The Emotional Roots of Fibromyalgia - And How to Heal Them
Or read in full below.
Many Christians, when faced with an illness or tragic event, express platitudes such as “It’s God’s will”, “God meant this for good”, “It happened for a reason”, etc. You know them and have probably used them. I know I have, although less and less as I examine what the words actually mean.
I’m not a theologian, and I’m a practical person. I enjoy intellectual discussions about God and theology along with many other topics, but at the end of the day, there are some truths that I hold as inviolate.
- God is good, and he loves every person ever created
- There is an enemy, and he is not good and hates every person ever created
- God has given humans free will, and that is often in conflict with his will
I’m going to talk about these issues in the next few newsletters, so I don’t completely bog down each one. I’m going to start with the goodness of God this time, as it’s the foundational basis for everything I believe. Without that understanding, I’m not sure there’s much else that stands firm.
Emotional Roots of Fibromyalgia
Introduction
God's Goodness
It’s so easy to minimize the goodness of God and to trivialize it. The way we commonly use the word is that something is okay, maybe above average. Good, not great. Good, not fabulous. But, when the Bible uses the term it’s high praise. God is goodness, it’s not just an attribute that he has, it’s part of his character, and everything good comes to us from him. If something isn’t good, it isn’t from God.
The difficulty with many platitudes is there is an element of truth in them, or at least the appearance of truth. But, it seems that not all truth is created equal. It is true that it is light during the day. It is also true that it is dark at night. The greater Truth is that God created both day and night.
God is clear that he can and will bring good out of everything, including bad things, in Romans 8:28. Often, we take this to mean that God intends for the bad things to happen, that they are his will and he caused them so that he could do the good thing. I don’t buy that. It’s not consistent with his nature for him to do bad things, and there’s no need for him to do so to bring about good.
However, God is supremely good at taking what the enemy meant for our harm and destruction and so working in and through us for our good, that we can’t, in our limited human minds, conceive of any other way of getting to the good things on the other side. But, just because he is brilliant at transforming bad things into good, doesn’t mean that the bad things were his idea.
In the beginning, the Bible talks about Adam and Eve being with God in paradise, naked and unashamed. It was only the lies of the enemy that caused Eve to doubt the goodness of God and his one restriction placed on them. The only thing we know they were not allowed to do was to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They already knew all about good, as it was their lived experience every minute of every day. When the enemy came, he suggested that there was something better they were missing out on – that God wasn’t good enough to them to share everything.
And so they ate.
And fell.
And hid.
And the earth and all the rest of humanity have been subject to the consequences of that choice for thousands of years.
Can any of us can remotely grasp that even as beautiful and glorious as the Earth is, it was once far better than it is now? I can’t comprehend how much it and everything in and on it has transformed over the millennia. I’m not very interested in eschatological debates, but I hope to see the Earth perfect again some day.
I wonder if part of the issues with auto-immune conditions such as fibromyalgia are partly a function of the degradation of the earth and everything on it, including humans. I think that’s partly because of the sins of humans, but I don’t know to what extent. It may be entirely because of compounding effects of the sin of humans. I can see an argument made for that possibility. But I don’t know.
I am confident that there is good news. We can repent of the wrong things we’ve believed and done, and we can make other choices. Our bodies and the earth have a tremendous capacity for recovery.
Fibromyalgia
This one hits close to home, as you’ll know if you’ve been around for a while. My sister had fibromyalgia for several years and then was healed partly through the inner healing tool I was first trained in. That was a remarkable change in her life that caused the spark of interest in spiritual warfare to burst into flame.
When I was in graduate school, I learned about fibromyalgia as something that was extremely rare. They expected I might see one or two people with it across a forty-year career. Within a few years of graduating, not only had the incidence of cases far surpassed what I was taught, but nearly every patient that I worked with had at least one autoimmune condition, and some had several. Granted, I worked in an inpatient physical (not drug or substance abuse) rehabilitation facility, so if you were admitted there, something had gone seriously awry in your life. Nevertheless, I didn’t understand how or why that frequency should increase so quickly.
Yes, I think some of it was a better ability medically to identify such things and a decrease in the belief that women are inherently prone to “nerves”, as was once believed. Even so, given the decrease in the quality of life, I wondered if there wasn’t something more than what I observed in the physical realm.
I want to repeat that I am in full favor of medical treatments and the medical profession. If you are under the care of a physician, then nothing I say here should be taken as me saying you should stop anything your physician has given you. I am not a doctor and I’m not trained in such medical treatments. I know enough to know that there are some medications that can be dangerous if stopped abruptly. You should only ever change your medication under the advisement of your prescribing physician. If addressing the emotional roots of your fibromyalgia results in a decreased need for medication, please discuss that with your physician.
Emotional Roots of Fibromyalgia
In my research on the emotional roots of physical conditions, fibromyalgia has one of the largest lists of potential roots that I’ve seen so far. This may be because of a variety of factors. It’s a fairly new diagnosis, and it’s not a very well understood condition, although great strides have been made since I was in grad school, thankfully.
