The following is an article from my daughter and how she was able to heal fibromyalgia with ho’oponopono. She had been enduring it for over 10 years and the only thing that changed in her regimen was the addition of ho’oponopono. This article begins on page 195 in the paperback edition. Details of how it works is in Chapter 11 – Just Make It Go Way ~ Chronic Pain ~ Eradicate the Pain on page 102.
Fibromyalgia
Letting Go of the Pain Once and for All
by Carissa Lovgren
There is no relief in sight. I am always going to feel like this. Oh great! Another medication that will do nothing but leave me with unwanted side effects! This was my line of thinking, my reality.
In the spring and summer of 2006, I had been falling asleep in the middle of the day, I struggled to stand long enough to cook my family a dinner, and the pain … the pain continued to get worse and worse. After every standard test was done and came back negative, the conclusion for Fibromyalgia. I was given a prescription for Lyrica and sent home.
Weeks went by and no relief. After several visits to the doctor over the following months I ended up on narcotic pain medication. First, we started out with Tylenol/codeine which gave me headaches, then we tried Vicodin, Darvocet and eventually landed on 5mg oxycodone (Percocet). There I stayed for several years. After two years, Lyrica made me sick as if I had a bad case of the flu, and was discontinued. So other than a daily multiple vitamin, oxycodone was my only treatment against the terrible pain and fatigue.
I was taking six pills per day and dealing with the side effects, like drowsiness, lightheadedness, constipation, weight gain, among others. In nearly ten years, I had gone from around 140 pounds ballooning up to 228 pounds at my heaviest and had taken up to practically living on the couch. I applied for and was granted Social Security Disability, so the opportunity to move from the bed to the couch and back to bed became my norm. Between the “Fibro” and the oxycodone, I had little to no energy. I was in pain every day, cried often and watched my kids pull away, and my husband leave me. I hit an all-time low.
That’s when my father, Jon Lovgren, stepped in and introduced me to ho’oponopono. He outlined it as a lifestyle choice to heal all that afflicted me, through forgiveness. It’s a simple phrase: “I love you, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you,” and has powerful, life-altering effects. My father urged me to say it every time I thought about it or had an “uh-oh” or “what if” moment. Even if I didn’t understand it at first – I just had to say it.
By now, I had anxiety so bad that it developed into Agoraphobia. My father and I started with two sessions a week, and at times, even had daily phone calls to address my severe anxiety before healing anything else, knowing that ho’oponopono was going to heal me in ways that I may not have been fully aware of in the meantime.
At first, I didn’t think that it would work. How could forgiving myself for something that I did twenty years ago, heal my Agoraphobia if that only started a few years ago? Would saying a phrase repeatedly get me off the couch? I have always trusted my father, but I had my doubts.
Still, I did as encouraged and said the phrase all day, every day and cut the aka cords. Slowly changes began happening. I was able to pick up my daughter from school. I was able to go to the store and buy milk. Then, I was able to walk into a Wal-Mart – alone. Through the practice of ho’oponopono, I regained my confidence and a better understanding of where my anxiety came from. After some time and astounding healing, I decided that it was time to start work on my Fibro. With newly regained freedom, I felt the desire to get out more and more and eventually, possibly find a job.
We started with identifying when my Fibro started and were able to go back to a 2001 car accident … five years before my diagnosis. My father guided me in clearing that. As soon as I had, I broke down into sobs, but I went to bed that night feeling hopeful and lighter.
Over the next year or so, I worked at healing my body and my spirit. After several months I was down to four pain pills from six and I was more active. Having healed my Agoraphobia left me with wanting to always be somewhere, as we do not live right in town, you have to drive ten to fifteen minutes to find civilization. Although we had school bus service, I often picked up my daughter from school and would go out and run errands anywhere from half an hour to two hours, depending on our needs and if I wanted to stop by my library. I had even begun to return home from those trips and cook a full meal.
Working with ho’oponopono continued, as did the healing. In complete honesty, it probably would have taken less time if I had been able to remember to say it more often, but I am human. The point was, I was making progress and feeling really good. Integrating such a practice in my daily life became easy when results were staring me in the face.
Over a year had passed since I started using ho’oponopono and one day I was out running errands and becoming increasingly frustrated at how difficult it was to get in and out of the vehicle and my struggle to lift items like dog food or cat litter. I decided right there that I was going to join a gym and lose the weight.
After some searching, I applied for financial assistance at my community YMCA, which was granted, and I now pay an affordable rate for many amenities, including a pool, and a hot tub for those achy days. My daughter is covered under my membership too!
I started out walking on the treadmill for half an hour and then did some exercises on the yoga ball. I left there feeling great and went back the next day and even the day after that. Every time that I’d feel sore, I would say ho’oponopono, cut the cords and press on. Going to the gym became easier as the days passed.
A week went by, then two. I was still taking my oxycodone but noticed that I missed a dose once or twice, resulting in my only taking three per day. I decided to stick with that and see where it got me. After three weeks of going to the gym four to five times per week and having changed my eating habits completely, I felt stronger, I had lost five pounds, and consistently only took three oxycodone a day and at times would even forget to do that! I was feeling incredible.
Yes, I had days where I was fatigued and sore, but it was a different kind of sore, or different kind of tired. It didn’t feel like the life-crushing pain that I had felt for so many years. On those days I would pause to say ho’oponopono, cut the aka cords and fill my heart and head with gratitude for how things were coming along. This time, I was tired from pushing myself a little more each time I went to the gym, from getting home and taking the dog for a walk, from successfully lifting a bag of dog food and carrying it all the way into the house. These victories began to add up and it kept me motivated and excited to continue my venture.
Today, four months later, I have a set workout schedule four times a week, I work out at home on the days that I don’t go to the gym, and I have lost thirty pounds! I feel incredible, I have energy that I did not know that I was capable of and I say ho’oponopono every day all day. In a recent conversation with my father he caught me saying, “… when I used to have Fibromyalgia.” I hadn’t even realized that I said it! When he, ever the careful, attentive listener, repeated it back to me, I shrugged and said, “Yep, sounds about right!”
Ho’oponopono, when used, can be very powerful and absolutely life-changing. I healed years and years of pain both physical and spiritual, recovered relationships, recovered my freedom and have taken strides toward living a happy, healthy, anxiety- and pain-free life. I am so grateful for what ho’oponopono is doing in my life and for curing the “incurable.”