The Three Elements of Healing
There are three elements that have helped me in my journey to healing. I have termed these three elements as the 3 M’s. They stand for Meditation, Movement (exercise) and Medicine (otherwise known as food) because in Ayurveda, food is medicine.
I’m sure most people, like me, have searched or wished for a miracle cure, a wonder drug or a magic pill that can cure an illness, prevent sickness or reverse the process of aging. But when you encounter a health crisis, the search becomes more urgent.
If you have heart disease or lung disease, and were referred to cardiac rehab or pulmonary rehab, then you may have heard about the magic pill prescribed to heart and lung disease patients. The magic pill is called exercise or what I call movement.
I spent eight weeks in pulmonary rehab and although the educational classes were very helpful, the main focus of the rehab program was to get me started in an exercise program. I started the program two months after my hospital visit. I had just finished two courses of prednisone but was still weak and had trouble even making it through the grocery store. My six-minute walk test was 240 meters. I had stopped doing any exercise for fear of ending up in the emergency room again. This program was very helpful because it helped me overcome that fear and it got me started on a regular exercise program again.
The other two elements that play a very important role in my healing are Meditation and Medicine. In this context, medicine refers to food because Ayurveda is about using food as medicine. There’s a quote by Hippocrates, the Greek philosopher, who is considered the father of medicine: “Let food by thy medicine and let medicine be thy food”.
For me, these three elements are as close as I will ever get to the miracle cure, the magic pill and the wonder drug, until such time when someone actually develops them. They may not cure or reverse my illness, or make me immortal but they help me manage my symptoms daily and so far, they have helped to stabilize my lung function.
I will talk about each of these elements in separate posts but if you are not already practicing meditation or movement, I encourage you to start researching some programs in your area to help you get started. If you suffer from COPD and have not been referred to Pulmonary Rehab, it would be a good idea to discuss this with your doctor. The program offered many helpful insights and information that my doctors did not discuss or educate me on. These people have more knowledge, and useful and practical tips than most of the doctors I’ve encountered along the way.