Bev Bowman

My recovery from IBS

Addressing the root cause of IBS

My personal journey of lasting natural recovery from IBS

I suffered with digestive issues since I was a small child. My mum would agree. 

Over four decades, my symptoms did fluctuate, with stress. The lowest point of all was travelling alone in Thailand, and not being physically able to leave my guest house to catch my flight home because I couldn’t get off the floor due to spasms. I laid on the cold guest house bathroom floor for several hours until I felt able to make it to reception to check back in. It was scary and I was alone. 

It was an uncomfortable and embarrassing set of symptoms. 

 

Change is possible

I’d had IBS symptoms so long that they just felt like a part of me, I had no memory of anything else although I envied people who didn’t have to think about their bowel movements.  

I was sick of taking daily low level medications and underneath it all I wanted my body to naturally function. I knew that my digestive system is the powerhouse of my body and I knew that stress was impacting my symptoms. 

Once I learned about my body and health from a root cause perspective I became determined to change this – and as I understood more and more how my body was adapting to help me cope with stress, I began to believe recovery was possible. 

 

 

Self healing - without side effects or restrictive lifestyle changes

IBS is a complex collection of symptoms. It’s different for everyone and typically it’s a long term chronic condition that has set in over years. There is no switch we can flick to turn it off, but I have found a path out of it. 

I’ve walked my path in reverse and gently supported my gut to self heal – without side effects or any restrictive lifestyle changes. 

Don’t get me wrong, I avoided the gluten-bloating for quite some time, but I eventually noticed that my sensitivity flared with my symptoms and fundamentally: with stress. 

Understanding irritable bowel syndrome

Many people naturally hold stress in their gut and all medical professionals accept that stress affects IBS. Many IBS sufferers are told to ‘manage stress’. This can feel demoralising to hear. After all it is symptom management. 

Stress management did help me a little: every time I used to breathe into my belly, I could feel my digestive system relaxing, calming and softening. But that took focus and awareness – when I had time.  It could help with in-the-moment stress, but what about past residual stress in my belly? 

 

My root cause

My gut had reacted, years back, to stress and trauma and it had not learned to let go, because I hadn’t supported myself to do this. My digestive system was stuck constantly going in and out of fight or flight. There was old stress in my gut and my life today was constantly re-triggering it. My colon was holding onto something in my life that was deeply unresolved and uncomfortable and it was going to hold it until I listened, heard and made peace within myself. Instead, I had been ignoring myself and trying to keep the peace with everyone else. 

Sometimes self healing involves releasing old emotions or energies in the body.
Sometimes it involves shifting limiting thoughts to empowering ones.
Sometimes it involves making real life changes to better take care of ourselves in our relationships and environments.
Often it involves a mix of all of the above. 

For me, the change truly came when I set boundaries for myself, was true to me and made a firm decision to prioritise. Then my body could heal. For me, reaching this point of readiness and courage to make this change firstly involved releasing the fears, guilt, anger and shame that had previously stopped me. 

Repair and regeneration

Once I worked on my stuff and was able to make these real life changes. Change was uncomfortable at times, my gut was finally digesting my past experiences and letting them go.  But knowing about the body’s natural healing cycles, I understood that these symptoms were a process and part of my body letting go and healing.  I no longer wake with that churning, tight gut feeling in the night, I have not experienced those horrid night sweats and I have felt a sense of peace and spaciousness in my belly.

…And I feel empowered in all areas of my life, because releasing the emotions and making real life changes that take better care of me freed me to go forward in many other new ways. 

Ready for change?

Relieve pain and address the root cause. Book your free 20 minute discovery call.

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Frozen shoulder – client story

Frozen shoulder - client story

Address the deeper 'why' behind shoulder pain and immobility

My client had struggled with a frozen shoulder for three years. The movement of her arm behind or out to the side was reduced – and painful.  The pain and restriction would come and go, sometimes fading for weeks and then returning out of the blue. It was always worse at night and this made finding a comfy sleeping position tricky at times. She had tried physiotherapy, which relieved her symptoms, but nothing so far had permanently helped – until we looked deeper and addressed the ‘why’.

The world on our shoulders

Most of us know that feeling of carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. Too much responsibility is often connected to shoulder issues.

