Vue des coeurs

My world changed 

It happened in front of my eyes the very first time. I was transfixed.  

It was Malaysia, 2001, and it was my first year as a fully-fledged Chiropractor, working in a suburban clinic in Kuala Lumpur. A lovely woman had come in with an enormous goitre (thyroid gland) on her throat. While working with her it become apparent, she had unresolved stress held in her body, especially around her throat. So, I pulled out my “new” chart and started using Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) on her.  

Five minutes later as we were chatting, I realised that her goitre was shrinking! I was shocked. She said she had seen it grow and shrink in front of her eyes before as well. Everything I had been taught at university about the length of time it takes cells to become dysfunctional and then heal was coming undone in front of me. My world changed.  

In truth, my world view shift had been coming on for a long time. I had subconsciously suspected for years that a person’s body, heart and mind tended to interact or play with each other. 

Here is a close personal example. I had a joyful and bubbly mother, who managed to get herself into a prestigious university at 36 after not finishing high school. She was on cloud nine learning about John Donne (poet), the Black death and convict transportation. However, her perfectionistic self, combined with allergies and running a household meant when she got sick, she crashed and crashed hard. She got chronic fatigue in the 1980s. Let me tell you, it was the era when people said to your face, “you are making it up”, “it’s your fault you’re sick” and “it’s in your head”.  

Brutal – to say the least.  

I can tell you that my mum did not want to be sick! Interestingly, the process of her healing, the last 1/3 of her illness, taught me the most about intertwined feelings and body health.  

Firstly, it isn’t a simple affair this whole psychosomatic business. This brilliant word has been twisted to mean “it’s all in your head”. Please help me rescue the word back to its actual meaning. Pysche- means mind or emotions. Greek. Somatic – is body in Greek. Psychosomatic simply means the emotions impact the body! Wow!  

It is pretty clear that when the body is unwell, it can make the mind unwell. Best explain that one another day.  

xx Mary-Anne