Very Briefly……
There is tons of evidence now that support that trauma is stored in the body, but one would assume that this is also common sense. People in many wisdom traditions or holistic paradigms of health have also known this for thousands of years, but it seems that in the West symptoms are simply paired with various medications and the body is viewed as being the sum of separate non-communicating parts. I will not go into explaining the why in this short note today, although it’s not difficult to guess, but as someone who has spent time and money trying to find relief from alternating symptoms and accumulating sensitivities or ‘allergies’….., and also, visiting doctors that never referred to roots or causes or simply ignored symptoms with explanations like ‘that’s how your gut is’, or ‘it’s not the medication causing you the side effects, you are simply way too sensitive’ or ‘supplements are of no use’ or ‘give up working’, etc, I would like to share resources I’ve come across more recently as a result of my own journey. These resources support a more holistic approach to medicine and focus on diet and the quality of food products, as well as our relationship with nature and exercise. As I read and explore more I realize that not only was I right in the past when I sensed that we are not the accumulation of disconnected body parts and that the mind or soul and the body are part of a larger whole in interaction with our external environments and contexts, but also that this might in the end be a piece of a much bigger puzzle that can shed light not only on our health but our lives. Dr Keescha Ewers has written a book ‘The autoimmune puzzle’ and I feel this is a great title because as one explores trauma or embarks on a journey of deeper understanding pieces fall in place and our traumas, health, lifestyle and diet, values, social contexts and structures all come together to create a new more intricate narrative and understanding. Connections can be made between childhood abuse, food sensitivities, perfectionism and auto immune diseases, as well as, health policies and mainstream medical practices.
Woman’s Vitality Summit organized by Dr Keescha Ewers (rich resource)
Woman’s Vitality Summit organized by Dr Keescha Ewers has so many inspiring practitioners in all related areas and many functional doctors. Themes discussed vary from issues like the politics of the health system and the quality of foods consumed, autism and the pandemic proportions it is taking, the toxicity of our environment and pollution, the health of the microbiome of the gut, the link between the health of our gut, sugar, gluten and dairy and autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, breast cancer, allergies, fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, thyroid problems, ADHD and more. Above all, one realizes there are many alternative, holistic and natural approaches to healing the body and mind or restoring health. I am still exploring the material from this source and I hope to write more in the future. Finally, I feel that it is our responsibility to question, seek knowledge from other sources, not take information or prescriptions given to us for granted, not only for our own sake and right to health and longevity, but above all for our children and the future of this planet.
Mindfulness practice… a voice of my own
I’d like to share an experience that occurred during my mindfulness practice today. A not that long ago memory surfaced out of the blue, something that I had not really thought about for a long time, and also something that I had not registered in my conscious mind as that significant at the time it had occurred. So, about nine years ago after I had published my little book ‘Let me be’ I had been thinking of trying to exhibit the original artwork and other drawings, and one way of going about it was to visit some of the art galleries that I had visited in the past and ask. On such one occasion while I was visiting a small art gallery in the centre of Athens – specifically, the artist exhibiting her artwork was Christina Kalbari – I asked about the possibility of my presenting some of my work and was given the phone number of the owner. A little while later as I was walking down the stairs to exit the gallery I heard people shouting outside and as I opened the door to exit I was shocked to see a man holding a gun, a meter away from me, and two policemen trying to sort of convince him to hand his weapon over. The whole scene was surreal; I mean this was a sunny morning in Athens, not a scene from some film, and here I was waiting for this man to hand over his gun so that I could leave. It shook me a bit, but I shook it off and went on to the next thing, and interestingly, I forgot all about phoning the owner of the gallery. During my meditation today the sensations held in my body from that day surfaced along with a string of memories of times when as a child, teenager, but also later in adulthood, my expression or voice had been discouraged or oppressed through debilitating stories or severe punishment (Tonya Alexandri, 2017).
