Let’s talk first about mood and the body.

A depressed person can look like their overall energy, or life force is literally “de-pressed”; pressed down. They may have a sunken or collapsed look to their chest, or whole body. Their arms may appear weak or hanging, reflecting a sense of powerlessness, or ineffectiveness in life. Their breath is often shallow. They are more still, less animated than those around them. At one time or another, most of us have been depressed, or even just episodically sad, so most of us know what it feels like to be in this body, to be stuck in this “posture”.

Likewise, it can be easy to identify someone who is angry, by their red face, clenched jaw, tense shoulders, intense eyes. You can almost feel the sparks flying out of them! Their energetic charge seems increased.

When someone is afraid, their energy, or overall countenance looks suspended, coiled, ready to flee. They can look like all their energy is raised up in the upper half of their body, light on their feet; not grounded and stable. Often you can even feel the jitters in your own body, just being near them.

Our bodies not only reflect our emotional experiences, our bodies participate along with our emotions in our integrated responses to life. I like to think of it as our bodies “posture” or sculpt our emotions.

One reason it’s powerful to make this connection is that shifting the body, literally changing your posture, has the reverse effect of shifting your mood, emotional state, attitude and outlook; even the way you perceive your circumstances. 

Try this:

Wherever you are sitting right now; slouch. Let your shoulders roll forward, and your chest collapse. Let all the muscles in your face go slack and breathe shallowly. Hold this “posture” for a few moments and notice what happens to your mood.

OK, OK now that’s enough of that! Sit up straight, open your chest, let your shoulders drop back, raise your chin, bring some brightness into your face by raising your eyebrows a bit, lift the corners of your mouth. Now notice your mood. Isn’t interesting that simply adopting the facial  and physical expression of happiness has a positive effect on your mood? How about your overall energy level? How does your life or your day look different from this posture vs. the collapsed one?

Now the reason for knowing all this isn’t just so you can try to be in a positive mood all the time! Most of us are unconscious about how our bodies are participating in and expressing our mood and emotions. When we are not aware, our bodies and moods can become stuck in patterns that negatively affect our health and happiness.  When you become aware of this connection you not only can address the underlying cause of your state, but you also can make choices about how you want to respond to your life.

Now let’s talk about how the body postures our attitudes and personality:

Our bodies not only adopt postures that reflect our moods and emotions in the moment, but over the course of our lives they develop habitual patterns, or “conditioned tendencies” that reflect our overall attitude, personality and approach to life.

The way you hold your body (or the way it holds you), and how you manage your emotional energy and express yourself are all learned (unconsciously) early in life in response to your environment!

When we are children, particularly in our earliest years, our unconscious developmental task is to determine “the rules” about who we are, what life is and what it takes to survive it. All of us, to some degree or another, experience emotional threats, whether it is simply that our good parents weren’t always able to respond exactly the way we needed them, exactly when we needed them to to assure us we were loved, to outright trauma in the form of overwhelm or neglect.

Most of us don’t get the impression that who we are is perfect and good and that we will be loved EXACTLY as we are, no matter what that is in every moment. In our culture, we learn that we need to be a certain way to be loved and accepted, and maybe even safe.

Even if our home environment was nothing but nurturing, when we hit the bigger world and school with all their social pressures and expectations, we have to adopt some strategies to feel ok about ourselves and in relationship.

So unconsciously we adopt what I call a “Bodymind Posture” to help us navigate life.

Each one of these “postures” includes a set of attitudes, beliefs about self and the world, emotional tendencies, and certain ways of holding our bodies and managing the energy or charge of our emotions. Each posture includes a combination of these strategies;

• Block: To stop the flow of the charge of emotions though our bodies and conscious awareness, we will unconsciously tighten muscles and constrict our connective tissue and even organs like the lungs to diminish breath. The two best ways to decrease the movement of painful emotional charge is to stop the breath and constrict the body. Chronic tension can lead to pain, diminished function and even exhaustion.

• Collapse: Or we might collapse our bodies (remember the depressed person we were talking about?) so no charge moves through us, leaving our bodies depleted and less vital. Sometimes we learn that we are safer when we are smaller than others and make their needs more important than our own.

• Disappear: Another good way to stop feeling our feelings and to try to be less visible to others, or simply escape a painful life situation is to disconnect. We may unconsciously want to decrease our sense of our own body and experience by literally dissipating our energy making the charge of our feelings less solid. In extreme cases this is called dissociation, but many of us employ this strategy in less dramatic ways. It’s called being spacey, vacant or “airy fairy”. It’s difficult to feel robust and strong and able to create our lives in this state.

