“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” – William Osler
In my seminars, I’m often asked about various degenerative diseases like arthritis, osteoporosis or diabetes. After getting a taste of what Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) can do, they start to wonder if NLP techniques could have a powerful effect on physical healing as well as mental and emotional issues.
They’re right, of course.
Our bodies aren’t simply vehicles designed to take our brains where they want to go. Our conscious and unconscious minds don’t sit like passive passengers in the backseat while our physical bodies tool around town and through life.
It’s all connected. More than connected: it’s all one unit. It’s only our Western thinking that separates mind, body and spirit.
It’s like saying that a ballet is made up of dancers, choreography, musicians and music. You can pull those different components out. You can separate out the elements. But what makes it a ballet is the entirety. The “parts” are intricately linked, symbiotic.
Because of this relationship, some symptoms and diseases do not respond to physical interventions alone. In those cases, underlying negative emotions or limiting beliefs in the unconscious holds the illness in place and prevents physical healing.
In our NLP Master Practitioner Training, we delve into how to work with degenerative disease in some detail. There is a lot involved and different diseases are handled slightly differently. I can’t cover it all here, but I can give you an overview of the process.
We always recommend addressing the problem on its own level first. In other words, if you have a physical ailment, the first place to look for healing is on the physical plane. This might mean going to your doctor or complementary health care provider to get a diagnosis and treatment. It might mean a change in diet or lifestyle (for example, depression is often related to hypoglycemia).
Next, we investigate what negative beliefs or emotions might be contributing to the illness. Though we are each different, certain illnesses have common threads. For example, psoriasis often relates to low self-image or people “rubbing you the wrong way.” Arthritis is often a rigidity or lack of flexibility in approaching life or on a certain issue.
When the specific limiting beliefs or emotions are identified, we release them using the techniques of Mental Emotional Release® Therapy (MER). Finally, we would use the kinesiology techniques to elicit cooperation from the unconscious for the healing process.
Here’s an example. Let’s say a client has been diagnosed with atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in the arteries). On the physical level under the guidance of their physician or complementary health care provider, they should modify their diet to lower cholesterol and reduce inflammation, usually by minimizing “unhealthy fats,” refined sugars, and processed foods in general (there are several good books written on this subject). The client also may be counseled to increase their aerobic exercise.
Next, an NLP Master Practitioner can help the client release the major negative emotions (anger, sadness, fear, and guilt) as well as any other negative emotions or limiting beliefs using MER. Specifically, the client would be asked which negative emotion or limiting belief seems to be connected to the atherosclerosis. Often with this particular disease, it is some form of resistance or tension, perhaps a narrow-mindedness related to specific issues. These additional negative emotions or limiting decisions are also released using MER.
Finally, using kinesiology techniques, the practitioner would guide the client in recruiting the unconscious mind to dissolve the plaque material safely and within a time frame that the unconscious feels is appropriate. The longer the disease has been present, the longer it might take to fully heal and release it.
The steps to working with degenerative disease are relatively simple. Yet it takes a skilled practitioner to make sure that process is effective, and it’s important that the client takes the necessary steps on the physical level to ensure success.
Mahalo!
Dr. Matt
