Healing Without Deprivation
by Nichole Eliason, FNTP, CCHT
Have you ever left a visit from your provider with a healing plan for your chronic symptoms feeling hopeful, only to soon find yourself feeling so restricted by the long lists of comforting foods you cannot eat and overwhelmed by all of the supplements to take? Did you find yourself feeling deprived and exhausted? Perhaps reacting poorly to the supplements? Was it difficult being in the present moment with a sense of calm as your thoughts anxiously circle back to “what am I going to eat next?” When is my next handful of supplements? Am I eating the right things? And Ugh! Why do I still feel awful? “Maybe I’m not being strict enough?” Sound familiar?
When a friend invited you out for dinner, did you feel like you couldn't go because there wouldn't be anything that was safe for you to eat?
If you watched a movie and saw the characters happily drinking wine and laughing, eating cheese and cake, did you feel a sense of loss?
Did the hope of healing fade because it felt so unsustainable, depriving, and isolating?
I see you, I feel you, and I hear you. I have been there too. I promise it doesn’t have to be this hard. In fact it shouldn’t. You can fully heal on a gentle, easy, forgiving plan!
Strict protocols can actually stifle the healing process in many ways. For example they can be very triggering of past traumas and create more disconnect from the body. They can reinforce old nourishment barriers formed in childhood, foster deeper resentment for the body and create an unhealthy association of deprivation with healing. Deprivation sends a message that we are unsafe. This lack of feeling safe causes us to have trouble with parasympathetic switching. To refresh the central nervous system, we have two modes, sympathetic and parasympathetic. Sympathetic is high alert and parasympathetic is rest and repair. This is a problem because healing takes place in the parasympathetic nervous system mode. If we are stressed by the rigid protocol or the past traumas that it is triggering, we are not able to get into the parasympathetic state of repair, and healing is slowed or even halted.
It’s important to understand that healing happens on more than just a physical level. It is necessary to heal on an emotional and energetic level as well.
It’s essential to tend to our emotional, energetic, and spiritual needs along with our physical needs.
Unhealed trauma is very common among those of us that suffer from chronic symptoms. The deep, old energetic wounds that we carry can keep us from feeling safe enough in our bodies to fully heal. It can be the reason that your body is rejecting the healing protocol. The reason that the thought of removing certain foods triggers anxiety and overwhelm. This response is called somatization. Somatization is the physical (or body) expression of stress and emotions through the mind-body connection. By addressing and healing underlying triggers for somatization we are able to deeply heal the body and find long term relief from chronic symptoms. There are many ways to work on healing past trauma such as EMDR and hypnotherapy. Unhealed trauma or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can hinder the ability to heal. If this is a factor for you, please reach out to a provider that can refer you to someone that specializes in trauma healing. Many of my clients have had great success with hypnotherapy. It is a very gentle approach to trauma healing that allows you to feel seen, heard, renewed and empowered. It helps you to deeply understand yourself and what is needed for your healing. Please reach out to me if you have questions about hypnotherapy for trauma healing and chronic illness recovery.
Healing on all levels is essential for long term results. We have more than one level of ourselves that needs healing when we have been dealing with chronic symptoms. We have our physical body or “physical self “ that needs support but also an “emotional self,” an “energetic self,” and a “spiritual self.” We need to feel supported and safe on all of these levels to fully heal and plan centered around deprivation (even if we are doing it unconsciously) does not allow for a sense of safety. We need to allow healing to be a loving process, a joyful process of self-discovery. A sacred journey back to wholeness. We need to bring compassion to the process. Soothe our body. Love it. Hold and support it by tending to our emotional needs.
How do you do that? You embark on your journey with a sense of surrender instead of control. Remind yourself to listen to your body and respond to it. Address both the physical and the emotional healing needs. Take breaks when your body asks for them. We often fear that taking a break will take us back to the beginning, when actually , it may be what helps to move forward. It sends the message to your body that you are listening to its needs. Work on healing the trapped emotions and trauma that are being triggered. This sends a message of support and safety to the body, helping to calm the nervous system to continue or deepen healing.
It's important to find an understanding, supportive provider that has the knowledge to guide your journey and also reminds you that rigidness and deprivation do not heal. Someone that can set you up on a sustainable eating plan that is right for all of your needs, both physical and emotional. The right Health Coach will hold space for your healing and remind you to be gentle with yourself. They can teach you how to listen to your body and respond to its cues.
I would love to support you on your healing journey. I am a transformational health coach, nutritional therapist and a certified clinical hypnotherapist that can address healing on all levels with many modalities to address all facets of healing.
If you'd like support in healing your chronic symptoms without deprivation, send an email with the subject "working with Nichole" to drdaniellejenkins @ gmail.com and ask for a 15 minute discovery call or video session to create a care plan for you.