The human body is perfectly designed and holds the power to heal itself if given the right environment. As we are not just physical bodies walking around on this planet, other facets such as our mind, emotions and spirit have to be in balance too in order for healing to occur. We are powerful creators and tend to create what we focus on. So if we focus on not feeling well and the illness or ailment we may be experiencing, that is exactly what we will continue to experience. The cycle needs to be broken.

We have around 60000 thoughts a day, with mostly the same thoughts looping around our heads. If you happen to have a lot of negative thoughts, that is what you are programming yourself to believe and experience. Your body is extremely receptive and can only work with what it is given in the way of nutrition and thoughts. Your body takes a lot before manifesting physical symptoms, it is worth looking back 2 years to see what was going on in your life in order to understand an ailment or illness that may be currently manifesting itself.

Your body prioritizes healing from the top down and from the inside out, from the greater organs to the lesser organs and in the reverse order of how the dis-ease presented. Dis-ease would move from the skin, the lowest and largest organ, to the colon, then on to the liver, the kidneys and lungs and then into the greater organs the heart, brain and mind. If symptoms are suppressed by using allopathic medicine, for example stopping a fever by taking paracetamol or ibuprofen or by taking painkillers every time you feel pain in your body, the dis-ease will move deeper into the body. Viruses and bacteria cannot survive in high temperatures hence your body produces a fever in response to their presence. This is a natural healing mechanism that most people think they need to stop but instead it should be encouraged in order to support natural healing. Your body is constantly communicating with you through your symptoms.

My journey in natural healing began when I was 21. Back then I knew nothing about health, well being and healing. My diet wasn’t great, my focus was on achieving and trying to make others proud of me, I wasn’t happy emotionally and was trying to find that elusive perfect relationship to feel loved. I worried a lot, which made me feel stressed, and I was trying to work through past hurts and traumas that I couldn’t let go of that filled me with the feeling of guilt, of not being good enough and of being a disappointment. I self medicated with alcohol to numb my feelings and ate a lot of junk food.

My wake up call happened when I came down with flu and couldn’t shake it. I ended up being bed ridden for a week unable to lift my head or even an arm as I was just too exhausted. It felt like an effort to breathe, I had nothing left in me. I felt lifeless. Back then Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) was not easily diagnosed and every other possible ailment had to be ruled out before CFS would be diagnosed, which for me took a year. I was lucky to have a very understanding and supportive GP who had suffered from CFS herself so she was able to help me in the right direction. I would go to her regularly when I wasn’t feeling well hoping that she would give me some magic medicine that would make me feel better or even for some support and understanding for what I was going through.

As I look back on that time, I realise that I was looking for answers in all the wrong places, outside of myself. I also thought if I had a diagnosis then I would feel better as other people would recognise my illness and be sympathetic. But it didn’t make me feel better. I went to dieticians and specialist doctors who gave me so many vitamin pills and intravenous cocktails, I’m surprised I didn’t rattle when I walked. Still I didn’t feel better. I cut out just about everything in my diet to try and heal my gut and went down to 46kgs. It felt like a rollercoaster ride for about five years, if I didn’t pay attention and pushed myself too hard without listening to my body, it would let me know by shutting down and relapsing. It was only when I realised that my mental and emotional state had a huge impact on my physical health and well-being, that my health started to improve.

One day I stumbled on Louise Hay’s book “You can heal your life” and it was the catalyst for starting me on my journey to heal myself. I realised after reading this book that the power to heal myself lay within me and nobody else could take responsibility for my health but me. At the time I was also seeing a psychologist and undergoing regression hypnosis alongside reading books by Brian Weiss and learning more about spirit. My health only started to improve once I started to listen to my body’s signals and to my inner wisdom. If I felt tired I had to rest, if I didn’t my body would make me. I also began to notice that the happier I felt, the better I felt physically. Likewise if I felt depressed and in a slump, I noticed more aches, pains and symptoms show up. This made me realise how truly powerful we are at manifesting how we feel.

Today I am happy to say that I have no major signs or symptoms of CFS as I have learnt how to balance my life and that illness only occurs when we lose that balance. My body still lets me know though when I don't look after myself enough, but I see it as a gentle reminder and make some adjustments. I work with my body now.

