Emotional/Spiritual Causes of illness

[joej627]

Hey guys,

I know this isn't necessarily a forum for this type of stuff but seeing as most of us seem to be here for health reasons, it seemed appropriate.  I am doing a liver flush tonight so wish me luck.  Anyways, in chinese medicine liver is related to anger or more repressed anger.  Different organs hold different emotions.  I think that especially in the U.S. a lot of us are raised in a very unhealthy emotional environment.  It's just the way people are raised.  Teachings that society end up giving include trying to be perfect, never feeling adequate, always something better, etc.  We have photoshopped people as our rolemodels.  The goal is not to be GOOD.  It is to be PERFECT, which is, in the end an impossible goal.  If you are familiar with the mathematical concept of asymptotes, this provides a good example.  You can get ever closer to a goal that is ultimately unachievable.  How much stress and energy do we put into trying to PROJECT that outward appearance that we have it all together, etc.  Personally, i had a lot of issues to go through and the health problems caused me to face up to them.  I internalized my emotions for several years.  I am not here to say that everybody with health problems has emotional reasons but I do think it is an often overlooked problem for people, especially in the U.S.  I have read several books on these topics and the bottom line with most people seems to be "I am not Good Enough" is the common theme, and we spend a GOOD DEAL of our life's energy trying to satisfy that ego driven notion.  Common categories would be money, cars, clothes, makeup, muscles, fit bodies, SAT scores, job title, on and on.  Anyways, sorry for the rant.  I was just curious if other people had similar experiences and what others use to process emotions constructively.

-Joe

[TylerDurden]

I thought of that possibility years before I went rawpalaeo. I would go in for "positive thinking", NLP and similiar methods, but they turned out to be all bogus. In very rare cases, I experienced a slightly beneficial placebo effect but it was far too temporary.

[Wattlebird]

I am not here to say that everybody with health problems has emotional reasons but I do think it is an often overlooked problem for people, especially in the U.S.  I have read several books on these topics and the bottom line with most people seems to be "I am not Good Enough" is the common theme, and we spend a GOOD DEAL of our life's energy trying to satisfy that ego driven notion.  Common categories would be money, cars, clothes, makeup, muscles, fit bodies, SAT scores, job title, on and on.  Anyways, sorry for the rant.  I was just curious if other people had similar experiences and what others use to process emotions constructively.
-Joe

Hi Joe,
good on you: being human is accepting all facets of the human condition, not just the 'nice' bits.
Taking time out: breathing some good air, getting outdoors, soak in some sun, being active.
Getting into the natural world on a beach, in a forest, in a field. Even if you cant get away from the city, perhaps a park or garden.
Release the restrictions on what you can -and cant - have thoughts about. Likewise emotions. They come. They go.
Also, finding someone who you can openly talk to about whatever it is you wish to express, someone who is not there to judge you, but listen and allow you to verbalise your inner feelings.
Sounds like you are doing fine and are getting comfortable in your skin.
Kind wishes, J

[Joy2012]

Here is a quote from a book I am reading right now:

“Many of our great doctors and psychologists have been focusing more and more on the possible connection between bodily sickness and internal issues like bitterness, anger, hatred, and jealousy. We have heard for years that 85 %  of all sickness originates in the mind—not that it is imagined, just that it has its roots in an unhealthy thought life. While these internal issues are not injected into the arm or inhaled into the lungs, they poison the life of people who were created for significance. People’s creative energies are redirected into the management of unhealthy thoughts and emotions, leaving them little or  nothing for living in the purpose for which they were created.
It is fairly common knowledge even among secular counselors that people need to forgive others. If they do not forgive, it eventually eats away at their health.”

[goodsamaritan]

Healing emotional disturbances are important.
Letting go of FEAR.
Letting go of HATE.
And letting go of a lot of excess baggage, they all need to go.
It affects us at the cellular level, all are stressed.

