Creating Your Own Healing Sanctuary

When we face an illness, surgery, or a lengthy recovery period, we facilitate the healing process by creating a healing sanctuary for ourselves.  A peaceful environment that gives us the opportunity to experience a state of peace and tranquility will promote essential self healing.

This gives us an opportunity to heal our souls as we heal our bodies.  If we take the time to understand our wounds, we can set our intentions to advocate for ourselves as best we can.  We can pay attention to the energy in our space and mindfully focus on what we need, even with limited strength.

To that end, if healing includes time spent in the hospital, we can take everything we need and NOTHING we don’t need:  flowers, “healing” stones, a favorite shawl or blanket, photos, podcasts, inspirational books or passages, and meditations.   When we come home, we can address the importance of comfort while not being comfortable, with scents, textures, flowers, plants, artwork, music, a salt rock lamp, photos, and listening to that which helps and turning off and tuning out that which disturbs (NEWS feeds and lengthy phone calls are two examples).  Our animals can be great aids to our healing. We can limit visitors (not only who comes and how long they stay but also how many people visit since visitors can be helpful but can be very enervating) Recovery takes rest. If we are about to doze off and someone shows up after driving to see us for a couple of hours we are less likely to listen to our body and force our self to visit. This can add stress to our healing.  We can increase our healing abilities and mindset by finding gratitude everywhere…for the caregivers, for the opportunity to be alone, and to reflect on how we got here and where we will go.

For most of us, it can be helpful to recognize that the doctor is our partner.  Listen to what he or she says.  It is their experience talking.  Likely, we will want to follow their advice.  Make sure to understand the reason they suggest what they are suggesting.  This is important for compliance. Ask questions. Then, add what we need to make our healing journey our own.  Why?  Because the medical team may or may not know what OUR needs are to better accommodate what we are required to do to heal.

If we are not able to read, then listen.  Appreciate the silence as well as the sounds around you. Have patience for the healing process. Don’t push it…eat healthfully, and rest even if sleep is elusive. Notice what comes up that is stress related to the healing process. Think about who our healing partners may be…who can we turn to?  Are these healing partners able to be there for us in the ways we need them to be?

Remember that the healing journey is highly individualized. For everyone it is different.  We must listen to ourselves and follow what our bodies tell us.  Others may be trying to be helpful, but their advice in the moment may not fit the needs we now have, so tune in deeply.