More and more I am recognizing how the mind and body are intimately connected.
When we have symptoms in our body, especially for a long period of time, it can be very frustrating. I know because I have been dealing with digestive issues and hashimotos for quite awhile. Years ago I gave up gluten and eat a paleo diet. It has helped me to heal but it can be very limiting. The truth is I do truly love eating the healthy, satisfying food I post on my blog each week. I don’t have to make myself eat a healthy diet, I do it because it makes me feel good and I enjoy it. But I want more.
I want to be free to enjoy all the amazing food available on our planet.
I want to go to Europe and, enjoy raw cheese, wine, pasta and macaroons without having inflammation show up in my body. I want deeper healing.
I have discovered for myself and with my clients most of the symptoms we experience have a big emotional component. Often there’s an emotional cause at the root of the symptoms.
Emotions are energy in MOTION
Emotions that get stuck in our body will create distress in our nervous system, inflammation in our immune system, weaken our digestive system and can create an autoimmune illness because of this imbalance.
So instead of looking at our symptoms as a problem, feeling like there is something wrong with us, let’s see it as something that is right with us. Our body is working correctly. It’s how our body’s wisdom is communicating with us.
When we begin to see our symptoms from this new perspective we can move the stuck energy and the symptoms decline and can even go away.
Recently I stopped making my symptoms be what was wrong with me and started to accept that there was something right about this that I wasn’t getting. I began to ask how could I embrace this experience instead of fighting against it? When we fight against it, we make our body more inflamed by producing excess cortisol.
The stress of fighting against our symptoms depletes our nervous and immune systems. It actually diverts blood away from the gut, the digestive system, and it decreases our ability to break down food. Getting out of that ‘fight or flight’ state changes what is going on in our body.
All right, so let’s not make our symptoms what’s wrong with us, let’s have them be what’s right with us.
Instead of looking at a symptom as the problem we’re trying to solve we can ask ‘what is my body’s wisdom trying to tell me’? How is your body’s wisdom communicating to you with your digestive distress, or pains in your joints, fatigue or whatever symptoms you are experiencing?
When we accept and embrace our symptoms we have a different relationship with our body.
It makes all the difference in the world when we allow ourselves to accept the state we’re in. I have been doing this myself when I experience pains in my joints resulting from digestive issues. My symptoms are improving tremendously.
When we settle into allowing what is, embracing what is, embracing our symptoms and the emotions that we feel about them, the anger, the frustration, the fear, our body calms down.
We experience what is called the relaxation response.
It basically allows our GI system to function normally. We secrete blood so that we can absorb nutrients easily. We secrete enzymes so we can break our foods down and they no longer create inflammation in our body. We no longer have food allergies or imbalances in the immune system that’s causing the symptoms.
What is Acceptance?
Now embracing and accepting your symptoms doesn’t mean, ‘Okay, I’m going to always feel like this, I guess I’ll have to just get over it.’ That is resignation. I’m not suggesting you do that.
Acceptance means…
‘This is how I feel right now, so I’m going to breathe in and breathe out’ and allow myself to feel all of it fully. Just breathe in fully to the pain.
‘Wow, this pain is so intense,’ actually, appreciating the magnitude of what you’re experiencing.
’I honor myself fully’ Accepting this is the state I’m in right now and even though I have no idea how doing this will make it better, I’m going to embrace that in this moment, there’s pain and the emotions I feel.
‘In this moment I’m frustrated. In this moment I feel powerless or afraid ‘ and experience all of it instead of trying to fight it, suppress it or make it go away.
Take deep breaths and say ‘I love and accept myself and my experience fully.’
I’m not saying this is easy especially if you are in a lot of pain. I understand your frustration.
What is Self-Healing?
For a long time I was trying to fight my symptoms saying things like ‘I can overcome this by being more positive,’ and that created more stress in my body. I was judging myself when I was being ‘negative’ and when the symptoms appeared. I felt like I am supposed to heal myself which is a lot of pressure. Now I am beginning to see even though it is called self-healing, we actually don’t heal ourselves with our mind and will. What we do is open up to something that allows healing. This is the source energy that keeps us alive. It is the source energy that if you sprain your ankle, is going to repair it. You don’t do that with your mind.
Your wisdom knows how to allow the healing to occur. Source energy knows how to actually create that and repair those cells. The way to heal our body by letting go and allow the healing to occur.
The first step is to calm down your nervous system so you can connect with what’s happening within you.
There are many tools to calm yourself down. Deep breathing, tapping, meditation and yoga are the ones I use.
ABC Breathing Process
I invite you to do this simple breathing exercise adapted from Dr Kim D’Eramo who is my inspiration for the article.
A – Awareness
Sit comfortably and notice your body. Ask yourself what am I feeling right now? Notice your physical sensations and/or any emotions. No fixing or judging just noticing. Nothing to do.
B – Breathe
- Notice your breath. Open your mouth and gently sigh. As you do, let your shoulders and the muscles of your upper body relax down, with the exhale.
- Close your mouth and pause for a few seconds.
- Keep your mouth closed and inhale slowly through your nose. Breathe deeply into your belly as if you were filling up a container, allowing your breath to fill your belly first and pushing your belly out.
- Pause for whatever time feels comfortable, you decide how long.
- Open your mouth. Exhale through your mouth by pulling your belly in.
- Repeat this 3 times
C – Communicate
Communicate a new message to your body. Say this to yourself (Tap along if you like):
I accept you as you are.
It’s OK.
We are in this together.
All is well.
I am open to the messages you are sending me.
I accept myself with kindness and understanding.
All is well.
I love and accept myself fully.
Wrap your arms around your body and give yourself a hug – that will increase oxytocin and settle down your nervous system.
If you tap as you say these statements you will calm down your amygdala the ’fight or flight’ response even more. Click here for a picture of the Tapping Points
This simple process allows you to let go and open yourself up to the energy that allows healing to occur. Do it many times in the day and see what happens.
In Conclusion: Fighting your symptoms doesn’t work. Settling your body down, turning off those ‘fight or flight’ patterns that are causing the symptoms opens you up to allow healing. Sometimes that means being willing to feel 100% of your pain fully and completely without trying to fix it, without trying to suppress it, without trying to escape it. When you do that the energy and symptoms will move.
As we go through our day noticing how we feel and calming our body and mind, we are healing on a deep level. I am truly grateful for this experience.
Please let me know what you think about this by leaving me a comment below. I truly hope it helps you has much as it is helping me.
Much love and healing,
Ingrid
