What you think needs to be cut off is often where your greatest treasure resides.

That's not to say there aren't times in life when a sliver or a cancerous tumor needs to be removed. However, in most cases, what we think needs to be cut off is often where our greatest opportunity can be found.

Those we perceive as our enemies are usually the ones who push us to grow and mature and become stronger people. This nugget of truth also applies to symptoms that we want to cut off from our bodies and minds.

Carl Jung taught that wholeness is not achieved by cutting off a portion of one's being, but rather by the integration of the contraries.

I look at unwanted symptoms in the mind/body as the "contraries," things people want to discard. We think we need to cut off the parts of ourselves that we don't like, by fighting against our dis-ease.

What if, we actually need all the parts of ourselves? Just imagine that your symptoms are calling you into a different kind of personal care that you can learn to give yourself. It’s a new way of being that quiets your inner critic and allows for self-compassion and nurturing.

Next time you find yourself willing your symptoms away or mustering the energy to fight against whatever ails you, stop, and reconsider.

What would it be like for you to make some time to breathe and allow whatever is happening to be ‘as it is’?

1. Root your feet on the ground.

2. Slow down.

3. Watch your breath.

4. Observe what ails you without entering the story of your life.

5. Keep breathing, ask to be fully supported.

6. Be kind to yourself

7. Release any judgments about what you’re dealing with.

8. Cultivate faith that you’re finding your way back to balance.

Let me know how it goes for you. You can do this!