Are Our Aches and Pains Purely Physical Or Is There Something Else Going On?

I remember the first time I read about grief and sinus issues. "Clogged sinuses can often signify repressed grief," author Shatki Gawain informed her readers. It was one of those moments when something within me woke up, reached out from within my middle area and absorbed the knowledge as having some level of truth. While I also deal with a deviated septum (and I mean it is deviated--according to an ENT doctor I saw a couple of years ago, mine is the most extreme case he's ever seen--said he couldn't wait to operate on me when I have the insurance/means to do so), my sinuses have bothered me throughout much of my life, becoming more of an issue as my adult years have passed on by.

I recall the first time Shatki's theory was put to the test. I was in the middle of horrific sinus pain, something I had been dealing with a lot at the time. Usually I simply deal with pressure and dizziness. Physical sinus pain was something I had never dealt with until this period in time. (I'm kind of a freaky little thing of nature in this regard. I really don't get headaches. I don't even get brain freeze when eating ice cream. Instead, I get throat freeze. To this day I've yet to meet someone who experiences this as well.) The pain was so intense on this particular evening, I went back to the bedroom, shut the door, turned out the light and curled up in a fetal position on the bed. As I lay there, I thought of a family situation Mr. Nina and I were currently dealing with. It was causing us a lot of stress and emotional pain. About the only emotion I had been expressing at the time was anger. However, suddenly I was overcome with sadness and grief. Upon feeling these emotions, my nose suddenly felt as though it was on fire. I could feel this energy all around and inside my nose. As the tears fell, the energy lessened and suddenly, I realized, the pain was completely gone. I found as I let myself process the real emotions of this situation, my episodes of bizarre sinus pain lessened until they suddenly disappeared.

I've noticed frequently when I put my hands on another when doing energy work, I will pick up emotion on areas that are causing the person physical pain. Sometimes I get messages as well. I've never worked on someone I didn't know, so I don't know how open my intuition would be in such situations. I tend to believe that since I know someone and have an emotional investment in them, I am going to be more receptive, more empathic.

I recall working on a friend of mine. She had gone through a divorce and believed her male issues she was experiencing were the the result of her ex-husband. As I laid my hand on an area of her body where she has frequent pain (as well as a doctor confirmed "disease"--disease I put in quotes considering just about every issue is given the "disorder" or "disease" attachment which can send a powerful message to the mind, making healing more difficult), I started hearing the word "father". Her father had been an abusive alcoholic as was her ex, a very predictable pattern - repeating what's familiar. She claimed she was "over" all that and the only male she was angry with was her ex. Well, that was not what I was getting. That little tickle in my tummy began and turned into this sense of pressure to tell my friend "you have father issues you haven't dealt with. This isn't just about the ex." In fact, I knew it wasn't even close. I knew she would still carry around the old emotional baggage from her childhood until she realized it was ok to get angry at her dad. I told her what I picked up on and she simply sighed. I didn't ask how that felt for her at the time. I figured if she wanted to, she would tell me. Later on though I asked her if she had ever gotten angry with her father. No, she had not. She didn't feel it was necessary. When I tried to continue the conversation, she changed the subject and so I let it go. My friends pain issue is associated with the bladder and, according to what I've read, when one has bladder issues one is storing anger, usually intense anger. The seething kind. Quite literally, they are "pissed". I've found this to have some truth in it with my own health.

I love working on my husband. A couple of weeks ago we were on the couch. I was at one end, he was lying down with his legs crossed over my lap. One of his shins was hurting him and he asked me to put my hands on him. So I put my left hand on the one shin. (My left hand receives, my right gives. I've tried to change this, see if I can alternate, but so far, it's a no go. It is as it is.) Immediately and I mean immediately I was overcome with so much sadness my eyes welled up with tears. Just as I experienced this, my husband suddenly exclaimed, "Oh honey, you're moving something in my leg!" As I held my hand there, I said (now tears streaming down my face) "you still have memory from the burn stored here honey". (He received 2nd and 3rd degree burns on that part of his body as a child and as such, had skin grafts on his shins.) Moments later, the pain had subsided. Was it gone for good? No. Healing is a quite the mystery to me, although sometimes I get the impression most of our healing has to do with our own ability to detach and let go of the issue and the emotions. Form a new picture. Tell ourselves a new story about the event.

Repressed memories and the repressed emotions they carry have their own energy which gets stored within our physical bodies. In a nutshell, emotions are energy. When health care professionals say stress is the number one cause of disease, what they're primarily saying is "deal with your thoughts and emotions". Our bodies are always speaking to us in ways we probably aren't even aware of. Many of our physical pains are often the result of such repressed emotions. One thing I do now and then, a technique I learned from trauma expert Peter Levin, is to touch a particular part of my body then speak to it. Greet it hello. Thank it for all that it does. Send it love. It's a very powerful exercise and gets us in tune with our bodies. I often cry when doing so. It's as though my body is literally saying "THANK YOU FOR NOTICING ME".

It can be easy to forget out bodies. The body gives us pain, we want the pain to go away of course. Sometimes though we need to dig behind the pain and ask the body what it needs. Even those who make the effort to exercise the body can still do more by noticing, paying attention, offering appreciation. A good partner will show appreciation and offer physical touch to the other partner. It's just as important if not more important for us to do that to ourselves as well.