My daughter was just over a year when she would scream her little lungs out for a good 5 hours/night. I would be jolted awake and try to comfort her, soothe her back to sleep, in any way that might help her obvious distress. Nothing seemed to work. I became more and more desperate and sought help. I felt like I was going crazy, that I was a terrible mother and that something was seriously wrong. (My podcast contains similar information, if you prefer to listen then check it out.)I really felt like I was nutso, so I went to a therapist. She told me that when people are sleep deprived, they do go crazy. Sleep is necessary for sanity. She recommended that I take the necessary steps to get some sleep. I did. I slept for almost a day and repeated the following day. Wow. I felt fantastic. I had the energy to do something different for my daughter.
A friend who had an allergy to milk suggested that she might have allergies. This was back in the day when allergies weren’t as common as they are now or people didn’t know as much about them. I had stopped giving her cow milk and her nose had stopped running (she’d had a “cold” for a good 2 months) however, the nightly screams were ongoing.
I’d certainly not had experience with allergies so I took her to our family doctor who booked a specialist in the city. I had another friend who was going to see a naturopath and she was thrilled with the results she was getting, so I booked my daughter in to see him too. We made the long trip in to see these specialists. While I was feeling refreshed for a few days, my daughter was still waking up every night, so I was exhausted. However I was hopeful we would get some answers.
The allergist was discouraging. He said she wasn’t allergic to anything and to stop fussing and let her eat. I thought he mustn’t be able to see! She was obviously well fed. Her nickname was “Jolly Pumpkin”!
I then went to the naturopath. My daughter was young and they couldn’t test her as they normally did because she was too small. Instead, she sat on my knee and was given a vial to hold. Each vial contained the essence of a variety of foods that she may show an intolerance toward. I was to hold my arm out at shoulder height and Dr Yawrenko pushed down with two fingers as she held each vial. I was skeptical. I was a rock climber, raft guide and strong. There were some foods, such as milk and tomatoes that I wanted her to eat.
No go. No matter how strong I made my arm, it plummeted with the milk, tomatoes, wheat and all food color dyes. Everything else was fine! Apparently when there was a food that affected her energy system in a way that weakened it my energy system was also weakened! How cool is that?! This was my first “aha” about how the bodymind is connected to and affected by energy.
I stopped feeding her the nasty substances that weakened her energy system. She was sleeping through the night within 3 days. I also got some sleep and my life improved dramatically. She still is sensitive to some foods although she has grown out of others. She is tuned into this energetic sensitivity and as a young adult manages her own wellness now.
Energy is called the subtle system because it is not obvious. Energy can impact your physical and emotional health. When you learn how to be aware of and work with your energy then you can take care of yourself in practical ways that enhance your life. How do you start to feel energy? Check out this guided exercise to start to tune in…. If you are tuned in then try it for fun! Beginners mind is when you allow yourself to experience something as though it is the first time. I invite you to do this exercise with beginners mind every time. It took me 6 weeks + to feel energy at first.
I believe that we arrive on earth as full little bundles of energy. Then, events or circumstances occur that block or freeze the natural energy flow. For example:
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physical blocks like allergies, sleep deprivation, injury or accidents.
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emotional blocks like being yelled at for laughing or laughed at for crying
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spiritual blocks like belief in Santa or the tooth fairy
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intellectual blocks like someone telling you you’re stupid.
These can happen from a place of good intention, too. Do you remember how much fun it was to run full out when you were young? If you were chasing a ball that rolled onto the street and a well intentioned adult yelled at you to stop that could shut down the flow of running in you.
People tap into their energy awareness in different ways. For some it is a sense of temperature difference: hot, warm, cold, icy. For others there is a density or lightness. It could be a magnetic push or pull. In any case, it is really useful to get a sense of how you may experience energy.
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