During an experience, we may felt or thought the following…

  • I need to do more for my loved ones, or at work. 
  • I’m not doing enough. 
  • I’m not good enough or strong enough. 
  • I need to put others first. 

These can create a conflict in us that leads to a constant state of push-pull tension in our shoulders. We may want to do or give more, yet also know that this would be at our own expense. Our shoulder can get locked in the chronic tension of pushing and pulling at the same time.

Holding it all together

My client’s shoulder was in a state of chronic tension – and it was not interested in being physically coaxed into letting go. Instead, the answer came from within her. Her shoulder believed it had a good reason to hold on. It was likely to keep holding tight until she connected to it, learned why and addressed the underlying root cause.

For my client she had learned from a young age to put others first. In close relationships, she had willingly and unknowingly taken on more than her share of responsibility. Deep down she believed things would fall apart if she didn’t single-handedly hold it all together. Over time, the balance of responsibility would always shift more and more onto her shoulders. 

But three years ago when her pain flared up, she had been beginning to develop a sense of boundaries and was starting to dislike this imbalance of responsibility. The more she tried to rebalance how much responsibility she took, the more  guilt and fear came – as well as resistance in her shoulder.  Part of her believed she was “heartless” and that she “should” always be the one to make everything OK.  Taking responsibility was an ingrained survival habit she learned at a young age. As she began to loosen this pattern, three years ago, her shoulder entered a state of conflict – pushing and pulling in two different directions, creating chronic tension, pain and immobility.

Letting go of carrying everything

As my client was gently guided to listen, feel, see and connect with why her shoulder she discovered why her shoulder was so stuck. We used evidence based techniques to address these long held habitual patterns of thinking and feeling. She released the fear and guilt. 

Her thoughts about needing to carry everything then had the space to transform into something more empowering. She realised that it wasn’t loving to try to carry others, that she was disempowering them.  She saw that she could love and support loved ones without taking more than her share of responsibility. She stepped back and from that day forward and her shoulder felt safe to let go. 

Her pain, fear, guilt and limiting beliefs all healed – and her relationships continue to heal and rebalance as she develops a deeper connection with herself. 

The root cause of chronic shoulder pain

If you are experiencing recurring or stubborn shoulder pain or immobility, there is likely to be a deeper cause. There may be something in your life that is creating a constant state of tension. 

What in your life do you feel carry a lot of responsibility? What do you reach for yet also feel compelled to push away?

When we listen and ask why, our shoulder may have some lessons for us. It  

Ready for change?

Relieve pain and address the root cause. Book your free 20 minute discovery call.

Schedule my free call

Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being

Hearing loss – client story

Hearing problems - client story

Address the deeper 'why' behind hearing loss, tinnitus and blocked ears

My client experienced acute tinnitus, hearing loss and nausea related to his right inner ear for about two weeks. It was getting to the point where he had to stop exercising because he felt dizzy. The loss of hearing and blocked sensation were also frustrating for him. He was waiting and hoping it would naturally pass, but when he came to me the symptoms were worsening.

As it was a recent issue, he was unsure about trying to get a GP appointment. He had been exploring how to manage the symptoms but had a sense there was something deeper going on in his body and wanted to explore this and get to the root cause.

I don't want to hear this!

Most of us know may relate to hearing something hurtful or harsh and wanting to block it out, we may have wished we could unhear it or that we had covered our ears. We may have thought the following:

  • I can’t bear hearing this! 
  • Be quiet! Why are you saying this?
  • I can’t believe what I am hearing?!
  • His/her voice/words have really stuck with me.
  • These words/sounds left my ears ringing!

When we hear something stressful or painful, our body – our ears – can adapt in an attempt to help us cope. Our ears can try to block out sound in various ways to try to protect us from a repeat experience in future. 

Words can hurt - my client's root cause

My client’s right ear was trying to block out something he had recently heard. To resolve this issue we needed to go towards the symptoms and listen to what they had to say. As my client tuned into his ear he connected to feelings of hurt and humiliation that were held there. Trusting his body and subconscious mind to guide him to the answers, he drifted back to an event just before the symptoms started. A loved one made a comment that left him feeling deeply hurt and disrespected. At the time he passed the comment off and put it to the side, but his body – or his ear – remembered and adapted to protect him.

