The Body’s Health: Is It Metaphysical?

THE QUESTION AT HAND

Health is a debatable topic. Are we a product of our environment, genetic makeup, the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the pathogens invading our system, our mental and emotional disturbances, our experiences of the world, our many relationships, and the traumas that torture us repeatedly? Are we able to live a healthy lifestyle by choice and override these detrimental factors that seem to effect so many people? Can our choices affect our overall health for years to come? Or is there something much bigger going on here, much bigger than academia and the medical monopoly care to explore? Are we looking in the wrong direction for real health? If you don’t go to the source, can we experience true health? And what is true health? Is it to live in a perfect body, or is it to feel the freedom of body and mind and connect with a much larger field of intelligence that brings all the health and well-being we could ever need? Does accessing this deeper sense of self give us the opportunity to explore who we really are beyond the body? Let’s explore these options and critically think for ourselves, so you can be the judge.

GENES, GERMS, OR TERRAIN?

The medical establishment has long been operating on gene theory. In this theory we are a product of our parents’, and the generations before them, gene pool. Genes determine everything about our body’s health. There is very little consideration for other possibilities. In this theory, you’re simply born with bad luck if you suffer from any disease the doctor deems genetic. When you visit the doctor, they always ask more questions about your family medical history than your own. They operate under this theory and treat you under it accordingly. With this line of thinking at the forefront of the medical world it leaves you feeling helpless if you are diagnosed with an incurable disease or disorder. It often sounds like, “Well, there is nothing we can do. Just take the meds and deal with it.” No one likes hearing these phrases. NO ONE. Talk about making you feel like your doomed without another viable possibility.

Besides genetics, the medical community is also working under germ theory. In germ theory, contagious microbes, bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and any other pathogens are responsible for the detriment of your health. For example, if you have the flu, the medical world claims you contracted it from somewhere other than yourself. You either picked it up off of something you were in contact with, or from another person who had symptoms. In germ theory the germ is the main source of the problem and is treated as such. Various pharmaceuticals have been created to fight of germs. Antibiotics, antivirals, and anti-fungal medicines are some of the methods for treating these infections. The body is simply under attack and the microbiome is a dangerous death trap. If this theory were one hundred percent accurate, then it seems we’d all be very ill most of the time. There must be another explanation as this is not the case for most people.

Another theory that many naturopaths consider when treating their patients is terrain theory. Terrain theory is simply the belief that the internal condition of the body is responsible for the current state of health which can also be caused by environmental factors. Instead of blaming germs and genetics as the major cause of disease and infection, terrain theory focuses on keeping the immune system optimal, as well as the overall pH of the body alkaline. Acid environments are a breeding ground for pathogens to multiply. Eating the standard American diet full of packaged chemical foods, meats, dairy, as well as processed sugars that are prevalent in most foods are creating an acidic environment ripe for disease. If the inner terrain continues to facilitate the spread of germs within the system, the person will continue to develop one symptom after another. If you clean out the system and bring the pH to healthy levels, the body will begin to clean itself of unwanted microorganisms or toxicities.

DIET AND LIFESTYLE

We don’t need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to know that foods closer to nature are better for the body. Doctors see their patients make dietary changes all the time and heath improves. This is not rocket science. Although, there is debate about what the best diet truly is, eliminating fried foods and overly processed foods can make a world of difference in your overall health. If you are looking to change your diet and you are overwhelmed with opposing nutritional information, just eating whole foods is a great way to start. If you can’t grow it, don’t eat it. If it was processed in a lab, stay clear of it. If there are ingredients on the label that you can’t pronounce and have never heard of, chances are they aren’t good for you. Stick to labels that include only food. All of the other scientific ingredients are chemicals. You have no idea what kind of effect they will have in your body. This simple shift in diet alone will help the body begin to eliminate unnecessary biproducts that are hindering health. As you dive deeper into food, you can go to deeper levels.

Mental health is at the forefront of the mainstream in the last several decades. More and more people are depressed taking prescription medications to lift their spirits. Many more suicides are happening and especially within the youth population. It’s difficult to know the exact cause or causes of someone’s inner turmoil. The chemicals in our food and environment, polluted air and water, a dysfunctional family experience, lack of communication and connection to others, and the technological takeover showing unrealisic body images and altered photographs can destroy a young person’s inner confidence. We are all human and experience this on some level, but for those that get stuck in it, they find no way out. Does the state of your mind determine the state of your body? Can shifting your mental space free the body as well? Are they working as one unit? They certainly appear to be. There are loads of epidemiological studies, books, case studies, and personal testimonies of people healing themselves by adopting a strong determined and positive mindset. Strong will, drive, and the determination to regain health and vitality is an option for those that are hungry to feel well in their bodies and minds.

Moving the body through exercise, stretching of any kind, and keeping the body active through movement in general also contributes to the overall health and well-being of the body. Sitting for too long creates stiffness, the blood pools and is not moving freely, and the lymphatic system becomes stagnant making elimination of cellular waste slow down tremendously. Keeping the energy of the body flowing is critical to the system operating efficiently. Again, all of this information is known. It isn’t a secret that eating fresh real food, having a healthy state of mind, and moving the body regularly benefits your health. It’s only matter of willingness. Do you want to improve your vitality or not? Some people do and some people don’t.

