Layers of an onion

Why sometimes we can feel worse before we feel better.

When I first went to see a homeopath, I didn’t move in a linear direction towards better health as I expected. I found that I needed to revisit some issues from my past that had been suppressed, or buried so deep I didn’t know they were still affecting me.

Some of this un-suppressing was a bit uncomfortable and some of it was a bit unexpected but as I worked through each of these layers I found myself feeling clearer headed and more in balance and my physical health followed suit.

As a child I suffered with recurrent tonsillitis. I think for at least 3-4 years of my teenage years I had tonsillitis once every 6 months. It was really unpleasant and rendered me in bed for weeks. Doctor’s suggested having them cut out, but I’m so very glad I didn’t as these glands are a hugely important part of our immune system.

Clearly, my body was trying to tell me something!

My teenage years weren’t the happiest of my life. I didn’t particularly enjoy school as I was badly bullied, plus my parents’ marriage was in the process of falling apart.

Looking back I realise that the tonsillitis was a manifestation of my inability to communicate how I really felt. All the frustration and anger from being bullied (plus the shock that my safe, family unit was not as it once was) was building up in my throat.

When I first started seeing a homeopath in my early 20’s for irregular periods and acne we talked a bit about the impact the bullying at school had on my confidence. I was then given some appropriate remedies to help.

About a couple of months into treatment I was struck down with a particularly bad case of tonsillitis. To be honest, I was furious! Why was I getting ill when I was supposed to be getting better? Thankfully my homeopath was there to guide me through and explained that this was what is known as a ‘return of old symptoms’. My body was reliving something painful from the past in order for it to heal and the old energy to be released. After that tonsillitis incidence I did feel a huge shift in my emotional wellbeing, but best of all, I haven’t had a bout of tonsillitis since!

Now, 9 years into practice, I see many clients have similar responses to remedies. Maybe not quite as dramatic as mine (I am quite sensitive to homeopathic remedies), but I often see old feelings return, or old physical symptoms come back. Usually these are short-lived and not particularly uncomfortable, but they are a great indicator that we are working in the right place.

When we begin the journey to healing we are looking for a ‘direction of cure’. We are looking for things to travel from inside the body to out, from the top of the body to down and also for old symptoms to return in reverse order. Hence why you might be feeling a bit worse before you feel better. This signifies that healing is taking place and in the right direction – to that of better health. We do this like an onion, peeling each layer back as it emerges for healing.

Remember, healing is not an event, it’s a journey. 🙂

If you have any questions and would like to talk to me about what’s going on for you, then please book in for a Discovery Call via this link.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.