I’m sick of feeling this way—I want to get it all out now!

Go deeper…I can take it!

In addition to my acupuncturist, I’m seeing a chiropractor, physical therapist, orthopedist and you. What else should I be doing to heal?

When I hear clients say things like these, my heart goes out. Because I hear how strong the desire is to feel better. But I also know there can be an underlying belief driving these statements, a belief that healing has to be hard—that it has to hurt, be a struggle, or be intense. But that’s just not true, and it can make healing, well…harder.

More is not always better…

When it comes to healing treatments, sometimes less is more. If you pile on multiple types of sessions in one week—like acupuncture yesterday, craniosacral today, and chiropractic tomorrow—it can stress out your body.

Think of it like eating one rich meal after another, leaving no time for digestion. It’d make you sick, right? The same is true for healing. Your body makes changes during a healing session. Afterwards, it needs time to pause, rest, and integrate the changes.

Deeper is not always better either…

In the same vein, harder and harder deep-tissue massage is not the best way to get muscles to relax. Often, it’s quite the opposite. Hard or painful pressure can activate the body’s defenses, making muscles more tensed and guarded.

Lighter pressure can slip beneath this defensive radar, allowing muscles to let go. And the very lightest touch can often produce the deepest releases.

Faster and more intense is also not…well, you get the idea

I understand how badly many of us want to clear out old emotional pain and energies. Just get it all out now! I wish it were so simple. But “bigger” or more cathartic sessions often don’t help. And they can actually be retraumatizing.

It’s counterintuitive, I know, but strong sensations and big emotional releases don’t necessarily equal deeper healing. The most powerful shifts happen amidst stillness.

So how does the body heal?

Remember the last time you cut your finger? It took time to heal, didn’t it? And the changes were so slow and incremental, you probably didn’t notice them. But one morning you woke up and your finger was healed.

Most healing is like this. It’s slow and gentle. It arises from within, guided by a deep, inner wisdom. And it works best when conditions support it. The most we can do is create the right conditions for healing and get out of the way.