Releasing illness from your body is a choice. We often believe that we are victims of illness. That we are prey to external forces, such as bacteria, or chemicals, or carcinogens, that we must protect our bodies from. And that even if we are meticulously careful, we can still be cruelly struck down by the misfortune of illness.
In actuality, illness is nothing to be feared. It is our reaction to illness that causes our suffering. All illness is a loving signal from the divine GPS telling us that we are living out of balance. Illness, whether it be a cold or runny nose or fever or broken foot or even cancer, is a gift from higher Self, in the only form that may grab our attention at the time, to raise our awareness to the true inner dis-ease in our minds or in our lives that is the origin of the illness, that we would have otherwise ignored.
Our bodies would be in a constant state of health if we stayed in tune with our bodies. Not identifying ourselves with our bodies, but being mindful of any early signs of illness, like a good auto mechanic would care for a car. If there was smoke coming out of the hood of a car, a good auto mechanic would not ignore it or complain about being the victim of God or bad luck, nor would he just put smoke absorbing pills into the gas tank. He would obviously open the hood, look inside to find the source of the problem, and correct it.
For our bodies, the mind is the engine inside, and when the body warns us with early signs of illness, we don’t need to panic or feel bad, we just open the hood, and check what needs to be placed back into alignment. If we quiet our minds and open ourselves to the intuition of the higher Self, the answer usually comes easily. Maybe I have been pushing myself too hard at work and my body is responding to the stress. Maybe I’ve been having self-defeating thoughts about something that happened. Or maybe I’m worried about an upcoming event and the illness is unconsciously an escape. Maybe it’s an accumulation of living life in fear, lack of self-love, need to please others, etc.
So when you wake up and feel the slight congestion building up in your nose, or just a twinge of fever on your forehead, or a hint of scratchiness in your throat, you don’t need to feel threatened. First, don’t make the illness real. Place an intention in your mind “I do not believe or need this illness” then gently release it, without fighting it or drawing attention to it. Feel your body allowing it to pass through without resistance, then feel the buzz of healing energy from Source breathed into your body. Then proceed in the belief and feeling that you are completely healthy and well. So if your nose feels congested, rather than sniffling or snorting, simply relax your body, relax the muscles in your face and sinuses, and take easy slow effortless breaths in and out through your nose, with the same mindset and feeling as when your nose is clear and at full health. You will find that when your mind is resonating with the energy of health, that your body will automatically follow.
By doing this, you will find that you almost never get sick. You will have such long periods of perfect health, maybe years at a time, that the belief in health will strengthen, and the belief that illness has no power over you will become real. But even then, there are times that you may still get sick. And if that happens, there is no reason to feel bad or guilty. It is not a failure on your part. Embrace it again like the gift it is. It just means that we have not become perfectly enlightened yet, but no one in the physical world is, so this is a perfect opportunity for growth and movement towards enlightenment. And it is not the physical illness that causes suffering, it is the mind’s belief in the reality of physical pain and illness that is the cause of suffering. As the Course in Miracles says, the guiltless mind cannot suffer.
Even cancer and terminal illness is a gift. I believe that we all have chosen lifetimes with lessons that we are ready for, and for those who are ready for the most growth of their soul, they may have chosen a lifetime that may involve great physical illness, even lifelong disability or terminal cancer. Rather than looking at them with pity as victims, we should love them as infinite spirit that has the courage to choose a lifetime of great growth and teach all of us through it. If love heals all things, then we need to treat illness not by resisting it or fighting it, but approaching it from love. Only then does illness lose power over us, and we can gently release all illness.
