Self Care Bravery: How to Take Care of Yourself in a Warped World

It is vital to everything that you are and to everything that you ‘be’ that you are checking in with yourself to see what is true for you.

This means you must do your due diligence even if it looks ‘ok’ superficially, train yourself to look past the presentation.

Read The Fine Print Of People, Places And Things: Research (Observe), Ask Questions And Run It By The Boss Otherwise Known As Your GUT.

This requires, training your ‘ears’ to hear from your gut because we have been socialized to only rely on our brain/mind and throw away all else.

Contrary to this ‘training’, I am asking you to turn up the volume of what you are feeling.

**Take care of yourself** by asking yourself questions and awaiting the response to come from your gut or your heart these two centers feel different than the response in the head.

It can feel subtler or softer.

As you train yourself to listen, when it is coming from your mind, it is the loudest as you have given it the most audience.

This voice also is relatively more ‘negative’ and alienates you even in the recesses of your mind.

And often, it won’t stop until what you feel inside matches outside and vice versa.

The story in the mind either is pulling from old stories from your life OR it creates scenarios to keep you from moving forward.

Be careful. It is quite tricky in an untrained mind.

Running it by the BOSS can be applied to everything and should be applied to everything: a job, a business venture, a romantic partner or a diagnosis.

No matter what your family says or what your girlfriend’s say (if you can block out what you think they are gonna think or say), your inner knowing aka your gut or heart will let you know what is a yes or a no for you.

Why? Because you have to live with the results of the direction you go in or don’t go in.

It has to resonate for you, it has to feel as good as it can internally so that you have harmony.

No split energy means you have a directive. Your own.

Several years ago, I went to Mexico City on a business trip.

Everyone (including the Mexicans) says [DO NOT DRINK THE WATER].

This wasn’t my first business trip to Mexico City, so I knew the drill.

However, when I do travel, my digestive system requires some assistance, so what better than some ruffage.

So, I had a salad. What is salad typically cleaned with? That’s right: water.

Very soon after lunch, my body let me know this was not the right decision.

I had meetings to attend and my calendar was full of presentations.

The purpose of my trip was to present.

I should have cancelled my schedule and came home.

This would have been caring of myself. But this didn’t happen.

My best friends during the trip were: the bathroom, the pallet I made on the floor in the corner in my colleague’s office and the hotel bed.

It took all the strength I could muster to give great presentations, answer questions, smile - then go lay down on the pallet in the fetal position until the next presentation.

It was awful!

When I got ‘stateside’, I went to an internist who was in my healthcare network.

He listened to my story for 2 maybe 3 minutes and then informed me that I had IBS.

He went on to say that women in my age bracket and my ethnicity undergo stress (usually from their careers) and have IBS.

He didn’t give me a test for IBS (not ONE), he didn’t look at my tongue, he barely looked at me - never touched me and wrote a prescription for the condition, he said I had.

With crumbled prescription in hand, I left his office.

My very active gut sent me a message different than the messages it had been sending me over this course that something wasn’t right.

It was different than my stomach cramps.

It wasn’t exactly - physical.

I won’t fill this in too much as it is different for everyone and it is vital that you tune in to what and how your messages ‘come in’.

He didn’t hear a word I said and told me to schedule a follow-up visit.

I was fine when I got to Mexico City, I had lunch then I wasn’t fine.

How is this IBS?

Even though, my gut was compromised, I paused, listened and I went to a colonist instead.

Because I was going ‘alternative’ - I had to pay out of pocket which would seem extreme to someone observing my situation.

Crazy even. I had ‘excellent’ health insurance, why spend more money?

Taking the drug felt more harmful than good.

In fact, nothing about it felt right to me.

My body should be able to calm itself and heal with a little help.

I had to trust that I was doing the right thing.

I was also willing to continue to listen and go find another doctor if the colonic wasn’t effective.

In gratitude, my colon healed without the drug.

Remember the follow up visit I was instructed to make?

I did go back to see this doctor.

I wanted to see what would happen when I told him about my findings.

He was anything but happy for me.

He waved off the effectiveness of a colonic being able to heal my gut.

And yes, he still wanted me to take the prescription and to schedule a follow up.

My POV was to get out of his office never to return.

Months later, I heard a report that the drug he prescribed me, killed several people!!!

I couldn’t believe my ears.

I thought about those people who thought they were doing what was best for their bodies. Dead?

This still makes me speechless!