Welcome, to Health & Wellbeing Magazine’s Spirit Keeper monthly column.  This is the place where you will discover tips and practices for creating, developing and maintaining a personalised self-care practice. 

Last month we focused on introducing the column and becoming clear on what a spirit keeper does.  In this month’s column, we are going to look at the great commands from various sources which are clues to developing a self-care practice which enables you to live as a Spirit Keeper at this time on Mother Earth.

Duality & Wholeness

At any moment of time, each one of us is a physician (healer) and a patient (suffering illness or mental-emotional distress). These two complementary opposites travel together. 

Every culture which has a healing tradition from the temples has an icon or symbol which represents the duality of life on Earth and how it is both individualistic and interdependent at the same time. The most familiar symbol is in the Taoist Chinese system of health and healing; the Yin and Yang symbol.  This symbol represents the duality of life working together and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Western science and technology, unfortunately, has led many of us to perceive life and its duality as an ‘either/or’ situation instead of an ‘and/and’ one.  There is no doubt about it, western science has been extremely helpful in explaining how things work, however, in doing so it has unfortunately led many of us to believe the duality of life is the only experience of life.  “Either/or” is a way of perception just as much as “and/and” is another perception.

Dialetical thinking is a well-known cognitive process which:

• Create new insights into ways of thinking and being.
• Harmonises opposing ideas.
• Allows individuals to hold two opposing perspectives or ideas in their mind simultaneously.
• Appreciates the contradiction and tension between opposites as the key characteristic of life’s expression and existence on Earth.
• Is a philosophical concept of evolution and form of logical argumentation.

Allopathic medicine practices perceive dis-ease as something you control bio-chemically with external interventions.  Illness is the enemy to be conquered and treatment is of symptoms mainly.  There is little to no accountability for life-style choices made by individuals.  The thinking is very much focused on either/or patterning.

Lifestyle medicine (holistic practices) perceive dis-ease as having two parts to it and is more holistic in its thinking and application.  The first is that bit which you have limited control over (genetic disability or severe disability from an accident).  The second is about life-style choices for which you are entirely responsible.  Sayings such as ‘you are what you eat’, ‘you are what you say’, ‘you are what you believe’ demonstrate the power of choice.  Treatments are received for symptoms and at the same time, there is an expectation by the physician of the individual to be practising better self-discipline when it comes to thinking, emoting, eating and exercise. Dialetical thinking is important to this blossoming form of healthcare practice.

The greening of allopathic medicine into Lifestyle Medicine is much more in alignment with the philosophy of the Yoga Lifestyle and/or the Martial Art Lifestyle from China and Japan.  It works on the principles of independence and interdependence.  It works on treating parts and symptoms with modern knowledge and ancient wisdom.  It recognises the importance of honouring the physician within you as much as seeking help from external healthcare professionals.

Many of us who have chosen the healing journey, have arrived at lifestyle medicine only because of our poor choices and resulting symptoms; which spurned us onto the path of facing our own light and shadows (the healing journey or hero’s journey).

Physician-Patient Know, Love, Heal & Free Yourself

Modern knowledge, particularly neuro-science, and the studies of what it takes to be ‘successful’ is where modern day technology and science are bridging the gap back to philosophy from cultures that came before ours. 

There are four commands from various cultures which lead to the wisdom of healing, a return to wholeness in mind, body, spirit and soul.  These are:

• Know Thyself
• Love Thyself
• Heal Thyself
• Free Thyself

Know Yourself

This command is written at the entrance to the Temple of Apollo in Greece and has been analysed and quoted by numerous sages and scholars over the years.  The original meaning of the phrase is believed to be ‘know your limits’.  In 4^th Century BC this saying was re-interpreted by Plato to mean “know your soul”.  Later references to this saying in writings, stated you could only acquire knowledge of self by studying the universe which lead to the concept of the microcosm-macrocosm analogy.  It was further developed into one could only know oneself by observing other people and nature (which is heavily relied upon in the healing and medicine philosophies from India, Tibet, China and Japan).  By 20^th Century, this saying has taken an important role in the development and discipline of psycho-analysis and learning to understand the unconscious mind.

Over time, many philosophers and sages have theorised about the command, however, when it comes to health and healing, it is a very practical recommendation.  It simply highlights how you process information from the environment and what makes you feel loved.

Therefore, to know yourself is to learn to understand how you personally process information from your environment and unconscious self.  Developing and nurturing the ability to understand how you process information and how this impact feeling loved, leads to you learning specific skill sets which will either improve your health and wellbeing or diminish it. 

By way of example:

• As a learner what is your unique recipe of intelligences (Verbal-Linguistic, Musical, Visual-Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Mathematical-Logical, Naturalist, Existential, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal)
• What is your unique processing of information from your environment?  (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, gustatory, olfactory)
• What is your unique love language? (Words of affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time, Physical Touch)
• What are your values?
• What are your needs?
• What are your principles?

Know yourself is about developing intelligence quotient (“IQ”).  It is about how you learn and become skilled in specific ways (teacher, athlete, secretary, engineer) which enables you to survive and participate in a community (family, tribe, country, religious etc).

