⌗28 DAYS WRITING CHALLENGE Feb. 16th HEAL

Yesterday evening I went to an event at my local cinema : a documentary followed by a debate. The theme was REGENERATION.

As our planet has been able to regenerate itself after cataclysms like the ice ages, the meteor strike that wiped out number of species, including the dinosaurs, nature has a way of always landing on its feet. That includes all living species, plants and animals...and HUMANS.
So the body can regenerate, healing itself if left to its own devices. The argument of the documentary is that the brain, the most powerful of human organs, fabricates the right tools to cure all ills that can put the whole into jeopardy.

The documentary focuses on examples of individuals suffering from illnesses as divers as MS, diabetes, depression, colon cancer, tumors...who thanks to drastic changes in their rapport with and treatment of their body enabled it to heal itself naturally. Without surgery or chemical drugs.
A miracle, you might say ! No a lot of common sense, an open mind and a capacity to listen to one’s body and heed the signals sent. It’s a bit like when you don’t put your safety belt on and your car beeps annoyingly until you do what it says. The brain through its neurological system, our own built-in computer, receives from and sends messages to your organs, skin, muscles etc...
So basically if you feel a headache coming on, instead of popping pills, you try and figure out what your brain is trying to say: stop reading, turn down the music or switch it off, stop whatever your doing and rest. Drink plenty of water. Okay so this is only a headache. What about MS. The doctors say you are dying basically and that the lesions are irreversible. Your body says otherwise so listen to what it has to say. 

The people who bear witness in the film and who have survived and healed themselves, all were thought mad, eccentric, by their doctors. They stopped all conventional treatments, left their hospital beds and embarked upon a patient and sometimes long road back to full health.
What did they do ? The majority started by a period of fasting of several days. They changed their eating habits to more natural and fresh foods. They changed their environment to a more healthier one: less pollution, less man-made noise, less intrusive artificial light. They increased the quality of their sleep by reducing the level of stressful activity. The idea is to cleanse the body first so that the appropriate actions can be taken to refuel it and let the brain do its the work.
The changes produced new symptoms, but ones that indicated that the body was starting to work towards recovery.

The documentary went into great scientific detail as to the bodies’ mechanisms of self-regeneration. The usefulness of bacteria, nutrients, air, water, moderate exercise in a pleasant atmosphere, feelings and emotions. Doctors, neurologists, psychiatrists, nutritionists and specialists in alternative medecins all contributed to build their case.

Throughout the documentary, a parallel was drawn with how nature regenerates itself if left to its own devices. Soils pronounced dead are just exhausted. They need rest and nutrients. Forests grow back if they are not tampered with. Man-made constructions if abandoned are taken over little by little by nature. Agriculture does not need chemicals. Weeds are not bad, they enable the earth to breath, drain water. When fallen leaves rot, they create mulch. When apples fall, they attract insects and worms who feed the earth. Permaculture strives to recreate this natural environment by using the land as it is, without clearing or destroying the natural order but by planting the appropriate product in the right place. They then strive on their own.

This is not some readymade recipe. Each individual responds best to what works for him/her. The time it takes for the body to regenerate depends on each person’s ability to adapt. The path is first intellectual, then physical. You have to yield to the belief that life is always stronger than death. That the confidence you place in the survival instinct of your body is total.
Of course there is nothing new here. We have just forgotten about it. Chinese medical practices, Hippocrate, Jung, among others are quoted.

The documentary doesn’t exclude necessarily all medical advances over the last couple of hundred years but denounces the excessive use of drugs and invasive surgery.
Personally I was convinced before I even saw the film. I have suffered from severe depressions. I have been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and been treated over the years with drugs and psychotherapy. I have been told that I will have to take regulation drugs to avoid mood swings for the rest of my life. I have always fought against the need to take drugs and decrease the dosage whenever I can. This illness is my brain telling me that things have to change. I have adjusted an awful lot of things in my life and strive to keep working on relentlessly healing my body and mind. Each person can find what they need and apply it.

here is a link to the trailer of the film.

Enjoy

Writing has always been my refuge and most prized creative outlet but theatre, dancing, singing, photography are also constants. I need to walk in nature, travel to the sea regularly. I have been practicing yoga for twenty years, do-in for five. I have increased organic foods: fresh fruit and vegetables that we buy every week at the market, produced locally; tea, coffee, flour, rice, pasta, sugar, milk, cream, yoghurts, cereals from an organic shop. We eat red meat only once a week, fish and chicken too, organic eggs moderately.....