Restoring Immunity from the Inside Out

An essay from Lauren’s forthcoming book, Restoring Your Immunity

 

Wisdom isn’t something you can “do” or “make happen”—it’s there in all of us. By becoming more familiar with that space within ourselves and trusting our own instincts more fully, we can learn to apply this quality of discriminating wisdom in everyday life.

—Andy Puddicombe

Those who find my work have been on a quest, most have tried literally everything out there with the hope of resolving their symptoms. Upon arrival they are generally in one of two states:

1. certain that THIS is the Holy Grail of Healing, or
2. wise to that fact that there is no magic solution and are ready to work on themselves from the inside out.

Those who still believe there is a Holy Grail of Healing will dive in with great enthusiasm and yet completely miss these crucial check-in questions:

How does this fit with my own belief system on healing?

Or even more fundamental…

What is my belief system for healing, and what is my role in this process?

If you struggle with answers to these questions you might want to read my post, An Invitation.

If you happen to fall in the Holy Grail seeker category, even marginally, you might want to hang in here a bit for this next part.

It is both easy and appealing to get caught up in the enchanting chase for a magic solution. I spent far too many years doing just that myself. The draw to explore the next latest and greatest solution, whether it be a practitioner or product, all actually led me further from the self-discovery that was needed. What was happening? Now, in retrospect, I can see the energy I was pouring into avoidance. That’s a pretty powerful word to describe a pattern that can become as comfortable as an old friend. Especially so when the pull from a glossy, attractive therapy was stronger than the daunting task of unpacking fear programmed into my DNA. I mean seriously, who wants to open Pandora’s box? Certainly not me back then. My family health story was one of fear and denial, and as an adult I knew I wanted to avoid the fates of my mother and grandmother.

How Family History Influenced Healthcare Beliefs

Like most women of their era, my grandmother and mother were frightened of their bodies and the mysteries of disease. In the late 1950’s, my elegant, Stanford-educated grandmother suffered tremendous emotional symptoms related to her hormonal cycles. In hopelessness she turned to the experimental medical work of the time. Her “treatment” ended up being shock therapy, and eventually a lobotomy - the results of which she endured the rest of her life. Her daughter (my mother) witnessed her mother’s struggles as she came of age, and her fears created a disconnect from her own health and wellbeing. Heartbreakingly, this led her to ignore a developing melanoma which tragically took her life at the young age of 25. Their fears became my legacy.

It turns out that I was the fortunate one in the fact that I was given the gift of two wakeup calls. The first melanoma, while pregnant with my son Sebastian, put me into a tailspin of denial, but the second, more minor, recurrence did the trick. I was able to accept the fact that I needed to begin some serious internal housekeeping if I wanted to change the legacy for my children and future grandchildren.

As the novel concept of active participation in my own healing began to surface, I came across Gemmotherapy extracts. What drew me so deeply into my work with these extracts was their subtle but powerful action: supporting restoration of the immune system step by step. The changes that occur are not instantaneous by any means but are a gentle unfolding just as in nature. To note these changes and to keep a protocol on track one must cultivate self-awareness and an attention to detail that is not always embraced in our culture. Wow. That’s a lot. Self-awareness and attention to detail can be life-changing and certainly big steps in the right direction.

This is where the healing from the inside out begins.