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The Journey
by Linda Markley. Published in Gerson Newsletter, August 2000 (single
page to read off-line or print)
The Journey process came into being as a result of Brandon Bays
finding a basketball-sized tumour extending from her pubic area to her ribcage.
Her doctor told her that surgery was the 'only option', and immediate surgery
at that. Being a teacher in the mind-body movement, Brandon wanted to try to
find her own way to healing but the specialist told her that the tumour was
crushing her other organs and causing internal bleeding and blood loss alone
could kill her over the next few days. After a lengthy and passionate
discussion, they agreed to postpone surgery for one month while Brandon tried
to recover with more holistic methods. The story of Brandon's search and her
discovery of the healing processes that form the Journey is told in her book,
'The Journey'. She returned to this doctor after one month, by which time she
had managed to reduce the tumour to the size of a cantaloupe melon. The doctor
was unimpressed. She told Brandon she still needed to have it surgically
removed. Brandon thanked her for her time and told her that she was determined
to honour her body and give it the time it needed to heal. The upshot was that,
by the time of her next examination with a more open-minded doctor, not only
had the tumour disappeared but she was told that her organs were now in
textbook condition.
Myself, I read Brandon's book pretty much in one
sitting. My husband is recovering from severe chronic health problems, and I
love to read about people who recover completely and quickly from serious
health problems using natural, repeatable methods. Brandon seemed both honest
and sensible and she supported her body's healing with things I know work
(juices, nutrition, colonics etc). She also supported her healing with positive
thinking, but at the same time respected the unknowable mystery of illness, its
cause and its resolution. More impressive is that she developed a repeatable
process that works for other people and other issues. And the processes are in
the book for all to use.
What really appealed to me about Brandon's
process, and what in the end led me to go further than just working with the
book was the possibility of connecting more deeply with what Brandon calls
'Source'. Others call it essence, peace, stillness, awareness, unconditional
love, bliss, God. Brandon talks about this throughout the book. It's an
integral part of her Journey, the context in which she healed and developed the
Journey processes for others to use. It's profound, practical and available.
Its truly holistic - not just mind/body but physical, emotional and
spiritual.
Well, what is a 'Journey'? In nuts and bolts terms - past, or
even current, issues, can bind energy in our cells where they block and limit
function, sometimes enough to lead to disease. The Journey uncovers the
specific memories and emotions at the core of any issue and resolves them in a
gentle way. Healing follows. For me, though, this explanation is a little bald.
The real heart of the Journey for me, and the source of its power, is in the
simple, repeatable steps leading directly to the experience of Source for
oneself. This, to me is where the healing beyond 'cure' comes from, and the
access to infinite wisdom. The steps involve fully experiencing emotions and
allowing oneself to 'drop through' to a deeper experience. If we go deep
enough, we experience Source.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'd
read the book, decided I wanted what Brandon had but I doubted I'd get there on
my own. Yet the Journey Intensive, at £195 for a weekend, plus a night in
a hotel was a lot for me. I'd never been to a 'new age' seminar before and
expected a couple of dozen people - I was amazed when I saw a couple of
hundred. They were people from all walks of life, including clergy, business
people, young mothers, artists and even a doctor or two. Then Brandon told us
her story. She must have told it countless times yet it still had a freshness
to it. The room was filled with a peaceful, nurturing presence and I relaxed
and began to enjoy myself. It was that atmosphere, for lack of a better word,
that permeated the whole event and really made the weekend for me.
When
it came to my first Journey I was nervous at the idea of having one myself yet
also itching to get on with it, especially when Brandon demonstrated the
Journey on someone else. I was difficult to process, and embarrassed about that
- both typical of me, I'm afraid. The trainers were superb - really patient,
affirmative and prepared to do whatever they could to make sure I had the best
possible result. I'm sure they'd have stayed with me all night or brought
Brandon herself to help me if necessary. At length we successfully completed my
Journey and I learned a lot about dealing with the challenges that can
arise!
Tangible results didn't show up immediately - but I wanted to
spend more time in the presence I had spent the weekend in and also to clear
more blocks to being in that presence all the time. So the next step was an
Abundance Retreat. I had found Brandon a superb model of abundance, not just
money but the true fullness of life. As I've got to know her more, I've found
she walks her talk in all ways. She works long and hard but without strain. She
lets it flow and has fun. She shares her experience without playing the big
teacher with all the answers. She's 'normal' with people, warm, friendly,
respectful and approachable. And she's really excited about what she's doing.
This excitement actually leads to the most frequently held criticism of her -
she sometimes forgets that audiences need breaks.
