This is the question I am asking myself now, is it even possible to overcome a chronic condition? I wrote a blog post at the beginning of the summer about my efforts to overcome a chronic condition. At that time, I was struggling a great deal with my health issues and was following the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza. The premise of his work is that any negative issues we are experiencing in our lives are the result of conditioned patterns and habits, most of which are running below our conscious awareness.
The work involves understanding the complexities of how all these patterns are set in place, how the brain learns these patterns through repetition, how the body then becomes habituated to these patterns (memorizes them through a process called neuroplasticity), and then how our identity forms around these patterns. It is far too much to explain here, but the basic idea is that if the body can memorize a negative pattern, then through conscious effort, one could ‘un-memorize’ that negative pattern and memorize a new positive one!
It sounds quite simple, doesn’t it? Dr. Joe Dispenza has hundreds of testimonials on his YouTube channel of people overcoming all sorts of serious health issues, from cancerous tumors dissolving, chronic pain disappearing, frozen shoulders releasing, serious allergies disappearing, and so much more. It all seems so possible.
But here I am, admitting that I have not found this easy at all! I have been wanting to write this post for some time now, but I just couldn’t bring myself to admit that I haven’t found much relief from doing all this work. And by work…what do I mean?
I have read all three books by Dr. Joe Dispenza. These include Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself (twice), You are the Placebo (one and a half times), and Becoming Supernatural. I have taken his online courses, the Four Week Intensive Workshop, and the Nine Week Progressive Workshop (twice). Since February, I have been meditating at least once a day, in the evening before bed, and sometimes up to three times a day if I wake in the middle of the night, and then again before I get up in the morning.
I am doing the work and I have been very committed, but as I say, I have had only marginal success and changes. I am still very exhausted all the time, have brain fog, have body pain, and get overwhelmed easily. I have found it incredibly challenging to keep up my blog posts and YouTube videos. I did just launch my new online shop, Fentie Designs, but I worked on that for over a year.
So back to the question in the title of this post…is it even possible to overcome a chronic condition? You might expect me to say no after what I have just written. But I am here to say that I still believe that it is totally possible! “How can you say that?” you might ask. Well, just because I haven’t had a breakthrough yet, doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.
I have found a few (very few) testimonials of individuals who have done this work for years…yes…years before they had a breakthrough. Some of those individuals also meditated for several hours a day (like this fellow). There also seems to be a common thread amongst those who provide testimonials on Dr. Joe’s YouTube channel…they are all at one of his group events. There is something about coming together in a large group of people, who all have the same intention of overcoming themselves, which somehow increases the frequency to the point that many people finally have a breakthrough.
I did experience this once at a Soul Sisters Gathering I attended in Portland, Oregon. I came together with fifty other beautiful souls and had the most amazing heart-opening ever! I left there a changed person, and it was that event that propelled me to do more creative work.
In working through this process, I have also identified some personal issues that I think are creating blocks that I haven’t been able to overcome yet. The first is that I think this illness is protecting me in certain ways, and I won’t go into why this is. But to counter this possibility, I have opted to ‘radically accept’ how I feel in each and every moment. I am not always successful in holding this acceptance, and I do fall back into frustration and even a victim mindset. But, I do catch myself and bring myself back into acceptance as best as I can.
The other issue I have is that I have a hard time feeling elevated emotions. This is a really important part of Dr. Joe’s work, and I have a constant struggle in finding the positive emotions of joy, gratitude, and contentment. I have lived with chronic pain and fatigue for so many years now (over 42) and this has lead to low-grade depression, anxiety, stress, and worry. As a result, I don’t have a lot of experience with these positive feelings.
I have a course called ‘Gratishift’ that I got a couple of months ago, which is about helping one find that permanent feeling of gratitude. Unfortunately, I keep putting it off…because my energy level is so low, and by the time I get my work done, I just want to nap!
There is a third factor that is contributing to my pain and fatigue, and that is the current state of the world. Between the global pandemic, the deeper exposure of systemic racism, the US political situation, child sex trafficking, mass starvation due to the pandemic, massive wildfires, other global warming issues, and more… there is a tremendous amount of negative energy and shifting going on right now.
It is huge! And as a highly sensitive empath, I know this intense energy is affecting me…and many other people too! It is even affecting people who don’t have that sensitive nature…so this is very challenging.
Some of you may wonder why I would be so transparent? Well, quite honestly, I just don’t want to be fake…I don’t want to pretend that I am doing this healing work and have this creative on-line business and everything is all just peachy keen. I also want to share my experience because it may help others who are in a similar situation.
I have struggled with chronic health conditions and depression since I was a child, and I have worked for years to find some sort of relief…some sort of healing. I have found bits and pieces here and there, and I do believe that had I not done all this work, I would be in much worse shape than I am now.
I have shed layer upon layer of false identities and beliefs about myself. I have become more authentic and have come to honor myself for all my beautiful gifts. I have learned to find moments of stillness and to quiet my mind (especially at night). I have become more calm overall and I do feel much less stress and anxiety.
But in spite of this progress, my body still holds the patterns of pain and fatigue. So I carry on…doing the work. And I do this because I know one thing for sure…if I stop, I will never have a breakthrough, but if I carry on, there is the distinct possibility that I will breakthrough…it just may take a little more time.
If you like this article, you may also like:
- Anxiety and the Highly Sensitive Person
- Why Old Habits are Hard to Break
- Why Crochet is so Good for You
Click on the social share button and choose and image from below to share on Pinterest or Facebook!
