Are you Identifying with your Symptoms

From time to time we all experience pain, struggle with periods of restlessness, or function with low immunity, but what moves us from feeling bad to worse or even keeps us in a place of discomfort? Our bodies are communicating to us at all times even if we are not listening. Our bodies tell us if we’re cold or hot, tired or hungry. These are the signals that we learn as a kid and have come to recognize them as familiar and in most cases we know how to respond or offer a solution. But, I believe that somewhere along the process of growing up and learning to communicate verbally, we have forgotten to expand our ‘vocabulary’ of our body’s communication system. Pains, headaches, obesity, digestive discomfort, and sleep issues are examples of symptoms our body is outwardly expressing in order for us to change our status quo. Sometimes the request is simple: I am thirsty, I am tired, I am malnourished, and other times it requires a little more investigation into the emotional component associated with that symptom.

Let’s take obesity as an example – the issue: overweight, the cause: overeating or lack of exercise, solution: eat less, exercise more. This all seems so easy and I dare say a bit oversimplified. If overeating is the cause then what is the reason for overeating? If lack of exercise is the cause what is the reasoning for not exercising enough? Most of us will respond with something to the effect of “my schedule is really busy and I just have to make it through the day.” Although I believe this is a valid answer and certainly may be the case occasionally however, if that is the answer every day then it may be code for “this is not a priority for me right now.” How we prioritize is another topic all in itself but the important thing to recognize is that there is usually a deeper emotional connection to an external symptom or factor. Here is a great example on eating disorders and how it relates to guilt: (http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/APA/14345).

Recently more information is coming to light on the interaction between stress, emotions, and our health (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R9mD-iJZIg). I find the word STRESS comes up often in my environment. But what is stress? We speak of it as though it is an external factor, that it has an identity all of its own. But what causes stress? Often stress is really just an imbalance or a disharmony somewhere in our lives or bodies.

I believe that we like thinking of stress as something outside of ourselves in the same way we like diagnosis – it takes the responsibility off our shoulders of finding what is at the core of our problems. If I can blame my illness on stress or disease and take a pill for it, what reason do I have to get to the core of my problem? Why – because the sad truth is it only gets worse. The practice of ‘pill-popping’ that our American culture has become so accustomed to is having minimal success in its healing potential. It is likened to putting a sticker over the ‘Check Engine’ light on our cars and driving it as though nothing was wrong. What is at the core of our dis-ease or illness will continue to try and manifest itself until it is being heard, recognized, and cared for.

This may sound like a laborious process but the first step is just acknowledgment. Are you finding yourself making excuses for your behavior because of stress or illness? If you are on multiple pharmaceuticals do you remember which one you started first and why? Begin to reflect back to a time when you felt happy and healthy, what has changed since then? What do you feel is standing in your way of returning to that place?

If these questions are too challenging for you to answer on your own we can assist you through Cognitive Remodleing. Together we can discover and unravel the blockages that are standing in the way of your health and happiness. Utilizing a combination of EFT, Human Design and customized remedies we can help guide you back to YOU.

It is important to know that changes don’t always happen overnight so be patient and gracious with yourself and remember the first place to start is acknowledging that you don’t have to live with pain and stress and dis-ease is just a lack of our true state of ease.