Emotional health is a pesky thing.
I call it SHADOW WORK.
Sometimes itʻs elusive, avoiding a clear view or shape that we can grasp. And it shifts and contorts with every turn – making it difficult to recognize the what we are truly seeing reflected.
The more we pursue it, the more indistinct it can appear to be.
I donʻt know about you, but right now I am picturing the scene from Disneyʻs Peter Pan, in the Darling Nursery when Wendy finds Peter attempting to capture his escaped shadow! His panic over losing his shadow is something I can feel. Because as every science fiction tale has surmised – without a shadow, how do you know you are truly alive?
Just like shadows, emotions reflect our state of health.
But also like another shadow analogy – – they may also be the hiding place of our most terrifying enemies and fears.
There is a growing global perspective that unresolved, or unprocessed, emotions are the root of most (if not all) poor health conditions. This is something that has been connected consistently with unexplainable chronic pain or auto-immune conditions – – with fascinating recovery stories from simple efforts to recognize and release past emotions after years of TRYING EVERYTHING.
I canʻt remember when I first learned about this phenomenon. I had already been working with alternative health practitioners to address my own ongoing challenges, including unexplainable back pain. Alternative – or holistic – health practices focus on treating the WHOLE BODY – – physical / mental / emotional / spiritual – – and every visit and treatment definitely touched on it all! I also had several practitioners tell me that they thought my challenges were rooted in emotional and spiritual health. And at the time, as a young adult and dedicated Christian I was horrified to be told that my health problems stemmed from those areas in which I was so committed.
I didnʻt understand what they meant or what to do about it. But over the years, Iʻve slowly learned…
I said earlier that there is a growing global perspective about this understanding of the importance of emotional health. But it is actually NOT new to many parts of the world where people are still rooted in indigenous cultures. These cultures stem from a history that is deeply intwined with living in harmony with nature – – the source of health. Their lives were not ruled by the inhibitions and societal norms of our lives today. And they VALUED all emotions as GOOD, including those we tend to dread such as anger, grief, and fear. When those emotions came with the natural flow of life, they embraced them fully, coming together to spend TIME sharing the experience of the flow of feelings.
They also incorporated daily practices in their lives that we have finally realized actually contribute to significant brain health! I think we imagine ancient indigenous cultures in a constant state of fight or flight, sympathetic state – – but the opposite is actually reality. Every land-based culture around the world cultivated daily practices of meditation, dance, chanting, and grounding connection to the earth that we recognize today as somatic practices that put us in a parasympathetic state, which is the foundation of all health.
So how do we get back to that?
Our culture has conditioned us to AVOID NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. But our bodies are designed to PROCESS them. When we avoid rather than process, the bodyʻs response is to STORE those feelings until we are ready – and safe – to complete the processing. Our physical self works hard to protect us by storing – or hiding – feelings that we donʻt know what to do with until they become a physical presence on a cellular level.
There are many sources that provide a much better explanation of this perspective than I can share here. One of the first mind-blowing books I read was “Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection” by John E. Sarno, MD. I purchased the book after reading a post by a wellness blogger whom I regularly followed when he wrote an almost embarrassed-tone account of a surreal experience he had of immediate healing after reading this book. Since I was also suffering from back pain, I wanted to test this for myself! I read the book, which is a fascinating account of a doctor who began to notice the connection between mind (or emotions) and body and taught his patients to follow that connection for “miraculous” healing.
I wish I could tell you I was also miraculously healed. But I am a SLOW MOVER. Over the next few years, I continued to explore this connection. I learned about EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUE, or TAPPING – – which combines neuro-linguistic programming with stimulation of acupressure meridian points to release emotional blockages.
I actually did experience almost overnight and truly miraculous healing from debilitating back pain (I couldnʻt roll over without extreme pain) after some intense and focused tapping sessions!
There were many other revelations! And then in the past few years of studying Yoga and Ayurveda, I have continued to gain more understanding of the equal importance of caring for our emotional, mental, an spiritual selves as much as we do the physical. Iʻll be honest! My culture has conditioned me to focus on the physical. It is a still a learning curve and requires dedicated work – – but the physical is more tangible and perhaps feels a little more satisfying to pursue than the rest. It is a daily effort to prioritize mindfulness practices that nourish the other three areas enough as well. And there is clearly a deficit after all the years of neglect.
So that is why I FINALLY started seeing a therapist. I realized that I really needed to make these other three components a primary focus rather than a supplemental focus. And I knew that I needed to find a dedicated support person to help me narrow in and to hold me accountable to do the work that needs to be done. Because I DONʻT WANT TO DO IT.
If I am honest – I really, really donʻt want to dig for unresolved past trauma. I really would prefer to just tweak my diet and my exercise and maybe take a new supplement or two and see everything fixed in a few weeks! Is it just me???
But itʻs not going away. Whatever it is! I know or suspect some things that need to be dealt with, and there are some things I frankly would rather not know are there. But they are a part of me – – no matter how elusive or mercurial. Thatʻs why it is SHADOW WORK. And itʻs time to let in the light.
SEEING MY SHADOWS LETS ME KNOW I AM TRULY ALIVE.
What “shadow work” are you doing right now? I hope you will share your journey with me! Letʻs learn from those indigenous cultures who traveled these roads TOGETHER.
xo.
Danielle
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