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TissueReligion  6mo ago (text post)   1082 thread views

Ways to address underlying emotions that may be causing physical health issues?

Hi there! So I've had a weird variety of physical health issues for the past several years, and seeing a wide variety of doctors / therapists etc. has not done a lot for me. I grew up in a sort of physically violent / verbally abrasive household (I'm going to step back from using the term "abusive," but probably not that far off) and I've always wondered if there's some connection between that and my current physical health issues.

The tricky thing is... I'm just sort of positive / upbeat / feel good basically all the time, and it's hard for me to really identify any conscious emotions or bodily tension or anything that seems related. It's totally possible it's just all suppressed like 4 layers down, because I'm pretty sure I also do this with anger (eg since I grew up with an insanely angry person in the house, I just couldn't really express anger/upset at all, or they would freak out at me).

So I'm trying to figure out what other kinds of approaches to try, because most of the normal therapists I've seen have come up at a loss.

Any thoughts appreciated!

Thanks.

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Basically you'll have to introspect regularly. [...] If it is the case that you have something within your mind that is making your body dysfunctional, you're the one who has to discover it and work with it.

I appreciate this framing. More productive than trying to find the needle-in-the-haystack therapist for sure.

I'll definitely a look at ideal parent figure meditation, and internal family systems. I've been sort of following the mind illuminated's path for awhile, with the general goal of hoping that will lead to increased mindfulness and ability to address these sorts of things.

Thanks!

You're welcome! TMI is a good manual, but it can lead to striving, if you're not careful. The whole stages concept can lead to a feeling of needing to get to somewhere other than precisely where you are.

It can be helpful to discuss these things with a group/sangha. Having access to a teacher is always very useful too.

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