Katie Beecher, medical & life intuitive, medium and licenced counselor talks about why spiritual and emotional healing must be a priority. She gives ideas for root cause healing or in other words how you should start to live your life and be present.

Identifying the root causes of an issue means discovering where the problems originated, not just putting a band aid on symptoms. When you try to kill a weed by cutting off the parts you can see above the surface, it doesn’t work. The plant may disappear for a while but it eventually grows back. Until you cut off its life force by discontinuing its food supply, water or air or if possible, by digging down under the soil and removing it by the roots, it will always come back.

Traditional medicine, or modern medicine, often focuses on physical symptoms that can be easily identified. Doctors aim to identify and diagnose an illness in order to eradicate it from the body, relying heavily on potentially harmful medications and treatments. A number of these treatments are effective; however, they are not guaranteed to affect the origin of the illness. Our brains and our bodies are more connected than we may think. In fact, as I have seen in myself and my clients, emotional or nutritional issues, for instance, may be placing our bodies at a higher risk of developing injuries, disease, and other physical issues.

Over thirty years of work as a medical intuitive and licensed counselor has only reinforced the importance of root cause healing. It would be impossible to list every single life stressor that I have witnessed but the most common include: trauma and abuse, fear, a disconnection from spirituality and intuition, nutritional intolerances and insufficiencies, relationship problems, underlying autoimmune conditions or inflammation, mental illness, job dissatisfaction and more. When one ignores these stressors our bodies react by expressing detrimental physical and emotional symptoms. After many years of research it is now commonly accepted that stress weakens your immune system, causes an increase in cortisol which can lead to weight gain, insomnia, aches and pains, gut issues, cardiac issues and more. I believe that these symptoms are your intuition’s way of getting your attention and alerting you to the need to make changes so that you can live in a more authentic way.

At the young age of 16 I began recovery from an eating disorder. My Jungian psychologist, who practiced through the use of Carl Jung’s philosophies, taught me that mind, body, and spirit are all connected. My own physical and emotional symptoms stemmed from a traumatic childhood, causing me to lack self-love and to become completely disconnected from my intuition. Jung believed that ‘wholeness’ was a crucial component of well-being. By revealing all parts of ourselves and beginning to love and accept our mind, body, and spirit as they are, one can begin to truly heal. His beliefs, which have stuck with me throughout my life, have also formed the basis for a number of well-known spiritual teachers such as Louise Hay.

Sadly, even though the work of Louise Hay and others has become widely respected, many doctors practicing traditional medicine still do not address the connection between life stressors and physical illness. This may be due to the fact that it can be complicated to discover the root cause of an illness – it is easier to simply take a pill. Some people have trouble connecting physical symptoms with emotional and spiritual root causes as it requires a great deal of individual spiritual work. Many people don’t understand that if they want to be healthy they need to make real, concrete changes in their lives. Healing requires more than just different food, more exercise and less stress. We are more than just our physical body. I have worked with people who just address physical issues and do all the ‘right’ things but can’t seem to consistently stay healthy. Others may heal but then get another illness or have an accident (what does the accident mean? be careful – you don’t want to sound like someone is at fault for getting into a car accident or something). When they decide to finally open up to the idea of intentional emotional and spiritual change that is when the real, permanent healing occurs.

You may be asking what kind of changes can I make to increase my health? One example might be leaving a job that isn’t challenging or where you don’t feel heard or empowered. It might mean addressing past trauma and PTSD so you can truly move forward or facing addiction. It might be learning to stand up to difficult family members and letting go of the negative messages they put in your head so many years ago. For many people it is developing self-love and a connection to their intuition so they can learn what an authentic life means to them. I have met many people who were taught to take care of others and put their needs last. They need to learn to listen to their own feelings, put themselves first and truly consider whether the relationships in their life, both platonic and romantic, are serving them. For others, the challenge is getting over the fear of starting their own business, being creative, dealing with grief and loss, or needing to start over in other ways.

It might seem so much easier to focus on negative physical or emotional symptoms rather than confronting the uncertainty of a new spiritual journey and challenge. It might seem easier to stay complacent and ‘comfortable’ by medicating or self-medicating, emotionally eating, staying in a bad relationship or job, to remain quiet or to feel like a victim. In the long run though, this will only place your body at risk of developing new issues. We create our fears, and I know that you too can find true healing, if you are willing to do the work.

Here are some ideas for root cause healing:

1. Talk to your body and your symptoms. Ask why they have appeared and for what purpose they are there to serve and teach. Do not treat them like enemies, welcome them and be open to what they have to say.

2. Do not identify with your illness or symptoms. When I had Lyme disease, I refused to even use the word Lyme and purposely did not use the word “my” when describing symptoms or the illness. I did not want it to become part of me. I did not put it on my social media or even call myself a warrior. I did not join any groups or spend time dwelling on it. I only researched when I felt I needed to. Some may find it productive to speak with others who are experiencing the same illness. However, for me, I have found that it is not productive for your illness to become a part of your personality.

3. Do not wait to live. So many of my clients say, “when I lose weight I will…” or “when I feel better I want to…”. There are things you can do today. Start making plans to take that class, write that article or begin what seems unattainable. Find things to enjoy today. Life is too short to spend your time wishing you were someone else, living in another place, or that you look a different way.

4. Think about what was going on in your life when the symptoms started. I have worked with people who only got up the courage to leave their bad marriages once they got sick, people who became ill when they found out their spouse was cheating, or started having negative symptoms once their kids left the house. It is also very common to get sick in connection with death and grief. Is your illness giving you an excuse to ignore your emotional and spiritual needs?

5. Think about and visualize what will happen if you make the spiritual changes. If you start standing up for yourself how will people respond? What feelings does that bring up? If you leave your marriage are you afraid people will be angry with you? What does facing your fears mean to you?

6. Think about what being your authentic self means to you. Many people have no clue what “be yourself” means to them as they have been ignoring their self for so long. Begin to connect to your intuition by thinking about what you may have liked to do when you were younger, what made you feel good about yourself, and what interests you have now that you might like to pursue.

Katie Beecher, MS, LPC is an international medical intuitive and licensed professional counselor. She has been endorsed by and featured in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. Her unique, life changing medical intuitive readings come with a four page report and painting. You can make an appointment, sign up for her email list and connect with her on social media by going to her website www.katiebeecher.com