A funny thing happened to me on the way to work today.  After going to work from doing a health talk, I missed the turn on the highway.  Instead, I ended up going to Chapters/Starbucks (because all missed exits lead to starbucks).  As a child, Chapters was my refuge, and this specific Chapters was the one I went to as a child.  I had many reminders of my childhood today and I’ve come to realize that really all roads lead back to childhood.  Before I would avoid all reminders of my childhood because it was an emotionally difficult time (in a nutshell, I was a large girl and kids can be mean, which I’ve reconciled).  But now, being in that Chapters made me smile and think fondly onto my youth, signalling to me that I’ve let go of the emotions of my childhood (a healthy sign).

As a Naturopathic Doctor, I see many people with physiological (and emotional) symptoms that arise from unresolved childhood trauma.  Unresolved is the key word.  Physically it may be forgotten, but the mind can mental-emotionally fixate at the age and moments in which traumas occur (and keep that way subconsciously for years).  I’ve even seen birth trauma stick with and affect adults much later on because it hasn’t been addressed, or acknowledged.  Acknowledgement is another key word.  If someone can’t shut their mind off or constantly needs to be “doing something” then they are compensating for not listening to their emotions/traumas.  Just because you suppress the emotion doesn’t make it go away (usually they go deeper and cause issues, or contribute to chronic disease).  To heal, truly health, past childhood trauma must be listened to and healed.  Hence, all roads lead back to childhood.

In order to heal, past trauma needs to acknowledged, addressed and resolved.  It can’t be ignored and it can’t be avoided.  Also it should be mentioned that we are all responsible for all health in this moment.  We may want to blame our issues on our past or our parents, but it’s our responsibility to address and forgive our past in order to live in our present.

And that was my trip down memory lane….