It has been a continued very hot and dry month over here in the UK and many people are now struggling with the prolonged excessive heat. Infact many of us may have noticed it has affected our mood and we may have been a little bit out of sorts. For those in the cooler parts of the world, you may equally have had enough of the cold and damp and lessened daylight hours.
All in all, I feel this month’s topic on communication could be a helpful read as we manage ourselves, our relationships and any inconveniences at these more testing times.
Communication is such an important part of our everyday life, and so often MIScommunication can cause some unwanted ‘downs!’ So managing effective communication is actually, I find, a big topic to be covered.
…and this is why I am bringing this subject to a blog, because I feel, in my experience, that homeopathy has an incredibly positive effect in blending our management of our communication to its optimal levels. Communication is not just using our voice; it comes across in body language, and actions / gestures that we may not even be aware of ourselves.
When using Homeopathy we look at symptoms, or ‘clues’ that the body will offer up for us to notice when things are not ‘in balance’ enough for us to be at our happiest and healthiest (I have referred to this in previous blogs so please do feel free to browse these blogs here) and we therefore need to notice, understand and decide on the best way for us to deal with it. If we are to ignore them, they will simply be pushed down in some way.
Again, I stress, communication isn’t always as easy as it sounds, but during a homeopathic appointment there is time to sit and talk and work things out in quite a helpful way, seeing how it is with us! Infact, LISTENING and an EMPATHETIC approach are key and very much part of a homeopathic consultation.
It may be during this time especially that we can understand patterns, link incidences of difficult communication with changes in our emotion, energy and general physical state in specific areas of our health in a different way that we would not be able to in a routine medical doctor’s 10 minute appointment!
Homeopathic remedies work so gently and subtly within the body, and being a holistic approach to medicine, homeopathy offers this blending in a way where the body responds and works in both emotional, physical and spiritual rhythms. When we do not say what needs to be said, or we say too much, or we generally don’t feel that communication is as easy or effective as it needs to be, two most common emotions we may feel are ‘stuckness’ and frustration. And in homeopathy, we would agree that we can feel ‘suppressed’.
What is trying to come out in a sentence may quickly get swallowed down. We can often easily see this within a difficult relationship, whether it be at work or home… or a case of grief – and many of my clients managing grief describe their experiences of worrying that if they do start expressing their loss, tears will come and their crying will never stop, or it will be too difficult for the person on the receiving end to cope with.
Crying is a form of communication.
Infact, all emotions have a place to be incorporated in communication but not necessarily in an over-exhausting or overly dramatic or traumatic way.
The throat area is one of the key areas affected when communication is not satisfactorily managed. You may have heard this area also known as the ‘Throat Chakra’ and we have remedies very specific to this area. Some other simple examples of our body’s response to the stress difficult communication can bring may be raised blood pressure, low energy, headaches, poor concentration, lowered immune responses to everyday bugs, anxiety, tinnitus… and I give other examples further below.
When using Homeopathy we look at symptoms, or ‘clues’ that the body will offer up for us to notice when things are not ‘in balance’ enough for us to be at our happiest and healthiest. We therefore need to notice, understand and decide on the best way for us to deal with it. If we are to ignore them they will simply be pushed down usually in these ways:
- EMOTIONALLY – BY ‘SWALLOWING’ OUR WORDS, SILENCING OUR VOICE, PRETENDING EVERYTHING IS FINE… USING EMOTIONAL TACTICS TO ESCAPE FROM THE DIFFICULTY AND PAIN WE MAY BE EXPERIENCING
…such as a false laugh, changing the subject, avoiding conversations or social events. Here we are suppressing our emotions in a variety of ways. - PHYSICALLY – BY SIMPLY REMOVING THE PHYSICAL PAIN / DISCOMFORT WITH MEDICATION OR OTHER TOXIC SUBSTANCES THAT MAY BRING RELIEF… BUT ONLY FOR A TEMPORARY TIME
Binge Eating chocolate or taking further doses of pain medication when we have not fully understood what is actually wrong, what the root cause may be and worked on improving that first to bring relief, might be two very simple and familiar ways to describe this! And many people may use exercise or even become in a state of constant movement such as jiggling a leg, clenching muscles or even our teeth as other actions to distract themselves – which is helpful initially, but may then leave our bodies in a worse state.
When we are suppressed emotionally and physically, our bodies will not work as effectively.
In homeopathy, we understand the way that when health is not understood and re-balanced, it creeps into a further worsening state. We can see how it pushes more obvious symptoms within… and where it goes in this deepening process, is eventually to the organs and inner most crucial parts of our body.
Samuel Hahnemann, founder of Homeopathy nearly 300 years ago, revealed this as ‘The Concept of Suppression’ whereby he explained the immediate connection with a decline in health when the body is not managing to ‘discharge’ all that it does not need, nor in a suitable way that it was built to. Thus, on a physical level, when the body is overloaded, it can become toxic.
To be able to understand this concept and the way it is linked with communication, is such an incredible thing, because when we are feeling that we are stuck in tricky situations, or we become aware of difficult things happening since we were unable to say how we feel or express ourselves in a way that we would prefer to, we can then so often see patterns of our health changing too.
I again give some examples: we might develop a cough; we might develop a different pattern of perspiration; our mood might change; our sleep might change; we might get prone to regular attacks of viruses or throat infections, or we may have bowel or gastric complaints; women may often see this play out in changes to their menstrual cycle; men may suffer in their libido and sexual performance.
So you can see why now, perhaps, that it is in my heart to have this conversation!
Using a homeopathic approach to our health can enable awareness and re-balancing with the relevant and specific remedies prescribed individually for each patient.
Being in a place where we can feel as comfortable as possible in our own body, mind and spirit is enhanced when we feel we can communicate in an effective way.
To feel heard, understood and valued is a fundamental need we have in our daily living and this is very much at the top of my list of things to treat when I am working with patients if there is any sign that for whatever reason, communication may not be at its optimum level and health complaints are not necessarily, therefore, coincidental!
Sometimes there may be an awareness of situations or events from our childhood or over our lives where we have suffered and not ever managed to fully move on from the damage/trauma that had consequences of unresolved difficulties. Communication will usually have been affected and may still be… it is therefore always such a joy to see the improvements along the journeys with my clients when we get to work together and healing begins with a renewed understanding of how things CAN get better and with the benefits of EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION going forward.
Remedies support the individual’s ability to go deep when they need to and find the strength and positive energy to often do some relevant emotional work to. They beautifully compliment any talking therapy so it is often that both are used at the same time.
Ali Lomax