When I returned from a 3-week trip to my parents after the worst of the pandemic in January 2021, I wrote the article below. After the quote, I share deeper insights and what I’ve learned since then.

“We had a fantastic visit to South Africa. Sun, warm weather, gorgeous beach walks.

And let’s get realistic, too. Stressful travel episodes (3 flights in 24 hours, both there and back), digestive upsets from the low pressure in the cabins (and stress), a 24 hour tummy virus just after New Year, challenges to sort out for my dear aging parents, and being stuck to the couch again for a week, back in England — because of more digestive upsets.

Have you noticed how stress affects the weak spot in your system?

For me, it’s usually digestion. My tummy had such a hard time for months when we moved to the UK.

I was in a panic for that week in January 2022, I can tell you, with major pain and discomfort — lying on the couch, no good for anything else. My acupuncturist had Covid, and my GP’s office lines kept saying “Our phone lines are now closed.” Trying to make an appointment online, brought me to a time 3 weeks in advance. I needed help immediately!

It reminded me how our nervous system can so very quickly go into overdrive. I felt massive empathy again for anyone living with pain or a chronic condition, where there seems to be no hope or let-up.

Help eventually came in the form of a paid online video GP service. I don’t like taking allopathic meds — and when I need them, I really, really want them! It worked fast, thankfully. And ugh, 2 weeks later, there was another awful flare-up. The panic came right back.

Yes, I tapped. And used all my self-care tools when I was feeling okay enough to remember them. (When we’re in fight/flight, our thinking brain is not online and we can easily forget what’s helpful.)

Why do I share so much personal stuff with you?

I want you to know that I get it. It’s tough to go through pain episodes alone. Recovery and healing are not a straightforward affair — there are many ups and downs.

One of the best things I learnt in 2021 (after falling down 10 stairs) was that we need to feel safe when we have pain or discomfort. Our nervous system can start creating pain as a warning signal when we feel unsafe.

Especially because of all my own challenges, I understand the need for support, love, and caring during difficult times.” (end of original article)

Learnings about Health Issues since then

Since January 2022 when I first wrote the above, I’ve had the enormous privilege of diving even deeper into how stress affects our health, through attending an in-depth course of many months, and hundreds of hours. This certification taught me how to find the links between the precise affected tissue in the body, and the type of stress that would have caused the body to react in this way.

Meta Consciousness™ is a diagnostic tool that can help us get very specific, and this is what helped me clear up stomach issues I’ve had for more than 13 years, the last 3 the most intense.

General versus Specific

You see — previously I used EFT tapping around “all the stress” I could think of that was possibly affecting my stomach. In a general way. But I didn’t have a clue about what specifically affected that part of my body.

Through the Meta Consciousness™ certification, I learned how to get more specific.

Emotional issues in the stomach tissues

The stomach organ consists of several different types of tissue.

One part of the stomach is about indigestible morsels… something we’re trying to ‘digest’ or process… but simply can’t. Something we just “can’t stomach.”

Have you noticed how accurate metaphors can be?

Some parts of our move from SA to the UK (2017, when I also had severe stomach pain for months) were just indigestible for me… it was indescribably hard to leave my beautiful kitty, my family, and my friends behind.

The other part of the stomach is more about territorial anger or an identity conflict (depending on a few things). And I sure was going through some territorial and identity issues at the time!

This is what I love about Meta Consciousness™ — it helps us to get specific, and it works with a medical diagnosis. That means we don’t throw spaghetti at the wall and hope something will stick. We can hone in on the thing that truly is affecting the body part, instead of (like I was thinking 8 years ago) — “my stress affects my weak spot”. Yes, it does… but it matters WHICH stress, so we can work on the appropriate emotional thing!

Is my stomach completely healed?

I would say 90% so. It still flares up from time to time, and now, there’s no panic. I don’t feel absolutely clueless about what caused it this time. I no longer blame any food (it never is), I don’t think “It’s just stress”. Because now I can pinpoint the exact stressful situation or triggered belief that would have led to the flare.

And then, I don’t feel at the mercy of a ‘random’ stomach flare-up. It’s never random; the body is intelligent and wise, part of nature.

Calm instead of panic

It’s so calming and supportive to have this kind of information. For me, the awful panic used to take over… and that is no good on any healing journey.

Panic will never help us heal, it only exacerbates the symptoms, because as I mentioned earlier: fear makes the brain create more pain! (I’m saying this as a Practitioner of OldPain2Go, a method to help chronic, unhelpful pain ease up).

Three Things: Empathy, Hope, and Companionship

If you’re in the midst of a long or scary healing journey, I want to offer a few thoughts that might help you.

#1 Empathy

If you, like me, have walked a long and frustrating road with a health issue and feel like you’re in a never-ending cycle, first accept my compassion and deepest empathy. I truly know what that’s like. It’s hard to explain to others the misery of that.

#2: Hope

Second, please know that there is always hope… even when it seems dire. Sometimes we need more than a body healing — we need a ‘life healing’, and our condition can point us in the direction of that. My ‘life healing’ came in the form of many beliefs that could be lightened up and ‘upgraded’ with EFT, as well as learning different skills to navigate life.

#3: Free support

Third: I am offering, with a dear colleague and friend, Emma Reid, a free gathering as support. Emma is a fellow Meta Consciousness™ Coach. You’ll find a link on my website here — sign up if this speaks to you. It is informative, confidential, intimate, and you might walk away with new directions to explore for regaining your health.

Summary:

As I discovered on my journey, the important thing is not to give up. Keep going. Find small moments of joy and enjoyment in every day. I can’t tell you the number of times my symptoms felt better when I went for my walks, or on a weekend away. A clear sign that doing something that’s enjoyable, is very good for our health!