Patient Empowerment is probably the most exciting and challenging part of the new medical paradigm I aim to inspire. Healthcare must evolve if we are going to see better outcomes for those who suffer from chronic and autoimmune diseases.
Medical schools for one will need to incorporate training that goes well beyond their current focus on pharmaceutical medicines. Doctors must be trained in understanding how various body systems work interconnectedly and synchronistically to keep us healthy and well.
And patients must be inspired to understand their role in creating the level of health and vitality they say they desire. This is the heart of patient empowerment .
The Current Problem
For three or four generations now, we have been taught that when we are sick or suffering, our job is to go to the doctor and ask for treatment. We have been convinced—rightfully so, to some degree—that the “doctor knows best.”
Further, the system in place has assured us that the best thing we can do is to “follow the doctor’s orders.”
But these energies of “doctor knows best” and “follow doctor’s orders” are victimizing. We essentially turn our “selves” over to an authority and assume there is nothing else we can do.
Yet this mindset stands in stark contrast to the principles of patient empowerment—the idea that individuals can and should play an active role in their own healing. And as much as victim status is one of the lowest levels of energy we can experience, it seems poorly placed in a healthcare setting.
A Better Way
Further, it is also out of balance with reality. As I watched and learned from the doctors of natural medicine and their efforts to honor the wisdom of the body and as I saw the importance of engaging their patients in their own care, one truth became abundantly clear!
Patient empowerment is not just a concept; it’s a lived experience. When individuals are invited to participate actively in their healing, something shifts.
“The best doctor you will ever find is the one you see in the mirror every morning.”
As I discussed in The First Five #1 and #2, the body is constantly trying to return itself to balance and health. The imbalance you are suffering from may show up in the doctor’s tests, but it may not.
- Read here: The First Five #1 Body’s Ability to Heal Itself: A Deeper Look at Your Natural Power
- Read here: The First Five #2 Homeostasis and the Power of Natural Healing
No one can answer the question “Where is my life out of balance?” more clearly than you.
The Patient’s Role
In the new paradigm, patient empowerment is where we will understand how to:
- Listen to our own bodies
- Trust our instincts
- Take ownership of our own health
This suggests some real power we have—but also responsibility that we may have often thought was the job of a doctor.
As I’ve often stated:
- “The good news about the philosophy of health and wellness that I’ve learned and now preach to any who will listen is that more than you ever realized, you play a critical role in your path to vibrant health!”
- “The bad news about the philosophy of health and wellness that I’ve learned and now preach to any who will listen is that more than you ever realized, you play a critical role in your path to vibrant health!”
Chronic Disease and Responsibility
While following a doctor’s orders can be effective for trauma or infectious illnesses, the same approach doesn’t work for chronic conditions.
Managing chronic disease requires active participation. That means helping uncover what’s really throwing the body off balance and being willing to make the lifestyle shifts that support healing.
At the end of the day, no prescription can undo the damage of a poor diet or unhealthy choices.
Empowerment Through Choices
I would like you to know the level of patient empowerment felt and embraced when they begin to realize that our choices make all the difference in the world.
And it is not just diet and exercise.
Emotional stress is a huge contributor to the imbalances that lead to illness. I broadly define emotional stress as our inability to forgive ourselves and others.
Every day, we choose to consciously or unconsciously live in love, gratitude, and forgiveness, or we choose to live in anger, resentment, and bitterness.
We may think those choices don’t matter, but they do. They deeply impact the structure and function of the human organism in one way or another.
The Science of Emotions
I was first exposed to the science of this fact in an amazing book called The Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert, PhD.
The energy we call anger literally blocks cell receptors that allow nutrients to enter our cells. A little anger is at times necessary and appropriate, but chronic anger is deeply self-destructive.
The choices we make either raise or lower our vitality on a daily basis. Positive emotions lift us, and negative emotions drain us.
More insights will come in future posts, but here’s what matters most right now: the more you embrace your personal power in health decisions, the more your body will thrive.
Patient empowerment stands at the heart of every lasting path to wellness.
Read next:
The First Five #5: Quantum Physics Driving the Bright Future of Healthcare
