Living Well Naturally Nov. 2014 | Page 17

Call to Action By Marie Ryckman, Psychotherapist BODY HEALTH hand. The room begins to fill with the scent of fresh lemon. You cut a wedge and bring that wedge up to your mouth, biting into it, filling your mouth with the juice. When something is wrong in the body we often blame the body part as if it is separate from the rest of us. The pain or dis-ease is the body trying to talk to us, it is saying, “Hey take a closer look here, there is something out of balance.” The longer you ignore the ‘call to action’ the worse the symptoms get. Take notice of your throat, your mouth, is it puckered, watering? Do they feel different, like you just ate a lemon? Probably at the very least there was an increase in saliva production. Symptoms can come from: That was just one time. Imagine if you have a reoccurring negative thought, maybe it enters your mind daily and it’s been there for 5 years. What effect would that have on your body? • Eating foods that your body does not agree with. • Having negative thoughts about the world, yourself, or people around you. • • • • Holding onto ways of being that do not serve your higher good. Trying to control people. Toxic environments/relationships. Living with fear, worry, shame, guilt, anger. These can all cause the physical body to become unbalanced. Our thoughts create reactions in our body. Many of us have heard of Louise Hay who has published many books on the subject. Learning how to obtain wisdom from our own bodies is invaluable. In this article I have added an exercise for you to get a feeling of how thoughts create reactions in the body. Try this exercise: Take a few deep breaths and relax into where you sit, and gently soften your eyes. Imagine yourself in a room. In that room there is a wooden table. As you walk closer to that table you notice a lemon on a plate. Beside that plate there is a knife. You cut the lemon in half and some juice squirts onto your Your body is preparing to eat and digest the lemon and does not know the difference between real or imagined. Learning to listen to your body takes patience, and a willingness to be silent to connect with your body. It is a daily and a second-by-second practice of being present. Although often challenging, it is very rewarding. With the guidance of a Psychotherapist asking the right questions you can often get down to the root cause or dominant thought that has created the pain or dis-ease. They can also help you to heal that which is out of balance at a deep level. It is beneficial to work on both the physical and emotional levels when dealing with any ailment. Instead of blaming that part of your body that’s causing you pain or discomfort, treat it like a partner, a ‘call to action’! Marie Ryckman is a Psychotherapist who offers Psychotherapy, Body Psychotherapy, and Intuitive Supplement Guidance. She is co-founder of the Renew You Women’s Weekend, an experiential workshop facilitator, and author of the upcoming book 7 Steps to Rediscovering YOU—and Loving What You Find! www.marieryckman.com 289-264-4737 fall issue 2014 I Living Well Naturally with Nature’s Emporium I 17