by Miriam Meir
Bottled up feelings of suppression, anger, and resentment can make us sick.
Sometimes we carry around so much sadness and suppressed emotions that the body doesn't know what to do with them.
Andreas Moritz, renowned naturopath, believed that heart disease is a physical symptom of feeling unloved or unworthy of love. And cancer in particular is a disease very much related to suppressed emotions. (Of course, he believed that diet and stress are main contributing factors as well.)
As we get a little older, it often becomes clear that the internal work that we've been putting off for a long time, must be dealt with for our health, and for our futures.
Emotions can only be suppressed for so long before we pay a hefty price.
These emotions are like poison to the body.
"Toxic mind toxic body"
Men often feel that if they stop to acknowledge their feelings about painful situations at work or home it's a sign of weakness. Or maybe they feel stuck and don't see a solution. Often, they have so many people to care for, they feel it would be "irresponsible" to veer away from the career path set out for them that they are miserable in. Or maybe they have childhood traumas that they buried deep within. The problem with burying trauma is that they could resurface in other forms when triggered by subsequent life events.
Many women don't acknowledge their own needs and believe it's their exclusive job to take care of everyone around them: children, parents, friends. Women are programed from an early age that being a "good" girl means doing what everyone else thinks is best for you, without protest. They deny their own dreams and cave in to what their parents and then husbands, and then society thinks they should do. They walk around irritable, depressed, and overwhelmed and their families have no idea why.
Is it wise to spend your whole life in a profession you don't care for? Or with a spouse who treats you really poorly?
What if you're feeling really lonely? Perhaps you're a widow and have a small social circle?
Your body cares. Your subconscious mind cares. You care.
Ignoring our emotions will eventually force the body into a sick state in an attempt to attract our attention.
I'm not saying we have to make drastic changes overnight, but we have to start dealing with these issues, start finding solutions to these problems, we can't put it off or we'll pay a price.
"Cancer is not loving yourself" Andreas Moritz
If we're lonely, We can start fixing the problem by loving ourselves, flaws and all. We have to get to know ourselves. Enjoy spending time with ourselves. It may sound crazy, because nowadays with modern technology, we escape from internal reflection and avoid ourselves like the plague 24/7. The phone, TV, all serve as constant distractions.
Once we love ourselves, then we can love and connect to our spouses, children, neighbors, community etc...
It's never too late to join activities in your community, take classes, it's important to get out and talk to people.
People who are lonely or socially isolated are the most prone to cancer.
If you're unhappy, or feel really suppressed it's time to start making yourself happy.
Sometimes, it's the small things that matter. like devoting an hour of your day to building your dream business.
Go to sleep on time, eat healthy, start taking steps to pursue your dream career, get a gym membership, sign up for a dance class. Make sure your family respect your needs, distance yourself from people who treat you poorly.
They key is taking that first step and showing up consistently. If you commit to just 1 hour per day of doing something you've always wanted to do, it's a great start, but it's important to commit and stay consistent.
It feels like taking care of ourselves is 10x harder than taking care of others, but it must be done to lead a full healthy life.
I know how hard it is to prioritize self care, because I painfully struggle with this. As a woman in my early forties, pursuing my interests and passions is something I've put off for years, because there was never any time, I was always so worried about finances and family. But there are always excuses and I will never have enough time.
Plus I find it very difficult to follow through with plans that matter to my heart. There's risk of failure involved. Plus every time we push it off we reinforce our belief that we can't do it.
Nonetheless, we have to stop procrastinating, and start programming our minds to show up consistently for ourselves and follow through with plans. This will help us build inner trust and love.
The time to start is now.
It's never too late.