by Ben P, Australia
I found out about Universal Medicine (UniMed) about 4 or 5 years ago when I was still going through university. At the time I was living the typical student life of drinking most nights of the week, eating junk food and staying up till 3am with occasional cram sessions in there so that I wouldn’t fail my classes. I thought I was having fun and doing what we were supposed to do as students but I was never really happy. As soon as the alcohol wore off, or the thrill of whatever escapade we’d been up to had died down, I was left feeling miserable and lacking any direction.
When I looked around me, everyone I knew felt to be in the same situation. No one was really sure whether they actually wanted to do what they were studying for and so we were all constantly looking for any reason we could to escape back into our drunken stupor. It was the only place we didn’t feel that life was a burden, being dragged around by all of these conflicting expectations and pressures – conditions that were coming from ourselves and our families back home.
In my 4th year at uni I was lucky enough to have a session with Kate Greenaway because my mum was taking part in her study on the effects of craniosacral therapy. Going into the session I had no idea what to expect. I’d only ever thought that deep tissue massages or painful treatments would bring any results, but with the gentle movements and realignment she took me through I walked out of their feeling lighter and better than I could ever remember feeling. After feeling that for myself, I wanted to find out as much as I could. I was almost going to drop my studies so I could take up physiotherapy because of the change I felt from that one session.
Soon afterwards I went to my first Universal Medicine course. I was full of anxiety and hesitation about going along to this course that I had no experience or any background in, it was like preparing to head off to another planet for me. My experiences as a child of sitting in a church room with a dull seminar dragging on around me did not make it easy for me to go, but there was a call inside me from my earlier session that I had to follow and see where it would take me. The first time I met Serge Benhayon, he really didn’t make any kind of impression on me – we both said “hello” and then stood silently together for a little while before he was called away. He seemed nice, but pretty much just like anyone else.
I still had some doubts as he started presenting but then he had us do some simple exercises. The ones I remember most were massaging someone’s shoulder in a clockwise and then anti-clockwise direction, breathing gently and being with them. I felt immediately such a clear difference between each of these. Serge hadn’t told us what to expect or what to look for, he just said try these movements and see for yourself what it feels like. After that, I thought to myself, how could something so simple have made such a huge difference like that?
I’d never really thought that there was anything in life apart from the daily slog of work with the brief relief of drunken weekends, so those exercises opened my eyes up to the fact that there was something more in life. I saw that, with a focus towards conscious presence and gentle breathing, the whole world seemed to change around me. I could feel amazing without the drinking, without the escapes, just by being dedicated towards looking after myself.
After attending two courses that year I went overseas to complete my studies. A year away was an opportunity for me to go crazy, partying even harder and pushing myself to the limit, however, from those few experiences I’d had with UniMed, I had decided that I wanted to be responsible for my own well-being. The simple act of being present with myself, feeling how my actions affected me, and being dedicated to myself was what supported me to live in whichever new culture I was immersed in that week. I was moving around a lot, but this was something I could take with me everywhere I went.
By the fact that I was caring for and felt connected to myself, I felt I was open to connecting with everyone and anyone, regardless of their culture, age or background, equally. Being from a small country town, I’d never really had much interaction with people from diverse backgrounds.
In my year abroad, I had little contact with anyone or anything from Universal Medicine. It was only from the principles that I had picked up in my brief exposure to it the previous year as well as my own choices that had supported me throughout the year. Before coming to Universal Medicine, no-one had ever truly told me it was okay to love yourself, or that honouring yourself is the most natural way we can be. I didn’t realise it could be any other way than the hectic way the world seemed to impose on me, where I’d be constantly exhausting myself just getting through the day.
I’m grateful to Serge for loving us enough that he was willing to put himself under the spotlight and share this with us, even when it may be controversial or make him enemies for saying it.
In the end though, it isn’t Serge or even Universal Medicine that keep me coming back. It is my dedication and commitment to loving others and myself as best as I can.
Both Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine have always been there to offer me the space and support as I go through the process of re-learning this and they offer such a full and complete support and loving way in everything they do.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
This statement is so true, “no-one had ever truly told me it was okay to love yourself, or that honouring yourself the most natural way we can be”. We grow up that caring for ourselves is either selfish or not even in our radar because the people we turn to haven’t been given this gold either. So the cycle continues and humanity becomes more burnt out.
