Dr Christine Page

                The part can be known only when the whole is apparent                                                                Ted Kaptchuk, The Web That Has No Weaver

Having worked in the health professions all my life, you may feel that this is a little late for me to start to question the concept of health.  Yet as I go deeper and deeper into attempting to understand why people become sick, I find that it is more and more difficult to find a truly healthy person.

  The word health comes from the Greek word for 'wholeness'.  If we are to define health we have to define a whole or complete human being which will incorporate the mind, body and spirit but which will recognise that man is a social being and cannot live exclusive of his/her surroundings and all that they contain.

  Our expectations of health are greatly influenced by the complex factors of family values, culture, religion and age.  For instance, as we grow older we know that we will not be able to move as fast or carry our some of the tasks which we managed when younger.  Despite these natural ageing processes many old people would consider themselves healthy.

  We may be the creators of our own limitations.  A survey carried out in the USA took a group of 75 year old men into a place where they were told that it was 20 years earlier.1  The rooms were decorated and there were newspapers from the same period.  They stayed there for a week and at the completion of the experiment there were marked changes physically and mentally.  They were more agile, more active, more willing to take chances and their memory improved.  If this happens after just a week, think what would happen if we did not see getting old as a time of slowing down on all levels.

  The state of health is also subjective.  That is, it depends on a person's own feelings of well-being.  someone may therefore feel healthy even though their body is riddled with undiagnosed cancer.  Should we then say that this person's feelings cannot be trusted or are their state of mind and attitude more important and valid than the physical findings?

  As an iridologist and as a doctor, I find there are certain genetic pointers which show a strong potential for that individual to develop a particular physical illness.  Is this person then prematurely diseased because of these findings?

  I believe that we are all here in an un-whole state, yet in the expression of that un-wholeness we become whole and healed.

  As a part of our environment, all of us participate in the health or illness of the entire planet.  Whether total healing can occur unt il all the earth is healed is debatable.

  Despite the acceptance that mind, body and spirit are linked, it is helpful to look at the separate aspects of ourselves in terms of health:

The Physical Body needs adequate levels of food, warmth, fluid, clothing, exercise, fresh air and rest.  These requirements will vary around the world and be subjected to expected availability.

  Many would say that a healthy body is one which allows them to carry out their daily activities.  However, the body will not function so well if habits or activities are taken to excess.  Moderation in all things is important.

The Mental Body attends to emotions and thoughts.  Emotions which allow us to express ourselves and hence to grow need to be released appropriately both in time and space.  Under-expression of emotions is one of the greatest causes of illness, for when not released their energy blocks the normal flow of life force which can be expressed later in physical disease.

  The mind also needs to be creative as well as to see this creativity manifest either as part of one's job or in one's hobbies.  This creativity is blocked when choice, encouragement and control are taken away from an individual's life.  It has been seen that those who are locked away from their normal life survive if they are able to develop a routine or discipline in small areas so that they maintain some measure of control and the creative spark is not extinguished forever.

The Spiritual Body connects one to the soul, which needs to grow and reveal itself in its own unique way.  Each of us has a purpose and an individual path to walk.  When this purpose is blocked or life is seen as purposeless then the life force is diminished and our state of health is threatened.  Many who suffer their first heart attack do not have the usual risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol or diabetes.  Instead, they complain of poor job satisfaction and poor life fulfilment.2

  One's purpose in life does not have to be grand but there needs to be something which can motivate you to get out of bed in the morning.

  Our soul's health also requires a good support system where friends and family both on this plane and on others surround us with love, encouragement and a sense of belonging.

  Ultimately, we seek peace of mind.  We find this through many trials and errors, by taking risks and sometimes through suffering.  Yet if we fail to move or take risks we will not grow and hence cannot become healthy.  Health is not something which can be bought or won in a competition.  It has to be worked on at all levels and therefore is a dynamic process.  The aim is to be flexible enough to work through the traumas and yet strong enough to continue one's path towards wholeness.

1. Langer, Ellen J. Mindfulness, New York: Addison-Wesley 1989.

2. Jenkins, C. D> Psychological and social precursors of coronary disease, The New England Journal of Medicine 1971, 284, 244-255.

Dr Christine Page is interested in spiritual healing, homoeopathy, iridology and psychospiritual counselling, working to bridge the gap between orthodox and complementary medicine.  88 Snakes Lane East, woodford Green, Essex IG8 7HX
 

You may quote from or reproduce these editorial clips if you include the following credits and email contact:
Copyright © Daniel J. Benor, M.D. 1993 Reprinted with permission of the author P.O. Box 76 Bellmawr, NJ 08099 www.WholisticHealingResearch.com   DB@WholisticHealingResearch.com 

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