Once we knew what was the root cause of his symptoms (his unique ‘why’) we could address this. We worked using evidence-based energy techniques to release the emotions connected with this memory and also stored in his body. Soon after, his ear became hot, which was a sure sign that the tissues in his ear had moved into repair and regeneration to heal and rebalance. They no longer needed to adapt to cope. The emotions connected to the memory had gone.

After this my client realised for himself that he needed to speak up to fully move forward and let go. He made a decision to share his feelings with his loved one. He gained insights about how it was never about him and his sense of being good enough returned.

It was very powerful how he connected the dots to hearing something painful within a recent conversation with a loved one. He was then able to release this root cause and naturally recover in a few days. The following day the ringing in his ear had healed. On day 2 the symptom was completely gone. 

  • Client feedback

    "Because of the ridiculous waiting times at the doctors I decided to look online and see if I could find another way to resolve my issue elsewhere. That's when I found Rooted Well Being. I booked a session regarding a blocked ear issue I'd had for a few weeks, it was making me dizzy and nauseated and felt like mild tinnitus (horrible ringing in my ear) and was getting slowly worse. After just one session addressing the root cause (which helped me see my ear was blocking out something difficult I had recently heard). Bev explained the healing process and what to expect over the coming days and sure enough it was completely gone in 2 days. I can't thank you enough Bev."

Symptoms in our ears can be stress related

Pain, discomfort or hearing loss/changes can be incredibly frustrating, especially ringing in our ears at night. Our frustration can be increased when our symptom has no obvious cause. However, often our body is adapting to try to help us cope with stressors. 

The symptoms below may be a sign that our ears are trying to block out something difficult we have heard:

  • Constant roaring, buzzing, ringing or whistling
  • Excessive ear wax
  • Hearing loss
  • Vertigo, dizziness with nausea or vomiting
  • Feeling out of balance

     

The root cause of chronic ear symptoms

Does your body carry stress and tension? Perhaps in your shoulders or gut? Every tissue in our body is continually listening and adapting to our thoughts and feelings (sometimes more subtly than others!).

If you are experiencing recurring or stubborn ear issues, there is likely to be a deeper cause. There may be something in your life that is leading to subtle changes in your ear. Think of it as a physical coping mechanism.

If we have heard something painful, traumatic or stressful, tinnitus or blockages can develop as a way to muffle and mask sound, to prevent further distress. It could have been an uncomfortable noise, insults, excessive demands, shouting or yelling…

When we explore, identify and address why and when our ear symptoms started, we can help our body to let go of this coping strategy and our hearing can fully recover.

Ready for change?

Relieve pain and address the root cause. Book your free 20 minute discovery call.

Schedule my free call

Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being

The root cause of eczema

Recurring eczema

Address the deeper 'why' behind skin symptoms

Eczema can be frustrating and uncomfortable, plus skin conditions commonly feel embarrassing. We can suffer with chronic eczema for years, thinking it is a reaction to something external, perhaps an allergy. But creams and medication just don’t seem to permanently solve our discomfort.  I had eczema on my foot on and off for over a decade. When I looked deeper, at why my skin was reacting in this way and began to address the root cause, my symptoms began to change.

What is your skin numbing you from feeling?

Have you experienced…

  • The loss of a loved one or a pet
  • Sadness about children flying the nest
  • Missing the connection or touch of someone close
  • A painful separation
  • Not wanting to feel something on your skin?

Every tissue in our body is listening and responding to our experiences. If we experience stress or trauma a part of our body will adapt to attempt to help us cope. 

Which part of the body depends on how we perceive the experience. The surface of our skin is there to help us feel, touch and connect with others and the world around us. If we perceive an experience to be a painful loss of touch or connection or touch or connection that we don’t want, our skin can react and develop symptoms.

Changing symptoms

Sometimes our skin can be dry and flaky and then it can shift and become itchy, blotchy, red and hot – like a rash.  These are signs that our skin is going through cycles in response to stress. 

When we are closer to the emotions related to touch, more stressed, our skin is dry, flaky and numb. When the stress is dormant, the skin goes into repair and becomes hot and itchier. 

You may have noticed that over 24 hours your symptoms shift through these cycles? At night our whole system naturally moves into rest and repair and this can reduce the stress and shift our symptoms to be less dry and flaky.

Why is my eczema in one area?

