Did you know your body has a secret language with which it communicates? By this I mean that your body is like a sponge; it will do whatever you tell it. If you constantly say that you can’t handle things, your hands will become stiff and clenched and you won’t be able to handle anything new. If you say, “My boss is a pain in the neck”, you will manifest neck problems. When you think, “Oh, what a headache this will be”, your body is listening. Because your body is so good at taking direction, it immediately starts building tension in your head, so that you can feel your head ache. Dr Robin Youngson, founder of Hearts in Healthcare, New Zealand, says, “Livid, pissed off, torn up inside, heartache, bone-weary, jaundiced, gut-wrenching, blood-boiling, pain in the neck, stab in the back, takes my breath away, a rash decision, sick to death – our language is alive with ancient wisdom about the origin of many illnesses,” he says. Dr Youngson believes that by changing the way we think and speak, we can free ourselves “from the toxic effects of unconscious beliefs and emotions and start on a path of self-healing”.
Your thoughts and emotions affect your health
In our culture, what many people don’t realise is that what we say and what we hear others say can have either a negative or a positive effect on our health. For example, if you’re around someone who is negative and who constantly criticises or judges you, you’re likely to feel upset, angry and fearful. These emotions will likely cause your body to tighten, your immune system to weaken and your nervous system to come under stress and attack. If you don’t let go of the negative feelings, after a while your body will start to break down and you’ll get sick. Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) research shows that negative thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and emotions weaken the nervous and immune systems and lead to disease.
Dr Margo de Kooker wrote, “In the real world, what the field of PNI proves is that what happens in our minds at the level of our perception can have real effects on our immune system. This concept is not new at all, and ancient wisdom has always encouraged us to focus on maintaining a ‘healthy’ mind in order to maintain a healthy body. It is only now that we are able to prove and understand the connections.”
Paying attention to messages from your body
Best-selling author Dr Bernie Siegel states, “If we do not pay attention to our feelings and the messages from our body then our body will assume we do not enjoy life and get us out of here as quickly as possible. So stop living your untrue self’s life, which others imposed upon you, and eliminate not yourself but what is killing you. Thus, by paying attention to the messages from within your body, you are saving your life.”
Commitment to healing
I believe that to experience incredible healing, you need to make a commitment to succeed and take responsibility for your actions. Responsibility doesn’t mean blaming yourself for feeling unwell; on the contrary, it means discovering what choices or decisions you made which didn’t work. You can then decide to do things differently, and find out what would make your life and health brilliant. This can include listening to your body, changing your beliefs, eating healthy foods, concentrating on self-healing and wellness, exercising and learning to love your life. It’s imperative to recognise that your body is not your enemy; it’s a messenger which can help you to know yourself more fully and lead an extraordinary life.
Learning from your body
It can be enormously helpful to understand that the left and right sides of the body are related to different aspects of our lives. The left side is connected to our more intuitive, softer, feminine side. It reflects how well we take care of our own needs, whether we give ourselves time to rest, reflect, meditate, love, play and enjoy our life. It also relates to our relationships with important females in our lives, including our mother, sister, wife, girlfriends and daughter.
The right side is connected to our more action-oriented, decision-making masculine aspect. It reflects our ability to survive, achieve financial success and take care of others. It’s also connected to our relationships with influential males in our lives including our father, brother, husband, boyfriend and son.
BAC K Feeling unsupported, overwhelmed, under too much pressure. Carrying suppressed, unresolved emotions from the past.
BRAIN /HEAD You may experience feeling out of control, depressed, bored, flat, uninterested, disheartened and sleepy. You may feel like your mind is hazy, scattered, conflicted or confused.
BREASTS Feeling lack of nurturing, gentleness and love for yourself, while often showering it onto others.
EYES Not liking what you’re seeing in your environment. Suspicion of people and events. Seeing obstacles and limitations. Wanting things to be different. Belief in ageing.
FEET Moving in the wrong direction, ignoring intuition, feeling confused, lost, ungrounded, out of touch. Feeling stuck, bogged down or obligated to others, missing the big picture. Indecisiveness
Healing
When taking a healing approach, we’re encouraged to view the body as an intelligent force, which, if guided correctly, has the power to regenerate. We have the ability to tune in and listen to the body, ask questions and allow our own wisdom to surface about the situation. There is an element of trust and an awakening to our true nature, which temporarily seems to be blocked by disease. Dr Patrick Quanten, GP and complementary therapist explains, “… medication does not change the situation. It only changes our perception of the situation, ie, I can’t feel the pain anymore. To effectively change the situation one has to make changes… in the way one is doing things right now, as it is that behavioural pattern which has created the harmful situation in the first place.”
Inna Segal is an internationally renowned intuitive healer and author of The Secret of Life Wellness (Rockpool Publishing $29.99) which is now available at good book stores and online at rockpoolpublishing.com.au
Inna Segal- Extracted from Yoga Journal June 2014 – 16 May, 2014