What do you believe?

There has been a repeated theme coming up in my work and with the clients I guide 1:1 that I want to share. Whenever I see things repeating, it's a little nudge to me that it's something that needs to be discussed on a greater scale.

The theme I have been seeing over and over again the immense impact our beliefs have on our health. This applies on many, many, many levels — but they way it is showing up specifically in recent months is whether or not we believe we can get better.

Let me explain.

I recently had an enlightening conversation with Ezra, an incredible being who will be coming onto my podcast to share their story later this month.

Following several incredibly stressful, life-changing events — including a divorce, a move, a falling out with family members, and several bouts of COVID — they developed strange and debilitating neurological symptoms that progressively worsened over the next several years.

You can catch the full story on the podcast here [[link will be added once podcast airs later in the month!]], but the punchline is that after being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (or FND), he has made incredible strides in his recovery (including going from being wheelchair-bound to standing and walking assisted) that seem directly correlated to several things:

• They worked with a specialty clinic that displayed images and videos of previously wheelchair-bound patients not just walking but running into the ocean (more on why this matters in a sec);
• They cultivated a mindset of acceptance: essentially, they accepted that they had this diagnosis, the symptoms, and the general path they had to walk in order to recover — while also acknowledging and accepting that some aspects of their health and previous life might never be recouped due to the nature of the illness. They worked with a physician at UCLA who shared that acceptance of the condition is one of the hardest things to come by  and serves as a roadblock for many people moving forward. Because Ezra had already accepted their diagnosis and was actively pursuing ways to heal, their doctor told them, "I really believe you are going to recover." 
• And the most important: They grew up witnessing their grandfather, diagnosed with polio and wheelchair-bound, defying the odds and learning to walk again. Overall, their grandfather had the attitude of, "I'll be fine. I can still do all of the things I want to do." And he did.

How do these things play into our own health-outcomes and capacity for achieving health and healing?

As always, it comes down to the nervous system and our subconscious programming — the ways our brains were programmed to interact with the world, with the ages of 0-7 being the most impactful.

More specifically, our nervous systems need to see to believe that something is possible.

We are wired for survival, and one of the most threatening things to our survival is the unknown.

Here's the key takeaway:

If we have never seen that something is possible, then that qualifies it as an unknown. And this makes it very challenging for our nervous systems to get on board with whatever that thing is — and in many cases will actively work against it – in order to keep us in alignment with what is known, familiar, and "safe."

This happens even if we consciously know that the unknown thing is ultimately good for us and is something we deeply desire to achieve.

Bottom line: if your nervous system doesn't know it, it's a threat, and you will be "advised" to avoid it at all costs.

Ezra is an amazing example of how being surrounded by people who embodied a deep belief in the capacity for healing impacts health outcomes.

Of course, many of us are not so lucky. And here's where I invite you to do some introspection:

• What was the culture of health and illness when you were young?
• What medical conditions did the people surrounding you and raising you have, and what was their attitude toward them?
• What was their attitude about health and healing in general, about aging?
• Were they generally optimistic about any perceived roadblocks, or was there generally a negative or even defeatist attitude surrounding these things? 

If you are recognizing a pattern of overall negativity toward health, it is important to know that 95% of our lives - including our health outcomes - arise from this type of programming we were surrounded by, again with the ages of 0-7 being the most impactful.

But do not despair! Just as the brain can be programmed toward the negative, we can also rewrite and rewire the brain towards more positive outcomes - including toward health and healing. 

Depending on when you're reading this blog, I'll be teaching a class on this on July 11th, 2024. Here is the link with all the details and to enroll! After July 11th, it will be available to purchase in my online course catalog, which you can access here. 

As Bruce Lipton says, author of The Biology of Belief, "Change your consciousness, change your chemistry."  Remember there is always a deeper, root cause reason for your symptoms and illness - one that far transcends genetics or "luck of the draw." You are a powerful co-creator of your reality - a truth that is backed by neuroscience! 

So I ask again... what do you believe?