New to Healing? Some Basics [Noob-Friendly]

I strive to keep things as simple as possible for everyone we come into contact with. But I know I don’t always achieve that. The worst case scenario for me is adding to people’s confusion and overwhelm, and not providing clear enough action points.

I consumed a ton of information back in the day that educated me to a point, but left me to do the hard work: figuring out how it was applicable in my situation.

So that’s the catalyst behind this blog post - I want to deliver some clear, concise information, and some action points for you to take away. Hold me to account please, and let me know if I fail or succeed at this!

Objective Healing

When we get objective about the contributors to our condition, it helps us put an action plan in place, and start believing in our road map to recovery. Being objective, in this context, means giving the most attention to the things that require the most attention. The reasons why your health is suffering are not the same as the next girl or guy. So don’t get distracted, and focus instead on your own scenario.

‘Root causes’ for health problems can be split into three main areas (or ‘levels’, as I like to think of them): Antecedents, Mediators and Triggers.

Antecedents are unchangeable conditions that set the stage for everything else. Genetic weaknesses, missing organs, etc. Mediators are environmental conditions that affect you, e.g. where you’re living and what you’ve been eating these last years. Triggers are those ‘straws that break the camel’s back’. The things you might think caused your problem, like dairy, or dust, but actually, the stage was set a long time ago through a combination of antecedents and mediators.

Imagine a car, broken down on a steep hill. An antecedent might be, the car just doesn't have enough power - that’s the way it was built. A mediator might be, the car is carrying too much load, or it missed the last oil change. Another mediator might be that the car was fitted with very low-grip tyres, so getting power down is tricky. The triggers in this example are: the hill itself, or perhaps the gravel road surface that caused the car to conk out.

We instinctively know with cars that the reasons for failure could be to do with the way it was built or how badly it’s been maintained, but somehow, we don’t apply this same simple logic to our bodies. We are quick to blame the triggers, and in many conditions, we even put poor health down to bad luck. We’d never knowingly put the wrong fuel in a car, but we do it all the time with ourselves.

Start with a List

Your first task (and I sometimes get my clients to do this) is to make a list of all your known antecedents, mediators and triggers. Just making this list can reduce the overwhelm, and help you formulate your action plan. It can be therapeutic - a stock take on your life, and being realistic and honest about the contributing factors to your condition.

In my experience, the ‘mediator’ level is where we can really make a difference. Triggers are pretty easy to identify and eliminate, but I’d recommend taking much more notice of those things in your life (some of which may have been there for decades) that are mediators to your condition. A place of living or working, a relationship, food habits, activity level.

We all have antecedents, so don’t feel like you’re on the back foot if you know you’ve got some. In many cases, they’re more changeable than first thought.

Go with your instinct as you make the list - perhaps there’s something you know is contributing, but you can’t bring yourself to admit it out loud. The reason we are reluctant to admit things is because we are not willing for what we think is necessary to change it. However, what you need to do might not be what you think. It might be much easier. So admit your known contributors to yourself, and start taking action.

When you have complete your list, use your instinct to help you answer these questions:

• Which of the mediators do you feel is contributing the most?

• Which of the mediators are you most enthusiastic about addressing?

Answering these will help you with where to start. Just start with one thing - don’t try and take on the whole beast at once. Remember how to eat an elephant: One bite at a time.