Serge Benhayon presents the absolute truth that is within us all, it is that simple. And for some, it is too hard to fathom so it is challenging for them. I would probably have been in this situation years ago. But deep down inside something would have resonated and I know it was that very thing that was missing in my life.
Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine certainly “offer the space and support” and allows you to grow in your own time, space and everything.
I so appreciate what you have shared here
“I still had some doubts as he started presenting but then he had us do some simple exercises. The ones I remember most were massaging someone’s shoulder in a clockwise and then anti-clockwise direction, breathing gently and being with them. I felt immediately such a clear difference between each of these. Serge hadn’t told us what to expect or what to look for, he just said try these movements and see for yourself what it feels like. After that, I thought to myself, how could something so simple have made such a huge difference like that?”
This is what I find so fascinating it’s giving ourselves permission to be a natural scientist again, it’s almost as though we have given our power away to the scientists because we compare the level of education they have to what we have and feel less. But they are guided by what they say based on how they see life via their experiments, and the peer pressure they feel to get things right, or are paid to make something look as though it is true when actually it is false information. There are so many examples of this it’s getting quite ridiculous. To me these simple exercises show us that our bodies do not lie, but the mind does.
I agree Mary such simple exercises bring us back to our bodies. There is nothing fancy, gruelling or magical, just keeping it simple is all it takes to come back to yourself.
It’s always so deeply touching to read this. To me it highlights the simplicity of Serge Benhayon’s work, that you could travel overseas and continue loving and caring for yourself and find a new way to be in life – without any need to constantly attend workshops or sessions. Seeing any person blossom from their own care and love is very beautiful.
What Serge Benhayon presents is simple yet because it is so simple it seems too simple to be true, yet it is.
What a difference it makes when we start to care for and connect with ourselves as you found out, ‘By the fact that I was caring for and felt connected to myself, I felt I was open to connecting with everyone and anyone, regardless of their culture, age or background, equally.’
“In the end though, it isn’t Serge or even Universal Medicine that keep me coming back. It is my dedication and commitment to loving others and myself as best as I can”. This is spot on. Once you know what life can be like when you care for yourself and listen to your body, there was no going back and it keeps you wanting be and love more love.
Yes, spot on and that is what makes Serge Benhayon and what he presents so profound and enduring as one is just presented with something and then it is up to the individual to with as he/she wishes.
When we realise those ‘typical’ lifestyles we immerse ourselves in are not normal and actually harmful, it feels like the life’s greatest secret has been revealed, but the thing is we have known it for ever, and that re-connection with truth is only just the beginning of our ignition into the path of return.
Student life versus student of life. Two options.
So many things students of a university do seem normal to do at that time, but are they really? In a conversation with a close relative about the amount of alcohol consumed during your studies we both concluded that both of us simply couldn’t cope with it. Our bodies just didn’t like it and communicated so loud and clear NO, that we listened. And the great this is that both she and her partner started questioning other things about uni as well, as the extreme hours that medical students have to make to become a surgeon and how you are looked down upon as a new student. Why do we ever consider these things to be normal?
How fortunate were you that you changed university life. For some students that go on into their careers continue their late nights and alcohol benders and wonder what’s missing in their life. The simplicity of it all is to make some loving choices that support ourselves and it doesn’t matter where we are in our lives, whether studying or working, it is the best support we can give to ourselves and for ourselves.
Love what you have shared here Ben, taking responsibility and giving ourselves permission to love ourselves, and as we do we quickly realise what supports us and what doesn’t, and we begin to make small changes in our life, and we are amazed how differently we feel.
So often when we are feeling overwhelmed we have a drink or two to drown our sorrows, but what I found was that the next day I felt even worse because not only was the overwhelm still there unabated but now I had a groggy body to deal with, so I had actually made the situation worse not better. As there is a very limited relief or respite when we drink alcohol to cope with life, is this why we become heavy drinkers to drown out the feelings we cannot cope with?
Yes, and this applies to life as such, we are very used to medicating ourselves with alcohol, food, entertainment and the likes, but as you say it does not take that away that we do not want to feel or do not know how to cope with, so we are exhausting our bodies even more.
What you have shared here Ben is such a testament to the power of the modalities of Universal Medicine.
“I was almost going to drop my studies so I could take up physiotherapy because of the change I felt from that one session.”