• Overpower: Another way to deal with the charge of painful experiences is to “blow it out” and be controlling, domineering, or even aggressive, clearing a path around us as protection against vulnerability. This kind of energy management requires muscular tension and the generation of force and pressure, not a good state for the cardiovascular system!

These four Bodymind Postures by no means represent every possible strategy! They are meant not to reduce everyone into tight little categories! Every one is unique and comes up with their own patterns. This list is meant to serve only as a guide to help you begin to identify your own Bodymind Postures.

Most importantly, these patterns do not reflect pathology, nor are they descriptions of anything wrong with us or that we are “doing” to ourselves! They are part of the phenomenon of being human, going though our human lives. They are all tremendously creative and resourceful strategies!

The only problem is that they also greatly hamper our ability to live physically, emotionally and spiritually free, open and authentic lives!

What allows us to grow and heal is becoming conscious, with great compassion, of the ways that we have all had to adapt to get through life.

I urge you to explore these ideas in a mood of curiosity and respect, not self judgment.

Once aware, we can literally learn new ways of living emotionally and in these bodies of ours. Once aware of our automatic unconscious patterns, we can learn that we no longer need to protect and defend our selves in ways that compromise our freedom and health.

When you become conscious of the underlying expressions and needs hidden within your Bodymind Postures, your body will no longer have to try to help by acting them out. You can learn that it’s safe to live in a body that is open, free, alive and grounded.

I encourage you to be a curious observer of your own Bodymind. I will be talking more about these Bodymind Postures in future articles, and offer a more personal guided exploration in my workshops and training programs. Stay tuned for announcements about these in the near future!

To be sure you hear about opportunities for further personal learning; join my mailing list if you’re not already subscribed, and follow me on Facebook.

In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about these concepts here are some books that have influenced my approach:

“Bioenergetics” by Alexander Lowen MD
“Core Energetics” by John C. Pierrakos MD
“The Middle Passage: from Misery and Meaning in Midlife” by James Hollis
“Hands of Light” by Barbara Ann Brennan

Peace to you,
Alison

Then, as you become more and more aware of your body’s emotional postures, see if you can find any patterns, or tendency to live automatically in a particular “Bodymind Posture”.

Notice what this posture is doing to help you.

• Is it a way to feel safer in interactions with others? Does it help you hide?
• Is it an attempt to prevent people from treating you a certain way?
• How does it help you?

And how does this posture feel in your body?

• How does your energy change?
• What feels better, what hurts?
• Where do you notice more vitality? When do you feel fatigued?

What are the subtle (or maybe not so subtle) costs to remaining unconsciously in this Bodymind Posture?

Notice your Bodymind Postures with compassion! They are not bad or wrong, nor do they mean you an insecure mess! We ALL do them! It’s part of being human. They are actually resourceful and creative systems, summoned by your unconscious psyche and nervous systems to help you get through. Making them conscious offers you more freedom to actually live in your body and the world with more choice and authenticity.

When you are tuned in to your Bodymind Postures, you can make the choice to stop for a moment, release the tension, open the breath and attend consciously to the emotions you may be feeling underneath this automatic reaction.

Read more about Bodymind Postures, why we have them and how to work with them.

So, how’re you doing so far? If you’re like me you are starting to hit some inner resistance to staying on track. That cozy bed in the morning is starting to feel much more compelling than getting up in the dark and cold and going to the gym. And now that I’ve recovered from the three week sugar high I maintained over the holidays, my sugar fast is starting to seem much less interesting.

It’s a universal human experience to struggle with discipline. We make resolutions and goals with the sincerest of intentions and then somehow that resolve weakens. Too often we find ourselves back in our same ruts, frustrated and discouraged. If this is you, know that you are not alone

One reason we get caught in endless loops of determined resolve, then loss of motivation and discipline, then discouragement and shame is that we make our resolutions, or visions, or goals with our minds and not our bodies and minds together.

The trick to getting back your motivation to get out of bed, or put down the potato chip, must come from your whole body, emotions and mind being in touch with the desire and excitement about your goal. You need to be able to feel what you really want in the moment, not just the difficulty of it, and not just the “idea” or even picture of it.

Techniques like creative visualization, imagery, and positive affirmations can be powerful tools to help us achieve our goals and dreams. Many people, including professional athletes use visualization to help manifest desired outcomes. Medical research has shown that “mental rehearsal” significantly improves performance in athletes.

