it was a huge deal. Since I got my first diagnosis, I have been determined to heal myself. No matter how ridiculous the concept sounded, there was no way I could ignore the fact that I couldn't find any clear evidence that it wasn't possible to get better.
Chronic illness is still so misunderstood. For every health organization that tells you there is no cure, there are an equal amount of miracle stories in which even the most terminal of sufferers have been healed.
I developed the Month of Healing from years of research into those exact claims.
If You Missed The Buzz…
Here’s a brief overview of what the month involved.
- No work, no plans. If this was going to work, I needed to eradicate any potential stresses.
- Diet changes. Through a mixture of research and personal experience, I created the perfect diet for me – DO NOT COPY IT WORD FOR WORD, every digestive system is unique.
- Reduction in toxins. No alcohol, smoking or caffeine; no chemical cosmetics or products – beware incense and scented candles people!
- Exercise. Gentle exercise – no pushing too hard.
- Yoga & Meditation. My preferred path to natural healing success!
- Natural medication alternative. Where possible! I still took my daily medication but experimented with natural alternatives for symptom relief.
- No screens or social media. Facebook kills, be careful.
A Lesson In Balance
So you may be thinking that this sounds like an incredibly extreme undertaking. Well, you’d be right. I lasted about a week before I caved in almost every one of these categories.
There are people out there – trust me, I've met some of them – who can sit through a ten-day meditation retreat in silence and stillness, or spend a month fasting in South America and walk out cured. I am not one of those people.
However, through my failure – I did have a wonderful discovery! Instead of giving up and deciding it was useless, each time a slip up occurred I still carried on with the plan; never mentally assaulting myself or blaming myself for the digression.
Miraculous Recovery
I can't tell exactly how it happened. It may have been the acupuncture, the Month of Healing or even my new mindset. In all likelihood, it was probably a mixture of everything. However, by the last week, I was an entirely new person.I'd booked a trip to Iceland before the month started, hoping it would be a great way to reward myself. In all honesty, I'd already pretty much given up and assumed it wasn't going to happen.Yet, miraculously, I was entirely well enough to get on that plane when the time came. My anxiety was moderate, my energy seemed infinite, and I truly felt positive and excited about the trip.Today, I'm still trying to find an explanation for this huge shift – it can't be because of my month of healing, can it? Surely, it isn't that easy to cure yourself?
The Next Step
I don't know the answer. Everything that has happened is exciting but in no way conclusive. After a month of trying to live well, I'm definitely feeling better, but the journey is not over. No matter what course of treatment you try, it's essential to be properly aware of how you are going to move forward.
If you just assume that you've found a miracle cure and are forever healed, it's likely your symptoms will flare up again eventually. However, by staying mindful and working to incorporate your healing techniques into your daily lifestyle, you can hopefully maintain long-term improvement – I'll let you know.
My plan from here on out is to vehemently stick with the treatments that I found worked best, continue to prioritize health overall and regularly review my progress to make sure nothing slips without my knowledge.
No matter who you are and what your situation is, I highly recommend you try giving yourself some time dedicated to self-healing. It's an undeniably powerful tool, and I believe it's the best bet we have to defeat - or at least moderate - long-term chronic illness.
Happy healing!