But, the breadth of roots may be part of what makes fibromyalgia so difficult to diagnose as well as live with and recover from. However, I’m not suggesting that every person with fibromyalgia has all of these roots. And, I don’t think it’s necessarily good to try and address a bunch of things all at once in any case. Start with the ones that stand out to you the most, or that resonate with you or you identify with. When those resolve, then others may rise to the top. Inner healing is generally like peeling back the layers of the onion, and it’s been my observation and experience with my clients that this is especially true with any auto-immune type condition. Give yourself grace for the journey and it can be a beautiful one.
I should also point out that with negative emotions, it’s not just that you ever felt that way, we all have negative emotions. The problem with negative emotions comes when they are unresolved. When we don’t know how or are unable to deal with our negative emotions, we hold on to them. Our bodies are not meant to store negative emotions, and when we do, other disruptions can occur. Again, we all go through bad things and we all hold on to some things more than we should. That’s just part of being human. Don’t add shame to this list. Use the list to identify potential problems and deal with them so you can move forward and into all the goodness God has for you.
Emotional roots of fibromyalgia may include:
abandonment
insecurity
fear
mistrust
lack of male support especially from father or husband
perfectionism
stress
depression
anxiety
striving
feeling unsafe
hopelessness
deep-seated grief
anger
rage
resentment
feelings of inadequacy
frustration
sadness
worry
feeling you have to do all the work in a relationship
childhood wounds from mother’s relationship with father or other men
muscle armoring from Complex-PTSD.
The Toolkit
Take note of any of the roots above that resonate with you and work through any or all of the following tools for them as a group or individually. Repeat as needed. Often, especially if this has been a longstanding issue for you, your system has a habit to overcome, so the repetition helps to rewire your system towards the positive and for ongoing healing and wholeness.
I’ve also written a series of books that address specific emotional issues that have additional tools that might be helpful to you. I’ll include those in the resource section at the end.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is one of the major blockages to healing of all kinds. Holding unforgiveness toward yourself or others gives the enemy permission to torment you. You might have heard that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It doesn’t work. It also allows that person to live rent-free in your head. Not a good idea!
Forgiveness is a process, however, and the larger the issue being forgiven, often the longer the process. The process, however begins with your willingness to forgive the person, God, or even yourself. Once you decide to forgive, remind yourself that you’ve decided to forgive, and move on again when those ugly feelings come back up.
The process of forgiveness often depends on the degree of hurt that someone caused. The process can be lengthy, but doing the work is well worth it so that you are completely set free from whatever they did to hurt you. The decision to forgive is a one-time event; the process of forgiving can take years. It becomes easier the more you remind yourself of your decision to forgive, but you might have many layers to work through, depending on the effects these actions had in your life. Give yourself grace for this journey. It is well worth it!
Often, the person we struggle the most to forgive is our self. Holding a grudge against yourself really does you no favors, however. Jesus forgives you freely. Please follow his example and forgive yourself freely as well.
I’m including two sample prayers. Please fill in the blanks as appropriate for you and your situation.
Forgiving Others
I forgive ____ for ____. (Repeat as needed and add what you’re forgiving them for if needed.) I forgive all who have sinned against me and who have set me up to sin. I forgive all who have hurt me out of their own woundedness. I release them from all I feel they owe me, all judgements I’ve made against them, and all punishments I wanted them to experience. I replace any curses I’ve spoken against them with blessings. I release them into your hands, Father, and pray they would find healing from their wounds.
Forgiving Yourself
I forgive myself for ____ because you forgave me. I forgive myself for hurting myself and others out of my woundedness. I release myself from all accusations or judgements and all hatred and slander I made against myself. I forgive myself for making mistakes and falling short of God’s best for my life. I accept myself even as you accept me, Jesus, and I ask you to help me learn to love myself as you love me. I trust that, even as I accept myself where I am, you are at work to bring me to greater levels of wholeness and are recreating me into your image. I give myself grace for this process of becoming the person you created me to be.
Forgive Quickly and Often
Keep on forgiving. As I mentioned earlier in this newsletter and want to emphasize again, this is a process, so we might need to remind ourselves that we’ve chosen to forgive. We might also need to forgive those who hurt us as we move forward.
Anger at God
You might find you are holding on to anger, disappointment, or bitterness at God. Go back through these chapters and work through these feelings as they pertain to the emotional roots or breast cancer itself. Don’t try to hide them; he knows about them already and longs to have that block or hindrance removed from between you. These feelings can be tricky to spot, so if you’re stuck, reach out to a trusted friend or minister for some help.
Energetic Release
And I do mean real energy, like electricity. Negative emotions can get stuck in our systems, but we can easily release them using circuitry and intention. Circuitry because it operates much like the electricity in your house, where the light bulb is off until you flip the switch. This completes the circuit, allows the electrical energy to flow, and the light turns on. Intention because it is our intention to release the negativity that is the key to unlocking it. You use your hands and touch certain points depending on where the emotion is stored, or on which circuit. With one hand, touch one of the points on the diagrams to follow with your fingertips and with your other hand, touch a head point with your fingertips. Touch your forehead if this feels like it’s always been an issue, touch the top of your head if you feel it is coming at you from someone else, touch your left temple if it’s mainly in the past, or touch your right temple if you feel this about the future. Think about releasing the emotion related to that point. You don’t have to feel the emotion, or identify its source, just intend to release the emotion. Hold for a few minutes or until you feel the energy release.
