As I travel down my personal healing road, I keep finding that much of my healing depends on my emotional state. I can see this very clearly on a daily basis. I also know that much of my cravings and desires to feed my mouth when my stomach isn't hungry are based on buried emotional issues and not on true physical needs. Addressing buried or unaddressed emotions can be very painful, but is necessary if we are to achieve true peace and healing on every level.
I've written before about the emotional detox that comes with transitioning to a healthier lifestyle, but it's a subject I think deserves much more attention. Please note that emotional detox can occur with any change that stimulates the body to heal. You cannot heal the body without affecting the mind. I choose to face my buried emotions head-on, deal with them, and put them completely behind me rather than allow them to continue festering under the surface. We can bury garbage to get it out of our sight, but it will still stink. Why not expose it and eliminate it?
I can attest that as I made huge changes to my dietary habits and moved to eating organic, whole foods, I experienced a period where buried emotions came to the surface. I had to learn to deal with them very quickly. In addition to prayer, talking to friends, etc., I used a technique called EFT: Emotional Freedom Technique. This technique uses a gentle tapping on different emotional trigger centers (psycho-acupressure points) of the body to help release pent-up emotions. You can read about it and learn how to use it for free at: http://www.emofree.com/.
The bottom line is that we each need to find a technique for acknowledging, addressing and releasing buried negativity and harmful emotions. Emotions such as bitterness, resentment, jealousy, anger and many others sap the peace and joy from our lives, relationships, spiritual walk, and our physical health. We MUST find a way to work through these emotions and to finally let go of them. For more info on techniques that can be used to help address emotional issues, please read my post on hypnosis, Dispelling the Myths of Hypnosis. If gratitude is an issue, please read this post that focuses on maintaining awareness of little blessings: Why Bigger Isn't Better.
Unfortunately, Western medicine tends to discount emotions when it comes to healing, in spite of multiple studies that proved a positive and hopeful mental outlook directly affects survival rates in terminal illnesses. It has also been proven that negative emotions raise blood pressure and blood sugar, alter hormonal balance, and make our body chemistry very acidic, which ultimately leads to inflammation and cell death. There is actually a physician in Germany (Dr. Hammer) who is using emotional release techniques to heal different cancers. Other physicians and practitioners have connected different physical ailments to specific negative emotions. We cannot separate body, mind and spirit. Each component of the wellness tripod directly affects the others. We must acknowledge that connection and address problems in our spiritual and emotional health if we wish to achieve perfect physical healing.
The following books contain techniques for releasing buried emotions and thought patterns interfering with daily life:
Feelings Buried Alive Never Die: http://tinyurl.com/n76zaa. This author uses a unique technique to release emotions. She also has a great index of the emotions that can cause a variety of physical ailments, diseases and conditions. It's very interesting and enlightening. This is one of my favorite books.
Love Now, Here's How: 26 Roadblocks to Healthy Relationships and How to Clear Them: http://tinyurl.com/kqejz9. Phyllis Light walks through 26 roadblocks that can hamper any relationship. Although her focus is on love relationships, these roadblocks can interfere with ANY relationship, including those with friends, co-workers, children, parents, relatives, etc. It took a lot of courage and honesty to read through each roadblock and admit to the ones that I deal with. Sometimes the simple act of recognizing an issue allows one to address and release it very quickly.
I highly recommend both books to anyone seeking spiritual and emotional peace as a means of achieving physical healing, growing closer to God, or healing relationships with others. Let's face it: physical, spiritual and emotional health cannot be separated!
Love to all! Thanks for being the awesome people you were designed to be!
