Catherine Poole

I will be presenting a workshop on

ABUNDANCE

at the Waterfalls of Wellness Healing Center

Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 2:00-5:00 pm
739 Bluff City Highway
Bristol, TN 37620

The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself.

-Garth Brooks

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.

- Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Last week I talked about skin and all the messages your skin can communicate. It was such a vast list of “messages” that I decided to talk about allergies in a separate entry. Allergies can also affect more than just skin, reactions speak volumes and the message depends on what the reaction is and where on your body (in your body) the reaction takes place. There is also an underlying message in what instigates the reaction.

An allergy is a reaction to a substance introduced to the body whether it be through ingestion, airborne, or topically.  The body can have a reaction from the first time the substance is introduced, or it can develop sensitivity over a period of time, as in certain foods or medications.

Allergies are “inner conflicts” and there is a difference between food allergies, medication allergies, and airborne allergies as they each define what conflicts you are feeling. Just exactly what does “conflict” mean? It is a struggle between opposing forces, so on one side you feel a strong dislike for someone and the other side feels an obligation to love that person. The tug of war creates the conflict and it is then played out in your body.

Remember, that person does not necessarily have to be a romantic association. If allergies arose in childhood, chances are you had two parents that had conflicting opinions creating an internal conflict. Airborne allergies are all about relationships and control, because that is what is associated with the lungs. The lungs also represent family, so when there are conflicts in the family that trigger emotions within you, allergies may manifest.

These conflicts may be with parents, but can also be with siblings or your children-it is family members that you wish you could control in some manner but you can’t…there are conflicts that pull your loyalties in different directions and you just “combust”! It is important to look at what was going on in your life when they first manifested, be objective and look at the relationships. So many of my clients will respond, “that was between my sister and my mother and had nothing to do with me” but the next thing you know, they are allergic to dogs!

Why are some people allergic to dogs and not cats? Some are allergic to horses, but not dogs or cats? You would think that one fur covered creature is the same os the other, wouldn’t you? Well, metaphysically I look at what that animal represents, and there is the conflict.

• Dogs deal with conflicts between loyalties, because dogs are all about being loyal.
• Cat allergies are about independence and often reflect conflicts within relationships.
• Horses are about power, so an allergy to horses are about a conflict with those that you perceive have power over you and the power you have within you.

Being allergic indicates internal conflict, often you will have your mind made up and your loyalty established only to be influenced by the opinion of another. That creates a conflict within you. Another example of inner conflict is when you are attracted to someone but do not want to compromise your emotions or independence, you are pulled in different directions and try to “talk yourself out” of the relationship perhaps by focusing on what is wrong with the other person rather than what is attractive about the other person. If you are learning from allergies examine your relationships with those closest to you. Ask yourself if you feel that you compromise in order to be in that relationship?

I have just discussed animal allergies, and the next is food allergies. These allergies can be developed over time and exposure or we are born with them. Often when you are born with allergies you have either brought in a karmic lesson or it is an issue left from a previous incarnation. Food allergies are related to conflicts involving enjoyment. The can represent a difficulty with allowing yourself permission to enjoy life to the fullest. They can also involve not allowing others in your life to enjoy.

Allergies gain attention, whether it is because you announce you are allergic and put everyone on alert on your behalf or because you have a “reaction” that brings attention. This can be evident as well with bee stings and the amount of energy, attention and even fear that can be introduced when either you are learning from serious reactions or someone you are with is learning from bee allergies. What type of attention does it bring to your life? What type of control do you gain in a situation or relationship when you have serious reactions? There is a payoff, and that body/mind connect is going to oblige every time.

Along the lines of food allergies and insect bites. are allergies to medications. It is my belief that if you are having an allergic reaction to a medication, your body is telling you that you do not need THAT medication! Now, that is not to say you don’t need ANY, but before you go on a regimen of five different ones for the same condition, would you please do your body a favor and find out what it is saying first?! THEN you can tell it to shut up.

It is the same thing I mentioned in my entry on pain, find out the “why” and then proceed with protocol. So many just keep trading one med after another until something works. All the while your body is attempting to communicate to you that you have an issue with getting better. See what the message is, and then look at your payoff for being sick.

If you are allergic to dust or airborne particles such as pollen, it represents an insecurity, that you feel vulnerable and feel easily attacked by others. This requires some introspection, if you are looking over your shoulder, is there a reason they may want to attack you? Take a quiet look at your own behavior and check out what role projection plays in these allergies. Sometime what we fear or criticize in others is within ourselves, making us sensitive to those qualities. There is a reason the eyes and sinuses are often affected by pollen and airborne dust, there is someone that is irritating us (sinus) that we refuse to look at (eyes) because it may be too emotional (mucus and watery eyes) “to face” (yet another reference there!).

How much has self-hypnosis played a part in your allergies? How often DO YOU tell your body you are allergic to something? Can you not tell your body so often, yet still be cautious? Yes. Can you use affirmations (positive self-hypnosis) rather than the negative scripting? The next time you have a reaction, look at what is going on in your relationships and your life that may have triggered that reaction. Who in your life is at the forefront? What is the conflict?

Remember more than anything, you cannot change the other person, but you can change your perception of the other person. In shifting how you perceive them, you shift your relationship and therefore release the conflict. It is amazing what happens in a relationship when you shift yourself! When you change the way you look at people, the people you look at change…Wayne Dyer says that, but it actually goes back much much further with Robert Collier and his book, The Secret of the Ages. But no matter where the origin, it is true and quite profound.

Have a wonderful week! Blessings, Catherine

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 6:16 pm and is filed under Topic Overviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.