Part 1: Release Emotion, Release Physical Pain

(Images copyright 2012, Scientific Research Institute, Inc.)

Although we know that our health improves when we release negative emotions, many (if not most) of us aren't aware of our thoughts, let alone if our thoughts are negative. So how do we release all those negative thoughts and feelings that don't serve us if we're not even aware we're creating them?

I will be the first to admit that before I started on this health journey I was completely unaware of my thoughts. Sure I heard some of them, but I had no idea how critical I was of myself. I'm generally a very upbeat, high-energy person with a positive outlook on life, so how could I possibly be telling myself negative garbage inside? Once I started listening, all day long I heard my inner voices tell myself that I wasn't good enough. I started to be aware of the constant guilt I was feeling for not being everything for everyone and the constant worry of wanting others to approve of me and love me. Not until the blessed gift of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) came into my life almost 2 years ago did I have a reason to slow down, get in tune with my feelings, and start to hear my inner thoughts. And boy do those thoughts rush through your mind in milliseconds! They come and go just as fast as you glance at a stranger or overhear a conversation or read a phrase in an email, but even though they come and go without you even being aware, those triggers often leave you an emotional disaster—tense, anxious, and worried without even knowing why. Then has to start the process of elimination to remember what event and/or thought initially started that shift in emotion to be able to make a change and get back to a higher, healthier emotional state.

I had to really slow down and listen to myself to finally see the connection of my thoughts to my feelings and then to my physical pain. It is an all-out miracle that I started to see these connections, and I could write volumes about how I became aware of those inner voices and started to heal, but for now I will share just one blog post–worth of experience. Remember, I am still new to these roads, and even though it's been a year and a half of getting in tune with my Mind, Body, & Spirit, it's still a lot of trial and error. Lucky for me I have the physical joint and muscle pain as a marker. If I release the right emotions, the pain leaves. If I don't pin point the right emotion and situation, I keep brainstorming until I get it right and the pain leaves. And sometimes I never get it and the pain stays with me for a day or three—sometimes very frustrating when you think you should be able to locate the problem after doing this for a year!

So you may ask, how do you even begin to know what pain came from what emotion? Good question. When I started first started out I used the two books You Can Heal Your Life and Feelings Buried Alive Never Die. They have a helpful list of physical ailments and the possible emotional connection. This was enough for me at first, but then I wanted to better understand where they got this information. 

This took my studies into Eastern medicine to learn the chakras—the seven energy centers of the body. The chakras are part of our etheric, or spiritual, body of light and energy. Negative emotions and illness block this energy and light from flowing throughout the body. This light and energy is often called chi or qi or the Life Force, which I also refer to it as the Light of Christ. We cannot live without this light and energy, and every living organism, every creation of God, has this energy and light running through them. When there are no blockages we are balanced and healthy. Each of the seven chakras are centers for a different grouping of emotions, from ego and self-esteem in the Third Chakra to will and self-expression in the Fifth Chakra to spirituality in the Seventh Chakra. To learn the chakras and the possible corresponding health problems I used the book Anatomy of the Spirit as my guide.

Once I had a grasp on the chakras I went deeper to learn the meridians of Chinese medicine, which are the energy pathways that connect the chakras to one another. I've been going to a homeopathic doctor since 2003 who primarily works with the meridians to find the cause of a health problem, but I'd never felt the need to better understand the meridians until now—now that I am aware I can locate the negative emotions I am feeling that are causing my physical pain. Some of the meridians are the Large Intestine, the Lung, the Kidney (which includes the adrenals), the Bladder, the Gallbladder, the Small Intestine, the Heart, the Pericardium, the Triple Warmer, the Stomach, the Spleen-Pancreas, and the Liver. Every meridian corresponds with specific emotions.

So let's say if the small intestine meridian is showing energy blockage, this could mean that the person is unhappy with life and is experiencing real sadness and grief. If this sadness and grief goes on for too long, physically that person may have lots of ear infections, shoulder and elbow pain, digestion problems, sinus problems, and/or fibromyalgia, arthritis, bursitis, or other problems with the joints and connective tissue. I use a few websites as my meridian resources, so click here to go to one of them.

See Part II for specific examples of identifying negative thoughts and emotions and releasing them.