Right now I can feel my heartbeat in my left thumb. It’s all red and inflamed because I sliced it, right on the pad, two days ago when I was opening a plastic container of olives. Ouch! Minor cuts and bruises are a pretty regular occurrence around here. I guess you could call me a bit of klutz. I just get in a hurry and have a problem with patience. That’s my excuse anyway for breaking wooden spoons in blenders and running into chairs. In the case of the latter, I usually brush it off, maybe notice a bruise a day or two later, and wonder ‘where did that come from?… This cut has my attention though – mostly because it’s throbbing – and I’m reminded just how incredible the body really is…
Without me doing a thing it knows exactly what to do to heal that cut. It’s going at it as we speak. I went back to look for this excerpt from Dr. Weil’s book Health and Healing about the body’s automatic response. Dr. Weil encourages people to learn about the process and gain confidence in the body’s innate capacity to heal. It’s all too easy these days to overlook it.
“If there is bleeding, see it as the body’s way of cleaning the area and ensuring an unobstructed flow of blood. Observe how bleeding stops with the formation of a clot. How soon can you detect the beginnings of an inflammatory response (redness, warmth, swelling, and tenderness around the injured tissue)? These changes represent the influx of white blood cells and other cells whose job is the removal of debris and defense against infection.”
Kinda cool, huh? Next time you get a boo-boo, see for yourself. Make sure it’s nothing too serious. Get over the ouch. Then just observe as your body goes to work. And give it the credit it’s due.
