Your mind and your body are intimately linked. The field of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) teaches that there is a strong connection between long-term stress and disease. This could include moving to a new house, a house fire, death of a family member, having a new baby, and other external issues
It also includes internal issues such as resentment, anxiety, helplessness, and grief that are a result of painful experiences in your past(See Anxiety Issues). PNI tells us that if stress becomes chronic, your immune system can become depressed and contribute to illness or other physical issues.
This is not your fault! And there is something you can do to help yourself.We experience our emotions in our bodies. Think of something that you feel nervous or anxious about. Do you feel butterflies in your stomach or a tightening in your chest or gut? Every emotion is experienced in our bodies.
You could imagine a sort of emotional "body" that interpenetrates the physical body. Imagine that emotional body being made up of energy that flows in a smooth fashion, spinning and spiraling in beautiful colors as emotions change. Then imagine a disturbing event happening and an area of the emotional body getting dark, knotted, dammed up.
When this happens, the energy can no longer flow freely. Eventually, physical health can be affected. Fortunately, however, the converse is also true. According to PNI, when the emotional "knots" become untangled, physical energy flows freely again and physical health is facilitated. (See About Me)
I have learned ways to help re-establish the free-flow of emotional energy. Since the emotional "body" and the physical body are interconnected, what is good for one is also helpful for the other.
Of course, emotional healing is not the only important component of physical healing. There are many other valuable physical healing methods, both traditional and alternative. It is important to choose the ones that feel right to you. Excellent nutrition, exercise, and rest are also essential for healing, as well as working with your physician.
When you become an active participant in your own healing, you get more positive results. Creating emotional health is an extremely valuable aspect of creating physical health. A feeling of emotional safety, loving yourself, self-forgiveness for intentional and unintentional harm to others (we all have feelings of guilt and regret for our imperfections), and possibly forgiveness of those who have hurt you--when and if you become ready for this step--are extremely beneficial for the health of your body.