In our quest for personal growth we can be interested in alternative kinds of healing. One of my first alternative healings happened years ago. Now I am one baby boomer who does not think alternative healing is phony.
Baby Boomer Who Doesn’t Think Alternative Healing is Phony
You might know baby boomers as a generation associated with redefining values around the world. But just what are some of those values? As one who is in the earliest years of baby boomers, often called the Leading-Edge, it’s my experience that one such value is to challenge authority. This can extend to anyone in authority, including doctors. The success of this first experience with alternative healing is one reason I became a believer and subsequently fired many doctors along the way.
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After working close to an 80-hour week, being exhausted yet focused on work, the last thing on my to-do list was tidying up the computer inventory room. I got lazy though. Instead of fully opening a ladder to reach a higher shelf, I leaned it on the wall towards the shelves.
Bad idea. Within minutes, instead of having the products put away in their proper bin, I fell. When I could not move my right arm, I knew it was bad.

How the heck was I going to get home?
My first attempt was a telephone call to my husband. This was before most people had cell phones – back when they were bulky and not as portable as today. (Always the lead changer, he might have had one though; he was the first person in our community who did.) With no answer at home and not wanting to bother any neighbors, I walked out of the store, locked the door behind me and in slow motion, made my way to my car in the parking lot. When I felt comfortable, but not entirely safe, about driving with just one arm, I headed to our nearby emergency center. How many people get lucky at 8pm and find an emergency room with no waiting line? That night it was at least one person – me. After communicating my story, there were x-rays with results. My arm was broken in two places: the wrist and the elbow. They fitted me with one of those arm slings and suggested a follow-up appointment in the morning with an orthopedic specialist.
The worst part was the inconvenience of healing broken bones for about 6 weeks.
A year later, it was still painful. I regained full movement and extension, but the pain was still there in the elbow. My regular internist was ready to offer cortisone treatments. Always one to be cautious, I decided to think things over. As it happened, that afternoon I met a travel agent friend for lunch. She suggested I try Reiki. It just so happened that in just a couple of days there was a Reiki group healing in town. All dressed in white, signifying purity, every one gathered around in a circle. The Reiki master lead with both an opening meditation and a healing intention. We were given an assignment: decide what we want to get rid of or heal. Then on a 3×5 card, we were told to write down at least two to three things we want in its place. One by one we were escorted through the night to a room for our personal healing session. In the room there were about seven healers busily working on each of us, moving the energy around our body, here and there with their hands.
Within 24 hours of my first Reiki healing, about 20 years ago, I never had pain in my broken arm again.
That doctor who wanted to give me cortisone shots, he was the first doctor I ever fired on my road to being one baby boomer who doesn’t think alternative healing is phony.
My five top leading-edge baby boomer lessons from this experience:
- Work is not all it is cracked up to be. Work less, enjoy living and play more. Shortly after the fall, my work hours per week dropped off to a lesser amount of about 50 hours.
- Whether it’s physical, emotional or spiritual pain, you are likely tougher than you think you are. Not only was I able to drive myself in pain, I managed the remaining pain for a year more.
- Questioning authority can pay dividends. Cortisone shots didn’t offer a long-term solution, but did mean extra visits to a doctor.
- Taking time to think things through allows the possibility of different solutions.
- Healing evidence is in the eye of the beholder. Debate and skepticism still goes on about the evidence of healing alternatives. I know, from my experience, it does work.
This was my first experience with alternative healing and it changed my personal path for several other health issues. Traditional doctors wanted to take traditional approaches in at least a half dozen to a dozen other situations. Success in all cases happened with the non-traditional, less invasive healing method. Have you had experience with any alternative healing? What did it do for you – your body, your mind or your spirit?
Life’s journey continues from Patricia Weber as one baby boomer who doesn’t think alternative healing is phony. 🙂
Note: Image provided by Heather Lee @The Little Design Lab
If you enjoyed “Baby Boomer Who Doesn’t Think Alternative Healing is Phony”, check out Am I OLD Yet? What Would You Say, Bend In The Road and When To Quit.