Research also shows that there is a strong benefit to including the body, or “kinesthetic” sensation in the process of “experiencing” your desired outcome.

Have you ever watched a downhill skier in the Olympics, crouched in the holding area before her turn at the gate, bouncing and weaving with closed eyes as she imagines herself running the anticipated slalom course? Her nervous system, muscles, bones and every cell of her body is experiencing the possibility of flying flawlessly through that course. This actually gives her a better chance of doing so!

Dr. Candace Pert, in her book Molecules of Emotion, describes the newly discovered phenomenon that every cell in our bodies is affected, through the circulation of chemicals called neuropeptides, by our thoughts and emotions….and images! That means that what we have thought of as the mind doesn’t just live in our brains, it literally lives throughout our bodies. So, if our whole body experiences a possibility, it will be much more powerful than simply seeing an image or an idea of that possibility.

When I take the time to feel the sensations of the energized, light, strong body I will have if I stick to my exercise goal, more times than not, I can overcome the sensations of the warm covers I am currently in. I also notice that I actually feel lighter and stronger as I get out of bed! I invite you to give it a try.

Feel the possibility with your body. If what you really want is to lose 20 pounds, take a moment to “embody” that possibility. Beyond just imagining yourself 20 pounds thinner, close your eyes and feel what it will feel like to be lighter, freer, to feel comfortable, even proud in your body. How is your posture in this place? Where do you feel lighter? How is your breathing? What do your muscles feel like? How does the air feel on your skin? What is your mood? What is the quality of your movement? Don’t just imagine; feel all the physical and emotional qualities that you are wanting by setting the goal. When you can feel it, gently set your intention to reach this state. Don’t vow, promise or threaten yourself. That creates a struggle. Set your intention in a gentle way while connected to your goal. Intention is actually more powerful than will, which is a state of struggling, fighting and forcing. Then repeat this exercise everyday; return to the physical experience of your desired goal, and re-experience your intention for yourself.

Your goal may be less specific. It may include how you want your life to look in general or in a certain domain. This practice will also work for a broader vision. Say you want to have a new career or job. Spend some time clarifying what it will feel like to be in this job. Instead of only saying to yourself, for example, “I have lots of time to be creative and colleagues who are fun and supportive”…imagine with your body the feeling of walking down the hall to your office, excited about working on your project, exchanging laughs with your co-workers. Feel the physical sensations that arise; perhaps there is a flutter of excitement in your chest, or relaxation in your back and jaw as you feel the warmth in your relationships. Repeat this practice as often as you can; at least once a day.

Then when the resistance shows up, (which it will, I assure you!), slow down and don’t judge or harass yourself. Stay present, and bring your attention gently to the embodied feeling of your goal. From this state you can choose what you want to do relative to your goal. Feeling the commitment and possibility of what you want in the present moment, will make it easier to choose the behaviors that will get you there.

Now there’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel good; who wouldn’t rather feel happy than sad, loving rather than angry, peaceful rather than anxious and confident rather than afraid? The problem is that when you do feel your “negative” emotions such as anger, fear or sadness; you may tend to do the opposite of what you need to to actually get rid of them and you end up locking them in place!

One reason for this is that we don’t appreciate what emotions really are.

We think they should be rational…

They’re not!

We think they should go away because our minds want them to….

They can’t!

We think that if we don’t pay attention to them they’ll go away….

They usually don’t!

Emotions are not generated from your rational mind. They arise from a primitive part of the nervous system in response to your environment. When your nervous system perceives something to “feel” sad, angry, afraid, or happy about; it sends signals to your conscious mind and to your body also. Every emotion generates physical changes in every tissue of the body. There is something like a “charge” that we feel in our bodies when we’re in touch with our feelings.

Even when you don’t feel this charge, it is still happening in your body! Just because you don’t want a particular feeling, doesn’t mean it stops being evoked in your nervous system, your tissues and our unconscious mind! It’s like the sun on a cloudy day….just because there is a veil of clouds that disconnects us from its rays….it’s still up there generating all that sunshine with all the same energy and heat!

The minute you try to not feel what you’re feeling, you create trouble in your psyche and in your body. All that energy has to be held somewhere.

At the risk of mixing metaphors, I actually think of emotions as very much like water. Once a stream of water is flowing, you can’t just make it disappear. The only way to stop it is to dam it. You could build a dam to hold the flow back but since the stream still exists and more water keeps coming into the growing reservoir, pressure builds behind the dam over time.

