THE SENSITIVE TRAIT – MINERALIZE DAILY

As a teenager growing up in an alcoholic home, I never learned to relax. With seven (7) brothers and sisters running around the house on a Saturday morning, I used to think "Ugh, can't it just be quiet!" By the time I graduated college, I began to experience anxiety attacks. The normal stress of being a teenager, going to college, and approaching graduating had taken a toll on my physical body.

However, I thought it was emotional, you know, the stress of graduating and going out on my own to find a job. So I did therapy and saw a doctor, leaving with a prescription of muscle relaxers to keep from hyperventilating, and prescription antacids to calm my stomach. After several years of therapy, changing my thinking, taking these prescriptions, and gaining confidence in my new life, I stopped the xanax (with many unpleasant and weird withdrawal symptoms.)

Yet, I have struggled with anxiety my entire life. I did biofeedback (highly recommend) to help me learn how to relax. Yet there were times when the anxiety seemed to just take over. I wasn't aware of having a thought or worry that caused it, but I felt like my body pumped up my heart rate and adrenaline for no reason. 

Five (5) years ago, I joined Food Addictions Anonymous (FA) for two (2) years to eliminate flour, sugar, and alcohol. I felt so much better and lost my excess weight. Yet I still felt craving on a physical level. I wasn't sure why. The rigidity of the FA program, which called for you to follow someone else's guidelines instead of your body's needs, also left me feeling like there had to be a better way. So my search led me to work with a spiritual health coach.

This decision began my journey into the mineral world. At first, I didn't want to do anything that had to do with taking vitamins or supplements. I had tried them many times based on recommendations from professionals, and it didn't feel helpful. So it took me several months of coaching to be open to getting a mineral test. 

Once I did, I really started to get heal.

Minerals ground our bodies. When important minerals are too low or too high - out of balance - our bodies experience physical highs and lows. Since each person is an experiment of one (we all eat, think, move, drink, medicate, and rest differently), it's important to listen closely to our bodies for guidance in finding our optimal health.

So my journey began. 

As part of my work, I did  a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA), a screening test that measures the levels of 21+ minerals in hair tissue. I found out that my minerals were out of balance. And, not surprising, magnesium, which is like an ambassador in our cells, was very low for me.

Low magnesium is the source of many of today's health issues. You can look at the stages of low magnesium and the typical symptoms associated with it on Morley Robbins' website. It is full of research about and resources for magnesium and how it works with other minerals (cofactors) to keep our bodies running (or not) like a healthy (or not) machine.  You can even find out About Morley, and his partner, Dr. Liz, and how they got involved in helping others discover their mineral imbalances and how to correct them.

What I discovered: Even though I eat organic, whole foods, they aren't full of minerals like those of our ancestors. It's almost impossible to get the required minerals from our industrialized farmlands. And with our fast-paced lifestyles filled with processed foods, prescriptions drugs, sugar/flour/alcohol, electronics and magnetic fields, plane travel, and more, our minerals get depleted faster than we can ingest them.

As I corrected my magnesium and other base minerals over several months, my anxiety attacks WENT AWAY - totally. My heart palpitations resolved. My mind calmed and I worried less. I became less susceptible to energy disturbances.  At almost 60 years of age, I have a secure, solid feeling inside of me because I now know how to physically ground my body. I no longer fear panick attacks because I don't get them anymore. If only I'd known that I could feel this physically grounded when I was 20!

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As a sensitive person, this physical grounding is very important because we feel things more deeply than others. We feel them more deeply emotionally, and physically. This level of response can zing our system around, leaving us feeling frazzled and overwhelmed. But with the minerals, the information can come by us and keep on moving because our bodies are grounded and don't overreact to something that is not ours. 

So when I seem nuts about magnesium and its supporting minerals, well, you can see why! And I would love to help you find out how to ground yourself too. It's amazing!

​Until next time, Be Kind to Yourself.

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