Excerpt from Finding Your True Self (out of print)
Physical Ailments as Lessons
A client of mine told me the following story about his challenges with the mind and physical healing. His case is not about buried beliefs. Rather, it is about reconnecting with lost childhood dreams that expressed his True Self.
Jack’s Story: The Inner/Outer Vision Connection
Jack is a scientist from the East Coast. At the time of our meeting he was in his mid-50s. We met at a conference held at the University of California just a few weeks before I retired from the University. Read the following about his experiences that led up to our session in September of 1996.
It was March of 1996. As I stood before a group of fifty scientists, policy makers and the public giving a presentation on the restoration of the Everglades, I suddenly noticed that parts of the letters on the slides I was projecting on the overhead screen were missing. Needless to say I was first quite surprised, and then became somewhat anxious. As I continued the presentation, I alternated eyes looking at the screen and quickly learned that the problem was with my left eye. I finished the presentation and discussion that followed, had lunch and returned to the University.
The next day I scheduled an emergency appointment with my optometrist who immediately determined that I had blood seeping into the vitreous of my eye but she was unable to tell exactly what was causing the bleeding. She immediately scheduled an appointment for me with a renowned retinologist.
As I sat in the waiting room reading the Celestine Prophecy, I had the awareness that there was a lesson to learn from the hemorrhaging in my left eye, but did not really know or understand the meaning of such a lesson. The doctor, a young, slender intense man in his late thirties, said, matter of factly, “How do you like the Prophecy?” Somewhat surprised I said that I was really enjoying the book and the nine insights that were the basis for the story. “Yes, yes,” he said, “I found it extremely important and filled with lessons that I would like all my patients to experience. As a matter of fact, our meeting here today is no coincidence, and I would venture to say that it will extend beyond your reason for coming. Now let’s take a look at your eye.”
After a careful examination, I returned to his office. He confirmed my optometrist’s diagnosis. I could see this area of red when I focused my left eye on a white sheet of paper. He said that there was nothing that he could do. Surprised at his matter of fact comment, I asked what would happen to my eyesight. He said that the blockage might clear up or might not. If it didn’t, I would lose my sight in that eye. He scheduled me for another visit two weeks later. As I was leaving, he said to me, “You may have to become your own healer.”
I returned in two weeks, this time reading The Tenth Insight, which again caught the doctor’s attention. He reexamined the eye and said that he seepage had slowed down but there was some swelling in the eye that was distorting what little vision remained. Again he reiterated, “There is no surgical procedure that I can suggest, but we could use steroids to reduce the swelling.” He looked at me intently and asked if I “saw” the problem with my eye. I said, “yes,” and he asked me to draw it. He then compared my picture with the ones taken by his staff and smiled. “See,” handing me the photos and picture, “you do truly see far better than I do.” After discussing my vision for several minutes, he said that the physical problem with my eye was only symptomatic of a more far-reaching problem than I was facing. Though he didn’t know what that was, he suspected that it had to do with having “the correct vision.” He suggested that I focus on that and contemplate or meditate on what this episode means and why it had come to me at that time.
For several months, no answers were forthcoming and I had shelved the whole episode. The vision from that eye was still clouded in a sea of red, but apparently I had adjusted and become used to the condition. In September, I was invited to speak at a workshop it the University of California, Davis. When making my travel arrangements, I included an extra day for no apparent reason at the time. Just before I was going to speak, the woman coordinating travel and logistics, Katherine Zimmerman, came up to me and asked for some information. During the conversation, I learned that she was retiring early to practice hypnotherapy full time. There was an immediate connection between us and we arranged to have dinner that evening. We found that we shared many interests in common and naturally the topic shifted to hypnotherapy. I found that, initially, I felt this unexplained resistance. This surprised me because I have always been open to new ideas and experiences. Where the resistance was coming from was unclear. Nevertheless, it was becoming clear that I was being guided to this woman, at this time, to use hypnotherapy to address some as yet still unknown issue. Since I had that extra day of travel, we had dinner the next night and Katherine led me through a session.
Throughout the session, the theme of finding the path, the purpose of life, doing what is in harmony with your purpose in this lifetime kept recurring. Near the end of the session, I experienced this immense all encompassing sadness emanating from the core of my being–that quickly manifested as my having walked away from a childhood dream of being a doctor–but more importantly the desire to work to help people heal their body and spirit. Finally, after the tears subsided, I experienced this sense that something very profound, which I had managed to cleverly suppress for many years, had been revealed to me in this hypnotherapy session. A calmness and centered feeling enveloped me and a sense that all would be well.
On the flight back to Miami, I meditated on the experiences of this single hypnotherapy session and realized how powerful a technique it was. Using Katherine’s tapes, I continued this process when I returned home with a sense that something profound had changed, and of course, it had. Shortly after my return, I was preparing some computer graphics when something entered my right eye. I immediately tried to remove the particle and to my surprise noticed that I was able to read the letters and graphics almost perfectly with my left eye. Then I realized that all this work on my “inner vision” had, as the doctor had predicted, returned my physical vision to normal. The lesson that I have learned from this single, albeit powerful experience with hypnotherapy, is to reveal and understand the origins of events, situations, feelings, fears, etc. that prevent us from remembering our true nature and our Soul’s purpose in this lifetime.
Needless to say, my return visit to my doctor was one of mutual celebration and excitement and an affirmation that healing the Soul/Spirit is a prerequisite to healing the body. This healing can take many forms and be achieved in a variety of ways each unique to the individual.
Key Points
▪ A physical ailment may represent a lesson you must learn in order to express your True Self’s purpose in this life.
▪ Focusing on your desire to learn–through meditation or just contemplation–will lead to guidance.
▪ You may be guided directly to a solution, or you may be led to another person. (Jack was lead to experience hypnosis with me)
▪ When you learn the lesson, you heal on the physical level, as well as on the emotional, mental and spiritual ones.
Tips for Physical Healing
If you have a physical ailment, begin with this simple exercise: imagine yourself healed, or healing as you drift off to sleep each night. Rather than focusing on the pain and how much you dislike this illness or injury, turn your thoughts to your recovery. You can also ask your body if there is a lesson contained in this situation. Physical illness and injuries can be excellent opportunities for growth and connecting with your True Self.
Be joyful, be grateful, live in peace,
Katherine Zimmerman
Clinical Hypnotherapist
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash.com