Are your issues in your tissues?

Before doing any body work, I ask my clients, ‘Is there anywhere in your body that you have any areas that you would like me to work on?’

Whilst this is an important question, my next question tells me so much more, ‘Is there anything going on for you right now you would like to share with me before we begin?’

Re read that and imagine how you would feel being asked that…

I often get a client come to me, having gone to a colleague, a fellow professional body worker, maybe a physiotherapist or chiropractor and been told, ‘there’s nothing actually wrong, it’s either your posture or are you stressed at the moment?’ You see, the mind body connection is way more powerful than we realise.

When you feel nervous, say you’ve got a really important interview coming up, do you feel it emotionally or physically?

The answer is both.

We hold our worries in our minds and they manifest in our bodies, in this example maybe you get a tight tummy, need to frequent the loo more often, or start to breathe a little faster, feel a little warmer.

Our bodies physically respond to our emotions, this is a fact.

Guiding you in meditation, this mind body connection is further explored, and I love that moment when someone gets the connection and feels it for themselves. And while I’m not a magician, magical things happen when you realise this, you gain back control of your mind and body, that is when the powerful work begins!

At around the age of 22 I was diagnosed with IBS. Now, whilst I wholeheartedly know many people suffer with this condition, I’m not saying we can necessarily ‘think it away.’ I was sent to a nutritionist who told me to add more fiber to my diet and not knowing at the time I was having an over sensitivity to wheat this didn’t particularly help. I went on my own exploration of food intolerance tests, supplementary therapies, and various elimination restrictive diets.

Now I’m not bashing these ideas, we all need to do our own research and take responsibility for our own bodies, but it wasn’t until I started to think about my emotional state that things started to make more sense to me. I would eat certain foods and my body would reject them, yet at other times, no problem? ‘Hmm.. what’s going on here?’ I thought. Same food, different day, different mood or stresses and no reaction.

It was around the same time that I introduced meditation into my life and started to feel the benefits of connecting my thoughts to my body. Whilst I hope and know things have moved on from the '90s, if only that doctor who diagnosed me in a five minute consultation (not their fault, this is what they have to work with) had asked me ‘what’s going on with you?” He could have opened up a whole can of worms and sent me for counselling which is what I actually needed. But I don’t go down the 'shoulda woulda coulda' path. I got there my own way, and I now connect to my mind and body in a way I could never have imagined.

I am not suggesting you ignore physical issues and it is always best to check anything out with your GP first. But if after being reassured all is well, look to your mind, your thoughts, your environment and what emotionally is going on for you.

Our bodies talk to us and communicate what they are feeling. We can hear what they need if we listen. Stop what you're doing, pause, breathe and listen...

So, the next time you get an ache or something physically is going on for you in your body, you may want to check in with yourself and ask yourself, “are my issues in my tissues?”

With kindness and compassion, Karen xx