2025-11-13

Everyone is different. This way of visualizing healing is probably something that will resonant with some people but not others. This is a mystical approach and is not meant to be medical advice.

I am currently reading through some of the writings of Paul Bergner on the topic of medical herbalism. (See below.) He mentions Herings Law. He describes it thus: In progress of cure, symptoms move from high to lower and from more interior to more exterior, and in the reverse order of their suppression.

This description aligns with what I have seen. I sometimes visualize trauma processing as a flow. The interior moves to the exterior. Subconscious becomes conscious. Psychospiritual becomes mental and emotional. The mental and emotional become physical. Physical ailments have a pattern of motion outwards. There is a dissipation.

Imagine a splinter that is stuck deep inside the skin. Pus forms around it. At this stage it is interior. You may not even know why there is pain, but you can tell that there is something wrong. Eventually, the splinter makes its way to the surface.

Another example: Imagine experiencing stress at work. This is probably emotional. Then you develop a tension headache. This is physical. The interior mental and emotional stress changed into a physical ailment.

Sweat and tears work the same way. They are a flow. When you sweat and cry, your body is washing the body. Toxins and hormones are being removed from the body. Tears can help remove irritants. That which is interior is moving to the exterior.

From what I have seen, for many people, trauma works this way. A person can go years with subconscious memories. Seemingly out of the blue it can surface into the conscious mind. The trauma is like a splinter, moving from the interior psychospiritual to the exterior thoughts and emotions.

Unexpectedly having thoughts from the past is often unwelcome by others. They don’t understand why the individual is suddenly bringing up things from the distant past. Often, the trauma victim will get some variation of the comment: “haven’t you gotten over that yet?”.

Indeed, for a trauma victim, an unexpected “flashback” can be scary. They will question if it is some sort of regression and may work hard to suppress the memories again.

It might be helpful for some people to think of what is happening like it is a river. A sudden “flashback” does not mean that this new state will persist. That which was internal is transitioning to a more external state. This state is not permanent. It, too, will flow away. The sudden (and probably painful) memory will not linger in the consciousness forever. The fact that it is brought to mind is ultimately a way we are getting rid of the trauma and cleansing ourselves.

(Paul Bergner’s pdf’s and podcasts can be purchased North American Institute of Medical Herbalism website. The particular pdf is “The Art of the Follow Up: How to learn from the experience of your patients, students, family, and friends.)