VIBRATION OF OUR ENERGY FIELD

We all are living in a vast field of energy. Not only are we living amongst the atomic particles surrounding us wherever we go, but we are also encompassed in our own energy field, or auric field if you will. This field of energy is our own personal bubble as we maneuver and navigate the world around us. Our field picks up and receives information regularly whether we know it or not. The state of our own energy field can make all the difference to our overall health. Just like the body becomes clogged and constipated throughout, your energy field acts the same way. If everything starts with a mental thought, an idea, a concept, or an image, then is it possible that whatever we are experiencing within our minds is dictating to the energy field we are encompassed in? Is the mind the first line of defense? If the blockage is not removed mentally, does it manifest within the physical body? Does this mental stagnation create a physical home in your body that causes symptoms and furthermore illness and disease? Or is the body operating all on its own without any effect from the mind? Are they independent of each other?

It seems they are related. Without seeking outside for insight into this, take an overview of your own experiences. Do you notice when you are overloaded in the mind with too much to do and not enough time to do it that you feel stressed out? If you don’t mitigate the stress, do you suddenly find yourself in bed with a fever feeling like you're on death’s door? Again, you don’t need science and research to tell you this. All the information is right with you if you just listen to it. When we take on too much in life, or have a devastating event occur, we inevitably feel bad. When you free yourself from these incumbrances, when you take time off or slow down, your health returns. Holding on to past events, difficult relationship struggles, memories of bad moments in our life, or current stresses at work make it difficult to feel good in our bodies and our own energetic field. If we keep reinforcing these experiences in our minds it forms energy blockages in our field that can clog up the system. Acupuncture, reiki, shamanism, energy medicine, psychotherapy and hypnosis are all based on mental energies lingering and forming disruptions in the physical system. If you eliminate or let go of the mental imagery, the body clears up.

Many years ago, the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know,” came out that posed this very question. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. It brings up interesting questions. Are we a product of our thoughts? Do disturbing, negative, and depressing thoughts create an unhealthy body? Is food really the culprit? Can a person liberated of mind with a higher vibrational field eat whatever they want because they aren’t holding on to anything? They do not attach to thoughts therefore they digest food easily? Is it attaching to thought, or is it “believing” in the thought that forms the heaviness in our energy field and later into the body? Do we really know for sure? Even if there is a definitive answer, the reality is the body will eventually die. There is no getting around that. Even the technocrats seeking immortality will never defeat this. The fact is this is a temporary experience in space and time. But, can we spend that time releasing the blocks that hinder our field that may ultimately cause our physical ailments? It’s certainly fascinating and there is a lot of information in this field that is worth researching if it interests you.

METAPHYSICAL OUTLOOK

All the above factors, diet, lifestyle, environmental factors, and our own energetic field seem to interact with each other to establish our current state of health. However, there are deeper conversations, which is where this blog loves to travel. From a metaphysical point of view, can we really do anything to alter our health, or how long we live, or is there a predetermined outcome already in place? Do we have a soul contract you could say? Is our date with birth and death already written? This brings up the question of predetermination and free will? It appears we are making choices every day; no one can deny that. But was that already predetermined that I would make that choice? Religion speaks of free will all the time. You get to decide what you do, right? Yes, it appears this way as we live out our lives. In this way, we have the option to learn from the choices we make or not. Just because we are seemingly choosing, doesn’t mean it wasn’t already determined prior to arriving in body.

For people who claim to have done everything right when it comes to diet and lifestyle, they live in a very healthy way, everyone envies their physical status, suddenly develops a terminal illness, the people around them are shocked. “How did this person that was the epitome of health develop such a debilitating disease?” It’s like we are shocked that so-called physically healthy people, at least in appearance, are struggling with a disease. Just because someone looks well on the outside, does not mean this is true on the inside. This is where the vibrational field and the metaphysics offer more explanation than the supposed causes and effects of the world. If our field and the essence of who we really are, are only here for a specific amount of time, then when it is our time to exit the body and transition to life beyond the physical, no amount of good eating, positive thinking, or energetic healing is going to stop that from happening. Your contracted time has arrived so healing the body is no longer an option. This may sound negative, depressing, or heavy, but the truth is this happens every day. When your date with death arrives, it arrives. Your earthly lessons are completed and now you must move on, whether you want to or not.

If you think of life in this way, you begin to live each day exploring the lessons that arise from moment to moment. You begin freeing your mind from expectations that don’t mean anything. You know that life will end here at some point, so your desire to let go of petty issues with others becomes more important than holding on to grudges. Forgiving yourself and others, seeing through the dramas of the world, and realizing we are all part of the same source and our time here, whether you believe it is predetermined, God’s will, or we get to choose our reality in real time, the only truth is we will not be here indefinitely. Treating life in this way, opens you to an entirely new experience of life. Spending time in stillness, connecting with the greater spiritual aspect within you prepares you for something much greater than this world can ever really offer us. Treating ourselves kindly in body, and in mind, releasing old patterns that no longer serve us are all wonderful practices during your life. Discovering the depth of your being is something beyond body, beyond thought, and beyond cause and effect. Taking time in your life to go to this space that is uniquely yours can make all the difference in feeling liberated and at peace in your life, no matter what the body is experiencing. Maybe true health has nothing to do with the body. Maybe it has everything to do with freedom of mind, letting go, and feeling completely and totally at peace no matter what happens in our lives. Shifting how we see health can make your experience of life more enjoyable and meaningful than you ever thought possible.