For many years I had a negative view of one of my teeth! A molar with a big, old gold crown. And dentists would often warn me .... “Something will have to be done with this tooth!”
Yet, all this time I had been successfully keeping it pain free by using Reiki energy and by consciously relaxing my jaw area.
Yet, at the same time I would have to say that I had developed a negative view of this tooth. Like it was something that was wrong or unwanted, that should either be fixed or removed! Or as my old mentor Gladys would say, “When one tooth is hurting, you don’t notice the other 32 that are working fine!” The point here is that I had slowly but surely began to reject or resent a 'part of me' - albeit a small part, but as we all know - a small part of the body that isn't working can seem like a very large part indeed!!
Then a series of events took place that taught me another lesson about self-healing.
Firstly I noticed two Reiki practitioners mentioning online how they had used Reiki energy to be calm while undergoing root canals and I couldn’t help but ask the question – “Why hadn’t they used their skills to go a step further and learn to avoid the problem in the first place?“
Then the second thing that happened is that a friend passed and I began grieving. So for awhile I had less energy and less interest in my own self care. I was also unaware that my unspoken anger (which is a normal part of the grieving process), was resulting in my clenching my jaw big time! So after two bouts of intense tooth pain, I knew it was time to take myself to the dentist and get that "something" done.
Then the third thing happened which was quite remarkable and quite simple at the same time. After I parked my car at my dentist’s office, I sat for a moment to calm my nerves when I decided to 'check in' with God about some actions I was taking with a new client of mine. After I was finished, I noticed I was viewing my tooth in a loving and interested manner, as if ‘it’ mattered. And it was feeling completely better!
I went in to the dentist's office when the fourth thing began to happen. The hygienist sat me down and began her check up, while at the same time I began to slowly sense a deep calmness enveloping me. Then every cell of my body was vibrating with energy as I moved into a place of oneness and peace. My dentist came in and gave me every possible test on my tooth which it passed with flying colors! The x-ray showed only some slight activity of some pooling of blood at its root....which could go either way. I told her about how I had been grieving lately and my need to process some anger, while I gave her a sample of my chair version of shadow boxing! She totally got the connection, and explained the logistics between the clenching of my jaw and the constriction of the ligament blocking the blood supply to that tooth.
I now had a completely different attitude towards my tooth. It was showing me something – not being a ‘pain’ but instead being a teacher! Wow, I thought, this is an excellent example of the mind body connection! My tooth is a lovely barometer of notifying me of increasing stress and the need to consciously relax.
So now I am loving a part of myself (as small as it may be!) that I used to resent and feel negative about. And this is always a good thing :) By the way, this experience took place almost two months ago and my tooth is still doing fine. In addition I have an extra good feeling now when I practice keeping my jaw loose and relaxed.
