Putting the Magic Back in Medicine

by Anita Allen

“Although science stops at the borders of logic, nature does not.
It blossoms even where no theories have as yet penetrated.” C. G. JUNG

As I moved through my journey of “higher education” at University of Toronto I recall feeling like the world was being progressively diminished and compartmentalized. We studied anatomy, physiology, histology and many other 'ologies but where was the wonder for the marvelous organic beings that we are? At the tender age of nineteen, I only knew that the “magical” world that I hoped to learn more about was steadily shrinking. I had worked so hard to be included in this program only to discover that any hope of discovering the art of healing would be lost to the need to embrace a cold, mechanistic view. My magic felt lost and I suffered from ”depression” for most of the first and second years of the four-year program. I conformed and I graduated; medication free and identity free.

Discovering the WEL-Systems Institute was a moment of synchronicity during a crisis that rocked my carefully constructed world. I am amazed by the discoveries I have made along the journey from Igniting the Self through Influencing with Intention. I feel like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis and that to record a transition from one stage to the next would require time-lapse photography.

I know that I have nearly recovered my original voice. It is present most of the time but not continuously yet. Those gaps are where my discoveries lie. Most importantly, my thirst for magic is finally being satisfied but not in a way that I expected. I have tapped into the resources long buried in me. In doing so I have discovered my capacity to make space for another. To create a field of safety that allows them in their own way to emerge too. The way I move in my life and the courage of my questions lets people know that they are welcome and encouraged to engage differently.

My work as a Physiotherapist has taken on more dimension as I marvel at the intelligence behind people's apparent problems. Instead of focusing on whether or not I fix their bodies, I am far more interested in helping them reconnect to their bodies as a vital source of information that tries to get their attention in support of their survival and evolution. I invite the language they use to express their pain. So many medical practitioners are unwilling to visit this territory because we do not wish clients to become “pain focused”. We are taught to focus on functional goals instead. What is more functional than living the full expression of who we are without the requirement for pressures in the body?

As I move forward in the Catalyst for Change journey I hold a very large intention to teach, speak and write about how medical practitioners have lost their connection to being healers; to bridge the gap between alternative and traditional medicine advocating Integrated Medicine that moves with ease along the continuum between the Therapy Model and Autopoietic Model. In my opinion, we need to embrace our knowledge from the past and rather than cling to it, open up avenues to explore “what else?”. The Autopoietic Model is “what else” and there may even be more beyond that as we begin to shift our collective thinking.

Original Copyright 2005 Anita Allen
Anita Allen, BScPT, CODE Model Coach™ is a Registered Physiotherapist, a WEL-Systems Catalyst, the owner of Albion Hills Physiotherapy and the founder of the WELsprings Institute in the Greater Toronto Area. An entrepreneur, writer, speaker, and creator of Exponential Potential™, Anita is passionate about educating the world about human potential.

To find out more about upcoming workshops/seminars offered by WELsprings, email info@WELsprings.com

This article is reproduced with the permission of the author, Anita Allen. This article may be reproduced provided premission has been granted by Anita Allen and it is reproduced in its entirety with appropriate acknowledgement of the author, the source and a web link to www.WELsprings.com