Healing Chronic Inflammation: How Functional Medicine & Self Compassion Help

 

 

 

We cannot hate ourselves well, y’all.

Try love loving yourself well instead.

Think about it….

Take Inflammation, as an example.

It gets a bad rap. But we need some inflammation.  In fact, you may want to thank your short-term acute inflammation right now for being there to help you recover from cuts, injuries and infections.

We couldn’t survive without it! ….But what healthy people do not need — is chronic inflammation, since that is associated with an inflamed body, impaired mitochondrial function, brain fog, and over time, disease.

Frequent body aches or brain fog may be a sign of chronic inflammation, and it’s worth checking out with a functional medicine MD who can work with you to help identify the root cause. (See resources for this at the end of this post.)

Because I have an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, I’m more familiar with chronic inflammation than I’d like to be. In addition to using the modalities of functional medicine & a healthy lifestyle (sleep, clean nutrients, exercise, connection, mindfulness, etc.)  I use a particular mindshift that I came up with to help myself heal faster:

Instead of hating my body for it’s “failure” to operate optimally, I choose to think of my inflammation like an over-protective mother:

She means well.

She means to protect, but she just goes overboard —

to a point that is unintentionally detrimental.

Yelling at her, fighting with her or hating her will only get me MORE inflamed. Instead, I give her appreciation for her good intentions and in a calm loving tone— I gently soothe her when I say

“Thank you for your good intentions. I appreciate your concern.

But I’ve got this. You relax a bit…. you deserve it….

you’ve become so over worked.I promise to let you know if I need you. ?”

I breathe love into the hurt parts and visualize a cleaning of every cell, sending love and light to each one.

Since utilizing the personalized medicine & lifestyle recommendations that functional medicine provides, as well as this shift in mindset– I rarely get any aches or pains now. If I do it is for a short time, usually because I’ve eaten something that I have an intolerance to, I’ve worked out too hard or more recently, when I’ve been exposed to mold. (Who knew?) But the chronic inflammation that I used to feel in my neck on a daily basis has dissipated. When I sleep right, eat right and mind my healthy habits — I feel younger and more vibrant than I did  a decade ago.

So consider giving that beautiful temple of yours some self-compassion and loving kindness. Thank your body, your organs, your cells for what it is doing right! And mindfully/visually/ lovingly coach what is not working optimally, back to vibrant health. Visually fill each cell with clean light and gratitude. (And If you’ve ever read EAT, PRAY, LOVE and enjoyed the part where the monk told her to visualize happy faces in each of her cells– do that too. It’s a fabulous visual.)

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For a great resource regarding Hashimoto’s and/or auto-immunity, check out Dr. Amy Meyers. She offers an abundance of useful information and resources.

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LINK: AMY MEYERS, MD  

Amy Myers, MD is a renowned leader in Functional Medicine and 2x New York Times Bestselling author of The Autoimmune Solution and The Thyroid Connection. She is the founder and medical director of Austin UltraHealth, a functional medicine clinic that treats patients from all over the world who are overcoming chronic illness. She has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, The New York Post, Women’s Health, Huffington Post, and numerous other television programs, radio shows, and print publications. She has helped hundreds of thousands recover from chronic illness through her dietary-based program, The Myers Way®, and she has created multiple programs, tools, and free resources to guide readers through her revolutionary approach to health. Her website is AmyMyersMD.com

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For wellness coaching, life coaching or brain health coaching– I see clients in person and via teleconferencing. Feel free to contact me should you wish to learn more.

Wishing everyone

Warmth and wellness-

-Michelle

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