Mind Body Medicine

If you've ever stopped to think about WHY you are experiencing a certain symptom or illness, the answer may be obvious, or it could be confusing.

So often, people wonder "why now?" or "why me?" or "where did this come from?"

Sometimes the conclusion is obvious, like an illness that occurs during a period of high stress.  I have seen many people who are affected by a bad flu right after losing a family member, for example.  More often, though, it's difficult to make the connections between your physical symptoms and the emotional or spiritual imbalances behind them.  If you begin to think of symptoms as your body's way of communicating an imbalance, then it becomes more clear.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there is an appreciation for emotions impacting various organ systems (and I'll often treat emotions through acupuncture).

• Lungs -> Grief
• Liver -> Anger
• Spleen -> Worry
• Kidneys -> Fear

Many times when someone enters my office with recurrent lung issues, for example, I ask them about grief.  Sometimes it turns something up and other times not.  It can be quite surprising, and healing, for someone when I do uncover a piece of their story like that.

If you're not quite sure what I mean by physical manifestations of symptoms think about butterflies in your stomach from nervousness - see what I mean?

These correlations can provide helpful insights that help healing occur on many levels. 

A favourite resource of mine comes from the book, "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay.  In it, there is a helpful chart that draws relationships between physical ailments and emotions.  Interesting, right?  Here are some examples from the book:

• Loss of balance -> scattered thinking
• Seasickness -> fear, fear of death, loss of control
• Tonsillitis -> repressed emotions, stifled creativity
• Pink eye -> anger/frustration, not wanting to see
• Heartburn -> fear

It's not always a perfect match, but it can help direct us toward a deeper level of healing.  The body, mind and emotions are all connected.

Right now, I'm finding that emotions are high and the vibe is heavy.  It seems to be extra important to "do all the things"in order to stay on track:  eat as well as you can, get outside, do things you love, be with people you love, sleep...

For me, as soon as one thing slips I can feel almost instantly off balance, while in the past it would take a lot longer to notice the effects of being off track.  I'm bringing it up because every year the fall brings a return to routine (click here for tips) and I want everyone to be aware of making their health a priority, now more than ever.  Please let me know if I can help, or I can point you to someone who can :)

Your in health,
Dr. Christa


P.S.  We are still doing a combination of in-house and virtual appointments (some people are loving the convenience of virtual medicine).