Location matters.  This is most obvious with young babies. Cradle cap (dry skin on the scalp) is a common symptom for newborns. The top of their head has spent months resting, top down, against their mother’s womb.  That sense of connection and reassuring pressure on their skin is lost after they are born.  Babies can also develop eczema on their face after a breastfeeding stage ends because they no longer feel the comfort of their cheek resting against their mother’s breast. 

If we miss holding someone in our arms, skin symptoms may appear here. For me, my eczema on my foot was related to a fear of putting my left foot down and a fear of trusting and grounding on one side. 

Your symptoms and root cause are as unique as you.

When we find and address this unique root cause, we can fully support our skin to rebalance, from within, and let go of this coping mechanism.

Ready for change?

Relieve pain and address the root cause. Book your free 20 minute discovery call.

Schedule my free call

Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being

Are symptoms stress-related?

Discover whether symptoms are stress-related

There are amazing technologies and medical professionals today that can help us know WHAT is going on with our symptoms. But when it comes to understanding WHY, we can be left guessing. It’s an important question though – because when we know WHY this can signpost us to recovery from chronic symptoms. 

Possible reasons for symptoms

When we have symptoms we may wonder whether it is:

  • Hereditary
  • An old injury
  • Physical weakness or susceptibility
  • Related to our lifestyle choices. 

Yet within these considerations, we can still be left wondering why symptoms come and go, inexplicably. This uncertainty about why symptoms started and when they might return can really create concern as well as a feeling of powerlessness and fear over what is to come as symptoms may increase.  

Could it be stress?

You may have an inkling that stress sometimes affects your body. You may have noticed:

  • Exhaustion, aches and pains after a stressful period
  • Digestive changes alongside stress
  • Insomnia during stressful times
  • Headaches, migraines following stress
  • …or many other connections between stress and your symptoms.
But could this be coincidence? After all, when we are stressed and busy, our self care routines tend to suffer. And anyway – doesn’t everyone deal with stress as a part of life? Research has shown that 85% of adults regularly experience stress.

The impact of stress

Research is showing more and more just how important it is to not underestimate stress. In the United Kingdom in 2019, over 8.6 million appointments were due to chest pains which were driven by stress-related mental illnesses.

Stress changes the balance in our body, flooding our body with stress hormones, making it harder to get a good night’s sleep, which affects our body’s capacity to rest, repair and regenerate. It creates anxiety and mood swings, tension and impacts every system in our body.  

It is not “just stress”. Because stress is so common and we haven’t always fully understood the impact, historically it has been minimised. 

The problem with stress is that sometimes – when it is intense or prolonged – it can linger in our body, long after the event, long after we think we have forgotten it. 

Residual stress in our body

Sometimes when stress goes on for too long or is too intense for us in the moment, our body steps in to help us cope.  Just as we can create coping mechanisms in our behaviours and thoughts, our body can create physical coping mechanisms by making changes. 

For example, if we feel we are carrying a very heavy responsibility for too long, our shoulders may begin to adapt, trying ultimately to get stronger to help us bear this burden, yet this imbalance leads to tension, pain, immobility and chronic symptoms. 

Every organ, tissue and cell in our body is continually listening. Our body is on our side and will absorb the toll of excessive stress. 

Are symptoms a sign of stress in our body?

When stress gets stored in our body, it’s not something we can see. Our bodies are energetic as well as physical, science has shown this. Our symptoms are the products of our physical bodies – as well as what we think and feel about what we experience in our lives. 

Try this short, simple tapping exercise below to explore your symptom and discover whether stuck stress, energy or emotions are playing a part in keeping your discomfort stuck.

Download the free tapping points PDF below to learn this simple technique,
which can also help to reduce stress and emotional intensity and shift limiting thoughts.

EFT tapping points

Start exploring your 'why'

Find and address the root causes that keep symptoms recurring.  Book a free no obligation chat to find out how this approach could help you release the pressure. All side effects are positive. 

Schedule my free call

Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being

The why behind our symptoms

The why behind our symptoms

Why our symptoms keep returning

It can be distressing and concerning when we do not know why our symptoms started, or why they fluctuate. We can end up feeling stuck and powerless – and that our only option is to live with symptoms and try to manage them.

You may have tried to get to the bottom of symptoms, to relieve them or get help – either through your GP or via complementary therapies.  You may wonder whether your symptoms are related to an old injury, are related how you sleep, are a result of lifestyle choices – or possibly are inherited. You may be reading this because you have a sense that stress ignited or seems to increase your symptoms in some way. 

