Healthy Transitions

Part of life is going through transitions.  Changing jobs, moving, divorce, stopping smoking and losing a loved one, are just a few of transitions that move us into another direction.  Sometimes transitions are easy for people – this article is to help the times that aren’t easy. 

The first thing I would highly recommend is to scream!!! Yes, scream – find a place, in your car, your bedroom, outside in the forest – somewhere where people won’t think you are physically injured and scream – let it loose – scream from your core, from your toes, with every breath you have – let it all out, as loud as you can.  You will be surprised how good it feels to let go of this noise, this emotion, the tension, etc.  It feels great!!  You can do this as often as necessary – there are no rules for screaming.

This is a healthy way to help let out all the energies that you would otherwise hang onto.  Energies that can not only prevent you from moving forward, but also can make you sick in the future.

Once that is done, it is important to support yourself when going through transitions. 

Usually when people are going through hard times, they eat bad food, drink or smoke too much, or do other harmful things to try and avoid the pain, avoiding the feelings that are bottling up inside them.  Take it from someone who has been through many tough times – if you don’t look at the issues/feelings and pain now, it will stick around your body until you do. And if you don’t ever acknowledge them, they will do whatever it takes to get your attention until you pay attention to them.

 It is usually better now than later. Granted, sometimes we are too weak to look at and deal with issues – and that is expected in some circumstances.  But eating right, getting fresh air, and being around others in a healthy environment can help give you the strength to then do this important work – of letting go, and moving forward.

Eating

Transitions, for some people, mean eating.  This can be binging on a bag of potato chips, or eating anything and everything in sight.  Unfortunately, people gravitate towards the poorer food choices during this time, which can only make things worse. When a person has a lot of grief, trying to bury it with food is common. It is easy to see why there are so many overweight people in America – when people don’t deal with their grief, it can manifest as weight gain very easily. Some people, on the other hand, lose weight. They stop eating. We see this often with women when they get divorced. They had all this extra weight, and no matter what they did, could not lose it – until they got divorced, and then it just literally fell off – without even trying.  The best thing is to eat and to eat high quality food – that will not only feed you nutritionally, but spiritually as well.  Putting food in your body with a high vibrational energy will help give you the energy you need. Comfort food is important – but within moderation is best.  Eating properly will give your body what it needs to not only get through this transition, but also to support you in finding the direction you may be looking for to move ahead.

Support

Some ideas to help you mentally are meditation, exercise, support groups and books.

Meditation either by yourself, or with others, can help you find and be in a comfortable place mentally so you feel safe to let go of emotions.  Meditation can be very powerful for some people. It doesn’t cost anything, and you can get books and tapes at most libraries to help you find what meditation methods would work best for you.  Exercise is another important tool to help you work through transitions.  Just walking each day can help you get fresh air, and move toxins and old energies out of your body so that new healthy experiences will now be drawn to you.  There are a plethora of support groups.  Just look on the Internet, check at your school, library, or church.  Somewhere there are people that would love to help you, allow you to share your story and help you move forward in a healthy manner.  There are many support books out there, free at your local library or at most bookstores you will find a nice selection of self-help books that will give you ideas to help you get through your specific transition. 

Support your Nervous System

Good chiropractic care helps keep the nervous system working optimally.  Many people think that chiropractors are just “back crackers” and that they only need to go when they have a back problem, when actually, a good chiropractic adjustment helps to facilitate the body’s correction of nerve interference.  I equate it the electrical system of our body, just like in our car.  When our nerves misfire, or are short-circuiting, we cannot be expected to think clearly or have our body work optimally, especially during stressful times, when our nervous system is being pushed to the limit.

Vitamins

Eating right is important, even more so when you are stressed or going through a difficult time.  When we are stressed, the first thing to get pulled out of our bodies is Vitamin C.

So taking a Vitamin C supplement, or eating foods high in Vitamin C, such as broccoli, oranges, pineapple, asparagus, kale, lemons, mangos, onions and radishes is a great way to make sure you are getting enough for the excess that is being utilized by your body at this time. The next vitamin that is used by your body are all the B vitamins, B1 (Thiamin), B2 (Riboflavin), B3(Niacin), B6(Pyridoxine HCL) and B12(Cyanocobalamin).  Many of these B Vitamins are made in our small intestines by beneficial bacteria, also known as probiotics.  If you drink chlorinated water, take prescription drugs – especially antibiotics, or drink coffee or are under a lot of stress – your level of probiotics can be depleted. This is discussed in much more detail in the May issue of Voice of Choices.  The point is, it is important to take B Vitamins, in the foods we eat, in extra supplementation when we are depleted, and to make sure we have enough of the helpful bacteria that make these for us as well.

Other helpful tools

There are many other nutritional products that you may find useful, including adaptagenic herbs, homeopathics, and essential fatty acids.  The most popular adaptagenic herbs we use are Suma, Astragalus root, and Eleuthero root (which used to be commonly referred to as Siberian Ginseng, but isn’t a true ginseng).  Adaptagenic herbs are called this because they help us adapt to changes of any kind.  These can be taken individually, but we have a formula we recommend with all of these in it – and affectionately refer to it as our “happy pills”.  Many of our customers tell us that they love it because they know they are still going to go through the stress of their situation, but that this combination helps to take off the edge, and they don’t seem to care about or put so much energy in the issue as before, making their days happier, or at least much easier to get through.

Essential Fatty Acids

There are many substances that are high in essential fatty acids; fish, flax seeds, olive oil, avocados, nuts, coconuts, fish, etc.  Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are extremely beneficial for our bodies as they feed the nervous system, circulatory system, digestive system, the skin, and act as anti-inflammatory in our bodies.  As reported in many publications over the past few months, it is best to rotate your sources of EFA’s, in other words, use your bottle of flax seed oil, then switch to fish oils, and then back. Your body will utilize it better. In addition it was announced that olive oil (the good expensive organic, cold-pressed virgin olive oil) was reported to be just as effective as ibuprofen in studies for pain as an anti-inflammatory.  All of these EFA’s are helpful when going through transitions by feeding the nervous system, to help keep you calm, helping with inflammation from stress and with the digestive and elimination systems which also are usually affected during stressful times.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy has been effectively used for a few hundred years throughout the world.  They work on the “like cures like” principle.  It may be best to see a homeopath, depending on your issue, so that they can take all factors into consideration to recommend the right homeopathic cure. There are homeopathic cures for headaches, insomnia, stomach issues, and for most other emotional issues, such as irritability and grief.  I particular use Ignatia Amara for grief and emotional upsets.  It is especially useful for people that eat too much to bury their grief.  I also recommend Gelsemium for a headache that is brought about from bad news or mental stress.  Also Chamomilla is wonderful for when someone is feeling irritable, which is common during transitions.

Flower essences (often seen as Bach Flower Remedies) are popular also for transitional times  - especially Rescue Remedy, which can also help pets and plants during transitions as well. Some other flower remedies, which you may find useful, are Walnut, for protection during changes, Star of Bethlehem for grief from bad events, and Aspen for fear of the unknown and unseen events that may be preventing someone from moving through changes effectively.

Change is a part of life. Unless we are paying attention, transitions can affect our health in a negative way. Especially if we bury the emotions we have, or if our bodies aren’t nutritionally fed, then we have nothing to pull from during these stressful times.  It is usually very important for us to go through changes, for remember that for everything we supposedly lose, new avenues are opening for us as well. Making it through difficult changes in a healthy way helps us to continue to grow as human beings and instead of setting us back, can catapult us into new growth and opportunity if we allow it to do so.