Renovations, Retirement, Relationship
Something that is more prevalent today is vertigo and dizziness. Many times, doctors will say it’s related to the inner ear and one’s equilibrium being off. In the last five years, I’ve noticed more and more people either with vertigo or know friends and family suffering from it. It seems to affect a lot of women in their mid-40s to mid-50s.
I have come to associate vertigo as a way for one to get out of an old pattern through the sense of spinning out of control. Vertigo is very disorienting and forces one to get out of their stuff, and see what they really want to do with their life. Sometimes it can last for a short period of time, just to get the person spooked and alert, while other times, it can last a long time. When vertigo persists and lasts for extended periods, it’s because the person’s body wisdom is literally shaking the person to create change in their life.
The role of vertigo is to insure that a person’s acorn and tree of life are on track with a person’s life path. Vertigo attacks seem to always be when people want to make a change deep down inside, but don’t want to let go either. The more often it hits, the more their inner self wants them to make a change in their life, but they’re not making it. We tend to get conditioned and feel safe in our routines because routines are comfortable for people.
My first experience with someone having vertigo was with Elise. It was about eight years ago when I wasn’t too familiar with vertigo yet. Elise’s house was under renovation, she had some challenges with her husband, and vocationally she felt no support at work with her co-workers and her boss giving her grief all the time; she was deliberating between retiring or not.
Elise didn’t know what do to and felt her life was in flux. Each time the vertigo would hit, it would force her to surrender to what was going on. Every time she resisted what was changing, the vertigo attack got worse. She went to the ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor, but all her tests came back negative with no conclusive evidence (hearing, inner ear – balance, cerebellum).
As Elise’s body learned strategies to release tension, she found herself not as reactive to situations at home or at work, that in the past would drive her into a tizzy. Although her vertigo episodes still would come up from time to time, it wasn’t happening on a daily basis or not as intensely as before.
After eight weeks of care, Elise was feeling better and learned that breathing and being present with her body helped to ameliorate the spinning episodes. Some side benefits that she didn’t expect were decrease in blood pressure and less swelling in her hands and feet.
Elise continued on with care until one day she abruptly stopped coming in. I tried to get in touch with her for a couple of months in vain, and when I finally did, she informed me that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I inquired about how her vertigo episodes were and Elise shared that the moment she found out about the cancer, the episodes stopped! The doctors were recommending Elise to undergo chemotherapy and surgery. I informed her that there were other ways to deal with her diagnosis, but after our conversation that was the last I heard of her.
Elise taught me that sometimes when a bigger health crisis appears, it forces one to make a decision on what is truly important and may bring clarity in the most unexpected way. From time to time I think about Elise and wonder how she is faring, but recognize that every person has to make their own choices. When one takes the time to choose what is right for them, they won’t necessarily have to create a health crisis to get back on track with their own inner truth and knowing.
If you can relate, or have a story to share, please comment below. Have you experienced hand pain? What did you find it related to? There is a benefit in expressing and exchanging our stories. Let’s hear it!