10 Beliefs that Hinder Healing

March 14, 2022 1 Comment

Mindset is everything. It’s truly at the crux of every healing process, transformation, and personal or professional endeavor. Yet many people never take the time to interrogate their beliefs, think about why they think a certain way, or assess whether the thoughts they’re thinking or the convictions they’re holding support the life they want to have and live.

If you want something, you may not initially believe that you can have it, but you at least have to think that it’s possible. And the more you reinforce the possibility that you can have what you desire, the closer you come to believing it, and thus having and experiencing it in your life. On the other hand, if you want something, but you think in opposition to it, it’ll never happen.

In my 10+ years experience as an herbal practitioner, I’ve found that the people who experienced the least improvement are the ones who hold the most disbelief. They can take the herbs, change their diets, and start a movement routine, yet experience minimal shifts because they did not change their minds.

Instead of focusing on where they wanted to go, they stayed fixated on where they’ve been. Illness and wellness exist at opposite ends of a spectrum, just like wealth and poverty, connection and loneliness, past and future. You can walk toward one end OR the other.

Here are some of the common beliefs I’ve heard over the years that hinder healing along with a short rebuttals that offer a different perspective.

My body is broken
The body expresses what’s within. Pains on the physical are an extension of the conversation that’s happening internally, in the mental and emotional spaces. Your body isn’t punishing you, it’s inviting you.

I’ve got bad genes
Gene expression can change. And for things that are congenital (which I don’t consider under the umbrella of illness), you are in your perfect body in this lifetime.

It’s too expensive to be healthy
Same budget, different choices.

I don’t have time
Pain, illness, and disease rob time, drain energy, & dominate brain space. Imagine what you will do when you reclaim these.

I won’t be consistent
You’re already consistent, likely with harmful, instead of helpful habits. It’s the same energy, managed differently.

My diagnosis is forever
“No cure” doesn’t mean there will never be one or that it’s impossible to heal from it.

I will have time to focus on that later
And what will be the state of your health by then?

Denial
An example: I am healthy, just gotta figure out this high blood pressure.

I can do it by myself
Healing takes a village. Receive help from professionals, family, teachers, ancestors, guides, errbody. Everyone needs people who are more resourced and educated around them. Stop feeling like you should know things you don’t know and enjoy the process of learning.

My medication manages it
Depends. Some truly are life saving for people. But more importantly medications aren’t a free pass to keep up with knowingly unhealthy behavior. It will always be your responsibility to learn how to care for yourself.

If you’ve found yourself saying aloud or thinking these thoughts I hope the short rebuttal that followed each belief at the very least inspires you to think about what you think about and ask, “does this belief/thought help or hinder my healing?” You might be saying, “but, Selima what if the thought is true?” Remember that truth changes as you change. You don’t have to keep reinforcing just because it’s something you’ve been experiencing. Start talking about the things you desire as if they are here and now.

With love,
Selima

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