All Is Well: Heal Your Body With Medicine, Affirmations, and Intuition (15 page)

coutrements. Note your mood throughout the day. If your mood

plummets, this will clue you in to the amount of importance you

place on external appearances—the appearances that hide who

you are.

Take time out of your busy schedule to try some new activities.

Try to find something that you enjoy for its own sake, not because

it will make you richer, smarter, or more attractive. The goal is to

build up your true identity and realize that it has value. You can

schedule time once a week or even a little time once a day. The

important thing is to spend some time with yourself—without the

distractions of the world. Tune in to your thoughts. Get to know

who you really are and this will guide you to better self-esteem

and better health in the third emotional center.

From the Clinic Files: Digestive Health Case Study

By the time I met Ken, age 27, he already owned a successful

cowboy boot business and was living the high life in every sense

of the word. He had a home in Nashville and a farm in its suburbs.

Ken loved the rush he got from spending money, eating, drinking,

smoking, driving fast cars, and chasing women. To maintain his

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extravagant lifestyle and win the admiration of the many women

in his life, Ken worked day and night—fueled by copious amounts

of caffeine. Ken’s motto in life was “Nothing succeeds like excess.”

This lifestyle worked for Ken for many years, but when he

came to me he was finding it hard to keep everything together.

He struggled to pay his bills. He was stressed and anxious about

everything, and it seemed that his stomach was equally anxious.

The stress of trying to keep his head above water financially reg-

istered in constant heartburn that he tried to medicate with daily

antacids. However, rather than downsize, Ken tried to keep his

extravagant lifestyle going by spending money he didn’t have.

He eventually ended up in the emergency room with diagno-

ses of esophageal reflux, gastritis, and a small bleeding stomach

ulcer.

When we talked to Ken, he just didn’t understand why all

those antacids he was taking didn’t prevent the burning feeling

in his stomach. To achieve digestive health and understand why

antacids weren’t his gastrointestinal salvation, he first needed to

understand the relationship between his esophagus, stomach, and

normal acid production.

When we swallow food, it enters into the esophagus, which

dumps the food into the stomach, where it begins to be broken

down by gastric enzymes, one of which is acid. There is a one-

way trapdoor between the esophagus and the stomach so these

acid enzymes don’t back up or “reflux” into your esophagus and

mouth, causing burns and erosions. But this trapdoor can weaken

and thus not shut fully to prevent the reflux. If this happens often,

the diagnosis could be gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.

This was Ken’s first problem.

His next problem was his stomach ulcer. Like a football team,

stomach problems involve a balance between the offense (the

elements that break down the food, the amount of acid, and

other stomach enzymes) and the defense (elements that protect

the inner stomach wall). When people have stomach pain, al-

most everyone thinks about lowering acid with antacids but not

about helping protect the stomach lining’s mucus, bicarbonate

levels, blood supply, prostaglandin inflammatory mediators, and

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appropriate bacterial levels—all of which defend your digestive

tract from getting ulcers.

To reduce Ken’s digestive issues, we advised that he make a

number of changes in his life. He needed to reduce the size of his

meals, lose 20 pounds, and stop wearing his standard uniform

of tight jeans, which put pressure on the abdomen and physi-

cally compress the bowels and lower esophageal sphincter. He also

needed to stop smoking. In addition, we changed his diet so it

didn’t include food that added to the acidic base of his stomach.

We recommended that he stop eating chocolate, tomatoes, caf-

feinated beverages, fatty and citrus foods, onions, peppermint,

and alcohol—at least for a while. Once his ulcer healed, he could

have one alcoholic drink per day. We also put Ken on an eating

schedule and had him angle his bed in the best way to prevent

the effects of stomach acid on his esophagus. We put him on a

schedule that required him to not eat during the three hours prior

to going to sleep. This would allow his food time to digest, and it

would mean that he was upright during this process—lying down

makes it easier for the acid to move up toward the throat. For the

same physical reason, we recommended that he sleep with the

head of his bed raised or with his body propped up on pillows.

The very straightforward changes we recommended to Ken

would help get him on the right track, but he also decided to take

a bit more dramatic action. He began taking antibiotics to lower

the corrosive bacterial levels of
Helicobacter pylori
in his stomach.

Then he was given a choice of three types of drug therapy: ant-

acids (Maalox, Mylanta, Rolaids, and Tums), which neutralize

stomach acid; H2 blockers (Axid, Pepcid, Tagamet, and Zantac),

which lower acid production; or proton pump inhibitors (Nex-

ium, Prevacid, Prilosec, and Zegered), which block acid produc-

tion and help heal the esophagus wall. All of these medications

have side effects. For example, long-term use of proton pump in-

hibitors in people over 50 can be associated with hip, wrist, and

spine fractures.

To help stabilize his body and prevent as many side effects as

possible, we recommended that, in addition to his medical care,

Ken consider an integrative medical approach to his treatment.

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I suggested that Ken see a reputable Chinese herbalist and acu-

puncturist and work with this expert to figure out which of the

common herbal blends recommended for digestive problems would

be best for his unique case: Shu Gan Wan, Aquilarie, Saussurea, Sai

Mei An, or Xiao Yao Wan.

