Dearest Anita,
Like all who post here reaching out with so many emotional losses and pains who have gone through lifetimes of suffering, my heart feels and understands your pain. I am so very, very sorry for all of it and all you feel and go through.
The fact that you are picking up that it is centered beneath your navel is so important and truly multi-dimensional in symbology and physiology.
The mind-body-gut-brain connection is huge and many of our most intense and anxiety ridden, even depression creating sensations, emotions, and physical and psychological conditions will one day (and possibly in the very near future) be found to be related to and tied to this very area....our gut.
It took a very long time for scientists to finally realize and accept the gut as our second brain. An organ that literally and not just figuratively, controls our stimulus-response to so many emotions and health conditions.
That area of the body is, as you said beneath your navel and the single most important physical connection we had in utero, our umbilical connection to our mothers body that created us and passed on nutrients, blood oxygen and all of the other things our mothers were actually even feeling when you consider all of the hormones and brain chemicals etc. passing from brain to blood not to mention the possibility of even other dna and hereditary bloodline gifts or fears we may feel or inherit.
Researchers are looking at all of these complexities now. Jeanne has shared about her amazing medical psychiatrist friend and her site and sharing of some really interesting new studies and connections.
I know that I read recently about researchers at the University of Istanbul who showed that our guts appear to be a common source (through problems with gut bacteria there) of many depressive and anxiety issues as well as even paranoia and really big, constant fears. This is amazing to even consider. Their findings even raised the possibility of affecting some schizophrenic patients as well as patients labeled as suffering from neuroses.
Their findings are at this linking scientific abstract:
"The Gut-Brain Axis: The Missing Link in Depression"
Abstract:
The gut microbiota is essential to human health and the immune system and plays a major role in the bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain.
Based on evidence, the gut microbiota is associated with metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes mellitus and neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autistic disorders, anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4662178/
It's worth reading. It reaffirms that a lot of stuff is not "all in our head" but has an awful good chance of also coming from our gut and its own unhealthy physical problems with missing good bacteria or too much unhealthy or bad bacteria
It's no wonder our guts can have so many problems and issues and we feel things "in our gut".
Knowing it might be a combination of emotional, generational dna, hormonal, and passed on physical reasons is very complex and medical science isn't ready just yet to tie this all together and help so many people crying out with anxieties, depressions, fears, and bad dreams much less holding onto pains from our past relationships.
This is not easy to pinpoint specific sources by anyone. Especially by us here.
But my heart, my mind, and my gut can tell you this.
We truly are sorry you live with so much hurt, pain, and worry. Of course it makes for difficulties in personal relationships and asking for help and support or even a hug when needed
But you are really trying to share here with us and you were brave and reached out to us.
We hear you, we feel your pain, and we accept that your feelings and all others feelings here are real.
We only know we care for one another here as we care for ourselves and our families and our own beloved pets. We care for you, we truly do Anita. You and @ghandigirl and all asking for any kind of advice, help, and support.
You are strong to have endured so much. You are giving and loving and caring to reach out to others in need like the cat you have taken in. You are intuitive and are learning more and more about yourself and others and how and why you feel as you do.
You are loved and worthy of love in all ways. I give you an all embracing hug now.
Hugs hugs hugs and more hugs!
???
@michele-b-here-in-the-forum
Dear Michele,
So much information, support, and caring! Thank you and all so much. I’m going to read the articles you suggested and I have gone to the site of Jeanne’s psychiatrist’s friend. It’s truly amazing about the body/mind connection.
Im seeing a chiropractor who does something called NET, neuro emotional technique.
He has me using a homeopathic remedy called “Flora,” as it tested strongly for me.
I do have genes that indicate these problems of anxiety and depression. I’m very sensitive. Before 9/11, I kept dreaming of crashing airplanes. I know I’m very sensitive. Too sensitive for my own good, I think. Michele, being heard and understood is the greatest gift one can receive. You and the others’ words mean so much to me. I’ve been better today, even with a tough day. Thank you so much. It’s so good to not feel alone.
Anita
@Deetoo I keep your friends in my heart and prayers. I am sending light to their family. I feel your friend going in cotton balls, she will be so comfortable . She will be happy and bring light to others. She will be an Angel.
@Anita, I too, like many is suffering from recurring depression. I've posted before about my ordeal. I keep on fighting, as you do. One thing I found liberating for me is forgiveness: Forgiving myself for things that have happened in my relationship with my family, asking for their forgiveness and also forgiving them. I realised that forgiving others is very very difficult, that is until I understood I was forgiving them for me, for my well being.
Your fears and anxiety are wounds you sustained from your parents, your loved ones. The way to liberate yourself from them is forgiveness. Once you've done that, you will realise you are OK.
