Timing and readiness is important for healing

Written by Casey Hersch, MSW, LCSW

Throughout my journey there are many interventions that have taken place that started to heal my body. I am better today than I was yesterday and markedly better than I was 10 years ago. I look over my life and wonder how I made it? There were so many opportunities along the way for me to give up, leave my life, or worsen to such a state that my body could no longer support me in life. Yet, I am still here. This is because of all the support, love, resources, and people that have come in and out of my life. But it is also because of "me."

I learned to find ways to feel empowered in my health journey, to take back control over my body and life, and to believe that I was capable of living a healthy, happy, life amidst what science or my scarred history said to the contrary. Naturally throughout my life, without working too hard, opportunities came my way, inviting me to open doors and accept a journey towards feeling better. My only responsibility was to recognize these opportunities and to open the doors and look inside. I had to be ready.

Timing is everything. One person might hear of an intervention and they might let it go to the back of their minds, or blow it off completely, but it is still there. The suggestion has been made and it is up to them to revisit it at any point in their lives if they so choose. There are a lot of choices to be made in this life and how we want to take care of our bodies and minds. The universe is infinitely loving and giving. Attuning to this and noticing is our task in life. I did not let the diagnoses become "me" and I started to know what I was ready for.

There are some interventions that happened in my life, however, that were the most significant. These interventions were the ones that impacted my mind, my emotional state, and unlocked feelings I carried deep inside of me. In retrospect, addressing the emotional components of illness was equally, and at certain phases of illness, more important than the physical. The balance of the two is critical.

Our body accepts healing in its own way and at times this is not congruent with what the mind thinks one needs or should be doing. Other times our mind craves a certain intervention that the body is not ready for. However, "READINESS" and "TIMING" are very important. When I realized I was not balanced with my own 'Healing Wheel', and all the evidence of my life pointed towards a need for MORE emotional healing, I had to be "ready" to accept the emotional aspects of my illness. I had to be safe enough to deal with what came up as a result of opening my "trunk of emotions." My mind knew it was time to embark upon a new phase of emotional healing, but my body had to be ready.

There were times in my life where it would not have been possible or prudent to immerse myself in emotional healing. My body kept some emotions locked up with dead bolts for years because it knew that if they were to come rippling out of me, I might collapse entirely from being overwhelmed and unsupported. Timing and my trust that my mind and body would know when it was right was essential. Bit by bit, as safety filled my life, my body started to let go of trauma, painful emotions one by one, and begin to heal this part of myself. As safety and support filled my life, more opportunities for emotional healing presented themselves--I had to pay attention and notice they were available for me to receive when I WAS READY.