Beyond Nutrition: What's Eating You From Inside?

While a healthy diet is crucial in preventing diseases, mental health can be even more significant, as it's deeply connected to self-improvement. "...And you know that self-improvement is the healing of the soul and its forces. Just as a doctor healing bodies must understand the body he's treating... he must know what causes sickness and how to avoid it. Similarly, the healer of the soul, wishing to purify characteristics, must understand the soul's full scope, what causes its ailment, and what heals it" (Maimonides). Scientific research nowadays confirms that negative emotions have a profound impact on physical diseases, and even the healthiest diet cannot prevent illness if one is harboring repressed stress and negative feelings. When we experience emotions, there is a neural arousal that leads to physical sensations. For example:

Anger – might feel like "burning" inside the body, sometimes leading to ulcers.

Resentment – might feel as if something is bubbling inside.

Fear – feels like the walls are closing in.

Emotional suffocation - can cause physical choking, like in asthma.

Constipation – typical for those with "emotional constipation," who "keep things inside."

In the 1980s, Prof. Candace Pert from Georgetown University in Washington DC, a pioneer in the field called psychoneuroimmunology, was the first to prove that emotions have a biochemical basis (one can observe different substances being secreted in the body when expressing various emotions). Pert established a physiological link between emotions and the immune system, and the ability of emotions to hinder or promote health. The overarching conclusion was that our cells feel exactly what we feel emotionally. She demonstrated that unaddressed trauma, pain, and emotional conflicts remain trapped in the body, disrupt cellular function, and manifest as physical diseases (Interestingly, illnesses may emerge even after many years). These ailments precisely reflect trapped emotional experiences. The greater the emotional load, the sharper the internal conflicts, and the more severe the physical manifestation. If the trapped emotional baggage is dealt with in time and balance is restored to the mind, the body responds accordingly, best to do so before the body develops diseases that are hard to treat.

Emotional Imprint (Rashimu) - This is a complete unit encompassing emotion, worldview, and behavior. It began with a past event that was logged into body cells along with the positive or negative emotion present at the time. Added to this were worldviews developed as a result of the event, and we then developed coping mechanisms to prevent similar events in the future. The imprint is activated automatically whenever an event reminiscent of the original past event occurs. The result is that we experience the limiting pattern repeatedly throughout life, as that is where our personal growth lies, and it's clear it's all from Hashem. There's no doubt that an adult physical illness can be linked to emotional pain from childhood, and with the right treatment, the body can react almost immediately, mobilizing its healing forces into action.

Many recovering individuals who have stayed in natural healing centers worldwide describe feelings of release, rebirth, and a level of health higher than before the illness, following emotional treatment (there are many types) provided there. It can make the difference between recovery and non-recovery, even with chronic illnesses lasting years, severe, and even terminal diseases.

It's better to take care of ourselves than to get sick, and one of the best pieces of advice, if not the best, is to talk to Hashem. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov renewed and emphasized the value of personal prayer, where a person converses openly with Hashem like with a friend, and with respect as to a father, expressing all that is on their heart, releasing emotions, burdens, tears, requests, desires, etc., essentially bringing themselves good and preventing diseases in the body and soul. The task is very difficult, and there are many excuses not to do it. However, whoever overcomes these obstacles will certainly attain all the good in the world. During personal prayer, one connects with Hashem and receives everything directly, without intermediaries. It's worth investing in heartfelt prayer in our own words. It's the healthiest, and free!

To book home gatherings with the participation of Naturopath Ruth Liat Pelz (free of charge), call 073-2221290