Your body's wisdom

When we’re unsure how our symptoms began, we are left wondering and trying to figure it out. We can end up accepting symptoms as part of our life or trying to make changes to reduce and manage them. 

Another way is possible. 

There is a deeper root cause to most of our symptoms. Once we discover what this is and address it, our body will naturally find its way back to balance. We didn’t always have these symptoms and chronic illness isn’t an inevitable part of getting older. Somewhere along the way our body made some adaptations to our life experiences and over time these adaptations created a chronic imbalance. This imbalance is reversible. If a plant is poorly, we water the roots rather than tend to the leaves. Our bodies can reverse most chronic illnesses if we create the right conditions.

Our bodies are miraculous. We are complex integrated wholes, our bodies are not just a mechanical vessel that breaks down.  Our thoughts, emotions, experiences, physiology and lifestyle choices are all woven together to create our health. 

A holistic view of our symptoms

It is very common that we try to pinpoint the ‘one thing’ that triggered our symptoms. However there are a variety of factors that can impact, trigger our symptoms:

  • Changes in our bodies and toxins in our environment
  • Stress
  • Emotions
  • Beliefs
  • Lack of love and support
  • Lifestyle habits

…and these all connect together. By looking at each of these, we can gain a deeper understanding of why your symptoms started and what keeps them recurring. 

The 6 root causes of our symptoms

1. Our body

Our bodies are always listening to our thoughts, experiences and feelings. Every tissue in our body has a specific function. For example the top layer of our skin is very thin, it has no protective purpose but is there to help us touch, feel and connect with others and the world around us. If we experience a loss of touch or connection (losing a loved one, a pet, a child leaving home etc) our skin adapts to help us cope. Our skin thins out to become numb – to stop us feeling it. Our skin then becomes dry and flaky, one stage of eczema. If stressors are not fully resolved or let go of, these adaptations become chronic over time and our symptoms get worse. 

2. Stress

Stress is what happens when our bodies react to an external challenge or threat. Stressors can everything for us: our feelings, thinking, our energy, our behaviours – and our physical bodies and sensations.  Stressful events can either be a highly dramatic one-off event or a continual drip-drip effect. Stress is very personal and very much in the eye of the beholder, what one persons finds frightening, another might find enraging and another might find OK. A tailored approach to the impact of stress on symptoms is essential. Stressors that have lasting effects on our body are usually very emotional, unexpected and evoke a sense of powerlessness, such as…

  • Being on the receiving end of other people’s anger
  • Sudden frightening situations
  • Being humiliated or degraded
  • Life changes that effect our sense of who we are and our self worth
  • A boss, co-worker or friend who dominates or shames us
  • Having to continually keep the peace and sideline your voice, needs or feelings
  • Difficulty coming to terms with painful changes or loss
  • Unmet needs during childhood
  • Hypervigilance, feeling afraid or on eggshells
  • Feeling stuck and unable to move forward
  • Abusive relationships, violence and force
  • Too much pressure, over responsibility and constantly having to hold it all together
  • Feeling paralysed by something or unable to protect ourselves
  • …and many more that our body hears, feels, sees and responds to.

What stressors in your life feel unresolved?

Once our body reacts to an initial stressful event, even when this seems to have passed and we can mentally put is aside, the emotions/stress can lie dormant in our organs and tissues.  When the stress is dormant, there is an underlying susceptibility to being re-triggered. New stressors that feel like the original event can spiral us back into how we felt the first time.  Symptoms therefore fluctuate as we go in and out of the phases of being active or dormant.

2. Emotions

Emotions are continually alive in us, although we may not always notice them.  Emotions, such as anger, shame, fear or sadness are often a call for our attention. We can put them aside, but they don’t fully go away and this can impact our health.  We may not have learned how to express challenging emotions in a healthy way, this is particularly true for anger – and this can teach us that these emotions are unsafe. When we repress emotions, our subconscious holds onto them and tucks them away in our body, saving them for when we are ready one day.

