Psychosomatics

When we start paying attention to how we feel on an emotional level, the next step is to also start caring about how our body is feeling.

The word psychosomatics consists of 2 words. The 1st one is psyche - mind and the 2nd one is soma - body. It focuses on the connection between the body and the mind. I am a big supporter of this approach as I believe the only way to cure a mental or physical illness is by aligning all aspects of our being.

Our body is constantly communicating with us. If we feel any pain or we are tired, our body is asking us to pay attention. Unfortunately many of us reach out for medication at this point that only numbs our pain. And in the case of tiredness we reach out for coffee or an energy drink that will boost our energy levels. When we do this we suppress the real needs of the body. It is just a coping strategy (that eventually fails).

I strongly believe that behind every illness there is a certain information that is meant to teach us something. There are many books on the market that are written by cancer survivors. Many of these books are written with a very positive attitude and cancer is often described as their biggest teacher. People who came to understand their lessons have managed to get through cancer with a very positive mindset that enables them to enjoy their life to the fullest. They always have one thing in common. They have taken responsibility for their lives and they were able to set boundaries.

There are many studies that prove that there is a connection between an illness and suppressed emotions. For example studies done in the 80s that researched breast cancer. Authors of these studies led interviews with women who were admitted to hospital for breast biopsy. They noticed that these women had tendencies to suppress certain emotions, mainly anger. The interviewer also observed that the women prioritized emotional needs of others over their own. Their relationships in general were questioned as well as their childhoods. The results of these studies were fascinating. The authors learnt so much from these interviews that eventually they were able to predict with 95% accuracy whether there will be a cancer diagnosis or not. So they were able to divide women into 2 groups - a healthy group of women and a group of women who will be diagnosed with cancer.

I chose one of the breast cancer studies as an example but there are many other studies that focus on different physical ailments. They all have one thing in common - suppressed emotions being the root cause of all illnesses as well as the inability to set boundaries.

The root causes might differ for each mental or physical ailment and sometimes there are a few. It is absolutely necessary to get to the root of the problem and to allow ourselves to feel our suppressed emotions. Through this awareness we start to learn more about who we are, we learn what we like and what we don't like. When we start paying attention to our emotions we also start to recognize and pay attention to the messages of the body. This is how we achieve the balance between the body and the mind.