Unraveling the psycho-spiritual connection to disease
By Marina Andrawos, RHN
Before I start, I want to explain that I’m not a psychotherapist nor do I claim to be. The purpose of this article is to share some thoughts that are close to my heart that may resonate with some of you out there, and to maybe help you realize that you’re not alone.
Have you ever had a gut feeling about something, but the implication of following through with it is so scary that you find yourself burying it so deep that you can’t even utter it? It may feel like something is terribly off in your life and there’s whisper of a feeling deep inside telling you what it is, but your mind refuses to listen because you just can’t face it. Those massages may manifest in different forms to get your attention and may get more intense if you ignore them. You end up convincing yourself that you don’t know why you feel so depressed, or always getting sick, or always getting hurt, or suffering from insomnia, or being abused or bullied, or can’t get that job or promotion, and the list goes on.
The more you refuse to listen to the messages you are given or to that proverbial gut feeling, the more life becomes a struggle and the worse your situation gets. Does any of this ring a bell? You may be doing everything right as far as diet, exercising, and taking your supplements, but all your efforts may not fully help you unless and until you resolve the situation in your life that is going against the grain of your essence. I know this is foreign to a lot of people, but the psycho-spiritual connection to disease has been proven over and over again to be a very valid component to health and heeling. Not only have I had personal experience with this, but I’ve witnessed it with every single client that comes through my practice. This has been studied and published by many authors such as Louise Hay, Dr. Christine Page, MBBS, MRCGP, DCH, DRCOG, MFHOM, Caroline Myss, PH.D., Paul Pitchford, the late Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, and many others. For those who are reluctant to accept that possibility, then consider the fact that even conventional medicine recognizes the impact psychology has on health and there has been many studies proving various correlations to heart disease, autoimmune disease, cancer, and many illnesses to the state of our mental and emotional health.
Fear, or more accurately, perceived fear, is the key factor that stops us from addressing and correcting the situations in our life that are making us sick, depressed, unable to sleep, etc. I say perceived fear because fear is the body’s defence mechanism that helps us flee when in danger, but perceived fear is not based on any real or proven danger. Having courage does not mean you have no fear, it means believing in yourself enough to follow your path despite all your fears. More often than not when we take that leap of faith, everything falls into place in our life as though we are being validated for following the path that is aligned with our true purpose. This is not easy by any means, but I find that if it’s the right path, then life somehow facilitates the process for you. This is just food for thought, it may help to explore this avenue for your healing in case all your efforts to remedy your suffering aren’t enough.
Consider this, if you have been suffering from a chronic or recurring condition, ask yourself “when did it start?” and “what was happening in your life when it started?” If there was a trauma during that time, maybe you’re still holding on to residual unresolved pain, or if there was a change in your life, you may not be fully accepting of it or it may not be the right change for you. Another way to explore the psycho-spiritual connection to an illness is to correlate them to the chakras (energy centres throughout body) and all the organs around each chakra; for example your throat chakra is located in the throat area and is related to being able to speak out and express yourself, so if you have an illness related to the throat area like thyroid disease, it could be because you feel stifled in some way or unable to express something important to you. Your solar plexus chakra is located just below the heart; it’s related to self-esteem issues and how you may relate to others, so if you have intestinal issues, liver, pancreas, or gallbladder problems, then you can see if there’s a correlation there. There’s also specific conditions or body parts relating to very specific issues such as kidney problems are related to fear; liver problems are related to pent-up anger, back problems are related to lack of emotional support, constipation can be related to not being able to let go of something from your past, and the list is endless and can be more in depth.
Not everyone is open to the psycho-spiritual connection; however, it’s been shown to have great impact on our ability to heal. This is an important part of the holistic approach towards balancing your health. These are just guide lines, I’m not suggesting that because you have the physical issues, that you would necessarily have the emotional issues connected to them. However, often times I find that they are accurate and it may help to include them in the equation and address them to optimize your health. May you always have the courage to heal and be whole.
Marina Andrawos is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Reiki & Intuitive Energy Practitioner, Teacher, Speaker, & Author based in Toronto.
Photo credit: ©cokacokaa via Canva.com
