Creating Wellness, Part 2: Ways to Manifest Wellness
by Christine Upchurch, M.S.
In Part 1 I described my experience of facing a health crisis: the early stages of cancer. Eventually I came to realize that on some level I had created this illness. Then, without the help of medical treatment but with a lot of self-work, the illness disappeared. This was a significant lesson for me in how we can attract either disease or wellness based on what we create in our lives physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
How we treat our bodies — from the foods we eat to the way we move — certainly affects our health. But this is not the topic of this article. Instead, I want to focus on how our minds can be used to create wellness. I used the approach outlined below to heal my own cancer, but this approach can be used for manifesting wellness regardless of the health problem.
The “Law of Attraction” says that our thoughts, emotions, and choices create a vibrational frequency around us that attracts experiences of similar vibration from the universe. There are many books on the subject of co-creating with the universe. Two of the best published in the last several years that I have read are: The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer, and Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires (The teachings of Abraham), by Esther and Jerry Hicks.
There are several steps to consciously co-creating wellness with the universe. First, we need to observe our inner workings, which can be done in many ways, including through journaling, counseling, and meditation. By looking within, we can access our inner wisdom to choose an appropriate healing path. This process may also identify areas that require attention before we can clearly attract physical healing.
Secondly, we need to focus our minds on perfect health to consciously co-create wellness. If we focus our thoughts on poor health or on our feelings of frustration about not getting better, then we are creating a vibration of illness, so that is what we attract. If instead we focus on healing and gratitude for whatever wellness we have, then we attract more of the same: healing.
We can focus on healing in many ways, such as using affirmations or visualization. By creating thoughts of our goal and behaving as though we already have the health we want, we thereby begin the co-creation process.
Our emotions can illuminate our path to wellness. If something rationally seems appropriate but somehow doesn’t feel right, then we must trust our feelings: it may be a bad choice. Also, while imagining perfect health in our minds, we should pay attention to how we feel. Are we experiencing joy, as though we are perfectly aligned with the divine? Or do we feel something else? If we feel resistance, then we may have issues of unworthiness or be benefiting from the illness in some way, both of which are hindrances to healing.
When I was facing cancer, I realized that I was using my cancer as an “excuse” to get out of working on my doctoral dissertation. Once I decided that I didn’t need an excuse to quit my graduate work, this disease no longer served a purpose and disappeared. Caroline Myss has written a wonderful book on overcoming obstacles to healing, entitled, Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can.
Our emotional state is integral to determining what kind of health we co-create. To attract wellness, the emotions accompanying our mental goal must be positive and hopeful. In the latest Esther and Jerry Hicks book entitled, The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent, Abraham says, “Some are beginning to acknowledge: You get what you think about. But we would like to clarify that statement further by saying: You get what you feel about what you think about.”
Once our intent for healing is clear both mentally and emotionally, then we naturally feel joy and gratitude with our image or affirmation of wellness. These positive feelings augment the power of our mental focus, creating a strong vibration so that we magnetically attract the healing which we seek.
To manifest wellness, it is also important to take action based on inner guidance, whether it comes through meditation, dreams, intuition, or synchronicity (such as overhearing a conversation containing what seems to be pertinent information). By following guidance, we are not only taking what could be important steps for achieving wellness, but we are also honoring the messages and their source, thus encouraging more guidance!
Is it always possible to manifest perfect health? Although some believe so, I think that for some people at certain stages in their lives, the healing that manifests may not always occur on the physical level. Illness and dying can be great teachers to the person experiencing it and to those around them.
In the movie, “My Life as a House,” Kevin Kline plays a man who is dying, and in his last several months he chooses to build the house of his dreams with the help of his estranged teenage son. This process was healing for him as well as for his son. After his death this healing had a ripple effect that this man could have never predicted. This movie underscores how, from our human perspective, sometimes we cannot see the “bigger picture” of the divine plan.
People often say, “We create our own reality.” I believe that we consciously have a great deal of control over manifesting reality, so the “we” includes the conscious part of ourselves. But “we” also should include our higher selves. Sometimes, through God’s wisdom, we experience things that may appear to be suffering, but in reality offer great lessons.
For many years, I thought that I had attracted cancer because of my inner negativity and “missteps.” In a way, I still believe that to be true. However, on another level I now see how beneficial the experience was in helping me along my path. I don’t believe that I could facilitate healings as well if I hadn’t had this kind of experience. If I was meant to work in healing in this life, perhaps my higher self saw the wisdom of my experiencing illness, and offered it to me as an opportunity to learn. So, yes, I believe that “I” created my cancer—but it wasn’t just “I” the person, but also the “I” that is most connected with the divine.
By taking the steps described above, it is possible to consciously co-create wellness with the divine. But this isn’t the only way to manifest healing. In my practice as a Reconnective Healing Practitioner, I have seen examples of a very different type of “co-creation” process. I have had clients who have come to me for healing who didn’t seem to be “working” to create good health. Yet after a couple of sessions, they experienced amazing healings physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Somehow through this process they attracted healing on all levels without ever doing the conscious work typically associated with co-creating wellness.
