In my first post, “To Be Whole,” I wrote about how I began to engage with the question, “what does it mean to be a healthy human being?” I continued on about human health as a function of wholeness. But what about the process of restoring wholeness? What about healing?

Merriam Webster’s online dictionary defines healing as:

1. a: to make free from injury or disease: to make sound or whole; b: to make well again: to restore to health
2. a: to cause (an undesirable condition) to be overcome: mend; b: to patch up or correct (a breach or division)
3. to restore to original purity or integrity

What’s missing from these definitions is that healing is an innate, natural process for biological organisms. If I cut my finger, my body immediately begins the work of healing the wound. Generally, all I need do to support the body’s own healing process is clean and protect the wounded area from infection with a bandage, perhaps applying a specialty bandage or stitches if the cut is too deep and/or bleeing excessively such that the natural process is inhibited. The approach is similar with broken bones, we simply immobilize the area so that it can heal without being disturbed.

So the body heals itself, and not just skin and bones. Hair regrows. Muscles don’t just heal, they grow stronger. The lungs can recover from smoking and the liver can recover from alcohol. All of the body can heal itself, we simply need to support the process. Unfortunately, we often ignore this when we experience various symptoms of illness, especially when it comes to our internal organs. I get it, it’s not so easy to know what’s going on in there. Luckily there is wisdom in our bodies that can help us to understand and diagnose what is ailing us without the need to look inside. Luckier still that there are some approaches we can use to address a wide range of imbalances without needing to diagnose specifics.

Over two-thousand years ago “the father of modern medicine” Hippocrates asserted that all disease begins in the gut. While this may not be completely true of all disease, more and more scientific research supports the idea that the gut plays a fundamental role in overall human health and well-being. My own studies and experience since I began to engage with the question of human health confirms this, which leaves the question of how to address it. I read a lot of books with different perspectives on the subject before I proceeded with any serious experimenting. After reading a number of books on macrobiotic philosophy (and some others), I decided that the approaches they offered made sense to me and were worth exploring further.

And so, about 15 years ago I freed myself of the frequent symptoms of asthma, allergies, and eczema that I had been experiencing since childhood. It took the better part of two years eating mostly plant-based with an emphasis on cooked whole grains and seasonal vegetables alongside the regular application of a couple home remedies to support the elimination of stagnation from within the intestines. It was an incredible experience. I had no idea I could feel the way I did, with so much energy and to breathe so easily despite physical exertion or the presence of allergens which would normally have triggered symptoms of asthma and the urge to reach for an inhaler…

The thing is, it wasn’t a patented formula or product that helped me to achieve what I did, it was simply that I primarily consumed homemade meals made with whole foods in season, chewed well, and mostly avoided packaged and artificial foods. And it wasn’t bland or boring either. I had no idea the delicious meals I could make without need of animal flesh or dairy. And the experience of clear lungs, clear skin, and to wake with the sunrise without need of an alarm, fully refreshed and ready for each new day.

So what happened? Why didn’t I maintain my condition? …a number of factors. The modern world does not make it easy. I’m not sure who we designed our modern lifestyle for, but it does not support human health at all. It takes clear intention and action to properly care for ourselves. The modern world moves fast and it’s much too easy to rely on conveniences, many of which are counterproductive when it comes to caring for our health. And so some seven-ish years ago I began to again experience the familiar symptoms of asthma, allergies, and eczema, although the allergies were never again as severe as when I was younger.

After a few years of this I decided I needed to get back to what I knew to do to restore my health. At first I struggled with it as I faced a number of other challenges around the same time. As luck would have it, a few years ago I found a partner with similar aspirations, and we’ve since been supporting each other in restoring our health and working to put together a #healthyself program to share with others who wish to do likewise. Enter your email below/beside this post and tap subscribe to follow along with us as we share about our journey and what we’re learning along the way!