Health is our normal state as human beings. What does it mean when we become ill? Some say that a virus or bacteria has entered our physical body and gone haywire. But why is it that two people can be exposed to the same virus and only one of them might actually manifest symptoms?
We might manifest disease (which is "dis-ease") or illness through an imbalance in the mental, emotional or spiritual as well as the physical. Symptoms are created to help us know that we need to look deeper.
In the book Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, author Christiane Northrup, M. D., challenges you to check your belief system about health and illness (guys, these questions are for you, too):
1. Do you believe you can be healthy? Some actually believe that ill health is normal.
2. What challenges were part of your childhood? Emotional suppression without emotional release can fester for years and become sealed in our bodies, finally creating symptoms of illness that let us know it's time to address these issues.
3. What purpose does your illness serve? Sometimes the only way we give ourselves permission to rest or receive affection is by becoming ill. Many survivors of serious illness say it was a gift that helped them see where they needed to make changes in their lives.
4. Are you willing to be open to any message that your symptoms or illness might have for you? Not by analyzing and judging, but by being aware of the process and observing in a detached way what you're learning through the experience. ©
