All Is Well: Heal Your Body With Medicine, Affirmations, and Intuition (27 page)

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to prevent a relapse, and to modify the long-range course of

the illness.

Vanessa’s symptoms were numbness, tingling, and unsteadi-

ness in her hands and feet (medically, this is called spasticity

and ataxia). She also had fatigue, blurred vision, and pounding

headaches. Vanessa’s physicians offered baclofen, dantrolene, and

physiotherapy for the limb symptoms, and amantidine and and

other stimulants for fatigue. For her symptoms of a sudden na-

ture—the intermittent headaches and blurred vision—her phy-

sician suggested a course of steroids. The doctors recommended

beta-interferon, glatiramer acetate, or other drugs to mitigate the

long-term effects of the disease. These drugs are said to reduce

relapse rates by more than 30 to 60 percent, but they come with

a chance of serious side effects. After much thought, since her

symptoms were mild, Vanessa chose a short cycle of steroid treat-

ment. For now, she wanted to avoid the other medicines, though

she would stay in constant contact with her neurologist to moni-

tor the level of her symptoms.

Next, Vanessa went to an integrative medical doctor and nu-

tritionist who could also approach her illness from a symptomatic

and illness-preventing point of view. The nutritionist worked to bal-

ance Vanessa’s out-of-control immune system that was “attacking”

her brain and spinal cord. Vanessa began taking DHA, calcium,

magnesium, copper, selenium, and a pharmaceutical-grade B com-

plex that included thiamine, B6, and B12. Vanessa cut out caffein-

ated beverages and any drinks or foods that contained aspartame

or MSG, as these are known to affect people with MS. Vanessa

also wondered whether a wheat intolerance made her symptoms

worse, so she began to remove wheat from her diet.

Her next stop was an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist

who used certain points and herbs to reduce her limb spasticity as

well as her headaches and fatigue. He suggested Boswellia serrata,

which may decrease the autoimmune attack on the brain, and

Ginkgo biloba, which has been shown to reduce the inflammatory

response in the brain in MS patients. She also took horse chestnut,

another herb that has an anti-inflammatory effect, as well as an

anti-edema (decreases swelling) effect. He even suggested that she

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temporarily eat a macrobiotic diet in an attempt to “reset” her

aberrant immune system.

The final member of Vanessa’s team was a Tibetan herbalist,

who helped her find an herbal combination that suited her indi-

vidual needs. These combinations have been shown to increase

muscle strength, and patients taking them have even shown im-

provements in some of their neurological tests.

In addition to these physical programs, Vanessa also started to

work at changing the thought patterns that could be making her

worse. She started to use affirmations to address both the multiple

sclerosis (By choosing loving, joyous thoughts, I create a loving,

joyous world. I am safe and free) and the symptoms it was caus-

ing—numbness (I share my feelings and my love. I respond to love

in everyone); fatigue (I am enthusiastic about life and filled with

energy and enthusiasm); headaches (I love and approve of myself.

I see myself and what I do with eyes of love. I am safe); general eye

health (I see with love and joy); and eye problems (I now create a

life I love to look at).

And, of course, we stressed to her the importance of creating

a connection with the divine. She was hesitant at first but decided

to try it. She scheduled half an hour each morning to simply sit

and meditate in the woods near her home.

Using these vast healing efforts, Vanessa was able to stem the

symptoms of MS and continue to live a healthy and productive

life. She was still a successful freelancer, and she was still the life

of the party, but there was now also something more—a faith in

the universe.

Learning and Developmental Problems

While many people classify learning and developmental prob-

lems as brain disorders, we look at them differently. All humans

come into the world with their brains wired in a certain way.

Some are prone to function more from the spatial, emotional right

brain and others function from the logical, structured left brain.

When it comes to learning problems, we find that these people

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live, learn, and work in environments that make their learning

disordered. After repeated failures in school and work, they ac-

quire an unhealthy mind-set, believing that they are stupid, lazy,

and a failure. Many of the problems they experience come from

being based more in one extreme of the mind—either the right

or left side of their brain. There are pros and cons to each of these

mind-sets. For example, those based more in the right brain are

often able to see the big picture of a situation and perhaps see it

from a completely new and exciting angle, but it’s hard for them

to deal with the details of our highly structured society. Those

based more in the left brain are often brilliant at detailed things

like math and science but they can’t handle the emotional part of

life. These conditions are not a matter of mere prominence of one

side of the brain over another—rather, they are about an extreme

imbalance of intelligence in one direction without the ability to

tap into the characteristics of the other side.

There are therapies and in some cases medicines that can help

with the symptoms of learning and developmental problems. To

create a complete picture of health in the sixth emotional center,

it is necessary to work with the behaviors and underlying thought

patterns that may be exacerbating your problems.

When looking at developmental and learning disorders, we

can see the extremes in dyslexia, ADHD, Asperger’s, and others.