The weather affects our moods whether we realise it or not. Lumino-therapy, once a day 20 minutes makes a huge difference when suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
Another thing that is helping me these days is learning tarot. Having to think about past experiences that could relate to the card is making me realise things about myself and the people around me.
Don't overthink things, follow your heart! I'm sending you love, light and kindness.
Hey Deetoo, i am so very sorry about Patty. She sounds like a person i would really like to know (as are you). I am sure it is some comfort for her to know that you will be there to help her family thru this. You are a blessing.
Oh Anita, I am so sorry.
I believe what you are experiencing is a very high intense level of grief.
I lost my beloved support dog Toby in December. He was 10 years old and had been my dog for 9 of those. I never felt closer to ANYONE or anything than I did my dog. It crushed me.
I seem to be able to easily read animals and infants. After he passed I could almost see him in the car. I would feel his presence at his grave, where we sat many days and a few insomniac nights together. I saw him in the clouds. Had a vision of his joy when a new dog arrived. She looked so much like him it brought up deep grief which spiraled into depression. Ultimately I moved and I left her behind, for her happiest outcome, but miss her terribly. Visiting her can be nice but also so sad.
Some days, nothing works. And on those days I try to sleep as much as possible and go to bed early. I try to wipe that bad day off my mind and try to start fresh the next.
As for the unresponsive other in your life, I understand. Only now that we are divorcing is my husband invested in being my friend. It is bittersweet, and I find myself very , very sad after visits w dog and him. It is hard to recover from the disappointments of life.
As Sensitives, we feel things with more intensity and depth than many others. Most others I think. For me, depression can be a way to avoid anger, it is anger directed at myself. But mostly, it is grief at lost opportunities. It is fruitless grief, with no recourse or comfort, and it drains the spirit.
So I would say to anyone feeling hopeless and depressed, allow yourself to feel your grief. Sit with it fully. You are strong enough to hear it's message. You are strong enough to cry bitter stinging tears and still be able to laugh a few hours later. Allow it to transform you . Much love to you Anita.
Thank you so much.
I do believe I’ve been grieving for a long time. I thought I had forgiven my parents, but I don’t know since I dream about them so much. I doubt I’ve forgiven my sister.
I do think too much. And I am so sensitive. I’ve been thinking I need to shut off feelings but it’s just the opposite.
I am so tired and getting about 6 hours of sleep each night lately.
Thanks for you love and support.
Anita
I think forgiveness is the work of a lifetime. Sometimes I find myself having to forgive again. Ask help from God/Spirit/the Universe. Because forgiving is something that can only be done with their help.
Hi @Grayson, I've been thinking about how to answer your question. Some would say yes, we will survive the climate change, others would say no.
I say yes, if we do something about it. I know people on this forum are doing everything they can to make a difference. I started a thread (see link below) so we can talk share ideas on the concrete things we are doing to make those changes. I hope everyone will be interested in participating!
@grayson
Hi Grayson, yes I believe we will survive climate change, but only when the evidence of the change and the impact on the world becomes completely undeniable. So, humanity is going to find out the hard way. Let's say half the population of the earth is already convinced and prepared to make changes to slow the change, to adapt to change, to reverse the change. Before too many more decades, the majority of the earth's population will understand. Yet we are going to survive and our earth is going to survive. You may laugh at me, but I know it in my gut. Plus, my gigantic Douglas firs have assured me they will survive, too. I believe it. We are going to find a way to preserve our earth.
I want to add to Bluebelle's responses about hope.
Our situation is like the last eight minutes of a major league sports game. My husband likes to just watch those last minutes because he says it all happens then.
With the climate, it can all come down to what humans do during the final years that we have left to make a change.
That's because the climate and all natural systems, including human activism and politics, evolve exponentially.
Exponential growth means that the growth of something is invisible to us until the last minute, when it explodes. Like bacteria.
Exponential growth is why knowledgeable people are so terrified about the global warming figures. They've known that what we are seeing now is mild compared to what is coming, and that by the time the planet becomes so hot and storms so monstrous that everyone realizes it is really warming, then it will be too late to avoid a catastrophe. If you don't understand exponential growth, then you can read about it here .
Okay so now I've scared you even more than you were before. Sorry but, yes, the situation is grim.
However, there is real hope. There is hope because innovation and climate activism are also growing exponentially. Also, youth activism, scientific activism, diversity, tolerance, the rise of women and progressive politics are all growing exponentially right now, although mostly below the surface. Ten years ago, kids were largely apolitical. I was dismayed at how indifferent GenX seemed when they were in high school. But Friday millions of children marched all over the world.
Also growing exponentially are the number of people and hours spent working to solve the climate problem.Meanwhile the climate deniers and the corporate forces driving climate denial are aging and dying out.