Lung: grief, sadness
Stomach: mistrust, anxiety, deprived, worry
Bladder: fear, striving, frustration, unsafe
Large Intestine: perfectionism, inadequate, insecurity
Thyroid: stress, depression, hopeless
Gallbladder: anger, rage, resentment
Resources to Support You on Your Journey
Books by Me
These cover the roots and healing of specific negative emotions in more detail and have other tools than I’ve given you here. The tools are the same in each book, so you can purchase one or several depending on what you desire. They are available in print and ebook where ever books are sold, and by request through your local library. Click HERE to purchase directly from me, or on the cover image to purchase on your favorite retailer.
Are you terrified of making a mistake?
When you’ve completed a project, are the flaws all you see?
If so, you may be a perfectionist.
Perfectionism tells you that you have to do it all right. You can’t make a mistake. You have to do everything perfectly or you’re worthless. Perfection makes you afraid to try new things because you’re not likely to do them perfectly and that would ruin your life.
Perfectionism lies.
Do some things make you feel like a child again, right back when you were hurt?
If so, you may need some healing from triggers.
Triggers tell you that your current situation will turn out exactly like the one when you were a child. That you’re still as helpless as you were then. Triggers put you right back in your memory of hurts at all ages and tell you that it will always be the same. The people today will hurt you like the people in the past.
Triggers lie.
Do you feel that nothing will ever change?
Do you give up easily when you meet resistance?
If so, you may need some healing from hopelessness.
Hopelessness tells you that you are helpless and powerless to change anything about your life. It tells you that all the bad things will always be the same. Hopelessness tells you that the future will be no better or worse than what you’re going through now.
Hopelessness lies.
Are you anxious and afraid?
Do you fear the present or the future?
Does worry consume your thoughts?
If so, you may need some healing from anxiety.
Anxiety tells you that the future is scary, and gives you pictures of all the horrible things that can and will go wrong. It churns all the fear in your stomach until you want to run away and hide. Anxiety says that nothing good will happen to you.
Anxiety lies.
Do you feel that nothing will ever change?
Do you give up easily when you meet resistance?
If so, you may need some healing from hopelessness.
Hopelessness tells you that you are helpless and powerless to change anything about your life. It tells you that all the bad things will always be the same. Hopelessness tells you that the future will be no better or worse than what you’re going through now.
Hopelessness lies.
Flower Essences
I recommend flower essences highly and have been using them myself for many years now. I trust the essences from Freedom Flowers becase I know Seneca and I know she operates from and with the right spirit in the making of her essences. I won’t go into all the details, as you can find out more on her site. If the descriptions of these don’t fit you, she offers a custom combo HERE. Click the image for more information or to purchase.
Heart Healer Flower Essence may help with:
- Heartbreak and codependency
- Abandonment and betrayal
- Insecurity in relationships
- Connection to, and love from Source
- Rejection and expectations of further hurt
- Distrust and paranoia
Aftershock Flower Essence may help you;
- Transmute emotions locked up because of trauma
- Release shock held in the body’s musculature
- Go through a deep healing process feeling supported and strengthened
- Take responsibility in areas that you need to for healing
- Sense intuitively what needs to be done
- Reverse the “shut down” effects of extreme emotions
- Move through the transition from a traumatized self-image to the new fully integrated person with grace
- Recover your purpose and passion
Confidence Flower Essence may help you:
- Be comfortable being yourself in social situations
- Feel worthy of good things like love, friendship, money
- Have a stronger sense of identity
- Speak clearly and assertively
- Show off your personality to the world
- Recognize your unique gifts and abilities
- Stop comparing yourself to others
- Stop letting others speak for you
- Stop searching for others approval
- Heal self-image wounds from childhood
Peak Performance may help you:
- Trust your own judgement and intuition
- Trust that love will still be there for you
- Ditch the guilt, shame and blame
- Be your own person
- Heal from mother and father wounds
- Stop comparing yourself to others
- Gain confidence in yourself, your gifts, and abilities
Healing Frequencies Music
Music created by Del Hungerford with the intention to heal and using specific frequencies Del has researched the frequencies she uses for accuracy and maximum benefit. Click the album to be taken to Del’s site to purchase. This is great music to have playing softly in the background as you go through out your day.
Books by Others
I’ve found these particularly helpful in my research for these newsletters, although I don’t necessarily agree with everything they believe or have written. As with anything, including anything I’ve written, I recommend you keep the meat and spit out the bones. Click on each for more information or to purchase.
The information in this newsletter is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained herein is for general information purposes only. Alice Arlene Ltd. Co. DBA Emotional and Spiritual Healing makes no representation and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information contained on or available here, and such information is subject to change without notice. You are encouraged to confirm any information obtained from or through this newsletter with other sources, and review all information regarding any medical condition or treatment with your physician.
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