Can you improve IBS symptoms? Authority websites state that there is no known cure for irritable bowel.
However, I had chronic IBS for many years, and no longer have IBS symptoms.
In my world, our beliefs shape our experience of life – and health.
What if everything you saw, heard and experienced growing up, can have a lasting effect on what you have come to believe about health – and your IBS?
Grab a pen and paper, and jot down what comes up for you as you read on.
Sometimes we can have lost touch with or downplay our experiences, so I have included some of mine to help you find them.
Was anyone sick in your family?
My elderly grandmother died of cancer when I was 3. I didn’t see her at all when she was ill, or go to the funeral.
Fortunately I did not take on any notion of suffering. I didn’t have any other grandparents. And no-one close had any health problems while I was growing up.
Some of my coaching clients have experienced sickness and/or tragic loss close up as they were growing up. And this experience has shaped their fear of IBS symptoms.
Your experience was probably different. What conclusions did you come to about sickness and health?
How did you experience your own health as a child?
I seemed to be the only one in my family who was NOT thriving healthwise: forever having colds and tonsillitis, not digesting well, being sick often, and feeling tired all the time.
I had a bad hospital experience following an accident when I was young – along with some “not so great” experiences with doctors and dentists.
Childhood belief: I am not cared for in hospitals and in the medical world.
I wasn’t consciously aware of this, but this trigger pattern showed up several times in my adult life. Until I understood it and truly honoured that feeling.
What were your own direct experiences of health growing up, and the beliefs you developed?
What were you told as a child?
I was told that you don’t go and see a doctor unless it’s bad.
Doctors give you pills to swallow to make you better.
Otherwise, if you have something “wrong”, they take it out. That’s what happened to my tonsils (part of the lymphatic system) because they were inflamed so often.
This got me very interested in biology and how the human body works. I wanted to know more!
What were you told about what happened if you were ill?
How did grown-ups deal with health challenges?
No-one I knew had digestive or poop problems, (or needed to improve IBS symptoms…)
My mother and father had good health, could digest anything, and adopted the stiff upper lip approach and went to work “no matter what.” I hardly ever remember them going to bed.
The belief I developed: Resting is shirking
One day when I was a teenager, my adult sister had a serious motorbike accident and was in intensive care. It was quite a shock.
Thankfully she recovered quickly and came home after a few weeks.
From this I developed the positive belief that it is possible to recover from serious accidents
What did the adults in your life teach you about health?
Can you remember any popular sayings about health?
Popular sayings reflect societal beliefs about health.
The ones I remember from the 70’s and 80’s were all about the power of food.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” (I couldn’t digest apples.)
“Milk makes your bones strong.” (I couldn’t digest milk.)
“Eat your greens.” (Didn’t digest greens well either.)
“Carrots help you see in the dark.”(I wasn’t mad on carrots.)
And finally “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” (I just wanted a glass of water.)
This left me wondering how I could ever be healthy…
Which popular sayings and societal beliefs marked your life?
What do you believe about your health today?
Can you see that the positive or negative experiences you had around health gave you the basis of understanding your health today? It is important to bear this in mind if you want to improve your IBS symptoms.
Once we grow up, we can change our beliefs about health over time. We have new experiences. Yet these early childhood beliefs that have quietly set up our health blueprint.
You may well find that your adult experiences around health and trying to improve IBS are in some way similar to those you had growing up.
Look at each of these beliefs you learned from people and experience. And ask yourself “Are they really true? How do I know that they are true?”