The Disease of Disconnection
Do you ever wonder why you have parts of your body that are chronically tight? Usually, but not always, this is due to pain created by stresses in our lives.
Normally we use pain relievers like Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Advil (ibuprofen) but what do they really do? As I look up the research on Tylenol there is no definite answer for how it works in the body. Nobody seems to know its mode of operation. It is said to increase our pain tolerance and reduce fever but, unfortunately, with the side effect of harming the liver like alcohol does. More is known about Advil. It reduces the hormones in the body that cause pain and inflammation. It is hard on the stomach so is to be taken with food and water. It is also not recommended for pregnant women. At best these pain relievers mask pain and at worse can do more damage to our bodies with continuous use. What is clear is they only treat symptoms but provide no resolution to any problems. With that kind of conclusion, we clearly shouldn’t rely on them long term.
Let’s work through some questions to explore our body/mind connection. When you’re feeling good but then pain shows up in your body, what have you been doing when you notice the pain? Are you at work talking to your boss or a coworker that stresses you out? Are you at home dealing with the everyday stresses of running a household and kids? The body and mind are connected. Our body tells us that something is wrong. These everyday stresses that accumulate are not being dealt with in a healthy manner. We keep repeating negative things to ourselves that makes it worse. And it can become a recurring death spiral when our body has reached its limits. That is, once we’re in a negative state, every additional negative becomes exponentially magnified to an ultimate death spiral of anxiety and depression.
So what would it feel like if we acquire tools to deal with the stresses in our life? To be able to say “what I’m doing now is not working for me” and to change your life or mindset in such a way that the stress does not reoccur. What would it be like to be able to put up boundaries or move on? If we learn to listen to our bodies/intuition and act accordingly, what would happen?
Society has told us throughout our lives to think with our heads and to ignore our intuition. This is disastrous! Our intuition is a vast, complex, super computer that comes to amazingly accurate solutions and should not be ignored just because it’s a “flash of insight” and we don’t know how it works. This has caused a disease of disconnect. Our bodies are failing us because we have stopped listening.
As I work with my massage clients I have been able to see these connections to their stresses and how they are holding them in the body. With awareness comes the knowledge needed to change their behavior to live a more holistic life.
I hope this has given you a little “food for thought” and look forward to working with my clients through bodywork to bring these disconnects to light.
Sheena Taggart, RMT
Connective Wellness Therapeutic Massage
403-999-1471
info@connectivewellness.ca
Connectivewellness.ca
