This is a post-script to Are you a victim of mental abuse?
Throughout my journey I have gotten the idea that stress is bad for the body. I’ve seen its effects first-hand, I’ve had people tell me to stress less (much to my frustration, because it’s not that simple)…I understand that it produces too much cortisol, which in turn does all sorts of things to your physical body that lead to body breakdown. Stress is there for the fight or flight response and when we tell our body that we’re in flight mode 24/7, things start do go a little wonky (read Dr Libby Weaver’s Rushing Woman’s Syndrome for more on this).
So I tried to deal with stress. I tried to come up with tools (like walking, EFT, taking time out for myself to read or chill). But the problem for me was that I was’t quite getting to the root of the cause. How stressful is it being abused 24/7? Everyone has a lot on their plate, but when you start telling yourself it’s too much to cope with, you can’t possibly get it done in time, it won’t be good enough, what will other people think, it will be a total failure, I couldn’t possibly do that, I’m no good…and on it goes…I believe that’s when normal life challenges turn into super stressful situations. I believe we can have these time pressures and challenges in our lives, but if we are 100% by our sides all of the way, encouraging, backing ourselves up, believing in ourselves like we would a good friend, then they don’t need to become stressful situations…they can simply be challenges.
Now the trick for me, that I foresee going forward, is keeping up this gentle relationship once everything in my body is running smoothly, when I don’t have a constant reminder to be gentle. It’s easy once everything is going well to forget to take those regular moments to say thank you.
I believe that because I have shifted some emotional baggage that I’ve been carrying around for way too long, with regular EFT sessions, that continued gentleness will hopefully be a little easier than last time.
I have also now seen and felt, firsthand, the benefits of self-commitment. So now, every month I will make sure that I prioritise and book in an EFT session with a therapist. I will make sure I do Donna Eden’s 5 minute energy routine most days, I will make sure I put wonderful energy into my food and water and gently talk to my body and mind like a would a good friend…not because I have to, but because I want to and it excites me.
It’s easy to put your health and healing in someone else’s hands…the homeopath, the naturopath, the doctor, the surgeon, the acupuncturist, the Chinese healer, the energy healer. Since September 2013 I have been super seeking and seeking and seeking…for miracle answers, for miracle pills, for miracle potions and miracle healers and top surgeons…just to take this fistula away. I have spent oodles of time and money on the above…and I say to myself, these supplements will heal me, these herbs will heal me, that naturopath will have the answer.
And gosh I don’t know where I would be without all of those amazing hand-holders along the way…I am so blessed to be a lot healthier than many people who have a Crohn’s diagnosis or an anal fistula. The problem is I seem to focus on healing happening from an outside source. What’s not so easy is to take the power back, and through tools such as EFT (or anything else that works for you) to make steps towards healing yourself. Bringing the power back into your own body, in this moment, and believing that you also play a vital part in it all.
So that’s where I’m at right now…who knows where this journey will see me in a week’s time or a month’s time, but right now I’m willing to take on the challenge of kindness to self. I’m willing to see what life holds for me when I put down those boxing gloves and say no to being a victim of mental abuse.
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