Where do you hold tension in your body? This could be a clue to where some old emotions are residing. Tune into this area and really bring your awareness there, what qualities does that tension have? How does it really feel? If it had a colour what could that be? What emotion might be stored there – what’s the first thing that comes to mind – trust the answers from your body. Our language contains loads of phrases that highlight how we can hold emotions in different areas of our body – ever had a knot in your tummy or a sense of the world on your shoulders? When we go towards these tensions, symptoms and emotions we can begin to loosen them and let go.

2. Beliefs

Limiting beliefs are repetitive thoughts that we have about about ourselves, others or the world. They are learned and often run subtly in the background, under our radar.   Limiting beliefs and thoughts can have a big effect on our feelings, choices and behaviours. We can hold strong beliefs about our value, what’s acceptable, why things happened, what others think about us, our health and potential recovery and more…

Beliefs aren’t fixed, although they can feel very strong. We can shift limiting thoughts to more empowering ones to help us move forward more freely. When we experience challenges, we can adopt new ways of thinking about ourselves and the world. We often do this to try to  is create safety and avoid a repeat performance.

Beliefs can reactivate physical symptoms and keep us locked into chronic cycles. If you have a repetitive thought that you want to loosen, ask yourself:  how true it this from 0 – 100%? Notice if there is any doubt or wriggle space. If it’s not absolutely true – 100%, ask yourself: what would I like to believe instead?

2. Love and support

Our social surroundings have a significant impact on our health. If our relationships are not supportive, honest or nurturing this can be stressful, create painful emotions, affect the way we think about ourselves and re-trigger symptoms. Our social environment includes our friends, families, place of work, social groups, communities, culture and society.

If we have toxic relationships or communications, we are susceptible to experiences that will ignite and/or re-trigger chronic health issues on a regular basis. Noticing and taking steps to change these real-life stressors in our relationships is vital for an upward spiral in our health.

Ask yourself: what dynamics in my relationships might be effecting my symptoms or body? Awareness is a fantastic and big step forward. 

2. Lifestyle

There are numerous studies that show how a healthy lifestyle can support our bodies and health.  A healthy diet, moving more and sleeping well give us vitality, which helps our body to naturally heal and regenerate.

  • Food is medicine
  • It’s never too late to start physical exercise. Start small and gently using micro habits
  • Sleep supports our memory, mood, processing and repair

To address the root causes of your symptoms, it’s important to also gently develop new healthy lifestyle habits.  Addressing the root cause of physical symptoms asks your body to shift gear, let go and heal chronic physical patterns. Your body need energy and vitality to support it in shifting out of chronic cyles..

Ask yourself: what one small lifestyle micro habit could I start today? Make it a 1% change that you like the sound of. Be kind to yourself. 🙂 Commit to do it until it feels easy before making any changes. Remember, habit change can be hard – congratulate yourself every time that you achieve it! 

How do stress, emotions, thoughts, lifestyle or relationships affect your symptoms?

Start exploring your 'why'

Find and address the root causes that keep symptoms recurring.  Book a free no obligation chat to find out how this approach could help you release the pressure. All side effects are positive. 

Schedule my free call

Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being

The root cause of chronic back pain

The root cause of back pain

We can often attribute lower back pain to how we slept, over exertion or even ageing. This seems logical, but we may wonder why our symptoms are inconsistent and unpredictable. Often there is a deeper reason.

Our lower back is there to give us core support, to carry us and bear our weight. When we ask ‘why’ our lower back hurts, the additional load that we often overlook is the stress or emotions we carry in our body.

Client story

My client had been struggling with a lower back pain for years. The symptoms would come and go. The postural muscles in her lower back felt incredibly tight when massaged. She was aware that the pain and tightness radiated into her hip and were could relate to her pelvic twist and reduced sensation through her left leg.

We found and addressed the root cause. Her lower back had been quietly storing up stress, carrying the recent additional load of working and motherhood. We joined the dots that locked the beliefs, memory, emotions and sensations together and locked her lower back muscles into a holding tension – and together we transformed it so that she could finally let go.

My client fed back that the next day her back pain was gone – and that she feels more strength and stability through her left leg too.

Why we experience lower back pain

If you struggle with recurring lower back pain, consider these questions:

  • Have you recently felt under immense pressure?
  • Have you wondered whether you’ll be able to cope?
  • Do you feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do?
  • Do you feel responsible for having to do it all yourself – and support others?

