Are you caught in a cycle of unwellness? Are you constantly getting sick, unable to achieve optimum health, or have a chronic issue that’s keeping you down? Or is the unwellness more mental and emotional? Are you replaying dysfunctional stories, ending up in the same toxic relationships, unable to achieve success, or feel like you’re plagued with “bad luck”? Sometimes challenges to our body, heart, and mind occur over and over to get our attention. Let’s talk about how to stop the cycle of unwellness and truly heal.
Recognition Before You Can Heal
Of course the first step to stopping the cycle of unwellness is to realize that you’re not well! What you’re dealing with is not normal, just because it feels normal (you got used to it) or you see others with the same issue. You also need to acknowledge that healing is possible. Until you have that awareness, you might be saying things like:
“I was born this way”
“It’s my genetics”
“I just have bad luck”
“All the good ones are taken”
“There’s no cure for this; I just need to manage it”
“There’s something special about THEM and that’s why they have success and I don’t”
You might believe that things just happen to you and that you have no control. You may even have an underlying belief that you deserve to be unwell and unhappy! All of these examples are going to cloud your ability to understand your situation completely and know that you can heal.
It took me a long time to realize my chronic sinus and urinary tract infections were a problem I needed to deal with. Once I was aware, I was eager to make changes to improve my health. (And I was very successful in stopping those cycles for good – I haven’t had an infection in over 15 years!)
By the time I was diagnosed with a thyroid condition years later, I was already primed to know that I didn’t need to accept this. My doctor presented my condition and medication plan as a life sentence. But having the experience of healing so many other areas of my holistic health, I knew it was possible with this too! I found stories from other people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who were able to bring it into remission. I now have my situation under control, for the most part!
Partner With Healing Coaches & Practitioners
Though I love teaching all about self awareness and reliance, as I mentioned above, it can hard for us to see our situation objectively when we’re in the middle of it. It’s wise to partner with a health coach, energy worker, therapist, acupuncturist, or other practitioner who fits the need of the condition you’re trying to heal. They can create a safe space for you to explore self growth and healing.
When I was having one dysfunctional relationship after another, some loving friends suggested that I see a therapist to help me. Not only did this therapist help me break out of the cycle of bad relationships. But in that 5 year period, she also helped me:
- make life changing decisions to study TCM
- leave my biotech job
- build a functional relationship with my husband
- heal deep-seated family trauma
- support my mental/emotional health when pregnant & post-partum
- and so much more!
The time and money I spent on those therapy sessions were priceless.
She didn’t do the work to make shifts in my life – I did. But I needed her to support me as I moved through some very huge transformations. I needed to bounce ideas off of her. I needed her to assure me that I wasn’t crazy when I felt the world pushing back on me to remain the same when I wanted to bust out of all of it. And I needed her to tell me the truth when I was “the problem” and needed to change my outlook on life and my actions.
Of course how much the practitioner or coach does with you hands-on is dependent on the scope of their practice. But I feel like more work is done when practitioners have a hands-off approach and work through your emotional and mindset issues that may be at the root of your problems.
Be Open To Constructive Criticism And Reflection
If you’re receiving help to break your cycle of unwellness and heal, it’s important to stay open to criticism and be willing to change. As I mentioned before, that was one of the major roles of my therapist in our time together. And as an Acupuncturist and a Health Coach, I make sure that my clients understand that this is my role too – to reflect back how they’re caring for themselves and what their energy is that they’re putting out into the world. Sometimes that process doesn’t feel good, but it’s necessary.
This story will help illustrate what I mean:
A friend went to an acupuncturist for fertility treatments. The acupuncturist told her that she was “too intense” and that she needed to make major changes in her lifestyle & attitude to increase her chances of conceiving a baby naturally. The client left feeling really upset. She said the acupuncturist was too harsh on her. She wanted my opinion on whether she should keep seeing this acupuncturist or to find someone else.
I told her first that the #1 thing that’s important in a healing relationship with a practitioner is that she feels safe to share what’s on her heart and that the practitioner really cares about her. If there’s no rapport, then find someone else.
However…
In this situation I felt like the biggest problem was that the client was not open to criticism. As a practitioner myself, I don’t think the practitioner was harsh at all. I would have said the same thing if I felt her lifestyle habits were making it challenging to conceive!
That’s a super important point for people to realize when they’re breaking out of an unwellness cycle.
- Doing what you’re doing now is not working.
- You need to try a new approach or change something in your life that’s keeping you from being well.
- The practitioner is trying to help you with that!
- If you can’t see that, then it just feels like you’re being blamed and the practitioner is being mean.
- You need to take responsibility for how your life has unfolded and get out of a victim mentality if you’re to have any hope in healing.
In Conclusion
This information I’m sharing is not going to land well with everyone. And not everyone is ready to heal. There needs to be some self-motivation and a willingness to look at the situation honestly & then change.
If you have that inner drive to break out of your unwellness cycle, I hope this helps you move forward! Comment below if you have any questions, or want to share parts of your wellness journey. And if you need my personal help, know that I can work with you 1:1 with Holistic Health Coaching to really move the dial in your life!
Well wishes to you friend…
