Tapping Into Your Incredible Power to Heal

 

Setbacks give us an opportunity to assess what may really be going on in our lives — and to tap into our power to heal ourselves

I feel almost superstitious saying this, but I never get sick (yes, I’m knocking on wood). I haven’t been sick for years. I should probably shout it from the mountaintops, because reality is — it isn’t a coincidence (of which we know there is no such thing). Rather, this results from great intention supported by action steps. I’m talking about good ‘ol fashioned healthy living – trying to maintain a balance between a nutritious diet, daily exercise, convening with nature, meditation and happy thoughts to reduce stress. I’m patting myself on the back as I write this, because I’m keeping my family healthy too.That said, I’ve had a few interesting setbacks, or should I say pit stops, both pertaining to my right foot. A few months ago, I banged my big toe so badly running up the steps, as I do 50 times a day, that I couldn’t walk. And just last week (as noted in the above picture) I twisted my ankle. Initially, I tried to ignore it, but as I sat at my desk I could feel the intensity of pain rising and tightness emerging as my ankle swelled. Seriously, Universe? Not now. This timing is just unacceptable.

As we know, when the Universe comes knocking, there isn’t anything left to do but surrender.

So I did. I allowed my family to baby me – leg elevated on a pillow, icepack in place, dinner in front of the fire and early to bed. Aside from simply praying for an instantaneous and miraculous healing, I decided to tap on it. (EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique).I was introduced to tapping years ago. I am a devout mind-body connection believer…until I start to waiver in pain. You know – real pain, physical pain. It’s hard to focus on the emotional component of pain — the underlying things that are going on in your life, perhaps the unaddressed, blocked issues of the past — when your body is barking.But as Dr. Christiane Northrup reminded me in our interview for the current issue of Best Self, our bodies have an incredible ability to heal themselves…and as a matter of fact, they are working overtime to do it. As simple as it may sound, that concept totally resonated with me. In preparation for an exciting interview with Nick Ortner, I just finished reading his New York Times best-selling book, The Tapping Solution.So, I totally believe in tapping (in theory) but could it really help a swollen ankle? What did I have to lose (foot throbbing away)? I decided to lay back and give it a whirl. I’m sure my tapping “script” wasn’t perfect, but I did have all the tapping points down.

I ran through it a few times, as if saying my bedtime prayers, and off I slumbered repeating to myself, “my body has an amazing ability to heal itself.”

Guess what? After waking the next morning and tentatively moving my foot beneath the covers, I sat on the side of the bed and placed my foot on the floor – OMG, no pain, no swelling and I could walk. Now you don’t have subscribe to this. You can think it’s a lot of hocus-pocus, but I have a sense that if you are reading this newsletter, if you don’t already believe in the power of our mind-body connection, you probably are willing to give it a try.I didn’t go out and run a marathon the next day – as a matter of fact, I took it easy. Of course, that created a bit of space for me to dig deeper:

• Was the Universe trying to slow me down, or ground me from running in circles?
• What was my body trying to alert me of?
• Was there something I was dismissing that needed attending to?
• What underlying emotion could I attach this to?

There’s always something to discover or uncover – that’s just a part of our beautiful journey to self-awareness.You are more powerful than you know, so much more powerful. Think about where in your life you need a little attending to and then ask yourself, what can I do to make a shift in the direction of healing, on any level?How can you (literally) tap into your best self?