Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Gut Feeling (Day 24)

Dear Diary,

So, I guess we all get to this point. Or maybe we don't, but I'm getting there. And since Maggie's opened the door, I'm going to step over the threshold, too. I'm having some thoughts about colon hydration, you know - colon therapy. My interest began a couple of weeks ago when thoughts from two different parts of my life seemed to come together. Let me tell you how it happened ...

First, I want to explain that I have some really wonderful people in my life. I'm married to one of them. A large number are part of my family while still others, I've met along various avenues of this life journey. Two of these people are part of the latter group, women I met through a mutual friend, now long gone, but these two connections remain strong. We live in different parts of the country now, but rarely miss a week of sitting down and connecting with one another. We share all manner of things and, to be truthful, there are precious few things we don't discuss with one another. We talk of travel and relationships, we talk of our homes and our lives, but through it all is an underlying theme of spirituality. (You're starting to wonder how in the world I'm going to tie these two things together, aren't you? Well, stay with me, but at your own discretion. I know that what I'm about to say won't be everyone's 'cup of tea'.)

I've learned a lot over the fifteen some odd years I've known these women and I continue learning. One thing I've learned of is the connection between our mind, our body, and our spirit and that we're spiritual beings having a physical experience. I used to think we learned life lessons or spiritual lessons in spite of our physical bodies, as if our bodies are burdens to be carried around. What a ridiculous notion. Then I began to realize that we have these wonderful life lessons because of our bodies. Our bodies are our vehicles. Just think of the wonderful things we experience while living in these wonderful bodies of ours. The embrace of a loved one, the sound of their voice, the feel of the wind in our hair and the sun on our face ... Rebecca just brought a beautiful new soul into this world, the ultimate in physical experiences. None of these wonders are possible without our magnificent bodies.

In this group of mine, we discuss the connection between our experiences (both past and present, both physical and emotional) our body, and our soul. I've learned that the memory of certain experiences can be held in certain parts of our bodies. I was thinking about this last week when I was reading Natalia's interview with colon therapist, Gil Jacobs. Alright, I know this sounds rather indelicate, but again, with Maggie's encouragement to 'keep this real', I'm going to go ahead and discuss this. So here we go, and don't say I didn't warn you. 

Processed food is really hard for our body to break down. Essentially, all the food gets processed out and we're left with something our body doesn't recognize. I keep hearing that over time, food that isn't digested tends to stick to the walls of our intestines. Yeah, I know, kind of a disturbing thought, isn't it? And if that's not bad enough, this stuff tends to keep building up as 'sticky sticks to sticky'. This therapist explained that those of us who grew up eating the typical American diet, no doubt have intestines impacted with undigested food consumed as far back as our childhood. Are you kidding me? Good grief!

And grief it is. Let's think about this. We've all heard that detoxing can be an emotional process. Now, I think I know why - and here's where it came together for me. Is it possible that whatever emotions we were feeling at the time we ate this stuff are still with us as well? Whether it be grief or sadness, fear or joy ... whatever that emotion was that we swallowed along with that meal, is that still in there, too? Is that why our gut is the seat of our emotion? Where we tend to hold so many feelings about our past experiences?

Okay, I'll just say it. I'm feeling a little bit crummy this week. No, not physically - physically, I feel pretty terrific. It's emotionally that I feel kind of like a ship adrift at sea. Apparently, eating raw tends to "awaken the demons from years of ... bad eating". Well, I certainly have had plenty of years of bad eating.

Ah, yes, maybe that's why I feel like I'm battling demons this week.

Rivers of peace,
deborah

1 comment:

  1. Goosebumps, Deborah. Goosebumps. What a thought! What if, um...purging?...all our past regrets could be as easy as a few enemas. Send it all down the drain, as it were? Maybe colon therapists would negate the need for that other kind of therapists?

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