Autoimmune conditions can seem like a monster to deal with, and that’s precisely because the conventionally trained, the western medical profession has no clue how to treat them successfully. I can say this because (1) it has been my experience for more than a decade, being physically ill with “unexplainable” symptoms and even hospitalized for a rare hepatic portal vein thrombosis (PVT) but being told that I was otherwise healthy and should just keep doing what I was doing (2) it is the experience of every person that I have worked with, and (3) the increasing numbers of symptomatic people struggling with a growing list of more than 145 known autoimmune conditions.
If you have been closely following an anti-inflammatory diet protocol for more than a year, getting regular exercise that is metabolically appropriate for your body, getting plenty of rest and sleep, had your adrenal stress and sex hormones, bacteria, parasite, and nutrient levels checked, and still, you are struggling with autoimmunity, then understanding your traumas could be the missing piece of your autoimmune puzzle. Your unresolved trauma may be the secret key to unlocking your autoimmunity.
Here’s why.
Chronic stress may have caused your vagus nerve to shut down. As a functional health practitioner, when I talk about living in a constant state of stress with the people I work with, they begin to understand that stress is a biological event happening inside the body-brain. They get it. They’ve come to me so often because they believe there is nothing, they can do about it and their associated symptoms. Suppose it feels impossible to switch your nervous system, that may be because of stressors like bacteria, viruses, mold, and parasitic toxins and/or human-made toxicants in the food, water, air, and relationships are pulling the lever, your body is stuck in a chronic state of fight, flight, or freeze – your sympathetic nervous system (SNS). However, there is often another hidden stressor pulling that lever. It is the unresolved traumas and childhood exposures to dysfunction that may be to making it impossible, despite your best efforts, to do all the “right” things to reverse your autoimmunity.
What happens in the body, happens in the brain.
It goes like this. Your vagus nerve (aka the wanderer nerve) runs from your brainstem through your neck and thorax and into your stomach. It carries messages from your gut, liver, heart, and lungs to the brain. Its job is to regulate organ functions such as digestion and heartbeat. It is the main contributor to your nervous system’s rest and digest branch of your central nervous system – your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). When it is clear of the threats assaulting your system, the vagus nerve reports the information to your PNS and your body, in essence, downshifts into the natural state of rest and digest mode.
The challenge we face today with the onslaught of modern stressors assaulting our body-brain function plus the hidden, unresolved traumas is that the chronic stress response designed to protect us from harm ends up shutting down the vagus nerve – it is closed for business. Living in a body steeped in stress, you can’t shift into rest and digest.
Why would you want to uncover and attend to your hidden unresolved traumas?
The vagus nerve is the single most vital nerve in the body that keeps your systems healthy and functioning optimally.
Congratulations, acknowledging this is a BIG step to healing your trauma, finding the missing pieces to your puzzle, and reversing your autoimmunity!
Connecting All the Pieces – Modern, Ancient, and Natural Remedies
Functional medicine focuses on wellness and getting to the root cause of illness, using the latest scientific research and tools to help you understand yourself and what’s going on within your body that is barricading you from feeling and functioning well. This model of care took the precepts of the 5000-year-old science of Ayurveda and has translated them into Western language for the modern western person doing daily life in our Western world. Like Ayurveda, Functional Medicine investigates root cause of dis-ease rather than just managing symptoms. This approach acknowledges YOU, the whole person as the first and last expert on YOU, creates a collaborative and helping relationship between you and your practitioner/s, therapists, and healers. I call this building your collaborative care team.
No matter who you choose to work with along your own healing journey, reversing autoimmunity takes time, self-compassion, and a curious awareness that unresolved trauma may be at the root of it.
Blessed to Live Now
We are living in a time when more people are waking up to their traumas. Awakened and aware of the impact trauma has on the body-brain and our genetic expression, more and more of us recognize that we want to stop the things that we can, like intergenerational trauma, and see to it that our children grow up with different experiences. We want to leave a legacy of kindness, action, and truth. Here is where your power lies.
There is no one way to solve your trauma puzzle and become the best, highest functioning versions of ourselves, energetic, happy, healthy, and loving. There are healers, therapists, and practitioners who have undertaken their healing journey. They are trauma-informed and can intimately understand and relate to what you are going through. Their behavior is safe and kind. If ever you feel otherwise, it is time to find a new therapist, healer, and/or practitioner.
Finally, we have at our fingertips today many modalities that can help you find the clues and the hidden pieces to resolve your trauma and reverse your autoimmune condition. There is no one size fits all approach to healing. In our upcoming healthy conversation for high-functioning females, we will be discussing common and effective therapies that people are using to heal their mind, body, and body-brain levels.
Please join us at our upcoming Tea & Talk on March 16 at 7PM CT where we will be discussing what Trauma is, how it is a root cause of autoimmunity, and the steps you can take to heal, move forward, and regain much-needed happiness and energy.
Register here: https://emergewellco.com/upcoming-events/
