Chronic illness teaches powerful lessons. It nudges us to look far beyond our comfort zones in consideration of new ideas, medicines and healing approaches.

In my own process recovering from Lyme disease, I’ve come to understand that true healing happens on much more than just the physical level. To make true and real progress with ongoing illness, it’s critical to address all the dimensions of health. Lately, I have focused on five dimensions of health: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and social.

From these areas of focus, I created a daily activity log as a gentle reminder to touch all dimensions of healing, every day. I’m not generally a big list maker; in this case, it has really helped me to structure my healing process. Creating a simple list or log in itself affirms my intentions. I’ve posted it on the fridge, and I check it a few times every day.

Physical

In the physical dimension, I focus on activities that build my immune system, detoxify my body, provide nutrition and oxygen to my tissues and treat pain and other physical symptoms. Here, I remind myself to eat well, walk, swim and do lots of other simple activities that feed, nurture, strengthen and cleanse my physical being. The physical dimension tends to be the area we all think we know well. After all, we’re inundated with messages to eat well and exercise. Spend some time thinking about the many tiny activities that you want to remember to do every day, looking beyond the obvious and write them down. On my list are things like drinking water with lemon throughout the day, and remembering to enjoy various healing herbal teas. Some things are so simple that they’re easy to forget.

Emotional

Here, I listen to my heart. I surround myself with positive energy and try to choose consciously the thoughts I dwell on. I work on giving voice to my emotions in a way that at once respects them and releases them. Pushing them away, or denying them, will only create stress and the physiological damage that comes with it. Writing is a powerful tool for healing in the emotional dimension, along with laughing and taking part in any activity that creates joy. (Like spending time with these beautiful dogs, above and below.)

Intellectual

Like the muscles throughout our bodies, our brains need exercise, too.  When we’re sick, it’s all too easy to ignore our need for intellectual stimulation. I’ve learned that using my brain and expanding my world by learning new things energizes me. Reading fiction takes me to places and times that tickle my imagination, getting me out of myself. Reading nonfiction expands my world of ideas, leading me down the winding paths of inquiry and curiosity. Gentle goals work well, acknowledging that any learning is good and how much is not the point. Television doesn’t count; in fact, its effects are almost always more unhealthy than healthy.

Spiritual

It is in the spiritual dimension of healing that I’ve needed to stretch the most from my comfort zone. To start, I was challenged to understand my own definition of “spiritual,” and what has spiritual meaning to me. My new definition is broad. In the spring and summer, any mindful activity in the garden might support healing in the spiritual dimension. In the winter, tending to indoor plants might do the same. Daily meditations, time outdoors and creative activities (mo matter how small) are all valuable. Again, getting out of myself and doing something for somebody else feels good, at a time when so much of life seems to be about my needs.

Social

The importance of a strong community and social supports is well documented. Older people with vibrant support networks live longer and are healthier, too. Connecting with other people, whether close friends or simply acquaintances, shifts the focus from illness to others. Being part of a larger whole is a stronger position from which to face challenges. Whatever the community—work, volunteering, friends, church—it’s important to feel the support of people around you, and to be a support to others. As an introvert, I easily lean toward spending time alone, and have to consciously tend to my social needs in ways that are meaningful to me.

My long-time readers know that I’ve been slowly healing from Lyme disease, a diagnosis that came several months after starting Nourishing Words. At that time, as open-minded as I may have believed I was, I adhered to a relatively traditional approach to getting well: I took the prescriptions and supplements prescribed by my doctors and tried to carry on with my life, believing that they (the doctors) “would make me better.”

I learned, over a long period of time, that there’s so much more to it than that. My epiphany came when I realized that I alone was responsible for my healing. Sure, my doctors provided guidance in the physical dimension, but it wasn’t enough. They acknowledged freely that a broader approach would help, but I soon realized it was up to me to structure that approach, and that I indeed needed structure.

What’s on your list of healing activities? Are there other dimensions of healing that I’m not thinking about?

About the photos… These two goofy, loving dogs exemplify so much of what I’m talking about (Percy the grand-dog on the left and my own Charlie on the right). They live joyfully, rest when they need to, run and swim like crazy when they feel the urge, find community with each other (and anyone else on the beach) and yet relish their contemplative time alone. I’m not entirely sure where they get their intellectual stimulation; I’ll get back to you on that if I notice any activity in that dimension!