Part 3: The role a “healer” can play in a person creating wellness
In Part 1 I described my experience of facing a health crisis: the early stages of cancer. Eventually I came to realize that on some level I had created this illness. Then, without the help of medical treatment but with a lot of self-work, the illness disappeared. This was a significant lesson for me in how we can attract either disease or wellness based on what we create in our lives physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
How we treat our bodies — from the foods we eat to the way we move — certainly affects our health. But this is not the topic of this article. Instead, I want to focus on how our minds can be used to create wellness. I used the approach outlined below to heal my own cancer, but this approach can be used for manifesting wellness regardless of the health problem.
The “Law of Attraction” says that our thoughts, emotions, and choices create a vibrational frequency around us that attracts experiences of similar vibration from the universe. There are many books on the subject of co-creating with the universe. Two of the best published in the last several years that I have read are: The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer, and Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires (The teachings of Abraham), by Esther and Jerry Hicks.
There are several steps to consciously co-creating wellness with the universe. First, we need to observe our inner workings, which can be done in many ways, including through journaling, counseling, and meditation. By looking within, we can access our inner wisdom to choose an appropriate healing path. This process may also identify areas that require attention before we can clearly attract physical healing.
Secondly, we need to focus our minds on perfect health to consciously co-create wellness. If we focus our thoughts on poor health or on our feelings of frustration about not getting better, then we are creating a vibration of illness, so that is what we attract. If instead we focus on healing and gratitude for whatever wellness we have, then we attract more of the same: healing.
We can focus on healing in many ways, such as using affirmations or visualization. By creating thoughts of our goal and behaving as though we already have the health we want, we thereby begin the co-creation process.
Our emotions can illuminate our path to wellness. If something rationally seems appropriate but somehow doesn’t feel right, then we must trust our feelings: it may be a bad choice. Also, while imagining perfect health in our minds, we should pay attention to how we feel. Are we experiencing joy, as though we are perfectly aligned with the divine? Or do we feel something else? If we feel resistance, then we may have issues of unworthiness or be benefiting from the illness in some way, both of which are hindrances to healing.
When I was facing cancer, I realized that I was using my cancer as an “excuse” to get out of working on my doctoral dissertation. Once I decided that I didn’t need an excuse to quit my graduate work, this disease no longer served a purpose and disappeared. Caroline Myss has written a wonderful book on overcoming obstacles to healing, entitled, Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can.
Our emotional state is integral to determining what kind of health we co-create. To attract wellness, the emotions accompanying our mental goal must be positive and hopeful. In the latest Esther and Jerry Hicks book entitled, The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent, Abraham says, “Some are beginning to acknowledge: You get what you think about. But we would like to clarify that statement further by saying: You get what you feel about what you think about.”
Once our intent for healing is clear both mentally and emotionally, then we naturally feel joy and gratitude with our image or affirmation of wellness. These positive feelings augment the power of our mental focus, creating a strong vibration so that we magnetically attract the healing which we seek.
To manifest wellness, it is also important to take action based on inner guidance, whether it comes through meditation, dreams, intuition, or synchronicity (such as overhearing a conversation containing what seems to be pertinent information). By following guidance, we are not only taking what could be important steps for achieving wellness, but we are also honoring the messages and their source, thus encouraging more guidance!
Is it always possible to manifest perfect health? Although some believe so, I think that for some people at certain stages in their lives, the healing that manifests may not always occur on the physical level. Illness and dying can be great teachers to the person experiencing it and to those around them.
In the movie, “My Life as a House,” Kevin Kline plays a man who is dying, and in his last several months he chooses to build the house of his dreams with the help of his estranged teenage son. This process was healing for him as well as for his son. After his death this healing had a ripple effect that this man could have never predicted. This movie underscores how, from our human perspective, sometimes we cannot see the “bigger picture” of the divine plan.
People often say, “We create our own reality.” I believe that we consciously have a great deal of control over manifesting reality, so the “we” includes the conscious part of ourselves. But “we” also should include our higher selves. Sometimes, through God’s wisdom, we experience things that may appear to be suffering, but in reality offer great lessons.
For many years, I thought that I had attracted cancer because of my inner negativity and “missteps.” In a way, I still believe that to be true. However, on another level I now see how beneficial the experience was in helping me along my path. I don’t believe that I could facilitate healings as well if I hadn’t had this kind of experience. If I was meant to work in healing in this life, perhaps my higher self saw the wisdom of my experiencing illness, and offered it to me as an opportunity to learn. So, yes, I believe that “I” created my cancer—but it wasn’t just “I” the person, but also the “I” that is most connected with the divine.
By taking the steps described above, it is possible to consciously co-create wellness with the divine. But this isn’t the only way to manifest healing. In my practice as a Reconnective Healing Practitioner, I have seen examples of a very different type of “co-creation” process. I have had clients who have come to me for healing who didn’t seem to be “working” to create good health. Yet after a couple of sessions, they experienced amazing healings physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Somehow through this process they attracted healing on all levels without ever doing the conscious work typically associated with co-creating wellness.
Part 3: The role a “healer” can play in a person creating wellness
Published in New Spirit Journal April 2006