Welcome to The Celiac Meditations! They are sweet snippets of encouragement to help people with celiacs (or other autoimmune or diet-related lifestyles). A little validation for the crazy feelings we feel. And a little bit of hope that it's all going to be okay. I hope you stick around. Leave comments below and share your experiences! xoxo steph
What happens when you don't reflect your identity?
My whole life I’ve always been healthy. I’ve enjoyed physical activity, I’ve been naturally thin, and I’ve stayed away from drugs, alcohol or smoking. I may have an ailment from time to time, but I am a healthy, optimistic person.
Except when I’m depressed and don’t want to do anything.
Or not able to get out of bed for hours in the morning.
Or going to bed early every night with migraines.
But honestly that’s neither here-nor-there in terms of health. I mean, that’s common right?
My personal identity is, and has always been, health. So what happens when your lifestyle, mood, and even behaviors look like the opposite of health?
I used to look at health in terms of what I ate in comparison with others. I mean, I eat way less sugar than most people.
But what I put into my body, turns out, doesn’t determine whether I’m healthy or not. It’s maybe only half the equation.
What my body is DOING is whether it’s healthy.
Are the organs and systems working together? Is my personal identity in alignment with my physical identity?
I think it’s so easy to ignore symptoms, write off physical body reactions (acne, headaches, gas), and dismiss the obvious anomalies in our health — when we attach our identity to our health.
“I am a healthy person, thus I am a good person.”
“I care about my body (clean it, exercise it, massage it), thus my body is healthy."
When I detached my self-worth from my ‘healthiness’, then I could stop deluding myself.
Yes, I exercise regularly and eat salads and even go to a mental health counselor… but I still feel (symptom) (symptom) (symptom). And that doesn’t make me bad, crazy, or wrong.
It means my health journey isn’t over. And it's okay to admit that. To recognize that although I want to believe I am healthy, part of my body is not.
And I am willing to do whatever it takes to fix that.
t h e c e l i a c m e d i t a t i o n
May I seek to align my body, heart, and mind.