You can’t think your way out of a physiological problem.

Of course, our mind and body are deeply interconnected. Our emotional body, suppression and trauma can be the root of some of the systemic issues we face.

Energy work is real, and there have been may studies surrounding the power of our mind.

And, in my personal experience, I spent years in therapy trying to “fix” an emotional state that was a byproduct of a physiological issue.

I would constantly tell my therapist that I wanted to return to who I was before. I wanted my fun, playful, lighthearted version of myself back.

And like most therapists, the feedback was that maybe this new version of me is who is here now. That my experiences, etc. have led to this different expression.

And while some of that may be true, I’ve found my joyful, playful, optimistic self again through healing systemic issues in my physical body.

What I thought was a mental health issue, was really a body one. I healed the body issues, and my confidence, self worth, and joy came back online.

The thought spirals calmed.

The catastrophizing subsided.

The replaying every interaction became something I no longer felt called to do.

All things that I had previously spent 5 years in therapy “working on” and “trying to fix.”

I’ve studied trauma for years. I firmly believe in the benefits of healing from trauma and resourcing safety in your body and nervous system. I see the ways EMDR and other somatic therapies can greatly improve quality of life and being able to navigate the world.

The body and mind are so intertwined that I never think healing one without the other is the answer.

And, my functional medicine journey for the past 9 months has shown me that you can only do so much nervous system regulation and trauma healing without also addressing your body.

If you have systemic, unaddressed infections in your body, your body will be in a constant state of fight or flight, no matter how long you hum or put your legs up the wall.

I felt crazy for the longest time utilizing every tool in my somatic tool belt and still feeling so activated, dysregulated, and hypervigilent.

Until I began to treat and heal the many different infections in my body, did things finally start to calm and return to baseline all on their own.

Only when I stopped eating IgG and IgA reactive foods, that were triggering an immune response in my body, did my hair stop falling out and my joy and confidence returned.

Only when I started to clear the mold, toxins, parabens, heavy metals, and pesticides did my nervous system begin to relax.

Only when I cleared candida overgrowth, clostridia, Ecoli and other infections did my sense of self-worth recalibrate.

Only when I addressed MCAs symptoms, did my mind stop spiraling and looping and catastrophizing everything that happened to me.

And as with anything, duality exists. It’s the both, and.

Does the physical manifestation cause the emotional response?

Does the emotional response perpetuate the physical illness?

They are so deeply connected; I don’t think they can be separated.

I’ll be sharing more about the psychological side and emotions each of these things have brought about for me.

But the loud awareness was that I couldn’t have made such great strides without also healing the physical components within my body.

I work with people often who are hitting wall after wall in their emotional healing journey that I can’t help but think there’s something systemic being unaddressed in their physical body.

Anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, and so many other mental has been linked to our gut health.

Recently they published a study where they found the exact bacteria out of balance that causes OCD.

Healing must be done in tandem with other modalities.

Nothing about our body is a single root cause, in my opinion. Thoughts, suppressed and rejected emotions, trauma, and our physiological functions all contribute to our overall wellness.

It’s so heavily interconnected and to heal one part we must heal another.

But you cannot solely think your way out of something deeper under the surface.

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I am by no means in affiliation with them, but I cannot rave enough about my experience with Trivida Functional Medicine. If you are on a journey to find out what’s wrong, while constantly being told your labs are “normal,” I cannot speak highly enough of them and their care.