And the physical state affects that too.  So you work on all levels.  Physical, emotional, spiritual.

[majormark]

This is very interesting. Check out the German new medicine, that explains the emotional aspects of disease and also includes the Bechamp theory on germs/pathogens (Part 3: The Healing phase and the role of microbes), avoiding medication etc:
http://www.guideforselfhealing.com/category/articles/german-new-medicine/

Another detailed article:
http://www.newmedicine.ca/overview.php

[joej627]

Hey yea,

I have heard of German New Medicine.  I think eventually they will be able to pinpoint all of this stuff a lot easier.  I think diet is extremely important.  I think emotions are extremely important.  Some people have terrible diet and really healthy emotions and can get away with junk food a lot longer.  Some people have perfect diets but are stress fanatics or have repressed emotions.  I look at health as the "nail in the foot" approach.  If you have a nail in your foot you can eat a perfect diet but it's not going to stop your pain.  The body knows how to heal if you remove the obstructions to healing.  We are not taught that repressed emotions are "nails" that need to be processed and dealt with sometimes in order for true healing to begin.  I think most people with chronic fatigue, fibro, lyme, as well as most autoimmune illness and cancers have big emotional components.  In a lot of mental/emotional circles they will tell you that "not accepting/loving yourself unconditionally" is the basic illness in all of us.  And sometimes being religious about eating PERFECTLY is actually bad for your health.  I think the biggest thing is finding out what our "nails" or "root causes" are and removing them, and then trust that our body knows how to heal when we give it the proper food, rest, exercise, etc.  It's really all about facing up to our demons and respecting ourselves enough to tell people what our needs, wants, as well as limits are.  And accepting ourselves even in moments of weakness.  This is what it means to allow yourself to be human.

-Joe

[Lynnzard]

This nail analogy speaks so strongly to me. I'm starting to wonder if that isn't a large component of the issue I've been having in the liver/gallbladder area. I don't want to hijack the topic with TMI about my situation, but I will say I recently experienced a HUGE shift in the way I deal with and approach my parents and a healing of a long-term conflict. Shortly after that, I had what I thought at the time was food poisoning for three straight days. Violent vomiting and diarrhea, fever, all over aches and pains. Shortly after that, no more tolerance for cooked food and intense off and on pains in the gallbladder/liver area. Maybe it's my body adjusting to this new way of looking at things and the huge release of anger. Food for thought, so thank you for posting this.

[joej627]

Well i believe in chinese medicine and similar theories the consciousness lies in different organs of the body.  Anger/frustration/resentment lie in the liver/GB.  When we do not acknowledge or release/deal with these emotions they build up and energy cannot flow through these organs.  It is very common to have emotional healing reactions as well.  When you release a big event, resolve a conflict, forgive others, hit a punching bag, etc, the consciousness is allowed to go back into the organ and the energy resumes.  Kinda like unkinking a garden hose.  I just picture all of these energetic hoses running through the body.  When we have emotional/spiritual blocks these hoses get kinked up.  Local metabolism slows down.  I had a lot of issues related to a birth trauma.  If you want to go even deeper, its possible that these are not even our own issues.  If you look into family constellation work or the writings of John Bradshaw or Bert Hellinger, they show that energetic/emotional issues can be passed on from ancestors.  Most people understand this as the viscious cycle (parent abuses kid, kid abuses his kid, etc.)  If parents don't deal with their own issues they are passed down the chain.  As all energy cannot be destroyed, only shifted, the energy has to go somewhere.  I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with "klinghardt's 5 levels of healing" but it is definitely worth checking out for anyone having ongoing health issues that seem stubborn to resolve.  Personally, i am finding that a relationship with God/the universal energy, etc, is the best guidance.  Once you have that on an intuitive level than you will know the best course of action for you at any given time.  Shamanism and Dreamwork are also good avenues to receive answers to questions that we cannot ask in the ordinary physical world.  The more i learn about all this the more mysterious it all gets. 

-Joe