One of our readers offered this question to be answered and it is an important one. Bodies are amazingly resilient and amazingly fragile, aren’t they? When a chronic condition is getting worse, it is natural to become depressed and lose hope.
Bodies teach us that we are more than our bodies. Have you ever noticed that when you are in chronic pain, the pain seems to decrease or leave your consciousness when you participate in an engaging creative activity? Studies have been done to prove this. Creativity is one of the best pain relievers.
Have you noticed that you feel more cheerful, and are less concerned about your health, when you are focused on helping someone with their task or challenge? Volunteer work and/or contributing in some way to your world are ways, some of us have discovered, that allow us to continue enjoy living, whether or not the body is becoming more challenged or is healing.
Bodies go through ups and downs in the healing process. So do emotions. Honoring what you are feeling both physically and emotionally tells your psyche that you care about you. Continuing to be engaged in life tells your psyche you value living a meaningful life.
Creativity is one of the most powerful and commonly recognized ways of helping you experience less discomfort and more vigor for life. Here are some thoughts about creativity from Chapter 3 of my book, The Root of All Healing: 7 Steps to Healing Anything:
Creativity can lead you into a discovery about natural order. In the natural order of life all things change. Forest floors that have been damaged by fire eventually become fertile ground for new seedlings. Within years, new life grows where there once was only destruction. The same is true with our emotions and illness…It is easy to believe you will always feel pain, and you may find yourself doubting you can ever be free from that pain. However, you have a consciousness that can invite your body to enjoy greater ease, and you can use your creativity to guide your physical energy toward freedom and comfort.
In my book and in the Breakthrough Healing System online video course that greatly expands upon it, I share stories about people that found their healing gift through their creativity, or got intuitive insights that led them to their healing solutions. http://www.misahopkins.com/shop/
Remember nothing is static. It just seems that way. Life is always evolving. When you are involved in creative expression, you get constant reminders about how life evolves. For example, let’s say you are painting a landscape. Painting the water in a pond might be eluding you and it just doesn’t seem to be working quite right. However, if you allow yourself to be disappointed and then just get still for a few minutes—maybe take a break and come back to it—you might get an intuitive hunch to try something new. You apply a new technique or a new color, and voila, your painting works.
Frustration, disappointment, set-backs, and lack of progress are the uncomfortable and sometimes painful aspects of life. But they aren’t all of life. Your spirit wants you to be at peace. You can experience peace.
If you are willing to first be compassionate with yourself, then encourage yourself to participate in a creative process, and lastly, perhaps be of service to another, you are likely to find your spirit lifting. In engaging creatively in life you are sending a message to your body and emotions that life is good and worth living. And you are going to enjoy every possible minute that you can.
You will also receive a complementary subscriptions to Misa's periodic Inspired Healing Messages and daily Prescriptions from Heaven inspirational e-cards.
This is a great article, Misa and it's timely for me because over the past week I've found my spirits to be uplifted despite the fact I'm dealing with chronic pain and inflammation from RA (not to mention med side-effects). I attribute the uplift to my involvement in a mindfulness group, a vibrant women's group and a create the life you want group. And I'm embarking on a journey to change my diet. Hopefully the creativity and serving others will come out through these activities over the next little while.
Thanks for the article and thanks for your book. It's very helpful. 🙂
Marianne,
What great ways to find comfort and centeredness through the process! My book references a couple of studies confirming the effects of creativity. There was one where researchers discovered that the only symptom not alleviated through creative activity was nausea. That's it. Every other symptom tested was reduced. It sounds like you have found some great playgrounds for creativity, and there is nothing like meditation to slow everything down so that pain can dissolve in the presence of truth and compassion. Let us know how it goes!