Since I became sick I have had my focus on, what I could do myself, to help my body heal, and preferably, as soon and as fast as possible!
Good food and rest
But most importantly,
I have been thinking, what is there in this for me to learn?
I kept asking myself – how could I who is, so healthy, become so sick?
How?
I poked and I prodded, I took deep breaths, I scratched my head, I turned and I swirled with the question……why, and what is in here for me to learn?
The illness, the imbalance in me, surely had a message, a very important one, I knew, but what was that message?
I finally got it ! I knew that stress creates havoc in people’s bodies. But somehow I didn’t think it also meant in my own body!
I could somehow, magically escape stress and just move on, without it having any effect on me…….
Just continue my tin soldier act …. stressing away….
But reality is, no-one can, not even me or you! Eventually, stress catches up with us and we break down in some way or the other. In my case, it was this infection, but it could just as well have been, depression or a heart attack…
I have to admit that I have been stressed, emotionally stressed for quite some time and finally my body broke down. I had neglected to hear my body’s desperate whispers in my ear for too long. I had not been listening and in the end it had to scream, in the form of an illness, that almost wiped me out, to finally, finally, get my attention!
Quiet enough to hear
Illness forced me to become quiet enough to hear.
What I learned is that we can eat healthier than heathy and we can exercise till the moon goes down. But, if we are stressed, its not going to work. It’s like a beach ball we can try to hold it down under the water, but it eventually will pop back up.
The truth is, stress robs us of life, it makes us sick – it’s a killer!
Please see the interview by clicking the link below, with Gabor Mate MD – Dr. Mate, a Vancouver based doctor, who has for many years worked in the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver Hospital where he was the medical coordinator. Based on medical studies and his own personal experience, and through his work, states that there are important links between the mind and the immune system.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/15/dr_gabor_mat_when_the_body
Stress is a sign to slow down and listen. The problem with stress is that we become used to it and can hardly even feel we are stressed after a while it just feels “normal” to feel like that.
Stress actually starts in our childhood, for example, some of us learned not express emotions and needs as children. This means we are much more receptacle to becoming stressed because we have learned early on to suppress our emotions and needs.
Stress weakens our immumne system and makes us more prone to diseases and while stressed it’s more difficult to heal.
It’s obvious that stress creates imbalances in our bodies and our lives! It should be treated with uttermost respect – symptoms of stress are not only whispers, they are the body’s desperate scream for attention!
Read more about stress symptoms, signs and causes here
Read Gabor Mate’s book “When the body say’s no” Understanding the stress- disease connection.
Anne Sture Tucker 
I hope that you recover from your illness soon. Your point on how stress becomes such a way of life that we no longer notice it is well taken here. I know this is true for me. Have you been resting in that wonderful red chair overlooking the lake?
Yes its true isn’t it – how stress sneaks in on us and we get so used to it, it becomes just the way it is.
That red chair is incredible – it on the dock at my friends place – they live right on the lake and it’s the most beautiful peaceful place on earth 🙂
Hope you are well!! XXX
I agree as well. Stress has a way of becoming normal and is probably the worst thing you can do for your health. Too bad not stressing is easier said than done in most cases :(. Hope you are feeling better soon!
Thank you Sara!
Welcome back Anne! Stress can be a silent killer…
Thank you dear Amy! You are right, stress really can be a killer!
Hope you are well!! XXX
I hope that this comment finds your health improving. Being a ‘Type A’ all my life, I have always known what stress can do to the body, but like you, thought not to me. Our bodies do have a way of letting us know what they need, if we take the time to quiet ourselves and listen, but if not, they seem to take more dramatic measures, bringing us to our knees. When I began to meditate, I finally found the calm I needed. But I also know how easily I can slip back into old ways.
Dear LuAnn – thank you for your comment! It’s so true isn’t it, how if we don’t listen to the body and it’s messages, health can bring us to the knees!
I relate to the meditation – I love it so much and it’s an amazing way to find calm – and yes it’s easy to slip back into the old ways – but luckily we know the way back 🙂
Hope you are both well!!XXX
Great post, Anne. Hope you;re feeling so much better now. 🙂
Thank you friend 🙂
How are you now?
Thank you dear Paula – I’m on the mend and I plan to back to normal very soon 🙂
I hope you are well my friend!! XXX
I hope you will be recovering soon, dear friend! Get well,..;! 🙂 xxx
Thank you dear Sophie XXX 🙂
Hope you are well!!!
I wondered why we hadn’t heard from you in awhile. I hope you’re on the mend. I love the chair on the deck. Being at the cottage and by the water de-stresses me immediately.
I agree – a cottage by the lake and a red chair – number one way to de-stress 🙂 I love it!
I hope you’re feeling better now. I have just come down with a flu too. I am doing my flu curing yoga and drinking lots of lemon grass and honey tea. Sigh. I wish it would go away!
Dear Cass – I hope your flu is long gone by now and that you are back to your healthy self again!
Yoga and lemon grass honey tea – what a great cure!
What kind of yoga do you do?
XXX
I hope you are well, Anne….
Paula you are wonderful – thank you for thinking of me!! XXX