If these questions resonate, your back could be quietly storing up this additional stress-load for you. Lower back pain isn’t inevitable as we age. By addressing the root cause your back can fully self-heal.

The stress response is everything

The body is incredibly intelligent and always has our best interests at heart. When we experience the stresses and strains that life brings, if intense, our body will adapt to try to help us cope. Every tissue in the body has a unique biological function, geared towards aiding our survival. If we perceive a threat, big or small, our body will do its utmost to help us cope.

A Root Cause Health Session moves chronic symptoms from continual cycles of stress and repair to full regeneration and recovery. I have seen incredible transformations with clients and I am amazed by the body’s ability to both protect us and auto regulate.

Working together

Through Root Cause Health Coaching™, we look at finding and addressing the needle in the haystack that keeps symptoms chronic.  If you’d like to discuss how we could find and address the root cause of back pain, please book a free no obligation chat to find out how this approach could help you release the pressure.

Address the why behind your symptoms – all side effects are positive. 

Schedule my free call

Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being

Starting a meditation practice

Starting a meditation practice

There’s a lot of talk about meditation and mindfulness – the what, why and the how… but it actually is very, very simple and there is nothing you need to have, get or change in order to practice. 

A meditation practice is a personal journey, so there is also no right or wrong. It’s about developing awareness within yourself – and you are unique, so your practice will be too. 

…And it is ALL about the journey – there is no goal or endpoint, because that would simply give us something to ‘attach’ to, judge ourselves against and berate ourselves for! (Mindfulness is also about developing compassion for ourselves and others.)

There are no rituals required, no tools, no joss sticks, no books, no postures to master (although if these help you that’s ok!). It’s just you being with yourself and whatever is, now. You can practice anytime; a few minutes whilst standing and waiting for the kettle to boil, or mindfully brushing your teeth. It really is simple and you can start now. To be mindful is simply to be fully engaged and present with what is happening, right now. So if you are brushing your teeth: notice your bodily sensations, the weight of your feet on the floor, any body tensions, the sounds of brushing or others noises surrounding you, the taste, the smell… all of these sense perceptions can be noticed as they occur and then let go of.

Our brains can only compute one sense perception at a time, albeit at a very fast rate so in real time it does feel like we are seeing, hearing, touching… simultaneously. But we’re not. Try listening to your favourite music fully: relax, close you eyes and hear fully every instrument and layer of sound all at once. When we give all of our awareness and attention to one sense perception it can almost be overwhelming. Silence actually can be deafening. Simply focus all of your attention on whatever activity is at hand.

Mindfulness meditation develops self-awareness, insight and objectivity that can transform our daily lives. Practicing mindfulness is about learning to take control of our mind (an amazing tool!) and make it work for us. It’s good to locate the off switch for the voice in our heads! …Especially when this voice is in the mood to criticise!

So practicing is simple, in theory! The practice of being still and present with whatever is however can be challenging at times. There are many obstacles and distractions: boredom, focus, emotions, restlessness… It helps to remember that these are not ‘in the way’ but that they ‘are the way’; a part of our journey of discovery. It’s likely that obstacles we experience in meditation will reflect the obstacles we experience in life. Acceptance is key. We’ve possibly spent our whole lives slaving away to our minds. Switching it off – or stepping back, and just observing, can help us to learn a lot about ourselves.

Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being

An expanded definition of medicine

A new and empowering health paradigm is emerging

Conventional medicine is miraculous, it saves millions of lives. But what if, in addition to conventional medicine we could expand our understanding of what medicine is – and simultaneously empower ourselves to prevent and reverse chronic illnesses?

root-cause-symptoms-rooted-wellbeing

Although when we think of ‘managing symptoms’, we typically think of medication, it actually exists within alternative, complementary and conventional medicine. As a bodyworker, I am aware that with some issues, I am temporarily relieving symptoms, which was part of what inspired me to study Root Cause Health Coaching™ and lifestyle medicine.

What is lifestyle medicine?

Lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based approach to prevent and reverse chronic disease.

When we hear the word ‘lifestyle’, we may think of diet, sleep and exercise; but lifestyle medicine is much more than this. It also addresses our habitual thinking patterns, need for social connection, stress, traumas and unresolved emotions. There is a wealth of research that now shows that our health and well-being are influenced by all of these factors. For example, evidence now shows that social isolation is as bad for our health as 15 cigarettes per day. Many of us have experienced the effect that social isolation can have on our emotional and physical well-being during the coronavirus pandemic. 