It is so important to live a balanced life especially now in the 21st century when the pace seems to be getting faster with a lot more demand on our time. Social media and technology allow people to have access to us every minute of every day if we allow it. There is also a tendency to live more in the head – thinking, reasoning, over thinking, worrying about what others think. This tends to create a build up of pressure in the head so you may experience more headaches, migraines, vision problems, neck and shoulder tension, feeling scattered, unable to make decisions. If this resonates with you, you need to reconnect to your heart, where you experience joy and happiness and a sense of contentment. This will help ground you back down to earth.

Some suggestions for living a balanced life to enjoy optimal health and wellbeing

• Make sure what you put into your body is good quality and has a high vibration. Plenty of vegetables (green leafy and lots of colour) and fruit, good quality protein (animal or vegetarian in the form of pulses and wholegrains combined). Organic or home grown food is best to avoid pesticides and antibiotics, which affect our hormones and can cause estrogen dominance. Avoid refined food, which has no nutritional value such as white bread, pasta, sugar, cakes, and biscuits. A good rule of thumb is if there is a long list of ingredients and you aren’t sure what they are, don’t eat it! Keep food simple. Also, don’t eat too late. Give your body enough time to digest your food before going to bed so that it can use its energy to restore itself while you sleep. Good fats are also really important, your cells need them. Avocados, flaxseed/linseed, coconut oil and olive oil are good sources.

• Drink plenty of good quality water, distilled or filtered. Your body is made up of around 70% water and needs water in order to function optimally. Up to 95% of people on this planet are dehydrated. Don’t wait till you feel thirsty as you are already dehydrated then. Make sure you hydrate steadily throughout the day.

• Get enough rest. Your body needs adequate rest at night in order to regenerate and cleanse. Try and be in bed by 22h00 or you may find it difficult to get to sleep and feel rested when you awake in the morning.

• Make some time first thing in the morning to plan your day and centre yourself. Be sure to plan in some time for yourself and not just a long list of chores or things you need to do. Don’t overstretch yourself, it must be achievable so you feel good at the end of the day when you have achieved what you wanted to. By centering yourself with an affirmation for the day or a short meditation or even just some nice deep breaths focusing on what you are grateful for in your life, you will be surprised at how much more productive you are during your day than if you hit the ground running.

• Be present. Slow down, instead of multi tasking and doing numerous tasks at the same time half heartedly, do one at a time with your full presence so that you do it properly. You will feel better for it. When you catch yourself immersed in the past or worrying about the future, bring yourself back to the present moment by looking around you and taking in what you see. Don't forget to breathe.

• Do something creative. We all need to create, whether it’s making something, baking, growing vegetables or flowers, birthing a new idea, starting a new venture or writing. Being creative seems to ease physical symptoms, as I recently discovered. Give it a try!

• Notice your thoughts. You will never stop thinking thoughts, it is impossible, but you can be aware of the thoughts that enter your mind and work on changing them. Are they positive or negative? Do they make you feel good or bad? Do they serve you? Are they true?

• Find out what brings you joy and do more of that. This may require a bit of soul searching and possibly some experimentation. Most people have forgotten what makes them feel happy and joyful. Think back to when you were a child, what did you love to do? Do something playful and fun.

• Laugh more. When you laugh it triggers the release of endorphins and serotonin, which are feel good hormones that also help to ease pain. It also suppresses the stress response and boosts the immune system.

• Have a break from technology, don’t allow your devices to rule your life. They emit electromagnetic frequency which has a detrimental effect on our body’s meridians (energy pathways) if we are constantly in their proximity. Avoid going to bed with your phone next to you for this reason, rather use an alarm clock.

• Connect with people. We are social beings who need to feel connected and included and receive touch. I am amazed by the number of people I see when I am out engrossed in their phones, not looking where they are going and at the beauty that surrounds them. Not making eye contact with anyone who walks past. It feels like the world is contracting inwards where we should be expanding outwards.

• Get out into nature whenever you can, this will help you to ground and connect you to Mother Earth, restoring your energy.

In closing, I encourage you to tune into yourself everyday. Notice how every part of your body feels from your head to your feet. Know that you have all the answers within yourself and only you can heal yourself, you are that powerful! Be gentle and kind to yourself. You are beautiful and perfect just as you are.

Where do you need more balance in your life?

I would love to hear your stories, has something helped you on your healing journey or are you still stuck and trying to heal?

With love,