I have some friends that are kind of nutty. They use "essential oils" as medicine and talk about learning to use energy to help heal emotional and physical problems. Now, if I didn't highly respect these people, and know them to be good, intelligent ladies, I would probably have dismissed their thoughts as somewhat "looking beyond the mark." Instead, as I listened to them, I could sense there was truth in what they were saying, but I did not know what that truth was or how it fit in with my understanding of the gospel. I was being drawn to learn more about it though, and I even bought some essential oils to start experimenting and learning.
The energy session was interesting. I had learned a little about energy (life-force, chi, ki, prana, mana... whatever you want to call it) from when I was in Kung Fu for several years. They had us do what they called "internal power" which was a form of meditation in which we learned to channel energy into our hands. It was kind of mysterious to me, but I did learn to feel energy in my hands, even though I didn't know if it was in my mind or actually there. Anyway, in this session, she started by working around my feet and I was amazed that I could feel heat coming from her hands - or from my feet - I couldn't tell which. Anyway, I thought it was interesting and somewhat strange, but I felt good and still intested in learning more so she told me of some books to read.
The next evening, I realized that a physical problem I had had since college was gone. I was amazed. It hadn't even occurred to me that something like an energy session could heal this problem. I knew it was not coincidence since this problem had been constant for a long time, but I wondered how long the "healing" would last. I had gone to a chiropractor about the problem before, but the adjustments would only last for an hour or so. (I had also looked at the option of surgery, but it was expensive and it was a battle with the insurance about how much of it they would pay).
Anyway, the problem has not come back yet. I still don't expect it to never come back, but how long it has been gone has convinced me that there is a lot of truth in "energy work" and I am more motivated to learn more about it.
The big question that has lingered in my mind, though, is "Why?" Why did Heavenly Father wait to heal my body until I was willing to look into this stuff? You don't hear about this kind of thing very much in "mainstream" culture. If it there is truth there, why don't we talk about this stuff?
I think it has a lot to do with our culture. We are seeped in Western medicine for healing our bodies. I believe there is truth in Western medicine, but there is a lot of truth in other healing practices as well. I don't know all of the answers, but I have come to some answers as to why I was personally inspired to learn more about it. I have found that learning about the relationship of our bodies to our spirits will strengthen my family relationships. I have learned that it is easy to confuse our emotions with the spirit, so learning to manage our physical emotions can help us be better conduits of the spirit. I have learned that healing our spirits can heal our bodies and emotions, but also that we can use our bodies to help us heal our emotions and better receive the spirit. There is a reason that it was important for us to receive bodies to become like God. Our bodies are amazing and have much power and Heavenly Father is willing to teach us about them when we want to learn.
So I guess I am becoming as nutty as some of my friends ;-) I only hope I can become like them in other great ways too.
I found some great articles about some of this in Meridian Magazine. They talk about emotional healing techniques from an LDS perspective. You can read them if you are interested in learning more:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
I know that, as with any truths, Satan can confuse and deceive, so I am trying to be very careful and to pray for discernment as I come across new information. Like I said, I don't know a lot about it, but the more I learn, the more things seem to fit together and make sense with what I already know. Some things still seem pretty strange to me so I am dismissing them for the time being and looking at what I think will be a blessing. I am focusing on the doctrine or principles behind these practices to see if the doctrine stands up to the truth I know. It's an interesting study and I'm thankful for the insights I have received so far.
I appreciate your post. We have also been led step by step towards energy work over the last ten years and it has been a great blessing in our lives.
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting! In RS we talked about the gifts of the spirit. We read D & C 46: 13-26. The part that stood out to me this time was v. 15 that says in part, “to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know the differences of administration…”. I used to think that meant each person has different spiritual gifts, which I still think that is one layer of understanding for it. But the footnote leads to Moroni 10:8 says in part, “there are different ways that these gifts are administered…” so that got me thinking about how I know God provides more than one way toward a solution in many areas. Like medicine, I wrote a post on it here: http://tjedmomforliberty.blogspot.com/2012/10/thoughts-on-medicine.html
ReplyDeleteSo, for me, gifts of the spirit administered in different ways can be applied to healing arts each has its best use, each has merit, each can be exploited or abused, each needs looked into and not just blindly accepted as the only source of healing.
When I first started learning about essential oils, I wondered how it all fit in too. Recently I bought a book called "10 Great Souls I Would Like to Meet in Heaven" by S. Michael Wilcox. In one of the introductory chapters talks about how we use a compass to create a perfect circle, and likened that to our search for truth - keeping one foot grounded in the gospel, and then using our searching foot to discover more truth and make our circle bigger. He mentions that we shouldn't be surprised when we find people and practices that are more advanced than we are as LDS people, and gives an example of that. I check myself and my purpose in using the oils when I use them (am I looking at this as a quick fix when there is something else I should be doing instead?), but they've been a great blessing. If nothing else, our family has avoided a lot of sickness.
ReplyDeleteI've been on a similar journey, Karen. It really makes so much sense when I think about the force behind creation itself. As children of God, we have more spiritual ability, and a greater connection to all forms of spirit (energy) and life than we realize. It reminds me of the process infants go through with random arm and leg movements the first couple of months- they don't realize that there is a connection between their minds/wills and the movement of their limbs. Then one day it clicks, and their movements become deliberate. So it is with our minds, our spirits and the energy within and around us- energy which has a direct connection to the state of our bodies, and vice versa. I think if we are ever to become as God is, we need to better understand this connection. That's how I see it anyway. I echo the other comments here, too.
ReplyDeleteAmazing how the learning never ends. There are always new layers of truth to uncover and discover if we keep seeking. I believe God just waits for us to ask the questions. I love the buddhist proverb: "When the student is ready, the master appears." So very true.