Healing vs. Curing

– Crossroads and Outcomes

By NSA chiropractors Drs. Steve Gardner and Cliff Inkles

Healing, to make whole again, is about the person becoming well. With healing, we fully honor all parts of our body, and all core, authentic expressions of who we are. In times of difficulty, to feel, at any moment, whatever it is as it is, without controlling or avoiding it, no matter how painful or threatening to our former ways of feeling secure, is to go towards something bigger. Giving recognition to what’s inside, without knowing where this may take us, trusting that it will be worthy of our passage.

Curing, on the other hand, focusing on parts, can actually make a person ill, even while successfully alleviating the original symptom or wound. A cure can, however, save our life in an emergency, buying more time for the healing to come later.

With curing, there is an “it” to get rid of. With a prolonged focus on curing, it becomes like a war. The war on cancer, or crime, or drugs, or on our own pain. We want to drug the pain, cut out the problem, force a change. Anything to avoid the out of control feeling of the suffering that may be there.

It may often seem like we were cured through healing actions, or vice versa. Nonetheless, there are important differences;

When on track for healing, nothing that violates our innate integrity, physically or emotionally, is used. We let go, at least momentarily, of any resistance or evasiveness to whatever is demanding our attention. The way out, with healing, is through, not around, whatever is being presented for our experience, with the symptom used, through inquiry and exploration, as a pointer towards the changes we must make. Any moment we look beyond what we’ve grown accustomed to or what no longer serves us, or towards new insight into what we are all about, is healing. On the other side, we are stronger and wiser. Resolution is thereby deeper and long lasting.

In contrast, persistently reacting to expectations from what, deep down, we may believe we’re entitled to or in no way could do without, is fertile ground for futile exasperation. Whether or not anything is being lost, it’s our reactivity that disconnects us from our inner resources. When cured with no regard to healing – no evolution of behavior or understanding, relief is most likely of a temporary nature. The same symptom, or a case of even more encompassing symptoms, will typically show up with increased severity just as life becomes particularly stressful. We’ve all been there. Change is inevitable. Personal development is optional.

Several generations have passed in which modern medicine has been available for providing us with quick access to comfort from a variety of ailments. As with the introduction of many recent technologies, succeeding generations have fallen out of touch with developing innate capabilities, meant to unfold with life’s experience. Indigenous people were no doubt far more capable of healing their own wounds. Their rituals, no matter how diverse, structured empowering, personal growth, outlined in both the 12 Stages of Healing , and the Book by Dr. Donald Epstein.

With healing, we find the resources to pay attention where we could not before. Thus, our spirit gets satisfied and a deeper peace ensues with life – just as it is. Paradoxically, this peace is not complacent and leads to lasting changes that improve life in a sustainable way.

Network Chiropractic Care structures an easy process of step-by-step healing, irrespective of any beliefs or feelings, however intense, about one’s current predicament. The transition from being focused on a cure to discovering the ability to heal and grow stronger by one’s own doing, unfolds naturally, promoting the person’s self-confidence as it happens.

Network Care is the application of Network Spinal Analysis and Somato-Respiratory Integration, a surprisingly gentle and very different process from what’s probably most often expected, given its chiropractic background.

Drs. Steve Gardner of www.easyspine.com and Cliff Inkles, of www.lifepowerwellness.com are leading chiropractic practitioners of Network Care. They practice in the Bethesda, Maryland suburb of Washington DC and New York City, and can be reached at drsteve [at] easyspine [dot] com, (301) 986-4810 and dr [dot] c [dot] inkles [at] gmail [dot] com, (212) 924-4305.