In 1980, professional facilitator Lucila “Lucy” Perez began questioning conventional medicine.

Her husband Vicente was troubled by back pain. The doctor prescribed drugs, but his condition worsened. When he was hospitalized, the medication caused  him to have hallucinations. Against doctors’ orders, Perez took her husband out of the hospital.

She then brought him to alternative medicine practitioners. A specialist in anthroposophic medicine, an integrative treatment system, asked about his history, lifestyle and significant events in his life.  Perez realized that there was a deep connection between attitudes, emotions and health.

She sought answers to questions about life until she came across Raja Yoga meditation and its philosophy. Its basic precept is that the individual is a soul, an energy, who controls the body, which is made of matter.  Through research, she discovered that thoughts and subconscious impressions constantly influence our bodily functions.  The main cause of disease is “dis-ease” and that meditation speeds up the healing process.

“Health is coming back to wholeness—not separating the physical, mental and emotional aspects,” she says.

Spirituality

Perez conducts “Wholesome Health” sessions, which focus on how spirituality is the first step in the recovery process. “Wholesome Health brings us back to the memory of our health when we first came to this earth. There was balance and harmony between our energy and matter,” she explains.

Over time, the physical body tends to gather and store negative energies that arise from the soul’s attitudes and influences from the environment. Moreover, physical traumas may heal, but their memories remain entrenched in the organs that bore the pain. When these traumas build up in the body, they show up as pain and disease.

Perez says sickness is a reflection of any form of anger, greed, ego, attachment or selfish desire. It is a cry for help to remove the emotional shock. When they are not released, the energies can turn into life-threatening diseases. Healing occurs when one lets go of these negative energies.

She teaches a visualization exercise in starting the healing process. “It starts with experiencing the self as a soul, a being of light, consisting of seven attributes. These qualities correspond to the seven colors of the light spectrum,” she says.

The soul’s original traits are bliss (violet), truth (indigo), peace (blue), love (green), joy (yellow), purity (orange) and powers (red).

Meditation is the core of Wholesome Health. Perez imparts how to connect with the Source or God by visualizing powerful light radiating the same seven colors and qualities of the soul.

When the mind is still, it enters into a relaxed state that enables the individual to experience the Supreme’s healing powers. A quiet mind soothes the emotions and reinstates the natural harmony of the soul and the body.

Restful meditation

Researches have proven that  restful meditation can stop wasteful and negative thoughts, emotional upsets and mental fatigue that provoked the ailments in the first place. Meditation builds patience and peace so that there is no increase in exciting the adrenal, thyroid, pituitary and pineal glands or hormonal imbalance.

“The  constant practice of being aware of the self as a soul gives the feeling of security,” she says.

Perez looks at health not just from the physical but also what’s going inside the soul. She notes that disease occurs when some of the traits of the soul are weak.

“I check on the thieves of peace. Worry won’t allow us to have equanimity and, therefore, we can’t connect with God.  When you experience yourself as God’s child, you also learn to appreciate yourself. It helps in the healing,” she says.

Perez makes a spiritual diagnosis of her ailments. She recalls that last year, she injured her knee in Australia. Her son got married and held the reception on the beach. As she walked back to the ferry, Perez, 87,  held on to the wedding planner for support. However, the planner walked fast, not conscious about walking with an elderly. Perez took deep breaths to cope with the uphill climb. Upon reaching the ferry, her right knee started to swell. She could not walk, and she had a return flight that night.

Perez sprayed her knee with magnesium oil and tolerated the pain with cold compresses throughout her flight.

In Manila, her doctor recommended surgery. Refusing to go under the knife, Perez spent hours of meditation. She examined her conscience and realized that ego was the cause of her knee condition. “I thought I could keep up with the fast climb uphill,” she recalls.

On her next visit, the doctor examined her knee and said her condition could be cured with platelet-rich plasma therapy wherein the patient’s blood concentrate is injected into the affected area to regenerate the cells.

“My knee is okay now. The Wholesome Health diagnosis made me realize that I need to be alert and to guard against ego and the weakening of spiritual powers,” she said. —CONTRIBUTED

Lucy Perez will hold a  lecture, “Refresh Life with Wholesome Health” on Feb. 28, 4-6 p.m. at the Source,  34 Kamuning Road corner T. Gener, Quezon City; tel. 09189582452