In the western medicine world, we have lost touch with the basic concept of true healing. We substitute a band-aid for a cure and wonder why we don't feel better. People get ill for many reasons. Each diseased state tells us that we are ignoring some part of self, and change is necessary. While many factors contribute to healing, and it happens on many levels, all require attention throughout the entire healing practice. Ignoring the body-mind (emotions and thoughts) would not provide adequate and long-term good health.

Physical symptoms like headaches, swollen glands, sneezing and colds, including more serious diseases like cancer, communicate that there is a disturbance in the emotional fabric of our being. Negative emotions like fear, doubt and worry stop the normal flow of energy. These emotions undermine us, and over the course of our lives cause unexplained and crippling diseases that end up controlling us.

The physical body falls apart because we fall apart emotionally. Recent scientific studies have shown that emotions sabotage everything—from simple success to kidney failure. When we don't care for the "whole self," the physical body simply mirrors those effects. Over the course of time, emotions like fear, anger and confusion take their toll. Repressed anger diminishes the functions of the liver. Hopelessness and despair play havoc with the gall bladder. Fear plays havoc with the kidneys, relationships and success. Confusion on the other hand, keeps whirling thoughts spinning, creating a cloud of chaos around us and we become imbalanced and ungrounded. Head colds for instance, are a direct result of emotional confusion. Long-standing negative emotional beliefs deteriorate the entire physical being. A constant string of repetitive negative words weaken and actually exhaust the physical body.

To heal we must feel. We must identify the root emotional cause of the disease. This process lays down a new foundation for good health and begins with a new attitude about being healthy. Any negative emotion causes us to stay stuck in a false perception about our self.

How do we identify negative emotions? The easiest way to identify negative patterns is to see them in family members and friends. Examine other people's behaviors. Notice all the things you like about them and all the things you don't like, especially the things that make you angry, envious or jealous. The people around you are actually reflections of you. What you see in another person that bothers you or angers you is a part of yourself that has not yet been loved and healed. Begin by criticizing your dearest friends. By doing this practice of looking at the faults of friends and family you get in touch with the parts of you that are out of balance and seek healing. This simple exercise offers you an opportunity to look deeply at your own emotional concerns and patterns. Once you locate personal limitation it's time for change.

Emotional patterns are created when you place a judgment upon an experience. To change, we must stay conscious of our feelings in situations. Stay calm, make no judgment—simply feel the energy. For example, let's take anger because anger is one of the most profound emotions and is easily felt. Imagine yourself in an angry situation; stay completely present and deeply feel the anger. Don't judge it—simply feel it. Now, love the feeling that anger produces. Anger can be motivation. It can be passionate. Change the negative charge that anger produces; begin to embrace and love the feeling of anger instead of repelling it.

Next begin to dialogue with the anger. Yes, that is correct, strike up a conversation with anger. Ask it questions like, "What are you teaching me?" or "Why am I so angry all the time?" Permit the answers to come into your conscious mind. As they do, you realize what the true issue is. Sometimes in that moment of realization the anger pattern can release. Other times it might take a few more conversations for the anger to release. This method allows the energy constriction caused by anger and other emotions to release. Any blocked energy begins to flow giving the physical body a chance to heal.

Even though healing begins with the emotions, the physical body must be strong enough to support the emotional body.

Supplements: Supplementation is important because food chemicals, pesticides and a hurried lifestyle play havoc on our systems. Take no more than five different supplements daily. I prefer liquids including Green-Magma and other green drinks. If you don't feel immediate results, they are not working.

Water: Only 5% of the American population gets sufficient water each day. Diet drinks, high corn-syrup drinks and coffee do not count towards proper hydration; in fact these drinks cause gastrointestinal inflammation, kidney and liver problems and an acidic environment. To properly hydrate drink at least half of your body weight in purified water by the ounce each day. For example if you weight 150 lbs. you need 75 ounces of purified water daily. Exercise: The number one killer today is a stagnant lymph system caused by a lack of exercise. Take a walk around the block or take a yoga, chi-kung or Pilate's class.