Battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: True Health is Simple
Have you ever noticed that something that is true is often simple and elegant?
When I was sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I thought I had a complex illness that had no known cure. I was battling a host of strange symptoms. I would get rid of one, and another one would crop up.
I was constantly trying new supplements, many of which made my condition worse, new diets, and new cleanses. I had food allergies and leaky gut, I was prone to infections, I had three bouts with systemic candida. I was so dizzy I could not stand still in a line at the grocery store or at the post office. I could walk, but I couldn't stand still. I would sit down for dinner and be overcome with dizziness, I would panic when I had to go somewhere because I would get so dizzy I thought I was going to pass out. Six months after I became ill, my husband surprised me with a trip to Paris for my birthday. We still weren't sure what was wrong with me, but in the weeks leading up to the trip I was so dizzy and weak and sick feeling I could barely cope, much less take an overseas trip. I wanted to cancel our trip, but I didn't want to disappoint him, so we went. I was panicky, weak and very dizzy, and my husband insisted on walking everywhere. I was trying to hide how sick I was feeling, but we spent so much time looking for places for me to sit down! I literally thought I was dying. I hope I can go back again someday.
When we came back I threw myself into finding a cure. I read and researched everything I could about healing. I tried acupuncture, various diets, energy healing, massage. I listened to healing music, I increased my time spent in meditation to an hour per day. I tried past-life healing. I spent vast amounts of time and money looking for relief. I tried all of the life style recommendations. Taking care of myself became a full time job, and I had very little time and energy for my family. I would have some days where I felt good, I had energy, I could function, and I thought I was healing, only to be followed by a crash, and days of being minimally functional. In the third and final year of my illness I spent three months in bed.
It was such a relief to me to find an answer! And the theory behind the treatment rang "true" for me. I realized I was not battling some strange and mysterious and complicated disease with no cure. There was a very straight-forward explanation for my illness, and a simple and elegant cure. It all started and ended with me. I did not have to continue looking outside of myself for the right diet or supplement or treatment. I only had to learn to translate the symptoms of illness my body was sending me. I could feel my body recovering. I could literally feel the health and energy returning to my cells. My body healed itself. I no longer had to spend vast amounts of time taking care of myself. And although I had to work very hard to recover, I did. It was a profound healing for me, and it literally changed my perspective on health.
True health is very simple! It's an incorporation of mind/body/spirit. Our bodies have a built-in mechanism to help us to listen to our deep inner wisdom, but it's not housed in the mind. It's housed in the body, and more specifically, in the emotional body. The good news is that we have so much more control over our health and well being than I ever thought possible. It's simple and elegant. It doesn't involve tedious diet and lifestyle adjustments, handfuls of supplements, acupuncture, energy healing, and prescriptions.
All you have to do is listen to your emotional body...that is the deep inner part of you that is wanting to be heard, then translate the message and act. And it all happens in the moment. And in that very moment healing occurs, balance comes to your body, and you start to heal. It's not complicated, and it takes a relatively short time, no matter how long you've been sick. The best part, for me, was that I found my True Self, my inner Self. The Self that Anita Moorjani speaks of in her book, Dying to Be Me.
When I was sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I thought I had a complex illness that had no known cure. I was battling a host of strange symptoms. I would get rid of one, and another one would crop up.
I was constantly trying new supplements, many of which made my condition worse, new diets, and new cleanses. I had food allergies and leaky gut, I was prone to infections, I had three bouts with systemic candida. I was so dizzy I could not stand still in a line at the grocery store or at the post office. I could walk, but I couldn't stand still. I would sit down for dinner and be overcome with dizziness, I would panic when I had to go somewhere because I would get so dizzy I thought I was going to pass out. Six months after I became ill, my husband surprised me with a trip to Paris for my birthday. We still weren't sure what was wrong with me, but in the weeks leading up to the trip I was so dizzy and weak and sick feeling I could barely cope, much less take an overseas trip. I wanted to cancel our trip, but I didn't want to disappoint him, so we went. I was panicky, weak and very dizzy, and my husband insisted on walking everywhere. I was trying to hide how sick I was feeling, but we spent so much time looking for places for me to sit down! I literally thought I was dying. I hope I can go back again someday.
When we came back I threw myself into finding a cure. I read and researched everything I could about healing. I tried acupuncture, various diets, energy healing, massage. I listened to healing music, I increased my time spent in meditation to an hour per day. I tried past-life healing. I spent vast amounts of time and money looking for relief. I tried all of the life style recommendations. Taking care of myself became a full time job, and I had very little time and energy for my family. I would have some days where I felt good, I had energy, I could function, and I thought I was healing, only to be followed by a crash, and days of being minimally functional. In the third and final year of my illness I spent three months in bed.
It was such a relief to me to find an answer! And the theory behind the treatment rang "true" for me. I realized I was not battling some strange and mysterious and complicated disease with no cure. There was a very straight-forward explanation for my illness, and a simple and elegant cure. It all started and ended with me. I did not have to continue looking outside of myself for the right diet or supplement or treatment. I only had to learn to translate the symptoms of illness my body was sending me. I could feel my body recovering. I could literally feel the health and energy returning to my cells. My body healed itself. I no longer had to spend vast amounts of time taking care of myself. And although I had to work very hard to recover, I did. It was a profound healing for me, and it literally changed my perspective on health.
True health is very simple! It's an incorporation of mind/body/spirit. Our bodies have a built-in mechanism to help us to listen to our deep inner wisdom, but it's not housed in the mind. It's housed in the body, and more specifically, in the emotional body. The good news is that we have so much more control over our health and well being than I ever thought possible. It's simple and elegant. It doesn't involve tedious diet and lifestyle adjustments, handfuls of supplements, acupuncture, energy healing, and prescriptions.
All you have to do is listen to your emotional body...that is the deep inner part of you that is wanting to be heard, then translate the message and act. And it all happens in the moment. And in that very moment healing occurs, balance comes to your body, and you start to heal. It's not complicated, and it takes a relatively short time, no matter how long you've been sick. The best part, for me, was that I found my True Self, my inner Self. The Self that Anita Moorjani speaks of in her book, Dying to Be Me.
I would love to know more about your process for how you began to learn to listen to your body's cues and souls desires and act on them. How you started taking small steps to shift into listening to yourself and doing what you wanted when your life had been centered around managing symptoms and all the SHOULDS and BETTER NOTS that come along with that. I am feeling kinda stuck there.
ReplyDeleteAgain, it was listening to my body. I could literally feel my body healing...this was probably about the time I started to jog (very slowly, as I got very deconditioned. I stopped the supplements almost immediately...it was so cumbersome to take so many, and they hurt my stomach...I still take the usual vitamins, but I was taking tons of other stuff...I think as I felt my energy return I dropped everything else I was doing...because it didn't matter ...I felt quite empowered and in charge of my own health..I realized these things outside of me wouldn't heal me...now it took me a full year to stop relapsing, but I would always check in with Kyle about what happened right at the time I got symptoms again...I was scared to jog/exercise again but Kyle encouraged me to try it, since it was something I loved...it was a huge confidence booster to be able to exercise again and not experience symptoms...so I guess it started with the BIG things...doing things I loved...but the feeling of power that I gained over my health was remarkable...does that help?
ReplyDeleteYes! It sure does. I am getting caught up in all the reasons and habits I have had that prevented me from being able to listen to my body or trust my self in that way. But I think I am starting to get a little handle on it.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you started with the big things! I still feel like the big things could do me in. But I do think I'm starting to sort it out. It's a hard thing to describe to someone because I would think each person's way would be so personal and abstract, maybe only making sense to them.