Approximately 700,000 people living in the United States suffer with microscopic colitis–a chronic disease in which abnormal reactions of the immune system cause inflammation on the inner lining of the colon. Termed “microscopic,” doctors can only see this inflammation by looking at colon tissue under a microscope. However, I can readily admit that the effects of this inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is anything but small when in full gear. I know. I’ve been dealing with it all of my life and it hasn’t subsided with age. In fact, growing older only kicked it up a notch.
Where I used to merely have to cope with occasional bouts of it, each passing year seemed to tack another month onto my suffering. Adding to this frustration is the notion that my thoughts had as much to do with the recurrence and management of these bouts as my colon. Thus, controlling my head became just as important as controlling my diet. As someone who dislikes taking pharmaceuticals, this posed additional challenges for me but impossible, it wasn’t. I wanted to solve the problem, not merely mask the symptoms and pretend nothing so troubling was going on. With no clear course of action to do so offered by my doctors, I set out on my own and ultimately, came up with a plan that cured me.
At its core sat “clean eating and quiet living.” I began consuming foods closer to the ground, altering my diet to reflect a more organic approach. I also spent more time in prayer, meditation, and spiritual pursuits, minimizing anything that interrupted my peace without completely disconnecting from the world in an unrealistic manner. My “wholeness” approach to nourishing me worked. And the more that it did, the more I actively spent time learning, growing, and changing my life for the better.
Simple things like adding organic lemon to my water, eating an organic grapefruit every day, sipping raw dandelion root tea at bedtime, and taking two tablespoons-full of black seed oil in the mornings soothed my stomach as well as my nerves. These measures also seemed to suppress the sugar cravings I ordinarily had after every meal. In addition, I began to ferment vegetables from my garden (compliments of the teachings of Dr. John Bergman) using a combination of water, sea salt, and mason jars. The result would be the most potent form of delicious probiotics nature could offer. Food-wise, “organic” became my middle name.
In addition, as I already exercised daily, I focused on embracing new activities for sheer pleasure, alone, including reading just for fun, lazy strolls at the local parks, and sitting with simply no agenda at all. I also traded jogging on the weekends for sleeping-in late. And speaking of sleep, I gifted myself a regular, reasonable bedtime that worked for me and asked the rest of my family for their support in this. They gave it, willingly, having seen just how much I’d been struggling with my microscopic colitis over the years.
Finally, I sank myself further into the practice of my faith, which included a great deal of personal discovery alongside alternate forms of thinking. My fascination has only increased in this regard and currently include names like Joseph Benner, Neville Goddard, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Gregg Braden, the Kybalion, the Gospel of Thomas and more. This will certainly be a lifelong practice for me as I’ve become ravenous for such information in my initial decision to expand my knowledge.
I can’t say that the changes that I’ve chosen to make will be right for everyone. But they’ve given me my freedom back as well as the health that I had been longing for but never knew how to find. Improving the quality of the fuel that I put into my body and assuming responsibility for the balance in my life will continue to set the tone for my future. I couldn’t live any other way now knowing what I know. And after reading this, I hope you couldn’t either.
At a minimum, if you are suffering like I was and struggle with finding an answer like I did, commit to ‘never giving up’. Then open yourself to paths you may have passed-by prior. You are worth the pursuit leading to an answer–an answer that IS out there but has yet to be had. Consider that it just may not be where you originally expected it to be. Few things are. And given everything is equal, if you are going to put effort into one or the other, your efforts are better spent pursuing a solution that will bring you optimum health rather than false hope, don’t you think? Seems reasonable to this writer who took back her life and has emerged from “life inside the bathroom” victorious.