How does our soul give itself a voice?

By sending messages to the body, because if you don’t want to hear, you have to feel…

There are times when all emotions show up: anger, aggression, doubt, resentment, and exaltation, fantasies, shame, fear, terror, insecurity. We feel like we can’t take it anymore, and sometimes, as contradictory as it may seem, symptoms and illnesses – not very serious ones, of course – come precisely to channel these emotions. A panic attack or stomach pain, for example, may express the same need to ‘throw out’ with power, an internal tension that needed to find a way out.

Many people complain about having colitis, reflux, dermatitis, and why do they show up? When colitis attacks, they act as an immediate outlet for very intense emotions, especially negative ones: fear, terror, anger, strong contrariness and a sense of shame. The discharges allow a rapid psychic rebalancing. On the other hand, there are too many things that upset us daily; gastroesophageal reflux takes on expressing that more, which would make us say serious things that could backfire on us. Intercostal pain gives voice to moments of emotional/ sentimental suffering, intense but neglected. Bursting emotions in relationships – such as anger, sense of injustice, and intense passion and involvement – may need dermatitis to complete their expression without creating anxiety.

A sporadic panic attack is sometimes the only option (however dramatic in the moment) to drastically reduce the build-up of energy and emotions that might otherwise create physical illness or psychotic symptoms. Nausea and vomiting, not associated with organic problems, are in charge of expressing the emotional rejection of a relational situation perceived as indigestible, unacceptable. They make us resist a little longer, but we will have to give in. Headaches and migraine often intervene as support when the mind is too full of emotions, thoughts and worries. It is no coincidence that some headaches often occur as a result of psycho-emotional stress.

Listen to the symptoms, and by that, I don’t mean that we have to analyze every sign and observe our body all the time.

In many cases, the symptoms want us to stop mistreating ourselves. A symptom plays an essential role in maintaining psychophysical balance and carries a message that comes from the deepness of our being, which must be listened to and, if possible, translated into a practical attitude to the benefit of the quality of life and relationships.

If we learn to listen and read the symptoms, life will be easier.

Photo by Pascale Weber / Styling Victoria Steiner