Pop quiz everyone! Don’t raise your hand, but do any of these things describe you?
Fear of displeasing a loved one
Fear of releasing the old that is no longer useful
Fear of not having ample means
Unable to control situation
Unwillingness to relinquish control
Inability to eliminate possessive attitudes.
Holding back loss of enthusiasm
Sense of security feels threatened
Fears new ideas
Lack of affection
Condemning the success of other people
Unhappy feelings
Also, don’t raise your hand, but do you also have some sluggish bowels, belly discomforts or chronic gut conditions?
Many times we rectify gut issues and conditions through food deprivation and while that can help the symptoms to subside, the food isn’t usually the culprit.
The emotions are.
Emotions are the root of almost all of physical diseases. I say almost all because I don’t want anyone to bust my chops about their condition not having anything to do with any negative emotions. Although, when someone has gotten huffy after I have made that statement 'all disases', I simply smile and think to myself “the lady doth protest too much.”
Negative emotions left unchecked can make us sick. If left alone long enough then the ugly emotions can create a chronic condition and in some cases, a life threatening one.
In the case of gut health, fear is a biggie.
I know firsthand what a destroyer fear can be. As a child I lived in constant fear and had constant stomach problems. My stomach just felt sick 80% of the time. I didn’t enjoy eating much because too much food would set it off and I just hated feeling sick. I would only eat things I knew would make me feel ok. Even at age 8 I was a good self manager. Lol. The root and reason for the fears are irrelevant to you, but rather to demonstrate that anyone who has deeply rooted fears, regardless of rational or not, may have stomach conditions. Or vice versa.
So now what?
Always, always and always you must learn to breathe. See this video. This is good information if you have children in your house. I have one that is prone to spiral into fear and so I have taught her to breathe, relax and talk through fears rather that allowing them to overtake her.
Spoiler, your next step is to relax. This is a little tricky in that never in the history of ever have anyone relaxed when freaking out, if someone says “you should relax”. Therefore I’m telling you now, so you can practice. Soldiers do not practice for war in wartime, but rather in times of peace. If a highly skilled military soldier needs to practice, what makes you and I think we are above practicing during our peace times?
I practice with Stress Away, rub it on my shoulders, inhale it as I move through my day. Sometimes lately I use a more intense blend like Trauma Life because widowhood. It helps to slap my brain spiral into a place of immediate peace and clear level thinking. But this doesn’t happen in a desperate moment. This happens because in my quiet peaceful times I have reached for one or other of these oils, practiced breathing properly, and meditated on peace. Ruminating of God’s word helps a great deal as well, because you know, truth and sound words and all.
Sound emotional health happens at a much more rapid pace when our breathing is always on point. In our days, in this time, it is critical to our physical well being that we tend to our emotions before the emotions overtake the physical. We begin with breathing correctly, often throughout each day and especially when stressful things occur.
Practice this today, take note (and I do mean, write it down) about how you feel physically at the day's end. Tomorrow I'll teach you about those negative emotional hitchhikers.