Symptoms: What Are They Telling Us?
Symptoms are subjective experiences or observable signs that indicate an abnormality or a manifestation of an underlying condition. Symptoms can vary widely depending on the specific condition or imbalance present in the body, mind, or emotions.
Our body, mind, and/or emotions are always speaking to us in different ways. Maybe you start getting regular headaches. This is not uncommon at all. A minor headache may be your body whispering to you that something needs to be addressed.
However, you think to yourself “it’s just a headache! Everyone gets headaches!”, so you pop a Tylenol and continue your day. Next thing you know you’re taking Tylenol multiple times a day and your headaches have turned into unbearable migraines. What was first your body whispering to you with a minor headache is now your body screaming at you with debilitating migraines.
Oftentimes, when we ignore our body, things may get exponentially worse over time. And the worse things get, the harder and longer the road to recovery is.
If, for example, the fictitious person above hired me to address the root cause of their minor headaches I could have told him or her that there was an imbalance affecting her lymphatic system which resulted in his or her body from not absorbing enough water which led to dehydration of the brain and, inevitable, headaches. By clearing the imbalance, everything else would have fallen into place, thereby, alleviating the symptoms.
Another thing to note is that in some cases we may experience symptoms as a baby, or young child, that carry on with us into adulthood. Because these symptoms have been with us for so long we think they are just a part of life that we have to accept.
Also, maybe as a child we were told to “stop your whining” or “kids are meant to be seen, not heard” or “stop being such a baby!”.
When children are brought up in this way they learn to ignore what their body, mind, emotions are trying to tell them. We learn to push our emotions down. For men, we are told “no pain, no gain” or “real men don’t cry”. All of these types of scenarios create a disconnect to ourselves and, in extreme cases, can create fertile ground for a full blown nervous breakdown or psychosis later in life.
I remember when I was a young child my father took my sister and myself to DisneyLand and I kept telling my Dad I wasn’t feeling well. I was told to stop being so dramatic and when I got home I was taken to the doctor and diagnosed with Pneumonia. The generations above us were often brought up with a “heavy hand” and lack of sensitivity which then filtered down to the younger generations.
All too often, people are told to “just push through it”, or some other type of similar comment that reinforces the ignorance of one’s own needs.
In addition to implementing Body Code healing to address the root cause of symptoms, I also encourage clients to engage in practices that will slow them down and allow them to tune into their mental, emotional, and physical needs. I feel that yoga and meditation are not just a trend, but rather a critical addition to one’s health and wellness routine.
At first, yoga and meditation can be difficult because it’s a radical shift from the “gogo lifestyle” that many of us lead. I remember when I went to my first few yoga classes, every part of me wanted me to be anywhere but on the yoga mat. I only went a few times and then it wasn’t until about a year later that I gathered up the courage to devote my time on the yoga mat as a part of my health plan. Yoga and meditation allow us to shift inwards and feel into our body and pay attention to our mind. The longer we ignore what the mind, body, and emotions are trying to tell us, the harder it is to listen.