Unlock Your Heart-Mind-Body Connection to Heal
A year ago a well known guitarist named Jim (name changed for privacy) came to me for help with chronic pain in his hands. Musicians’ hands have been hurting for as long as people have been doing acupuncture, so luckily there is an armamentarium of acupuncture points we could choose from to help. Luckier still, my passion is teaching people how to use their heart-mind-body connection to heal, and cutting-edge research including new research from brain neuroplasticity researcher Norman Doidge, M.D. and chronic pain researcher Michael Moskowitz, M.D. (The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity Viking, 2015) shows that any part of our body can respond.
I explained to Jim that acupuncture would help him very much, but that I wanted him to learn to engage his Inner Molecules of Medicine himself. Otherwise I knew he would be coming to me for acupuncture every week for months, and honestly I didn’t have time in my booked schedule for that. My hope for him and for me is that he get well as quickly as possible, so that I can reserve time in my schedule to teach and write, and so that he can get back to enjoying playing the music that touches the hearts of so many of his fans.
I excitedly asked Jim, “Have you ever had a gig where suddenly while you’re playing you notice that you’re so deep in the zone that it’s like the music is just welling up out of some magical place and playing through you, and you suddenly realize that all your band members are experiencing it too and you’re playing like you’ve never played before and the audience is feeling it too and everybody wants it to go on and on and it’s like you’re in some kind of altered or expanded state?” Jim nodded his head a vigorous yes. “And you notice that the feeling goes on long after the show has ended and you’ve gone home, and suddenly you realize with wonder that the vague headache you had earlier in the day is gone without a trace, and your hands feel the greatest they’ve felt in a decade, and you feel like you could go run a few miles pumping your fists toward the midnight stars in joy?” Jim said, “Yes, every so often it happens exactly like that. I live for those nights.”
Though Jim’s hands may have hurt again by the next morning, for those hours the biochemistry of his body has changed enough for him to be pain free. By mastering HeartMindBody meditation, Jim can learn to intentionally change his biochemistry and engage his Inner Molecules of Medicine to heal. The heart-mind-body connection is one of the most powerful, yet underutilized resources for healing that we possess.
While Jim did make several changes including lessening his intake of foods known to inflame joints and increasing his intake of anti-inflammatory foods, most importantly we tailored a specific HeartMindBody meditation for him that he uses to this day. After only a few months, his pain was substantially reduced and he now experiences many days completely pain free. Most excitingly, he told me recently that there are many more gigs now when he has the transcendent experience of being “in the zone.” Through HeartMindBody meditation he learned how to shift his inner state to increase the odds, and now those magical moments happen more and more easily.
If you are interested in learning HeartMindBody meditation and how to engage your Inner Molecules of Meditation, check out one of my classes or free events (for a complete listing, see www.unlockingtheheartofhealing.com). Or, pick up a copy of Unlocking the Heart of Healing through our Amazon checkout (click below the image of the book on our Home page.) I hope to see you soon! Bridget
