Autoimmune Disease And The Suppression Of Anger – A Reiki Perspective
- Sep 2, 2024
- 6 min read
Elizabeth Chanter of Honour Being is a Creatrix, Classical Homeopath and experienced shamanically trained Reiki Master in The Golden Reiki Way. She offers in person and Remote Reiki Treatments, Attunement and Training, Honour Sacred Art Workshops and Retreats (Dreaming Your Inner Child) and conducts regular Moon Ceremonies in person and online.
Years ago I wrote a poem called "Careless Talk Invisible Wars" which describes what happens when we internalize and self-direct anger and grief.
“Put down the weapons you use against yourself. You don’t need them anymore…” ~ Jason Mraz - Make Love, Not War
The poem is below. Does a line resonate with you?
If so, then this article may well be an essential read for you or someone close to you.
Mine is a very personal story of healing, hope, transformation, and self-growth.
Little did I know that eight years after writing the poem, I would be diagnosed with the rare inflammatory autoimmune disease called vasculitis and polymyalgia rheumatica. This is an illness in which the body attacks the blood vessels and which can, without proper diagnosis and prompt drug assistance, cause aneurisms to any of the major organs of the body. I was caught just in time. I was bleeding internally.
The symptoms include increasing extreme fatigue, drastic weight loss, full-body pain, weakness, muscle contractions, and numbness in the extremities. Those are the external symptoms which can mirror many conditions. It takes an excellent doctor and consultant to perceive the not-so-obvious.
I was fortunate, and I received a high-quality of care for which I am very grateful. I am still alive. I am well into recovery. I am being described by those who meet me now as shining, glowing, vital, and radiant with health. I have immense gratitude for my experience.
How did this happen?
Buying time
What the drugs did was to buy me time. They bought me time in which to receive the healing for the underlying emotional issues which had led to the development of the condition.
Vasculitis is an illness that develops over time, as challenging life experiences form layer over layer like the formation of strata in rock. According to Western Orthodox medicine, it is a chronic relapsing illness.
However, the Reiki perspective and understanding of all chronic illnesses are very different. My diagnosis was a lightbulb moment.
Everyone carries around some kind of pain
It is a rare individual who has not suffered the slings and arrows of emotional hurts and wounds. When unexpressed and unreleased, ultimately these can become toxic to the body and physical pathology develops. These physical symptoms are the body’s way of sending a message that all is not well within.
Some people have a particular tendency to self-blame
I knew that autoimmune illness develops in those who attack the self with blame, shame, judgement, anger, and criticism. These are usually high-functioning perfectionists who persistently blame themselves for any sense of loss or failure in their lives. They are over-responsible, givers rather than receivers and they tend not to allow themselves the validity of their own feelings. They are often very loving and kind towards others.
Hidden deep inside, self-anger often becomes entangled with grief, because they blame themselves for all they have lost. Often, they also blame themselves for the loss of their own potential in life.
Those feelings become suppressed and repressed so they are no longer felt.
This is dangerous ground.
If we cannot feel, we cannot receive the messages of our own emotions, until the emotional pain somatises in the body causing chronic illness.
Women and Autoimmune conditions
There is a worrying growth in autoimmune conditions of many kinds, mostly affecting women. This is also part of the etiology of cancers. Women are far more likely to internalise their anger than men. Women are expected to be “nice”, to be agreeable and often to simply take a support role for men without complaint. Some studies show up to 80% more women are affected than men, as in this Time Article, Self-silencing is making women sick. There is much research to support this understanding.
Often there has been not only a personal history of self-blame and denial, but unexpressed frustrations and sometimes inner rage which are handed down the maternal line. An example of this is the woman who was the breadwinner, raised many children, took care of her husband, her parents, and everyone except herself. She is the woman who denied her own wishes and dreams. There is often a repeated family history of cancer as well as autoimmune conditions.
I see this history unfold in the lives of many of my women clients with these conditions.
Vulnerability
In these COVID times, those with suppressed immune systems are especially vulnerable. This can raise anxiety and depression in those already dealing with pain, fatigue, and increasing social isolation on a daily basis.
The loop of self-victimisation
My own hospital doctors have remarked on the tendency of those with auto-immune conditions to blame themselves for the development of the illness itself. This can load on top of the causations of their condition, further deepening the condition. This can be a testing loop to break out of.
But I am a living testimony to this being possible.
3 Steps to healing with Self-compassion and forgiveness
STEP 1: I began to identify the sources of the critical self-blaming “voices” inside me.
STEP 2: I continued to receive Golden Way Reiki from my own Reiki Master throughout my recovery time.
STEP 3: I embarked on a personal healing journey of self-compassion and self-forgiveness.
Self-forgiveness frees us from anger and bitterness. It allows that there are no such things as mistakes: these are simply opportunities from which we can learn and grow. Self-compassion enables us to soften towards ourselves and then towards others. It enables us to understand that we are all human and we are all vulnerable and we are all lovable.
These three steps remain ongoing practices in my life, moving me back ever increasingly toward true health.
The good news
Many of my clients come to me having developed inflammatory conditions, and sometimes inflammatory autoimmune illnesses.
Because of my own healing journey, I can spot the signs along the way in the others. I know how isolating serious illness can be. With such illnesses, immune systems become suppressed, not least by the strong medications with are used to combat them. I know these medications can create serious side effects as they do their life-saving work.
And I know, because I have walked this pathway myself, it is possible to find balance, recover, restore, and rebuild our entire being with the right tools and people alongside us.
More than a simple recovery
We can go beyond simple recovery.
It is about self-forgiveness and self-compassion, but it is also about recognising that you are a beautiful, amazing, fabulous, incredible, gifted human being perfect in your imperfections right here and right now.
It is about learning what it means to come home to the self, to come back to the joy, the magic and the wonder of life.
Like me you too can put down the weapons that you have used against yourself. You don’t need them anymore.
Are you ready to put down the weapons?
“Look for the good in everything. Look for the people who will set your soul free.” ~ Jason Mraz - Look For The Good
Walking this pathway is not easy to do alone.
Would you like me to:
Help you to recover and set your soul free?
Walk a healing and transformative pathway beside you?
Help you put down the weapons that are contributing to your own illness?
Book for a free Discovery Session or for a nurturing and releasing first Reiki Treatment to honour your emotional healing by sending an email or going to my Honour Being Website.
To receive my beautifully illustrated “5 Step Guide to Wonder Without Overwhelm” please click on the link.
Elizabeth Chanter is recognised as a leader in her chosen field of healing, energy medicine and Golden Way Reiki. Since 2004, she has been assisting others to make transformational change in their lives, leading to positive, lasting and sometimes extraordinary results. She is passionate about helping her clients to evolve and grow into the bright, beautiful beings they were always intended to be. Having passed through many personal dark nights of the soul, she combines empathy, deep compassion and understanding with many years of professional expertise in her field. She believes in the regenerative power of hope, listening and healing touch.
