[Guest post by Teague Peterson]

Hi again FITC readers! I’m so grateful that Lee has asked me to write again to you guys and share some of the thoughts that I’ve been having lately. I really like to look at these posts as questions that I have. Things that have come up and I cant quite make out what they mean. They’re like little inklings of something special that don’t really make any sense until I get them out on paper. Or out to you guys.

I’m currently studying part time, doing my Nutrition Degree at Endeavour School of Natural Therapies. For a paper I’m writing I’ve been doing some research in regards to the “placebo effect”. The Placebo Effect is essentially an outcome of a controlled trial where the person believes that they are receiving a treatment (when in reality they are receiving a “placebo”- or fake – treatment) and instinctively the body starts to heal itself.

I love this.

What do I love about it? Well mostly it’s the fact that it cements how strong our thoughts are when it comes to our health. In regards to the placebo effect, the people in the study have then told themselves “it’s alright body, I’ve taken this treatment now, you don’t have to worry so much you will get better” and their body does. These thoughts produce a relaxing effect in which the body now feels it’s safe and can go on doing what it needs to do to heal itself. It’s beautiful really.

But then there is the other side. Because we can’t just pretend that our thoughts only have these effects when they’re good thoughts, it just doesn’t work that way. And THIS is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately and something that I need a written reminder for. The more we repeat those bad thoughts to ourselves, the more we believe them. And I don’t just mean mentally, I mean our physical body literally starts to believe all the stress things we are telling it.

You see I’ve come to a point in my journey where I’m feeling a little face value. I go to my specialists, my TCM practioners and I feel like I’m doing it all right. I eat the right things, drink the right things, move the right way all aimed at getting the best result for me. I feel so committed to all these routines that I have set up for myself BUT I have this overwhelming feeling that it doesn’t matter how much bone broth I make, how much kombucha I brew, how much sauerkraut I squeeze, how many minutes of meditation I rack up, or how many yoga practices I accomplish a week -if I don’t feel any better or prouder of myself for accomplishing these things, my results will never come.

And there she is.

I think sometimes we get too caught up in our desired “end result”. Whatever that result may be – weight loss, balance, less stress, even just that healthy feeling – we want it now if not sooner. When those results don’t show up exactly how we imagined them to, we start to lose faith, most often with ourselves. We put ourselves down, we say “it’s not working” or “it’ll never work” over and over again. We build up the stressful thoughts of thinking that things might never change. And there it is, fear. And that fear tells your body that healing isn’t a priority right now because survival is at risk, so you can kiss any chances of those results good-bye.

The more I think about this, the more I realize that the solution is both the easiest and the hardest thing to do. We have to change our thoughts and we have to accept ourselves more. I don’t know when in time this started, this self-depreciation and negative self talk, but I know that it needs to end. If anything now is a time to be gentle with yourself, especially if you are trying to heal or overcome something. I feel very strongly that there is a connection between what our thoughts are and how we feel physically. So I encourage you to give yourself nourishing thoughts so your body can nourish you back, and I promise to do the same.

Besides, acceptance can be a beautiful thing.

 

Xx

Teague

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