Heal

When we get a papercut or accidentally cut ourselves preparing vegetables we know and trust that our body knows exactly what to do to repair itself, and if we remember to notice then we could watch as our skin knows just how to knit back together to retain its ability to protect us.

Two months ago, I had surgery to replace my right shoulder, it took a little bit to get my head around the idea of such a replacement, but now I can only marvel at the surgeon's handiwork and my body’s amazing ability to recover from this operation in such a short time.

Its easy to observe such healing from the outside, there are obvious scars and physiotherapy etc, but when we carry wounds from childhood or the scars from the things that simply living can throw at any one of us, it's not always so easy to understand how and why we respond the way we do to life, or admit that we may need help, or even that help can change the way we respond at all…. And that we can heal from these too!

Our minds are the most amazing part of our body and they are able to review the past in such a way that it is possible to know a thing happened but that it doesn’t have to trigger a negative response….in the now.

We can heal our minds and our bodies and we can trust and allow that healing to occur with the right kind of help, for my shoulder it was a surgeon with the correct skills and for the mind, it can be a therapist who knows where to tap to create the most effective and long-lasting change.

For my shoulder, they say that this will last for at least 10 years, though I am hopeful it will be longer than that; and for the mind, once it is capable of seeing and recognising that change has happened, it is for life.