If you were able to heal yourself, would you do it? What if that meant you had to believe in yourself and love yourself, unconditionally? Are you still game? Or does the spectre of doubt start to creep back into your mind?

In March 2008, I was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes. (You can read more about that here and here) For the past 11 years, I have had to live with injecting myself with insulin four times per day. I do this because my pancreas stopped producing insulin. Ask any medical or scientific professional and they will tell you the same thing – Type-1 diabetes is irreversible.

Over the course of the past two and a half years, I’ve fully devoted myself to my Reiki practice. Though I’ve been initiated into Reiki for a while longer, I would go off and on with the practice. I would do my self-treatments for a while, then I’d stop; start again, stop again. It has now been over two years where I have done my self-treatment every single day without fail. All this means is that I’m consciously taking 30-40 minutes of time to focus my energy on myself in a meditative way.

The result of taking this time for me has been powerful. I’ve taken the time to focus on myself. Not only to focus on myself, but to put myself first. No longer am I sacrificing myself for the sake of others; instead, I do things that I truly want to do because I want to do them, not because I feel I “have” to do them.

As a result of putting myself first, I’ve done a lot of self-work. The prime example being the Reset course that I’ve done twice in the past two years. All of this work has helped me to love myself more and more every day, and to accept myself for who I am.

As part of my daily Reiki treatment, I ground myself and send the negative thoughts and energies that are in my body into the Earth to be recycled. I then allow streams of pure white light to return from the Earth and fill me with its warmth, light and energy. As I do this, I place my hands over my stomach and I visualize the healing light to be flowing through my pancreas, regenerating it. I say to myself, “My pancreas absorbs this light and regenerates, producing more and more insulin every single day. I will be diabetes free.”

I have regular quarterly check-ups with my doctors where we review my blood work and see how my A1C results are doing. About three years ago, I had hit a point where my results were unsteady. I had been stable for the 6-7 years prior, so this was a bit troubling. Shortly thereafter is when I returned to my Reiki practice and my journey of self-discovery and self-awareness. In these past two years, my blood sugar levels have balanced out again and, over the past year, have dropped considerably.

Upon my most recent visit with my doctor this week, he reviewed my results and looked at me oddly. “I just don’t get it,” he said. “Your body is acting like a Type-2 diabetic. What have you been doing differently?” I was honest with him in that the answer was nothing. I have not changed my diet. I have not been exercising more (in truth, I’m exercising much less!).

“Well, whatever it is, keep doing it. If you hadn’t been using insulin for the past 10 years, I’d consider changing you to oral medication to maintain going forward.” I just smiled, agreed, and went on with my day. The one thing I didn’t tell him was that I had started loving myself more. I don’t know how he would have reacted to that nugget of information.

Now some of you will be skeptical of what I’m saying, and that’s fine. There’s obviously something else that’s causing my blood sugar levels to get into balance, and reduce to a non-diabetic level. I believe that that reason is my self-healing routine and my ever-growing love and acceptance for myself. Any doubts I may have had in the past about the healing power of Reiki is long gone. I will continue with my daily self-treatments. Yes, I may slip some day and break my streak, but that’s okay too. I’m human and it’s all part of the process.

The power of the mind is limitless. I’ve heard stories of others who have been able to heal themselves solely because they believed. Imagine what you could do if you believed in yourself too. What have you got to lose? I mean, what’s the best that could happen?