Wednesday, November 4, 2009

When The Body Says No

Today I’m feeling a bit under the weather due to a cold. I was asking myself if this was a direct result of my recent stress level – quite high. I realized that my body was just saying, “no more, now rest.”. So, I have taken some of today to do just that. I wanted some simple reading so I googled “when the body says no”…And what I found was a book by the same name and the author is Gabor Mate.
I read the first few pages of the first chapter which spoke of a girl named Mary who became ill with the disease Scleroderma. It was as if I was meant to read it to remind myself how blessed I am with my own health and how unimportant the things we stress over are. It’s so very important to give yourself the permission to say no to stress and yes to health. I immediately called my sister who’s story is the story of Mary in the first chapter - without the foster care part. We laughed and cried at the irony. I pray that more people just say no - so that there is only ease and no longer dis-ease.
I’ve shared a couple of excerpts below from the book:
“Perhaps her body was doing what her mind could not: throwing off the relentless expectation that had been first imposed on the child and now was self-imposed in the adult – placing others above herself.” …”When we have been prevented from learning how to say no, our bodies may end up saying it for us. I cited some of the medical literature discussing the negative effects of stress on the immune system.”
If you decide to buy this book…please go through my web-site. I’ll donate the proceeds – whatever they are to help patients with Scleroderma. http://luminositycoaching.com/Contact_Us.html

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