Born Into Chaos, Learning to Thrive
Hello, dear readers! Welcome to another edition of Resilient Roads: Tales of Health and Healing. I’m so grateful to have you here in this space where we explore resilience, healing, and hope in the face of life’s many challenges. Today, I’m sharing a deeply personal story about how emotional pain can often show up as physical symptoms—how gut issues like diverticulitis became part of a journey to understand and heal from deeper wounds.
I grew up surrounded by chaos—emotional turbulence that seemed to fill every corner of my world. From an early age, I knew something felt off. My gut told me that the way people around me acted wasn’t right. Even then, I had this sharp intuition, a knowing that whispered, This isn’t yours to carry. But in a chaotic environment, sensitivity often becomes a target. When those around you can’t confront the bigger forces making them angry, they turn that frustration toward whoever is smaller, and that was often me.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that chaos isn’t just emotional—it manifests physically too. As a child, I had frequent bellyaches, leg pains, and headaches. My body felt heavy with the weight of emotions I didn’t know how to process, and without an outlet, those feelings lodged themselves deep into my nervous system. That’s what trauma does—it takes root in the body. And when left unaddressed, it builds up over time, leading to chronic issues like diverticulitis, autoimmune issues, and anxiety.
For years, I carried that tension with me, unaware of how deeply it was affecting my health. It wasn’t until much later in life—through trial, error, and persistence—that I discovered ways to start unraveling those patterns. My journey to wellness wasn’t just about emotional healing; it was about whole-body healing. I had to address my gut issues, build nourishing routines, move my body through yoga and dance, and create space for emotions to flow instead of staying stuck.
Want tips on how these mind-body patterns shaped my health and my journey to recovery? Check out my blog post, Healing from the Inside Out: The Connection Between Emotions and Diverticulitis, for more insights into this experience.
