There Is No Magic Pill: Six Forgotten Truths About Healing

We live in a society that has been taught to think that healing comes in a small pill.  All we need is to find the right pill or the right combination of pills and we’ll get better.  However, “heal” is of Germaic origin (heilen), meaning to make whole. If we look at the old English roots, hǣlan means to restore to sound health.  Therefore, healing historically has been about restoring a person to wholeness.

So I’d like to challenge how you define your wholeness or wellness. Does taking a pill make you whole? Were you pill deficient and that’s why you became ill? Or are there parts of your mind, body, and spirit that need a different kind of support in becoming whole again?

The art of healing is nuanced, personal, and can not be forced on someone that is not ready for it.  Recently, in my practice, I’ve realized that I work best with people that want support to become whole and really heal; they’re not looking for a quick supplement to replace their medications. So let’s talk about six forgotten truths about healing and becoming whole.

Healing is a process

Healing does not happen overnight. It’s not a 6 month program. It cannot be found in a detox or the latest diet craze. Healing is a process that takes place over time, usually many years. Just like you didn’t arrive to your un-whole self overnight, expecting to truly heal in a fraction of the time is unrealistic and even self-defeating. Like any process, there are starts and stops, trials and errors. It’s a matter of trying different things, in different ways but most importantly, never giving up.  Trust the process.

Healing happens in layers

While a lot of the treatments I recommend support the body as a whole, healing happens in layers. It would be overwhelming to the system to heal everything at once. Each layer brings its own challenges and requires new insights to move through.

Healing hurts

You can’t expect a different outcome by doing the same thing over and over again. Healing requires change, to get a different, more positive result. And change can be painful. I think this is why many of us prefer the idea of a magic pill to actual healing. The freedom you want is just on the other side of that pain.  “All of the magic in your…life happens when you rush towards the pain instead of away from it.” -Glennon Doyle Melton

Healing is individual and unique

There is no set protocol that you can follow step-by-step and be healed. Just like each of us has unique DNA, experiences, and personalities, healing is also individual. The most important take away from this is to not compare your experience to someone else’s.

Healing takes time and is never done

Just as you didn’t arrive to this point in your health overnight, you cannot expect healing to be a quick fix. Healing can take years, even decades, depending on where you’re at in the process. But that process is never done.  You can never reach a state of perfect health.  We live in and interact with a dynamic world and therefore are subject to whatever ill health or trauma it can inflict.  You will always find another layer. Life will throw new stresses and experiences your way that can challenge your health.

Healing happens together

Healing requires support from your family, friends, community, and trusted health guides. Sharing your own healing journey may inspire and support others to do the same. Iyanla Vanzant sums it up nicely: “It’s important that we share our experiences with other people. Your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else. When you tell your story, you free yourself to and give other people permission to acknowledge their own story.”

Feel free to share your story in the comments below!