Are you fed up of feeling tired all the time? Do you struggle with poor sleep, anxiety and low mood; or physical symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pain or nausea? Have you waited weeks to see your GP, only to find that they don’t seem to know whats wrong? Then this podcast is for you.
At Cambridge progressive medicine we assist you in taking control of your own health, well-being and happiness, using a combination of western medicine, psychotherapy, thought work and lifestyle.
Hi, welcome to episode 1 of the Cambridge progressive medicine podcast series.
Why are you listening to this? Maybe because you came to see me in clinic and I asked you to? More likely it’s because you feel unwell, (we don’t tend to do things just because someone else asks us). But what does that really mean? Feeling unwell? Health can be a difficult concept, it can be viewed in lots of different ways, these may be helpful to us, unhelpful, and sometimes even harmful, and that will be different to different people.
Thinking about your own health can be confusing and frightening, and good health may seem impossible for you, and out of your grasp. Perhaps you have been feeling unwell for many months or even years, despite multiple trips to the doctor.
But I don’t believe it needs to be that way.
I want you to try thinking about Health a little differently, to try it out, just for a while, and see if it is helpful for you. I’m going to present a simplified concept of health, just as a starting point,
and this is it…
When you feel unwell you are experiencing a combination of mental and physical thoughts, feelings, sensations and emotions that are unpleasant for you to experience. And that is all. There is nothing more to it.
I’m going to repeat that.
When you feel unwell you are experiencing a combination of mental and physical thoughts, feelings, sensations and emotions that are unpleasant for you to experience.
Ultimately it means that you are not as happy or content as you want to be, or perhaps as you think you could be, or even should be.
If we can hold this idea in our minds the path to good health is clear, we merely need to choose and cultivate positive thoughts, feelings, sensations and emotions. Simple!
And it really is that simple, apart from the fact that it isn’t. Otherwise you wouldn’t be listening to this podcast.
But the reason it isn’t is because your brain is not allowing you to believe this simple concept of health. More than that, it is most probably enraged by it. It is screaming “No, No, No….It has nothing to do with me, it’s my body that’s gone wrong.”
It’s not simple because most of us believe that we have no control over our thoughts, feelings, sensations and emotions. We believe that these are dependent on external circumstances. On our biochemical diseases, our personality; on social status, income, and the way we our treated by or colleagues, family and friends
Just try to imagine for a minute that these things ARE in your control, Just pretend that you could choose what to think, how you feel, and what sensations you experience. How great would that be? How amazing would you feel! Really try to imagine it now just for a minute.
I’m going to too –
How did it feel. To me it feels liberating, empowering and exciting, I get a sensation of lightness and freedom, as though a burden has been lifted or a fear allayed.
But it’s hard to hold on to, isn’t it? Because your old doubting brain starts creeping back in….It’s saying…..what about the big project I have due next week, what about the mortgage, and the kids.
How about my physical health….the headaches I keep getting; the tummy pain or my anxiety. How can I choose to feel good when in reality I have all of these worries?
And I hear you, and of course there’s truth in it. It’s pretty hard to be happy if you are vomiting running a fever. I’ve had norovirus and I wasn’t that Zen about it at the time. But that’s OK. I’ve got you. That’s where western medicine comes in and we can work with it. I am a doctor after all.
But it’s not the whole story, and it doesn’t change the fact that your brain has been lying to you for years.
You have the ability to control a lot more than you currently think you do, and we can work together so that you can take control of your own health and happiness. To feel the empowerment and excitement that we just imagined together, except you won’t just be imaging it, you can feel it for real.
Maybe you were unable to even imagine freedom from your illnesses or anxiety, responsibilities or personality. Your brain wouldn’t allow you even to pretend you had the freedom and the power to be healthy. Maybe just now you felt nothing at all. That’s OK, don’t panic, I don’t want you give up and switch off. Maybe your brain isn’t quite ready for it yet, but don’t feel bad, it’s not a criticism of you, it doesn’t make you bad person, This is only episode one, and its normal and expected. We are going to explore why that is, and what can be done about it.
I’m not going to pretend it is going to be easy, if it were we would all be feeling great already, but if you can learn to merely imagine being healthy you will be one step closer to actual good health.
I absolutely believe that you can choose to be healthy, to choose wellbeing, and choose happiness.
And hopefully I can help to teach how to do it.
Will.