WHAT IS A HEALING CRISIS? 
The healing crisis is a little understood phenomenon. Its misinterpretation regrettably ends many well- intentioned health programs. It is a positive event that we should strive towards. Accurately interpreted, it is seen as a confirmation of successful detoxification and regeneration. Unfortunately, this rather confusing experience presents symptoms similar to illness. It is therefore easily misinterpreted as deterioration in health. 
In actual fact, you often have to feel worse as part of the process of getting better. This is particularly true in the case of an illness related to toxicity of some kind. A healing program requires toxins to be flushed out of the body, thus lifting their suppressive effect from the body’s normal functions. 
Throughout our lives, toxins build up in our body tissues through exposure to air, water and food pollution, food additives, medications, stress, hormones and even through normal daily activity. 
Accumulations of these waste materials stress the body in many ways: by contributing to a weakened immunity, by reducing energy and vitality, and sometimes by causing an imbalance in our emotional health. Unless you are living a pure, natural, healthy and active lifestyle, the levels of toxins in your body will rise as you age. 
This will certainly be the case for those of us who consume the average North American, Australian, or English diets, which are rich in factory farmed meats, eggs and dairy products, chemically grown fruits and vegetables, and highly processed foods. It is equally true for those who use alcohol and/or cigarettes or who are exposed to high levels of stress and pollution. Any degree of toxicity results in the acceleration of aging, while simultaneously increasing your vulnerability to any disease to which you may be predisposed. 
In order to eliminate toxins from your body, optimize your immune strength and stimulate tissue regeneration, the most important first step is to stop putting the wastes into your body. Once you stop putting poisons in, the body will begin to expel accumulated poisons from the tissues. 
Supporting this detoxification process by eating small meals of organic foods and using detoxifying herbs, homeopathics, purified water and herbal remedies can make the process of elimination more efficient and more comfortable for the person experiencing the detox. 
Both the purge of toxins and waste materials and the activation of your body’s repair and healing mechanisms will likely be evident to you as they are happening. As the body cleans itself, it releases stored toxins from deep within our tissues. The toxins are then moved through the blood and lymph and eliminative organs (liver, kidneys, colon, lungs and skin) on their way out of the body. As these toxins and metabolic debris make their way out of the body, they can temporarily congest our eliminative organs, lymph and blood; causing the various symptoms associated with a healing event (see below). In fact, they can become more concentrated in your blood on the way out than they were on the way in, and their effect on you can be temporarily quite acute. 

WHAT DOES A HEALING CRISIS FEEL LIKE? 
The actual symptoms experienced during a healing crisis can include fatigue, constipation, diarrhea, boils, chills, aches and pains, skin eruptions, flatulence, irritability or depression, headache, nausea, chest or head cold, shooting pains, disorientation, mental fogginess, dizziness, coughing, build up of mucous, etc. Transitional restlessness, unusual dreams and a change in sleep patterns (or an increase in sleep requirements) are also common. If you are healing from a chronic illness, your symptoms of illness can become more pronounced for a short time. 
The more severe your condition, the more pronounced your healing crises are likely to be. If you become very uncomfortable, you may be tempted to turn to over the counter medications for relief. Pain killers, for example, may be seen as welcome relief, but can actually suppress the healing process and prolong the rebalancing process. As an alternative, appropriately chosen herbal remedies can be a desirable option as they can reduce discomforts such as pain, swelling or gastrointestinal distress while supporting the healing process. 

EMOTIONAL HEALING CRISIS 
An emotional issue (associated with a particular layer of healing) may arise during the physical healing. It may emerge alone or in combination with a healing episode that is physical in nature. This can be seen as an opportunity to achieve healing on more than one level. 
You can interpret the emergence of a specific emotional issue as a gentle signal from your psyche that it is time to deal with it. In some cases, it is essential that we address both the emotional and physical issues in order to successfully pass through the next layer of healing. If we address one part but not the other, the healing may be incomplete and have to be addressed again at a later date. 

“A lesson not learned is a lesson repeated.” 

HOW CAN I BE CERTAIN THAT I AM EXPERIENCING A HEALING CRISIS? 
How do you distinguish a healing crisis from an actual illness? This is not easy to do and can take some trial and error combined with close observation of your emotions and body and a true sensitivity to your inner wisdom. Luckily, to help you recognize a healing crisis, you can count on a few common characteristics: 

1. You will likely be feeling quite fabulous or at least better than usual just before the onset of a healing crisis. It seems that the body will tackle healing projects once it has built up enough strength to face them. This strategy is similar to more conscious human strategies. For example, your wisdom tells you that you’ll need to be well rested before tackling the task of spring cleaning. 
2. During a healing crisis, you’ll usually feel a sense of well being about symptoms. Despite feeling ill, you will not likely develop any deep dread or resistance to the experience. For example, you may be nauseous and even perhaps even vomiting (which is never fun), yet you are able to maintain a sense of peace with these sensations. You may be vaguely aware of an inner confidence that the vomiting is a healing and cleansing event. During an emotional healing event or the emotional component of a whole-body healing event, you will most likely feel the symptoms, but identify with them less than usual. It’s hard to imagine that you could have anxiety without being anxious about having it. You will still experience the emotion, but you will be able to accept it without allowing it to take over your whole being. You will feel a confidence that it is temporary and will be short lived. This could be likened to the feeling you have as you run from the cold car in the winter into the warm house without putting your coat on. You will feel the cold but are not concerned by it because you know you will have relief just as soon as you get into your nice warm home. 
3. The timing of a manifestation of symptoms can be logically related to an increase in your healing or detoxification efforts. For example, you may have just started a new emotional therapy or a new type of massage treatment. Perhaps you increased an anti-viral or anti-fungal herbal remedy. You may even have made a significant step in your emotional development by, for example, quitting a job that was “toxic” to you. It’s common to have a healing event in response to significant life changes. 
4. A true healing crisis will usually be quite short lived. Several hours to several days duration is the norm. In situations of long standing toxicity or extreme candida or other pathogenic infestations, it may last longer because the initial “clean up” from these sorts of conditions can take a significant period of time. 

This information was provided to students upon completion of our Raynor Course & was provided to us by the International Natural Therapists Association.

If you have any questions or concerns at all, please feel free to reach out at anytime……..
Happy healing, Sending Love & Light

Beck Wilson

Beck's Zen Den 
Holistic Healing
250-469-1541 #ZenLife