What is your headache telling you?

Have you ever had a headache that no matter how many Excedrin you take it just won't go away?  Or the ongoing stomach ache for which you can't find a remedy?  Our feelings, thoughts, life events, and traumas can become stored in the body.  And even if an extra Advil does work for awhile, it can't keep the pain from recurring until the root cause is understood.  Sometimes the root may be a deeper medical issue.  And almost always there is an emotional component as well.  Our brain, the control center for our emotions, talks to all parts of our bodies; therefore, when we have an emotional release it may offer a physical release as well.  I remember a time I had the most horrible headache, and once I got a good cry out I felt so much better!

A resource I love is a book called "Heal Your Body A-Z"  by Louise Hay.  You can look up a specific ailment you are suffering and she suggests the probable emotional cause and offers a new thought pattern.  For example on page 38 she notes:

Headaches
Probable Cause: Invalidating the Self. Self-criticism. Fear
New Thought Pattern:  I love and approve of myself.  I see myself and what I do with eyes of love.  I am safe.

Because of this powerful mind-body connection, many of the referrals I get come from doctors - when all remedies and medicines have been tried, but the pain is still there - we explore the emotional block.  This is why I'm so excited to team up with Dr. Carolyn Maxfield of Middle Tennessee Center for Alternative Medicine.  Each month we are offering a FREE 1 hour process group for anyone interested in learning more about the mind-body connection and gaining tools for dealing with the emotional components of their physical pain. 

Our next meeting will be:

 Wednesday, April 30 

5:30-6:30pm

MTCAM office -7123 Crossroads Blvd Suite A

Brentwood TN 37027

                        

This month's topic will be on how depression and painful life events often show up in the body.  All are welcome to join and bring a friend!  RSVP to drcarolynmaxfield@gmail.com.

Express YourSELF

 "Express Yourself.  You've gotta be you and only you, babe."  (Salt 'N' Pepa)

 

 This was me - or at least I thought it was me.  

I grew up singing, but not necessarily because I wanted to or because it was important to me.  It was because I decided it might be fun to sing in my little church one Sunday morning when I was 9 years old, and people thought it was good. So they asked me to sing more.  I kept doing this for a long time - singing for others.  I am not kidding when I tell you that every week I was asked as I walked in the church doors, "you singing today?"  And because I was a good little girl, most Sundays I had my cassette in hand...you know, some accompaniment version of Amy Grant's latest hit.  But I started rebelling a little, and there was ONE Sunday I didn't sing.  Oh, dear Jesus!  You would have thought I was headed straight to you know where.  The guilt and shame was a lot for a 9 yr old, so I learned to stay compliant, but still tried to skip a few Sundays. I was even warned once by someone that if I didn't keep using my gift, God would take it from me.  (sidenote: people, please don't say this to kids).

Next thing you know I was singing at every banquet, wedding, funeral - sometimes for people I didn't know.  I thought then I loved to sing and this would be my destiny.  It just HAD to be, right?  That's what everyone said, so I started believing it too.  But what I know now is that I loved keeping people happy with me.  I tried a few times to sing what I wanted to really sing - like Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted Snake" - but it was frowned upon, and I was handed another karaoke version of something by Terri Clark - because I was supposed to be a country girl. So I played by those rules awhile too.  So long that I eventually moved to Nashville.  Which ended up working out after all. One of my favorite quotes on my office wall is "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I ended up where I needed to be." (Douglas Adams)

I find that I'm still some version of this at times - singing (doing, achieving, working, hurrying, performing) for other people - because it's just easier to keep them happy.  One of the hardest things to do is sing my own song.  Or just not sing if I don't feel like it.  Or dance instead.   But honestly, I still love to sing. I really always did.  I just didn't like all the rules that came with it.  And I couldn't find my own voice, because the other voices were just so dang loud.  Today I opened my mouth to sing, and I was like, "Hey, there she is! I know this girl.  But she sounds different than I remember.  I really like her."

~Is there a talent or hobby you once used to enjoy (or not) that you no longer do? Why?
~Would you like to try it again - in a new way?
~Or would you like to try something different instead?
~If no one was watching or listening, how would you express yourself?  Give it a try.