It's not "just" stress

We now know that by exploring all of these factors, we can address many of the chronic illnesses that may have been previously  labelled as ‘stress related’ and approached via symptom management. 

People are reversing Type 2 diabetes, for example, through lifestyle-based programs that are supported by the UK government.

Many types of “medicine”

We can self-heal though: time with loved ones, laughter, releasing emotions, letting go of the past, empowering ourselves, a sense of purpose, social support, diet, stress management, movement, regular sleep, time in nature… We are born with this knowing.

We are whole, complex and interconnected. 

An empowering shift in responsibility

We may have a strong connection to the old health paradigm: that our body is a machine that breaks or is affected by external factors – and requires external experts and medication to help with the issue. Imagine how it would feel to believe that you can work with your body and it’s innate intelligence to self heal… that you have the power and the ability to help yourself and feel better. Lifestyle medicine is grounded in empowering people – as the experts in their own experiences – and more simply, guiding, helping and supporting – in partnership. 

Why does it matter?

85%

of adults experience stress regularly.

In the United Kingdom in 2019, over 8.6 million appointments were due to chest pains which were driven by stress-related mental illnesses. 

Furthermore, circulatory issues related to stress-related illnesses accounted for around 6.8 million appointments, while 2.8 million made appointments with their GP because of musculoskeletal issues caused primarily by stress.

Gradual lifestyle changes + addressing the root cause = symptom change

If you have a lingering symptom that you’d like to understand and address the root cause, get in touch.

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Find the root cause

Discover the the why behind your symptoms and empower yourself with a fresh understanding of health.

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The stress response

Your body’s rhythm is as natural as day and night. Learn to observe its continual balancing towards wellness.

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The stress response – our bodies natural rhythms

Our body's natural rhythms and the symptoms of imbalance

Our bodies inner compass always wants to head towards health and wellness. The view that our bodies are a machine that breaks down is being replaced with the understanding that our bodies have an intelligence of their own – one that we can work with and support towards greater overall health and well being.

Inline with the natural cycles of day and night, our bodies go through balancing cycles of stress and repair.

Mild stress or pressure is good for us, it can enhance our performance or help us achieve our goal. However, excessive or prolonged stress can knock us out of our natural healthy rhythm of stress and repair.

Prolonged stress and repair

Ever planned a lovely chunk of time off only to feel ill when it finally arrives? It’s frustrating to make plans for time out only to find that our bodies have other ideas! When we overexert for too long we can find that when we stop our body will take full advantage of the opportunity to recover. Forcing us to stop and dropping us into a deeper, longer term regeneration that aims to rebalance the extended stress – and is beyond the scope of a good night’s sleep.

Signs that our body is repairing

When our body is in recovery, we can feel:

  • Exhausted
  • Confused or foggy
  • Warmer extremities, fever and inflammation
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Increased appetite

In stress the opposite is true. Try observing these signs and begin to observe your body’s rhythms and signals. You can download my free PDF guide to explore these specific  patterns behind your symptoms.

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Each organ tissue has a unique survival strategy

Every tissue in our body is continually listening to our experiences so that it can adapt and help us. Just think of a juicy, ice cold, fresh, tangy lemonade on a hot day and notice your saliva glands respond! This process happens on an unconscious, subtle level with any of our thoughts and feelings.  Our bodies are miraculous and every little shift is geared towards helping us survive and thrive. When we are living in survival mode, or chronic stress, symptoms emerge.

Address the root cause

We all experience distressing or traumatic events during our lifetime. This could be anything from the tragic loss of a loved one to a jarring comment from our boss; the impact is in the eye of the beholder.  When these moments of distress occur, a chain reaction is ignited in the body, ultimately designed to help us cope. An emotion, story, belief and memory become held within the tissue, but transformation and recovery are possible.

In a session, we explore lifestyle factors (such as sleep, exercise, diet, stress management and social connection) AND we address the root cause. Through lifestyle medicine and Root Cause Health Coaching™ we have the potential to prevent or reverse 80% of chronic symptoms – without side effects. There is a vast amount of growing research to support this.

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An informal 20 minute chat, via video call to ask questions and explore how we could work together.

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Begin your upward spiral to health and well-being