Love Yourself

This command comes from Christianity.  The full saying is: “Love neighbour as yourself”.  In many ways this very much reflects the know yourself interpretation by observing other people and nature.

Over the periods of history since this command was shared with individuals, many philosophers and sages have debated the meaning and instruction of the ‘command’ from Jesus.  When it comes to health and healing, it is a very practical command. 

Loving yourself is about the value and worth you perceive yourself to have as a human being individually and interpersonally within your family, community and country.

Loving yourself is about development of your emotional intelligence (“EQ”) and utilising skills which enable you to process your thoughts and feelings in appropriate ways.  These skills encourage and support mental-emotional health and wellbeing.  This encourages the healing of yourself and your environment.

Examples of skills which nurture mental-emotional intelligence are:

• Byron Katie’s, “The Work”
• Ho’Oponono (Joe Vitale & Hew Len)
• The Healing Code (Alex Lloyd)
• The Artists Way (Julia Cameron)
• Shadow Work (Debbie Ford)
• The Sedona Method (Lester Levenson)
• Emotional Freedom Technique
• Contemplation & Meditation
• Journalling
• 12 Step Programmes for addictions
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness

Heal Yourself

Physician, heal thyself.  This quote comes from The Holy Bible, The gospel of Luke 4:23.  This theme is also mentioned in the gospel of Matthew 7 : 3-5  it states, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

This could be extrapolated to mean, before you venture out into the world to heal others, you probably need to heal your own issues first.  This is where healing begins. 

Healing yourself is the primary way of evolving your conscious awareness of you being more than your physical body.  It leads to the recognition and direct experience you are part of all that you see around you.  It is often referred to in modern psychology as the hero’s journey.  It takes the skills from know and love thyself and combines them into a daily self-care practice.  Good examples of life-style medicine from ancient cultures are Auyrveda (which includes yoga), Traditional Chinese Medicine (which includes tai chi and qigong) and Kampo from Japan.

Healing yourself is about dedicated and disciplined commitment to applying knowledge and wisdom daily through the power of compounding.  It encourages one to prepare the mind, body and spirit as a vehicle to embody the soul.  This preparation enables one to become grounded, present and aligned in mind, body, spirit and soul. 

Spirit Keepers are healing facilitators who are walking the talk and talking the walk by having a daily self-care practice.  They understand by healing themselves they are releasing their thoughts and feelings from particular ‘fields of thinking patterns’ and linking to fields which are of greater understanding, awareness around the challenges of being divine intelligence in a human body.

Examples of skills which demonstrate an individual ‘healing’ themselves:

• Self-care practices which embody daily skills from know and love thyself (life-long learning, forgiveness, gratitude, releasing).
• Becoming an expert mentor (teacher and healer) based on personal direct experience and results visible and transparent in your person life. E.g. awards, certificates, testimonials.  Mentoring is about developing skills in others through the wisdom of Tell me, I forget; show me, I remember; involve me, I understand.

Free Thyself

Is the subjective experience and result of combining know, love and heal thyself with a daily dedicated and disciplined self-care practice.  This life-style and self-care practice focuses on personal daily experience of connection to the divine, strengthening the physical body, clearing out emotional residue and becoming a spirit keeper.  One lives in the present as much as possible and the subjective experience of being present and mindful, encourages and supports the growth of inner peace. 

As the Zen saying states, “Before enlightenment chopping wood and carrying water.  After enlightenment chopping wood carrying water.”  Free thyself is all about transcending the limited self into the limitless self as a daily experience.  It is the ability to walk gracefully upon the earth despite the chaos of world events and know you are acting as a spirit keeper for Mother Earth and her many life-forms.

Examples of skills which demonstrate an individual being ‘free’ in mind, body, spirit and soul:

• Life-long curiosity and learning.
• Desire and daily practice to improve skills which promote integration between mind, body, spirit and soul.
• Promoting and practising self-care practices which embody the philosophy of know, love, heal and free thyself.
• Not emotionally or mentally affected by external world events.  Being the lighthouse for others who are in pain and feeling fearful.
• Being an enlightened leader from the back.  Walking the talk and talking the walk.  Understanding how to be a conduit for anchoring higher levels of consciousness into the thought-emotional fields of Mother Earth.
• Respect for Mother Earth and all inhabitants; living lightly and within one’s means.  Improving soil, litter picking, planting for pollinators, helping captive animals to freedom, photography and painting nature because its beauty inspires you, eating wisely and not encouraging waste etc.

Monthly Research Project

For the next 28 to 30 days research information about healing the vagus nerve and strengthening the body electric (nervous system).

Words of Wisdom

“Those who commit to nothing, are distracted by everything.”

Bhagavad Gita

Next month…

Next month we will begin the journey of learning self-care practices which prepare and integrate the mind, body and spirit. It will be living medicine which you apply daily to not just improve your vibration but also to improve your inner voltage (power and connection). 

Until next month…

From one kindred spirit to another – be safe, be well,  be authentically you.

In gratitude

Kathleen