How Do I Cleanse? Chronic Dysfunction from a Unique Perspective

How Do I Cleanse? Chronic Dysfunction from a Unique Perspective

Posted on May 21, 2015

Our body, our guide

All of us are busy with our lives, our careers, our relationships and our families. So naturally we may become disconnected from our bodies. When our bodies go to dysfunction, we may not know how to connect back in (or we never learned how to in the first place) and as a result, we may feel anger toward our body for not functioning as we would like. When we understand that our bodies are guiding us and loving us through dysfunction, we can feel gratitude instead of frustrated and angry. As an intuitive, when I work with a client during the session I am communicating with their body. It literally guides and shows me where and how to specifically offer bodywork. Each one of us can communicate with our bodies in the same way. The key to doing so is stillness and trust. During a cleanse we remove some of the distracting foods and we can start to feel and listen to our bodies on a deeper level. We can also achieve this through stillness. Meditation can be a helpful tool to quiet our minds and focus in on the messages our bodies are trying to convey through illness. The second part – trust – is necessary to believe the information we are receiving from our body’s wisdom. We all can be guided by our higher selves; the part of us that doesn’t get involved with the small mind or the ego. It is this part of us that we can access during a cleanse. This higher part doesn’t attach itself to fear, distrust, anger, resentment or anxiety. For us to access this part requires us to be willing. We must be willing to let go of whatever “benefit” staying sick affords us. What a strange thing to say, you might be wondering. Hear me out (and pay attention if anything you read brings up anger/defensiveness).

The benefits of chronic illness

Not everyone with an illness has a pay-off with staying ill. But for those who do, there may be unconscious “benefits” to keeping their illness alive. (When I use the word benefit I am talking about a particular mental pay-off that person receives from the illness, not that the illness is physically beneficial to the person.) I had a client once who said she was happy she had cancer because it meant she could rest – this client may have had difficulty holding boundaries in her life or had difficulty saying “no”. Some clients may stay sick because it validates a belief they have about themselves – this can range from not feeling worthy to live with good health, a belief that life is hard, or a belief that others can have a better life than them. Some cannot admit they don’t want to stay in a particular job/career/relationship so they experience physical dysfunction as a way to not deal with the unhappiness they are feeling. For some, staying sick can prevent them from engaging in intimate relationships, thus giving them the illusion of emotional safety if they have been hurt by others previously. Others may stay sick and focus on their ill health because it may be too emotionally painful for them to sit in the discomfort of their unconscious feelings.

Whatever pay off the person is experiencing, if they are willing to be honest with themselves about what that pay off is, what their body is communicating and instead choose to feel gratitude and discover what is sitting under the anger – true and permanent healing is possible. If you are someone that honestly believes you may have a pay-off with your chronic illness, here is an interesting thought: the chronic illness validates what your current mindset is, offering one type of benefit – although this “benefit” doesn’t produce health, in fact quite the contrary. However, if you choose to change your mindset by listening to what your body is telling you, the benefit changes into one of true healing. Wayne Dyer once said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This is one of the interesting aspects to life. When we choose to live life on life’s terms and accept what is, stop the internal power struggle with ourselves, and use the information our body is giving us to heal…we heal.

How do I listen to what my body is telling me?

Every person is unique therefore how they choose to communicate with their body will differ. For some, they may feel more comfortable communicating with their body by engaging in a verbal dialogue. Others feel that meditation is a good fit. Still others find that writing is the best way to hear what their body has to say. Many aspects of ourselves can be revealed during a cleanse. The point I want to make is this – just start talking to your body, especially if you are sick. Trust in its wisdom and genuine intention of love and healing.

There is a great book I would suggest those with chronic illness to read: “The Science of Being Well” by Wallace Wattles. If you enjoy this one, definitely read “The Science of Getting Rich”. It is a profound and life changing book. It may be deceiving because of the title but his books are about changing your mindset and living in gratitude. Gratitude leads to health – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Unhappiness and gratitude cannot co-exist. It is up to us how we choose to live our lives. We must embrace what we can control – our beliefs, our attitudes, our actions and our reactions. Actively choose a mindset and belief that will make you strong. When you do as much as you can in terms of a positive and grateful mindset, trust in either a higher Source or your higher Self and let go of trying to control the outcome, you just might be surprised what can occur.