the final common pathway

Toni Morrison probably said it best:

 "If there's a book you really want to read,

but it hasn't been written yet,

then you must write it."

~Toni Morrison~

So, this is the book I really want to read, or to write. It would be titled: "The Final Common Pathway." It would reference the hundreds, if not thousands, of practices and techniques that are employed all over the world to help people heal--physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually--all of them intended to promote a more peaceful, mindful, and joyful way of life. These practices range from hypnosis to meditation to yoga, from EMDR to Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) such as tapping, to chanting, to qigong and tai chi. From shamanic rituals to diet and exercise. To psychedelics. All of them proven to be effective for some, but not for all. 

For example, back in the seventies, when "alternative" medicine was regarded with the same disdain as snake oil, I breezed through a surgical procedure under self-hypnosis. I believed in it because I'd seen it work. I studied it, and I practiced it until I was ready to use it. Hypnosis is one of those techniques you have to want to practice in order for it to work. If you don't believe in it or trust it, you won't be able to surrender to trance. So, it works for some people but not for everyone.

"Allow yourself to see

what you don't allow yourself to see."

~Milton Erickson~

From hypnosis, I went on to study and practice meditation and yoga. Just practicing breath control (pranayama) helped me navigate a difficult time in my life without surrendering to anger, or bitterness, or regret. It got me through three lonely pandemic years with unexpected peace and happiness. 

Now I'm exploring Qigong as a way to access and channel energy in the body. It resonates with what I already know about therapeutic touch and the flow of energy within, around, and between us. It connects consciousness and movement with neuroplasticity and human physiology. It makes sense to me.

"Qigong is the art and science

of refining and cultivating internal energy."

~Ken Cohen~

If you're curious about how these techniques work, and whether or not they could help you, you may have to try several practices before you find the one you trust to be authentic and effective. One that you are willing to practice with patience and perseverance. One that works as well for you as hypnosis did for me in the OR...

...which is why I can't help but wonder if all of these practices don't simply work through some final common pathway. If, no matter which practice you choose, the same circuit is activated, or the same switch is flipped, and that sets change in motion. After all, they all seem to embody:

INTENTION

BELIEF

PRACTICE

In other words, they all seem to work a lot like hypnosis.

They all empower us to live a more mindful, peaceful, and happy existence.

"Attached to nothing. Connected to everything."

~author unknown~

jan