In the behavioral changes category, we recommended that

Ken take some time to look honestly at his life. To do this, he took

the recommendations we outlined earlier regarding his appear-

ance and financial matters, and wrote out the feelings that each

brought about. His goal was to reduce his anxiety levels and revise

his motto to “I can succeed without excess” in work, smoking,

drinking, and eating. We set him on a schedule of aerobic exer-

cise, 30 minutes every day, to get his excess energy out and weekly

massages, aromatherapy, and lessons in guided imagery to help

him relax and de-stress his muscles. This relaxation would eventu-

ally sink in all the way down to his digestive tract.

Ken needed to work with affirmations to help change his

underlying thoughts. He used affirmations for general stomach

health (I digest life with ease); general stomach problems (Life

agrees with me. I assimilate the new every moment of every day.

All is well); ulcers (I love and approve of myself. I am at peace. I am

calm. All is well); and anxiety (I love and approve of myself and I

trust the process of life. I am safe).

The many changes we helped Ken implement in his life

brought him to full recovery—his digestive tract and his life were

on a much healthier course.

Weight Issues and Body Image

People with weight and body image problems are givers and

doers and are often excessively generous. On the face of it these

are all good qualities. However, as with those who suffer from

other third emotional center health problems, people with health

issues related to weight are usually governed by fear and low self-

esteem. They expend all their energy on others and have little left

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over for themselves. Who they are is defined by how much they

do for others.

Weight gain and weight loss can be signs of an underlying

health problem such as thyroid or hormonal imbalance, but they

can also be the
cause
of health problems such as heart disease.

So first address the physical problems that are triggered by being

overweight or underweight, or by certain body image disorders,

such as anorexia and bulimia. Once you have a handle on the

most serious of these, it’s time to face the emotional issues that are

contributing to your weight issues.

Once again it is all about balance. I am not suggesting that you

stop doing good deeds or helping others, or become self-centered.

The point is to examine
why
you are running yourself ragged help-

ing others while your own needs remain unmet. Once you have

done this, you can begin to alter the negative thoughts and be-

haviors that are adding to your health problems by listening to

what your body is telling you and incorporating affirmations into

your life.

Louise Hay’s affirmation theory demonstrates how weight is

a reflection of our self-image. So for example, being overweight

or having an excessive appetite is a result of low self-esteem and

avoiding your feelings. According to Louise, fat in general is a pro-

tective shell created by people who are overly sensitive and feel

they need protection. To begin to remove this shell and promote

weight loss, the affirmation would be “I am at peace with my own

feelings. I am safe where I am. I create my own security. I love and

approve of myself.”

Anorexia has to do with extreme fear and self-hatred. The af-

firmation to begin the process of valuing yourself is “I love and

approve of myself. I am safe. Life is safe and joyous.” Bulimia is

about stuffing and purging caused by self-hatred, hopelessness,

and terror; the healing affirmation is “I am loved and nourished

and supported by Life itself. It is safe for me to be alive.”

Louise’s affirmations will vary depending on the thought

pattern and the body part that is experiencing illness. For exam-

ple, weight in the belly area is associated with anger over being

denied nourishment, whereas being overweight in the thighs has

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to do with childhood anger—possibly at a father. (For more spe-

cific affirmations that Louise recommends, refer to the table on

page 183.)

Eradicating old, negative thought patterns is a particularly

important step for people with weight problems. Low self-esteem

can lead to an overflow of self-destructive thoughts. Change these

thoughts with a positive, self-esteem-boosting affirmation such as

“I love with wisdom. I nurture and support others as much as I

nurture and support myself.”

If you are a charitable, kind, and generous friend, good for

you! But remember to be equally devoted to yourself. It is not self-

ish to focus on your own needs, appearance, and happiness. In

fact, doing so is the only way to be a true friend, partner, or par-

ent. If you don’t take care of yourself, at some point you won’t

have anything left to give.

So the first thing to do is to look at why you keep doing for

others at your own expense. Do you have a belief that you are

only worth something if others need you? Can you think of a re-

lationship or situation that would have brought this belief about?

Try journaling about this. See if you can establish why you feel

this way.

You must work against this false belief, and the best way to do

that is to take a responsibility holiday. Take one day a month, or

a few hours a week, to not do anything for anyone. This is time

to focus solely on yourself. Take a class or find a hobby you enjoy.

Nurture your self-esteem. Realize that you have innate worth and

that you cannot judge yourself solely on what you do for others. If

you don’t change your current mind-set, your body will signal you

that it is feeling deprived and weight issues will emerge.

From the Clinic Files: Weight Issues Case Study

Isadora, age 28, was dependable, prompt, and quick to vol-

unteer her time at work or for a worthy cause. Similar to many

people who suffer from weight problems, she was more than will-

ing—she was thrilled—to help others. Isadora told me it gave her

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life purpose and direction. But in spite of her many good deeds,

her self-esteem was so low that she could barely look at herself in

the mirror.