If its all in your head, can it also be in your body?

I came across this quote in the April 25^th issue of Newsweek.

“A traumatic event within the family can have consequences for everyone. The collateral effects can include real, biological illness—even though the causes are entirely social”

--Dr. Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School

As we know, the mind and body are one system. You cannot affect one without affecting the other. One of my favorite examples of how emotional trauma can cause real physical symptoms was a client I worked with who had type II diabetes and kidney failure.

Cherly participated in a corporate wellness program I ran. As part of the program, we had a 30 minute private consultation. During this session, Cheryl was describing how she thought of herself as a “naughty girl, always doing the wrong thing”. When I asked her what this feeling reminded her of, she recounted a scene:

“My mother used to get very angry, and she used to hit my little brother. I hated it when she did this. One day, when she was starting at it again, I realized that I was now big enough to do something about it. So I stepped in between my mother and my brother and prevented her from hitting him.”

Cheryl broke down into tears as she re-lived this memory, and she suddenly understood why her body was fighting itself. It had duplicated the same no-win situation from her youth. As a girl, she knew it was wrong to go against her mother, but she felt it was wrong for her mother to hit her brother, yet she felt compelled to help her brother.

We then did some healing work, including bringing adult understanding and forgiveness to the little girl who had stood up for her brother.

I didn’t hear from Cheryl for a couple of weeks until I saw her at class. She shared that she had released 25lbs during the program and was ecstatic. Later, she sent me this email:

"At class the other day I told you that my endocrinologist was taking me off of insulin because my body has, once again, started producing it’s own insulin. He felt this was due to the changes in lifestyle and diet – which, I feel, is a direct result of the changes your workshop helped me make.

To continue the good news...I’m not sure if you knew that I have been going through kidney failure over the last two years. I have only one functioning kidney and it was functioning at 31%. I was facing a transplant in the next three to five years. I saw my nephrologist yesterday, for my regular checkup, and he told me that my kidney function is up to 57% and he saw no reason for this other than a medical miracle and my friends' prayers. He said that a kidney with as much scar tissue as mine doesn’t usually improve to such a great degree. He never expected to see it get over 50 %, and 57% is astounding to him. I can’ help but think that my improving overall health has resulted in my kidney function also improving.

This has been a tearful week, but they are tears of joy. Thanks for all your help throughout this workshop – I feel a lot of the changes I have made are a direct result of what I have taken away from the workshop.”

--Cheryl L., Executive Administrator, Mountain View, California