So when you stop the charge of your emotions from flowing you actually create a dam which builds up pressure. Over time this is tremendously stressful on your body and can lead to physical as well as emotional dis-ease.

Have you ever had the experience of being irritated by something that over the course of a day has built to the point where you explode with anger or impatience at something or someone who doesn’t deserve it? Or if you don’t express it, you may feel the tension that has built in your shoulders, neck and jaw, or the knot in your stomach that may get bad enough to send you to the medicine cabinet for antacids, and sleeping pills to help you “let go” enough to sleep. All that anger is still in there.

During bodywork sessions, many people I work with experience a rising of emotions they weren’t aware of feeling before. By relaxing the tension, or “armoring” in their muscles through movement or massage, the charge that has been held in their body begins to flow. I gently encourage them to express whatever the feeling is, through tears, speaking unsaid words, giving the feeling an expressive movement like the shaking of a fist or stomping of a foot, or simply breathing and feeling. Many people are surprised to learn that allowing the feeling does not carry the dire consequence of being swept away by a flood. They feel more open, calm and energized and able to be more present as they go back into their lives. We are actually stronger when we let the feeling be!

The important thing to know is that emotions, like water, when allowed to flow will find their way to stillness and peace. The rushing rivers created by the melting snow on the mountain tops, will eventually spread out and seep peacefully into the delta, or disperse into the sea. Every wave, once it is allowed to crest, will recede. Have you ever felt the calm and clarity that comes after a good cry? Or the revival of energy that comes after expressing something you were afraid to say? Or the lightening of your mood after a pounding work out when you’re angry?

When you allow your emotion to move and flow, you can get to the other side where more balance and freedom are found.

So what does it look like to let your emotions flow and release? It may include expressing them to someone else, but it doesn’t have to. It’s most important that you allow the charge to move through your own body in some way. See my bodymind health tip of the month in this newsletter (link) for ideas about how to

provide the space and movement that emotions need to flow and eventually (if not immediately) release.

This approach is meant for our daily emotional experiences. When dealing with old emotions, hurts or traumas in particular, it is important to work with a trained therapist who can guide you in the more complex process of becoming free from their grip. If you have a history of trauma, are concerned about feeling overwhelmed or if when trying this approach you encounter strong emotions that feel difficult, seek professional assistance.

For most of you, the gentle practice of allowing your day-to-day and moment-to -moment emotions to flow though your body as they appear can help both your body and mind remain clear and balanced.

I wish for you during this time of “joy” and “peace”, the true peace that is found right behind the wave of whatever you are truly feeling.

1. Ask yourself where this emotion “lives” in your body. You may only know at first that you are feeling an emotion by the clues your body gives you. You may feel a tightening in your throat, jaw, shoulders, chest or gut. You may feel a flush or a rush of energy or heat somewhere. You may notice that you have stopped breathing or feel frozen or even disconnected or spacey. You may feel a sense of collapse or loss of energy or dullness.

2. Receive, Don’t Resist; Bring your attention to this feeling and allow it to be there, make room for it and let it move the way that IT wants to move:

➢    Breathe deeply; imagine that you are breathing directly into that place in your body, making more room for the feeling and then allowing it to be carried out on your out-breath.
➢    Stretch and move what has become still
➢    Expand the contracted places like your chest, belly, throat and face.
➢    Give the feeling a physical gesture, and/or a voice. Even a sigh or a growl, if there are no words.
➢    MOVE! Get your blood flowing by walking, dancing, or having a good old fashioned temper tantrum in the privacy of your living room!
➢    Express your feelings; if not to another person, then through journaling or artwork.
➢    Massage (or get a professional to massage) tightened muscles.
3. Remind yourself that whatever you are feeling is valid, at some level, for some reason and that it doesn’t matter whether it makes sense or not, or is “correct” or even “appropriate” (remember, the emotional part of your brain doesn’t care!)
It just IS. And often, the best way out is through!

And, If you’re like me, (and if you look a bit), you can also feel the doubt and pre-emptive discouragement and shame that lingers in the shadows, born from many years of falling off your path. “But this year will be different!” you say, “This time I really will do it!”…….

You are so not alone. I think one of the reasons we get caught in endless loops of determined resolve, then loss of motivation or discipline, then discouragement and shame is that we make our resolutions with our minds and not our body and minds together.