Who will win? The deniers are going to fade because even though their tactics are becoming more lawless, their numbers are not growing and they are aging and fading. Charles Koch just died. Donald Trump looks and sounds really unhealthy and can't hold power much longer. Putin is acting more desperate. McConnell is also aging and facing greater opposition.
Now look at who is coming up into power. The youth in this country are largely liberal. AOC isn't even 30 and she's barely got started. I can already feel a growing frustration in the Democratic Party for moderate democrats. Biden may be ahead now, but remember exponential growth means that you can't see it until it's about to explode. I feel Warren will overtake him and be the front runner.
In my life, I have always been a little bit ahead of trends, not way ahead, but I have always gotten into things before the majority. Then the majority explodes and every one is doing it. I can tell when something is going to take off if I'm into it.
The explosion of climate activism is almost upon us. The Republican Party will be weak and dying by the late 20's if not before. It will end as a party by 2030. There will be more factions of progressives, but I believe the Republican Party is on its last legs.
This is so encouraging Jeanne. It reminds me of something the Dalai Lama said. I can't remember it word for word, but it was something like this: what looks like revolutionary change if something that has been quietly building for a long time. Sounds like the spiritual version of exponential growth.
@grayson
I want to thank Grayson for reaching out with this question. Grayson, many feel as you do. Your questions help us dig deeper into ourselves to address what is bothering us. These are hard questions. Time has been running out on saving ourselves. Going back to the sports analogy, people are talking about Hail Mary passes.
Bill McKibben (founder of 360.org) knows better than anyone about what is at stake, how the science works, and he has published last week this article in the New Yorker about just such a Hail Mary pass that he feels could save us. It involves pressuring Chase Bank to stop funding fossil fuel company drilling projects. Chase funds most of the drilling in this world. See Money is the Oxygen on Which the Fire of Global Warming Burns.
The New Yorker also published a story last week about a savant entrepreneur who has been using imaginative means to solve problems in Africa and who is also trying to use his imagination to solve the climate crisis.
Working link for Jeanne's recommended article by Bill McKibbons on savant entrepreneur:
Money Is the Oxygen on Which the Fire of Global Warming Burns | The New Yorker
Good day Jeanne,
I would like to thank this site, for keeping me sane. lol The insightful information is heart warming.
I have been following this site almost from the beginning. Just not one to join a social media. Usually
very quiet via social media but verbal in person. Many people I know support the idiot. It has my
personal life a bit stressful.
But this site has made it more understandable to me on a higher note.
I woke up happy knowing the idiot, will have to face a impeachment process.
Which will drive him nuts. Game on
Welcome to our community! Thank you for posting your thoughts. Hoping to hear from you again. We help each other here and unlike many social media platforms, we do our best not to pass along unsubstantiated rumors without links to reliable news sources. These measures help keep it honest and less susceptible to fake news with an agenda.
Yes, Jeanne, your site is honest and very careful about the news you share. It is one of the reasons for joining and why I regard this site in helping me not to go to squirrelly. lol
I thank you for starting this site and all the others for their input. Trying to keep the light shining!
Welcome,welcome, welcome!
We have a lot of squirrely people and even our beloved collection of nuts. Both are needed and welcome here. Talking about things helps us all as does sharing.
Honesty and being true to ourselves and to the needs of others like us, like you--who need an outlet, who need a balancing point and need information on people, places and things out among so many energies of so many different people in one big collective world.
We have hundreds of topics we've talked about over the years. Some get more attention than others so they are at tbe forefront of each topic but we're far more than politics, climate change, new science and medical discoveries.
We're real people with real lives some with real gifts both hidden and shared and all of us with pains, losses, and long back stories.
But most of all people working towards developing conscious awareness about ourselves, our world and each other.
We support one another on this journey and value each new voice and perspective.
Bless you for your bravery in stepping out of anonymity and into the light with us.
It's wonderful to have you join us!
You may think you’re squirrelly but I know I’m a bit nuts. There are days where I love humanity and look forward to what is coming, and other days, well, I just want the world to burn. But at least I accept that’s part of being an empath in this world.
i see the young people making a difference and I feel good. Then I see the adults (mostly men) who are so threatened by Greta Thunberg that they are saying the most horrible things about her. The old system of white-dominated patriarchy is on its last few breaths, so it will be a roller coaster.
@beingme49, welcome to the community!
@pacosurfer, you made me think of a cartoon by Dan Reynolds that I recently saw. It's a picture of a squirrel lying on a lounger, with a psychiatrist by his side, pen and pad in hand. The squirrel says to the psychiatrist, "When I learned, 'You are what you eat,' I realized I was nuts."
I've been eating a lot of nuts these days. I'm right there with you.