It may be a
cliché but it's true - the abundance retreat changed my life. I'd been
trying to move to work I wanted to do but, with my husband chronically ill, I
hadn't managed it and had got exhausted by working hard to support his healing
program (lots of juicing etc.) and to earn money for us. Burnout was starting
to look like an option! After the Abundance Retreat, roughly twice the money I
needed to start out working for myself just came to me. Sceptics will reject
any relationship between the events. My own belief is that the universe works
according to spiritual and energetic principles and if we work with them, we
can gain great benefits for ourselves and others.
Why might the Journey be of interest
to Gersons? In fact, the Journey and Gerson therapy can complement each other
very well. Brandon herself supported her body's healing with a
Gerson-like
regime including fresh juices, organic fruit and vegetables, pure water and
regular colonic therapy. However, before her tumour developed, she was already
following a very healthy lifestyle, in her own words, 'doing everything right'.
(Needless to say, having recovered from her illness, Brandon continues with
juices and organic foods and advocates that others do the same.) For her, there
was a factor beyond the purely physical which needed to be addressed before she
could recover. The same is possibly true for some Gersons - they may have
blocks at a cellular level slowing or restricting their recovery. At the very
least, some Gersons could find the Journey process a help. The Journey can and
has cured people of every kind of serious illness, many pronounced incurable,
including, M.E., renal failure, migraine, depression and womb problems.
The Journey is essentially an opening into wholeness. For some people,
this may not bring physical healing. But healing always occurs on some level.
The experience of love and peace usually brings a deeper perspective on illness
and life. Difficult situations become more liveable and disciplines easier to
maintain. My husband is a good example. I have taken him through several
Journey processes which have enabled him to finally resolve some painful
memories, one a long-standing resentment against a childhood tormentor
stretching back over forty-five years! After each process he felt light and
joyous for some days - yet it is hard to assess the impact on his health. He is
doing a lot of other good things and he continues to make steady if
unspectacular progress. But he tells me that he feels more comfortable within
himself.
It took a while to fully resolve my doubts over the cost of
Journey events. Eventually I realised how generous Brandon is, generous with
her time (she does lots of not-for-profit work), with her skills and
information, and with the limelight and credit (she happily promotes others and
shares the stage with them). She wants the best for the Journey and for
everyone who comes to it - fresh flowers, perfectly arranged, a high standard
of cleanliness, pure water, healthy & tasty organic food, great
environment. Another thing that put me off initially was the 'New Age'
category, so much of which can be glib and superficial. I'm sure some of it
works for some of the people, some of the time but it wasn't what I wanted. I
have found that the Journey goes much deeper. Not everyone gets the 'cure' they
want but the healing is very deep and permanent. It really does shift the whole
person onto a new level of being.
In a review of 'The Journey' in
Caduceus Journal Review, Holly Timmermans said: -
'This book came to me at
one of those 'window moments' on a healing journey of my own, at a point where
I needed to clear an underlying pattern to effect a physical healing. I really
needed to wake up transformed the next day if I was to avoid going down the
road of further medical intervention, which I had decided I did not want to do.
So the timing, I had no doubt, was perfect. I was surprised by the simplicity
and power of the process. When it was complete, I slept peacefully knowing from
the depths of my being that all was well; but would my body respond? The next
day I woke well and symptom free. Since then I have taken the work further
attending a workshop with Brandon and beginning to use the work in my own
healing practice. I can recommend this book, not only as inspirational reading
and an interesting application of the propositions of mind body healing; but
also from experience of its usefulness in both personal and professional
healing.'
Feeling intuitively drawn to the Journey, or an awareness of
bothersome issues are strong indications that this way of working would be
particularly helpful for you. Even if you aren't aware of specific issues and
are simply interested, the Journey could still be right for you. Brandon's book
is a good and informative read and contains scripts and instructions for
Journey processes. Some people have achieved amazing results with just these.
However, the true strength of the Journey comes from establishing the person in
Source and most people find it easier to contact that place in themselves
working with an experienced Journey Therapist. Brandon Bays has trained her
Accredited Journey Therapists in all the skills she uses in her private
practise. A private Journey with a qualified practitioner is ideal for
addressing profound, sensitive or complex issues. Brandon's weekends are
excellent but they are intensive and would be difficult to manage until the
later stages of the Gerson therapy.
As I've gone on with the Journey,
I've gotten more deeply in touch with the stillness inside, the eternal
presence that drew me to itself and I find it an immense privilege and joy to
work as a Journey therapist. |