Our minds have a lot of great ideas about how we want to be and what we should do to get there. It just makes sense that if you want to get more fit, you need to stick to a practice. The problem is that there are other aspects of us that have different motivations that are just as strong. And instead of working with these parts of us, we insist on overcoming them and fighting with them as though the only way we will succeed is if we can conquer and eradicate those “self-destructive” or sabotaging forces within us.

So here’s the problem; we can’t eradicate those forces. They are a part of human nature. We have to learn to include them, embrace them and work with them…so they will begin to work with us. These range from the momentary desire to stay in bed because it’s cozy or we haven’t had enough sleep, to the biologically driven draw to sugary, salty, fatty foods, to more hidden emotional motivations like fear of being free and fully alive!

At those moments, when your body and emotions pipe in and say Yeah I don’t think so…that good idea your mind has is not appealing at all; the satisfaction of this cozy bed or of those potato chips looks like it will bring me way more pleasure, coziness, nourishment and safety. Instead of getting mad at this part of yourself, and battling it, deriding it and feeling helpless in its grasp; I invite you to expect it, listen to it, include it and befriend it. These are forces in you that actually want positive things for you….they are just misguided!

The trick to getting back your motivation to get out of bed, or put down the potato chip, must come from your whole body, emotions and mind being in touch with that desire and excitement about your goal. You need to be able to feel what you really want in the moment, not just the difficulty of it, and not just the “idea” or even picture of it.

I recommend the practice; beginning with the moment you make your resolution, of feeling the possibility with your body. If what you really want is to loose 20 pounds, take a moment to “embody” that possibility. Beyond just imagining yourself 20 pounds thinner (which is still an idea), close your eyes and feel what it will feel like to be lighter, freer, to feel comfortable, even proud in your body. Don’t just imagine, feel all the physical and emotional qualities that you are wanting by setting the goal. When you can feel it, gently set your intention to reach this state. Don’t vow, promise or threaten yourself. That creates a struggle. Set your intention in a gentle way while connected to your goal. Intention is actually more powerful than will, which is a state of struggling, fighting and forcing. Then repeat this exercise everyday to return to and remember your intention for yourself.

Then when the resistance shows up….(which it will, I assure you!), slow down, stay present, and bring your attention gently to the embodied feeling of your goal. From this state you can make a choice in this moment what you want to do relative to your goal. If you can’t feel the commitment and possibility of what you want in each moment, it will be easy to choose the old pattern. This declaration of resolution, made today on January 1st, is good only for today. You must make it again anew tomorrow, and the next day and in front of every potato chip and under every warm morning covers. Remember to feel your intention in your body and move from there, not struggle and fight. Our unconscious human nature wins too often when we fight it. But our intention is strong, when we keep it energized.

I wish you gentle, purposeful healing in the new year.

The next time you experience a physical symptom, whether it is a headache or an illness you have been struggling with for a long time, stop your automatic response to fight it. Do not stop yourself from seeking medical care if it is warranted, or form taking necessary medications! But when you are medically safe and have responded appropriately, take a moment to “be” with your experience.

You may take time out to sit in a quiet place, perhaps with a journal to write or draw if you are moved to. You may also simply pose the question to your body and let the answers come to you over time as you go about your life.

Bring your awareness to the place in your body where you feel the symptom, or know the illness resides, and simply “sit” with it. In a mood of listening with curiosity, like a compassionate friend, ask this place in your body what message it has for you, for your life, for your healing. Another question that might make sense is: “What is your purpose; how are you trying to help?”

See what you notice about this place, listen for thoughts, watch for mental images, feel for sensations and qualities. The trick to dialoguing with your body/ your illness, is to soften your mind’s active thinking process and trust what comes, even if it seems like you are actually making up the answer in your head.

Some messages may be very direct and make sense when you consider the symbols of each part and function of the body. For example, your recurrent sprained ankle might convey that you are afraid to “step out” in your life. Your sore lower back may communicate symbolically that it feels that you are not supported in life, your chronic hoarse throat may offer that it is dangerous to express yourself, to speak a truth that you or others might not want to hear. Or the answers may be far more indirect and seem at first to have nothing to do with your symptom or that part of your body. Symbols are not always clear at first.

There are many ways to receive unconscious information, and everyone is different in the way they perceive. For some of you, images come clearly and readily. For others, words, phrases or thoughts might come as though someone was speaking to you. Still others may get physical sensations, or vague inklings of thoughts that clarify over time.

