A Guide for Living "Wellness"
with help from Edgar Cayce
Aluvia Astrid, Atlantic University
What is wellness?
Have you ever felt soothed, encouraged, inspired by the beauty of another person--their authenticity, humor, wisdom, creativity, courage, vision, generosity and passion? During these moments in time, they are expressing their true nature. Wellness is a state of being in which our true nature, talents and attributes are flowing through us. The ecstasy of this state of being may seem indescribable, but were we to try, our descriptions might be unlimited. Some qualities of our true nature would be freedom, peace, clarity, inventiveness, love, objectivity, understanding, compassion, and emotional fortitude. Our reason, will and emotions are in balance, and we may be aware of a reality greater than the physical world in which we live. Our own state of wellness positively impacts those around us by demonstrating, welcoming, encouraging and motivating others to discover their own uniqueness and health. How much better do we feel when we are around people in the state of wellness? We would hope it is contagious!
Edgar Cayce's Philosophy on Maintaining Wellness
Edgar Cayce, acclaimed as the greatest psychic of modern time, and named the father of Holistic Medicine, established a foundation for alternative healing practices today through his medical readings in the early twentieth century. For Cayce, mind, body and soul must be in harmony, coordinating and cooperating with each other for the maximum benefit of all these potentials. These dimensions are integral to each other. To simply address physical symptoms without seeing the impacts of mental, emotional and spiritual states diminishes our capacity for wellness. Cayce recommends, "Don't just treat the symptoms, treat the imbalance." There is a reason for the imbalance, and that is what ultimately needs our attention.
While Cayce revived some of the practices and philosophies of the ancient medicine of Greece, China and India, he also provided a means to apply them to every day life, putting our health in our own hands. He guides us to turn our attention inward to contact the Creative Forces, God or the spiritual, for sustenance, and to access personal direction in all our affairs. Whatever the physical condition, Cayce says, the healer is within. "We heal through awakening the divine within us." When we become the source of our experience, and take responsibility for our thoughts and intentions toward ourselves and the world, we sense our ability to change, to fulfill our greatest longings, and to live our maximum state of health.
Illness as an Imbalance of Mind-Body-Spirit Equilibrium
Recognizing imbalance requires that we know ourselves, and can identify when we have lost our way. Ancient Greek, Chinese and Indian philosophies concurred that internal and external stimulation, beyond one's ability to master it, produced imbalances. Today, we may call this imbalance "stress". Stress could be the mental, emotional and physical result of errors in judgment, abuse of the body, natural aging, the inability to care for oneself and those we love, physical limitations, or a frustration resulting when we think that our inner reality is not mirrored by our outer world. A weakened state of being makes us more susceptible to illness, disease and injury.
How do we Heal?
Healing, or restoring the balance of mind, body and spirit, strengthens the human system and its ability to manage its daily life and environment. As we use our will, feelings and thoughts to live life from the balanced state of our true nature, we gradually realize our greatest potentials and come to know this nature as "Myself". Rather than focusing on problems, what's wrong with us, or what we need to change about ourselves, our belief in our true nature and desire to return to it, will bring to the surface those beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that do not reflect our nature. We do not resolve our problems at the level of consciousness at which they are created. Nurturing our mind, body and spirit is the homeostatic mechanism that returns us to balance and our ability to navigate both the calm and torrid waters of life. We can begin by focusing on one dimension of ourself, trusting that this will ultimately lead us to address all dimensions. For example, we may begin by meditating and practicing conscious contact with the creative forces, or follow our passion to run, or begin a course of study that develops our mental ability. Each practice will begin to restore balance and motivate us to give attention to the remaining potentials that are languishing.
What steps can I take toward Wellness today?
What do we need to include in our daily living that returns us to balance and wellness? Cayce guides us to nourish Mind-Body-Spirit in this way:
v "So much time each day (and do it!) I will give to the improvement of my mental concept of my relations to Creative Forces of God."
v "So much time each day I will give to physical relaxation and exertion for expression, for the activities to produce the proper coordinant relationships between mind and the body."
v "So much time I will give (and give it!) each day, to putting into practice that which is perceived and conceived," as to thy relationships to the Creative Forces, thy relationships to thy fellow man.
Each day we are directed to take time to build the mind, strengthen physically, and make conscious contact with spirit, applying the guidance received in our work and relationships. We will need to use our personal will and most positive intention to keep redirecting ourselves to these ends.
Cayce directs us in the "CARE" of our Physical needs:
Circulation of blood and lymph, stimulated by exercise and massage
Assimilation: of food, water and air
Relaxation through sleep, meditation and recreation
Elimination of mental and physical toxins
The body has essential needs for appropriate food, water and movement. Cayce recommends diets high in vegetables, fruits, fish and chicken, staying away from red meat, and embracing more alkaline foods. Exercise is essential, as is relaxation, each fostering the expression of one's talents and gifts. The therapies he recommends for physical healing include first and foremost, massage; electrotherapy, hydrotherapy including colonic irrigation; osteopathy and chiropractic. It is important to keep our mind, body and spirit purified.
He emplores us to foster our highest Mental capacity through right thinking. He is known to say "Mind is the Builder" which affects emotions and the physical body. This would include using our reason in a positive way, to create union with others and God. He believes that fear is a root cause of illness. We have the ability to discern when we are afraid and choose to be alone on our life journey, rather than engage with others and learn the skills necessary for harmony in community. We can choose to have love, understanding and compassion for others.
Cayce promises that the key to maximum health is our choice to connect with God, the Divine, the Spiritual, and awaken its presence within us. Attunement is raising our consciousness to meet that of the divine. This is achieved through both prayer and meditation, which he recommends we practice continuously. While in prayer we take an active role in a speaking and listening with God. In meditation, we relax and simply receive guidance without any agenda. We can create a sacred space for this practice, which continually holds this higher vibration, in addition to knowing the freedom to make contact with the divine at any time and place.
Soul Development: The Ebb and Flow of Wellness:
For most human beings today, balance and wellness is not a constant state. Each time we realize imbalance, we are at a learning edge. This is how we grow individually, and as a species. We learn greater mastery when we are knocked off our feet and feel inadequate to meet a life challenge. Growing means that we realize that we will repeatedly find ourselves in unknown territory, where we don't know the answers or our next steps. We may resist the unknown if we don't believe in the core strength of our true nature and our ability to master what life presents. This is where we may get stuck. However, through our choice and practice of nurturing mind, body and spirit, we return again to our true nature, tapping more of our own potential and strength, creating fulfillment and success.
I believe that to heal, we also need others to facilitate our return to balance. We can create a healing team or allies to have support in the wings that will help us to process ideas or pain, coach us in self-care, exercise and nutrition, redirect us to our spiritual nature, or invite us out to play and recharge our creative juice. We can employ doctors, surgeons, homeopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and healers. Many allies can be found through books. In addition, using our gifts and talents in service to others is an invitation to our true nature to create and direct our lives.
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*As an Energy Healer, I facilitate wellness in the Texas hill country by: re-balancing or tuning up the mind-body-spirit connection; re-directing clients to their essence and true self; bringing awareness to thoughts, beliefs and emotions; helping to identify choices and options; instructing and guiding the development of discernment of the multi-dimensional aspects of consciousness; and ultimately attuning with the consciousness of Light or Oneness, which is the energetic vibration and presence that heals. You can find her through her website: www.essentialbw.com