As we walk through life we gather things along the way that may not serve us to keep. We get upset and hurt, go through hard and traumatic life events that weave their way into our very being. These if left unchecked will eventually catch up with us and often manifest themselves in physical and mental illness.
Even when we know that holding on to negative emotions and happenings will eventually be detrimental to our health it isn’t that easy to let them go, particularly when we don’t know that they are buried deep within us. We can prevent this happening to a large extent by living a mindful life, but what about if it has already happened?
Some tell-tale signs that you might be holding on to an emotion attached to an event are:
- Repeated bouts of illness either physical or mental
- Substance addiction
- Using food and alcohol to self medicate
- An unexplained pain that comes on when you are in a certain situation or with a certain person
- An inability to be still – i.e. the person who works all day, goes out all evening until they are so exhausted they fall into bed before starting again the next day
- Someone who tells of sad events with a laugh and a smile
- Insomnia
- Over gregarious or introverted
- Addiction to a person
The good news is that this does not have to be permanent there are a range of things that can be done to help with letting go. For me it was Reiki and devoted spiritual practice including the Violet Flame chakra awakening which was a very healing personal experience. Reiki works on an emotional, mental, physical and spiritual level, holistically getting to the route of a problem. Sometimes having a course of Reiki treatments will then facilitate the person to go and seek a new life path or seek another form of therapeutic approach.
If you feel like you might be holding onto some past hurts and emotions that are affecting your life the first step is to acknowledge this, I recommend that you read the work of Louise Hay who has written a lot on the body / emotion connection. Then begin taking steps to release this using whatever feels right at the time, this can be an ongoing journey not an overnight miracle. I recommend a course of Reiki treatments, but other things that can help are Chinese Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Shiatsu. Conventional medicine tends to only treat the symptoms and not the route cause, however, if you are experiencing any sort of illness seek the attention of a Doctor first.