People with dyslexia, a language-based learning disability, typically

have a stronger right brain than left—they aren’t able to focus on

the details of language. People with Asperger’s (a pervasive devel-

opmental disorder) have stronger left brains and tend to be obses-

sive and detail oriented, and have superior mathematical skills.

Everyone’s brain works slightly differently, with its own unique

strengths and weaknesses. However, people with ADD, ADHD, As-

perger’s, and dyslexia have exaggerated developmental differences

in how their brains are wired. This is why Louise’s affirmation

theory does not approach these issues as true disorders—because

in most cases we all have aspects of these issues within us. The key

is to be able to teach your brain to function in the best—the most

effective—way possible. One way of doing this is to identify and

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change the negative thought patterns that are getting in the way

of you acquiring all of your intellectual gifts.

To address the thought patterns underlying ADHD, Louise

suggests the affirmation “Life loves me. I love myself just the way

I am. I am free to create a joyous life that works for me. All is

well in my world.” But she also recommends you use other affir-

mations that address some of the common traits of the disorder.

For example, the hyperactivity associated with ADHD is often ac-

companied by thought patterns that include feeling pressured and

frantic. So if you tend to be hyperactive or unfocused, you may

need a calming affirmation so you can let go of the anxiousness

and worry. A good general affirmation is “I am safe. All pressure

dissolves. I AM good enough.” Stuttering, a behavior that can be

associated with dyslexia, may develop from insecurity and a lack

of self-expression. If you stutter, slow down and remind yourself

that you have the strength and confidence to articulate your needs

with the affirmation “I am free to speak up for myself. I am now

secure in my own expression. I communicate only with love.” As-

perger’s is often associated with depression, so if you suffer from

this, you can use the affirmation “I now go beyond other people’s

fears and limitations. I create my life.”

As you begin to incorporate Louise’s affirmations into your

life, you will see the past thoughts and behaviors that were weigh-

ing you down start to shift. You should feel less anxious and jit-

tery and more calm and focused. It is natural to still have times

when you fall back into old patterns. You probably have been this

way for most of your life, so do not expect an immediate cure.

Give yourself credit for the changes you have made and notice

where you still need work.

As someone who is living with an extreme brain structure, you

may need the freedom to pursue topics that really interest you.

Unexpected change, rules, assignments, and requirements may

shut you down. But a learning disability does not have to mean

you will always struggle or that you will be unhappy in life. People

with attention problems and other learning and developmental is-

sues who follow this mind-body makeover will be amazed at how

much energy they’ve wasted by being scattered and disorganized.

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Adopting a few new habits to keep track of your commitments

will free up time to cultivate your amazing creativity. It is possible

to maintain big-picture clarity and attend to details. It’s a matter

of changing the way you think and behave. Strive to achieve bal-

ance between cultivating your creative mind and keeping yourself

grounded in the real world. You are a capable and strong human

being. Keep reminding yourself with the affirmation “I am the

operator of my brain. I love myself just the way I am. I AM good

enough. All is well.”

In addition to affirmations, there are a number of behavioral

changes that will help bring balance to the brains of people with

developmental and learning issues. To begin your emotional heal-

ing, work to move toward the other side of the brain. For example,

detail-oriented, structure-loving left-brain folks need to do ev-

erything they can to incorporate more free-flowing emotion and

creativity into their lives. This will be very scary, so don’t do it

on your own. Ask someone you trust to plan a day—or an hour—

when you will just go along with whatever they suggest. You won’t

know what’s going to happen, but you will be able to set out on

the journey knowing that someone who has your best interest in

mind created the structure for you. Easing into this type of spon-

taneity provides you with a safe structure, even though it may

not feel like it. It’s also important for you to employ the help of

a professional therapist. Try a cognitive behavioral therapist or a

dialectical behavioral therapist to help you identify and handle

thought patterns that lead to anxiety and fear.

If you are a free-flowing, creative, right-brained person, you’ll

want to do just the opposite. You need to work on slowly bring-

ing structure into your life. Don’t throw yourself in all at once

because this will overwhelm you and destroy your efforts. One

handy strategy to use is called the Two-Step Technique. If you find

yourself unable to focus your mind enough to make a decision

or solve a problem, simply take it two steps at a time. To do this,

get a pen and paper, and write down two things that you know

to be true about the situation. Then come up with two more re-

lated facts. And then two more. If you repeat this process, you

will find that you eventually zero in on the heart of the problem.

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This technique will help you achieve focus, even if your brain

feels scattered.

You can also look for someone who can ease you into orga-

nization. An educational coach can introduce you to some of the

basic tenets involved in living a more structured life. They can

also help you find tools that will work for you—be it a schedul-

ing book, index cards, or some other method that helps you put

things in order. If you’re feeling really daring, you could try to

pick up a part-time job or an internship that uses your creative

skills but also requires some focus on details.

From the Clinic Files: Learning Disorders Case Study

Tara, now in her 30s, grew up in a home that was run like a

military unit—her father was a Marine, and he insisted on disci-

pline, structure, and focus. Some children would respond well to

this style of parenting but Tara did not. To make matters worse,