I recently wrote a book about how I healed my decades long experience with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and while it’s a wonderful thing to have written a book, and to have healed from such a harrowing syndrome, that is not what this article is about. Today, I want to share with you a very significant revelation that ultimately set me on my path to wellness.
There were four key things I did to finally find my way out of the hell of IBS, and only two of them had to do with food. The first and most important was a critical shift in my mindset. I know, it’s such a buzzword, and can be so overused as to feel meaningless, but stick with me.
There is a very common belief that one will not heal from IBS – like, ever. Now, a belief is really just a thought that we think often enough that it becomes “true” – it doesn’t actually make it true. It just means we believe it is true. So all the years I suffered, as badly as I wanted to be well, to find a cure, to not be suffering, I was operating under the belief that I could not get well. The medical literature said it. The Facebook groups said it. The Blogs and articles and networks all said it, and many, many still do.
To want so badly to be well and to be constantly seeking methods to achieve wellness, and yet to believe on the other hand that it is not possible, is quite a terrible place to be. There are many areas of life where we may do this: To be mentally stuck in a rut of wanting something that you tell yourself isn’t possible to have. And, until that mindsight shifts, that belief, that new “truth” of believing maybe there is some other alternative, how could you possibly find your way to something new?
So it was with my own journey, me, a holistic coach who knows the power of mindset, and yet I had fallen for what everyone else was saying about whether I could heal. It was then, in the midst of a horrific bout of symptoms, just as I felt I could not possibly get worse, when I desperately ordered and then eagerly took a supplement advertised to help people with IBS.
Long story very short, my symptoms not only did not abate, they grew so terrible that I was scared I had done long term damage. It was, in that moment, when I finally said, “Enough. I will no longer live this way. I refuse to accept it.”
And with that, my mindset shifted, just a smidge – I didn’t grasp onto a full and complete “I will be 100% better tomorrow” mindset. No, I just said, “this won’t work for me. I will find a way to feel better. I want to feel better, I believe I can feel better.” And that shift helped me start to climb my way out of the pit of hell that was IBS.
A Microshift is All it Takes
Why did that microshift in my frame of mind, my mindset, make such a difference? Because what you tell yourself is important. As you listen to your own self talk, be attentive to what your point of focus is. The words you say, whether to yourself or to others, have great power.
Shifting from “I will never get well” to “I would like to get well” or “I would like to feel better”, can then become “I would like to know how to feel better” and “I would really like to understand what I can do to feel good.” Shifting toward possibility, toward what you do want, what you desire, can open your up to new truths and alternatives you hadn’t thought of before. This is true in many areas of your life, not just health.
What If
Sometimes, though, when we’ve been thinking a thought long enough that we believe it to be true, even if we don’t want it to be true, coming up with an alternative statement that we do believe can be tricky. One simple way to explore new possibilities is the What If game. Here’s how it works.
If you are in the midst of a struggle with self, with a belief you have but a desire that is in contradiction to that belief, try out some phrases that begin with What If. This can be particularly helpful when you are “certain” that there is no solution, but the feeling of no solution is so heavy and hard – (which, by the way, is a great indicator that your desire is in complete opposition to a belief).
The What If game lets you go a little wild, get a little crazy, really go for the fantasy of what you want to be true, to hone help you break down some barriers around what you think you believe and to hone in on a new possibility, a new truth.
Point Your Focus on Your Desires
Remember, your point of focus should be on what you want, not on what you think isn’t available to you. This is the power of positive thinking, and it is mindset, and it takes practice. For my journey with IBS, I went really big with the What If game at first – I had all this “proof” that I would never get well, so I had to go beyond the goal posts, beyond home plate, all the way out of the stadium.
I went from “What if I never get well” to “What if I find the cure for not only IBS, but cancer and acne too”, and “What if this ends up being the very best thing that’s ever happened to me”. It helped me lighten up. It helped me realize what I really wanted was just to feel better.
Also read: Broccoli Helps Heal the Brain, Protect Your Gut, Accelerate Recovery
Recognize Your Truths (and Dare to Change Them)
When you think about the way that a contradiction of belief and desire feels in the body, you can recognize right away that there is opposition happening. When you want something so badly, but it feels impossible, it is often quite a heavy feeling. It may feel like fear. Versus something that feels in alignment with what you want and believe you can have which may feel light, or like hope, or even love.
Check in with yourself. Test your truths. Is the thought you are thinking, the belief, coming from a place of fear, or from hope? Is it heavy, or is it light? This can help you identify what you are in fact pointing your focus at (the possibility, or the impossibility).
Practice Your New Truths, like Strengthening a Muscle
When you identify something you could perhaps improve your mindset around, know that saying things out loud can also have great power. You do not need to shout them, nor even say them to another person. But in a moment of doubt, or perhaps a focus on the negative, your goal is simply to eel a little better. So, work with a new truth, a new statement of possibility, and just whisper it to yourself, over and over.
Listen to the words that you choose when you talk about things: are they in keeping with your positive focus, with empowerment and possibility, and being open to new things? Or are they belittling, fear-based, closing down statements? The mindset work is simply to shift to something more empowering, something a little more positive, a little lighter and more hopeful. Once you are pointed in the direction of what you do desire, the trajectory of that mindset will lead you.
Thumbnail Credit: katemangostar
Originally a Michigan native, Lisa Thorne is an adventurer and a live-outside-the-box-er who has cultivated a remarkable life of abundance and great joy. Lisa has deep respect and awe for the natural world and its ability to nourish our souls and bodies, and after many years living around the globe, returned to beautiful Michigan where she now often uses nature and its wonders as a model in her role as a holistic coach, author, and photographer. With a background in both the Western medical world and alternative health, Lisa employs her wealth of knowledge, formal education, and life experience to identify the keys to helping others get unstuck and achieve their dreams. Find all her links at linktr.ee/lisathorne.
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