Remembering...

We often think that memory is simply recalling facts, numbers, where we put the car keys. But memory is actually one of the ways in which our body restores itself and creates a healing response to injury and illness. A while ago I finally took some time out to do exactly what I tell my patients to do. Put yourself first, drink plenty of water, rest, eat healthy, avoid stress and take a walk. I also finally found my way back to the decongestive lymph table and went through a great kidney cleanse developed by one of my mentors whose advice I will never forget.

After a few days I woke up and spontaneously stretched. Now this may not seem like much to you, but I haven’t spontaneously stretched since I was young. I can’t even remember the last time I stretched in the morning before even getting out of bed. And this got me thinking …. my cat stretches, babies stretch and I realized that this is memory - tissue memory. My body was healing and restoring itself and in doing that it had “remembered” to stretch.

I often ask patients if they are experiencing symptoms that may have been true for them many years ago. This idea of “retracing” is a key feature of how the body heals and my stretching was a signal of this. How many other things did my body do when I was young that it no longer does? If we spent time recognizing these retracing memories, we would be more aware of when we are doing things that promote healing and restoration.

Then today I had a patient who said that her joints and muscles felt better than they had in years with the protocol she was on. She said that the most amazing thing was that she was waking up and spontaneously stretching in the morning and she hadn’t done that in years! I’m glad I’m not the only one who has noticed this!