In addition to watching for images in your minds eye, you may want to try to draw or use some other form of art. Often images appear in our drawing that we weren’t even aware of. Writing is another way to allow the information to come forth; either journaling or writing with your non-dominant hand. Dreams are an extremely rich source of information as well. And finally, movement for some is a powerful way for the unconscious body to express itself.

It can take some time to open up your particular lines of communication with your body and deeper Self. The first step is the most important; the willingness to stop and listen to the wisdom within your body’s expression, instead of rushing to quiet it.

There are many things that go wrong with our bodies that have to do with direct or indirect physical causes. There’s no doubt about this. And whether we use a conventional medical treatment or an alternative intervention, we need to address our physical ailments in a physical way.

I’m starting this article with this “disclaimer” because many people assume that if I suggest their illness might in some way be connected to their emotions or psychology, that I’m really saying it’s “all in their head” or that “it’s not real” and even worse, that they did something wrong to “cause” their illness.

This is a common misconception as the mind-body conversation heats up in healthcare. The term “psychosomatic” (defined as bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance) is a dirty word and implies that we are imagining our physical symptoms, or if they are real, it’s because we are mentally ill. We still tend to see illness as coming from a physical OR an emotional cause.

As I have been discussing in my newsletters, I see the body as inseparable from the psyche. Our chemistry is constantly changing in response to our conscious and unconscious thoughts, beliefs and emotions. And our physical state dictates our moods and outlook. Every physical symptom is connected to an emotional or psychological state, and vice versa. The fact is that we are psychosomatic beings! I’d like to hereby take back the term “psychosomatic “and embrace it as an essential principle in healing!

In addition to the direct and immediate influences the mind and body have on each other every moment, the body also tends to symbolize our emotional and psychological state over time. Our physical imbalances often reflect, in a symbolic way, our emotional and mental struggles.  We may not be able to prove a scientific link between heart dis-ease and heartache for example, but the unconscious psyche, speaking through the body’s symptoms, can often tell us what’s needed to bring our body, mind and life back into balance.

By being curious about our symptoms as metaphors for our lives, we open an entirely new realm of possibilities for healing the root cause of our illnesses.  To do this we must make a big shift in how we respond when we become ill.

If you’re like me, your automatic response to a symptom such as pain is to try to get rid of it. We see pain, illness, discomfort, dysfunction as something bad to get rid of so we can get back to “good”. We may even, if we look closely at our subtle beliefs, feel that there is something wrong with us if we are not strong, healthy and happy in every moment.

So when we get recurrent headaches, for example, we may run for the aspirin and if that doesn’t help, we may go to a doctor for a stronger medication and a diagnosis that will lead (hopefully) to a treatment that will get us out of pain. Even alternative therapies can be used to try to get rid of symptoms.

By shifting to an attitude of curiosity about the meaning of our symptoms and slowing down to listen, the information we get could lead us to a “treatment” that is more effective than a quick, automatic intervention . Here’s an example.

I worked with a woman who suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for 8 years. The first seven years she frantically tried every possible treatment, conventional and alternative, to get rid of the debilitating fatigue that was robbing her of her life. Some treatments like nutrition and acupuncture helped a bit, but nothing cured the disease. Finally, in our work together, she stopped fighting the fatigue and began to listen to it. She treated it as an ally (albeit an unwelcome one).

When she asked herself the question “What am I tired of?” the answers sprung forth from her unconscious: “I’m tired of trying so hard to be someone for other people, and not being who I really am. I’m exhausted from taking care of everyone else and not myself.” These insights came over time in the form of thoughts and images that she never would have discovered had she stayed so busy fighting  to conquer the fatigue. As she began to heal the underlying issues that led her, from an early age, to live this way, her vitality gradually returned. By “listening” to her illness as a metaphor for the underlying imbalances in her whole “bodymind”, she was able to address a critical root cause of her perpetual stress and depletion.

It is most useful to begin this work with a guide, a therapist who can help you learn how to listen to the expressions of your body and unconscious mind. There are many body-centered and integrative therapies that use these methods. Art, dance and expressive therapies are also powerful, as is Jungian psychoanalysis. More and more bodyworkers are learning the skills to help their clients make connections between their muscular tensions and their life issues.

It is my vision that all clinicians in conventional medicine and psychology will incorporate these principles in their assessment and treatment protocols and help their patients explore the messages and meanings within their illnesses. I vote we add a question to the physical assessment interview: “How might this symptom be a refection of what is going on in your life?”