Forced Healthy Behaviors. Let’s Talk About It.

As a health expert and energy healer I obviously understand how much of an impact health has on our everyday lives. But there is a side to health that many people don't know about and that is the connection between our physical health and spirit. I'm going to (hopefully) provide insight into what forced healthy behaviors are actually doing to your health in relation to our energy and spirit.

Health is just as much physical as it is energetic. Our thoughts and emotions impact our vibrational frequency, and our vibrational frequency has a very strong effect on our physical health. They are very closely intertwined. This is what both health experts and energy workers refer to as mind-body health because they operate as one.

There was one point, very early in my career, when I was very rigid and inflexible with my behavior, when it came to my health. I tried to do everything perfectly as far as my diet, physical exercise and spiritual practice. I eventually broke and was so disappointed with myself. I repeated this cycle of forced behaviors followed shortly by a bout of depression from self-disappointment. I was trying to achieve perfection which we all know now is naive. I repeated this cycle until I had my 'Aha' moment and snapped out of it.

This is a phase that is pretty common among health experts and spiritual seekers but is never long lived because it's not maintainable and is out of touch with reality.

As humans, we are just as much physical as we are energy like I mentioned earlier. Every cell in our body responds to every thought that runs through our mind, and it follows suit (if you are new to the Mindbody concept of health two books, I highly recommend are Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra M.D. and Mind Over Medicine by Dr. Lisa Rankin). This is why sometimes it's better and healthier for us to eat a little bit of the things we are craving that we know we shouldn't or take a break from our practices to absorb what we learned.

Now, I'm not saying give in to temptation every time you're faced with it. I'm talking about giving yourself a break when you are feeling burnt out. If your spiritual practice and daily health routine are making you feel burnt out rather than rejuvenated, it's time for you to switch things up.

When we force ourselves to eat perfectly or continue with strict routines when we are experiencing a deep need for slight indulgence and/or rest and we don't allow it, our physical bodies will not respond positively because it's misaligned with our deeper more intuitive selves then what we are giving it.

In other words, we're not responding accurately or compassionately to our subtle energetic bodies even though it helps to increase our intuition and vitality to live a better and more balanced life.

When we choose to be rigid and stubborn-regardless of what it's for-it has the opposite effect which could lead to adverse health effects.

Health wise, this can cause digestion issues, fatigue, or mental/emotional disruption that we don't normally experience. When I went through this experience, I remember feeling angry and annoyed ALL the time.

In hindsight this is worrisome. Ayurveda and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) are two ancient holistic medical practices that are focused on energy that flows through the body. In China it's referred to as Qi (chi) in India, prana. Whenever we experience long term emotional setbacks, it leads to dis-ease in our energetic flow allowing it to become stagnant. When our energetic flow becomes stagnant physical symptoms begin to show up.

For example, according to TCM anger is held in the liver. According to several past life regressional studies, cancer derives from suppressed anger. In Naturopathy, it's believed that an individual cannot get cancer as long as their liver is operating optimally. These three completely separate areas of health all associate cancer with anger and the liver. So, if you live with anger, even suppressed anger, you could be increasing your chances of cancer.

This is just one example of how our subtle energy bodies can affect our health.

But not to worry, because the body can be healed. That's what Naturopathic Practitioners are for.

Remember, health is ultimately determined by our mind because our body responds accordingly. If you have negative thoughts, your body will respond negatively. If you have positive thoughts, your body will respond positively, and our thoughts can change our vibrational frequency for better or for worse. If our behavior misaligns with what our Higher Selves are telling us to do, even if we are partaking in "healthy" habits, at the end of the day it's still misalignment.

According to Dr. Bach "Disease arises from any type of disruption between our mortal selves and our spirit."

So then why do we ignore these signs?

Well, because we're human, and lessons like this remind us of that. Although our truest form is spirit, we asked to have a human mortal experience, and that includes having imperfections. Living a physical life means agreeing to experience the entire spectrum of human emotion, experiencing life's up-and-downs, and making mistakes and learning from them.

It's OK to go through phases where we mess up because these mess ups give us wisdom. It shows us how to listen and respond better when it happens again in the future. As long as we learn from them, not only do we develop a deeper level of understanding, but a new perspective to life which is always exciting!

I don't know about you, but I love 'Aha' moments.

Not being ruled by fixed ideas with the intent to form fixed outcomes gives us the ability to have high ideals while also being flexible. Breaking free from these realizations exposes you to a higher truth that aligns you better with human AND spirit.

Speaking from experience, my body and mind remain more aligned when I allow myself space to live life and have experiences that don't appear as "healthy" or "right" within the context of health from time to time.

Internal harmony is more powerful than forced external behaviors and allows for more flow in life. 

Energetically, like attracts like, so if you are forceful, you will be met with force. If you are flexible and work towards alignment, you will be met with harmony.

So, if you are someone who tends to push through without giving yourself a break, give yourself some grace and enjoy life!