Phases of Healing

Patti introduced this concept at the last YLD beginner's chat. I was so impressed with the idea, I asked her to write this week's article. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Kathleen

In working through the Radiant Recovery program, working the 7 steps, the question I am pondering is: Do we work a step, get it steady, heal, and move onto the next step without having to refine or go back to the previous steps? And if we do find ourselves going back, because it isn't working any more, does that mean we are doing something 'wrong'? I don't think so; I think we come across 'healing phases', let me explain why.

I believe that as we work each of the steps there is a sort of healing 'process' that our bodies go through. Meaning in one sense that what we start out doing on that step may not work long term, we may need to adapt what we are doing according to the healing that is taking place within our body.

Maybe we add exercise, or stop eating as much sugar, or there is an underlying healing 'shift' (biochemical) taking place (unseen) where our outward lives haven't changed. Let me say more about this part. I believe that our biochemistry is, as we begin/work through/ and continue on with the steps always 'shifting' towards wholeness/healthy levels. I don't think that we get to a certain step, work it for two weeks, and bam biochemistry is healed. So, sometimes when a person is working a step, and they get it stable, and then they move on to the next step to only find that the previous step may not feel as stable any more, that it is because there is a 'healing phase'(one of a shift of biochemistry) that they may need to address.

So, our body 'shifts' and all of a sudden some part of what we were doing before doesn't work. Maybe we are getting hungry before our next meal, maybe the potato isn't giving us restful sleep any more, or we start feeling emotionally out of balance. Our immediate reaction has often been, 'What am I doing wrong'?

Well, I don't believe that we are doing anything wrong, necessarily. If we checked, and it all looks good, and we checked in with our buds and they don't see anything either, then what does this mean? I believe it means that I simply needed to 'adjust' my program to the changes within my body (whether things such as adding exercise/limiting sugar/etc. or inward biochemical changes/shifts).

For me personally this occurred when I added in CST ( Circular Strength Training ). I was no longer able to go 6 hours between meals (I had been able to go 6 hours for years). But, I wasn't doing anything 'wrong'. My body was definitely indeed in a place of healing more, a 'healing phase', it was a good thing - but my meal timing didn't work right any more. I was getting hungry earlier. So I adjusted my meal timing to 5 to 5.5 hours between meals and amazingly everything started working again. CST created a 'shift' and I needed to respond to that shift.

Identifying these 'shifts' or 'healing phases', when fairly early in program can be difficult. Our beta-endorphin levels are sometimes not supportive enough yet to help us to ascertain what is happening with our recovery. For instance, let's say we are going through one of these 'healing phases', something that was working isn't working any more - we very often become discouraged and frustrated, and then this often leads to giving up, thinking that the program just won't work for us; that somehow we are doomed to a sugar-addicted life forever.

We are not. (smile) Every one of us can have the radiance that is our birthright. And one of the most important things we can do when we feel the way I described in this last paragraph is to reach out in the Radiant Recovery community and share this with our buds. There are those who have walked the path before us, who daily share their experience, strength, and hope. Those who have walked through their own 'healing phases' many times, and can help us walk through ours.

Through connecting with others we can then recognize that the possibility of help exists, and we rediscover the hope we thought we had lost.