Trauma & Art

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.

The Big Picture

‘Illness and disease do not appear overnight. They develop over time. Yet our health care system is not set up to accommodate this obvious fact. We pool together a pattern of symptoms, put a name on it, and call it a disease. Then, a one-size fits-all protocol is applied. When you come in with breathing problems and get a diagnosis of asthma, you get a prescription for an inhaler to help you breathe better. But what about the answers to questions “Why did I develop asthma?” or “What do I do to reduce my need for the medication?” It is the equivalent of focusing on and treating the exhaust pipe when your car begins spewing black smoke. Of course we want to feel better and need our symptoms addressed. But the bigger picture – the accumulation of all the small events that have occurred – facilitates the understanding of where the disease has come from.

Our symptoms and our current state of health are an accumulation of actions, events, and environmental influences that have taken place over the course of our entire lives. Events in our distant past, even our childhood years, may provide clues to solving the puzzle and identifying the root cause. Even events that occurred at or before birth, influenced by your mother’s health years before you were born, may play a role. Scientists are discovering that our genes and the way they are expressed are influenced by what our ancestors may have experienced several generations ago. In fact, this discovery has spawned a whole new scientific discipline – epigenetics – to understand how our nutrition, lifestyle, environment, and events in our daily life influence gene expression. Imagine that somehow last winter your small backyard garden had a spill of 10 gallons of gasoline, and you didn’t know about it. In the spring your seedlings do not take root and grow, leaving you wondering “What’s wrong with these seedlings?” That’s why a “Big Picture” history is so important’ (Tom O’Bryan from http://livingmatrix.com/betrayal-the-series)