Healing Stress Anxiety

The stories we tell ourselves matter, and never more than when we're dealing with a chronic health condition. I found out for myself just how important the story was when I experienced an ongoing struggle with an array of nonspecific symptoms: bouts of profound fatigue, nightly insomnia, digestive problems, depression, a feeling of wearing lead boots, intolerance to stress, and cold sensitivity, among others.

And then one day it hit me: I'm still healing. I don't know where the realization came from, but this small shift in how I framed my struggles completely changed my relationship to them. It suggested a very different emphasis-not on finally getting the help that eluded me, but on supporting my body and mind in the process of healing.

In fact, our lives often look like they were designed specifically to create unease and depression, with our disconnection from others, poor diets, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of meaningful work. In this context, treatment often doesn't stand a chance without the basic nutrients for mental and emotional well-being. It's like giving fertilizer to a plant that's struggling but neglecting to water it and give it adequate sunshine.