I had the joy of speaking with French podcaster Léna Champy, who is passionate about spreading the message of mind-body healing in Europe and beyond. Quintessential of the French, Léna embodies a flair for beauty and enjoyment. We commiserated about how the “no-pleasure diet” was not our remedy for chronic symptoms. We’d clearly both tried many different iterations: No sweets, no starch, no dairy, no wheat. No pleasure. 😝🥣  

When you feel unwell, it’s natural to take healing very seriously. You want to feel well again. Urgently. I tried to recover from 13 years of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome through deprivation diets, caches of supplements and intravenous vitamins. I applied my hard-driving journalistic attitude to healing, doing everything 50+ practitioners told me to do with exacting precision. I exerted plenty of self-pressure but not enough pleasure. Needless to say, it backfired. ☄️

I listened to doctors who warned me not to overtax my fragile system. Sure enough, I’d experience a torrent of flu-like symptoms to follow any activity. But my condition only worsened with this strategy. My world shrunk into my four walls. As Léna and I discuss in her wonderful Horizon podcast, felicity, creativity and play are often lacking in our recovery journey. Yet they are medicinal tonics. 🤸🏽‍♀️🎭🏕

The late Dr. John Sarno wrote about the “rage to soothe ratio,” how calming activities counterbalance the dark underbelly of unfelt emotions. Internal medicine physician Howard Schubiner has written that a lack of joy is a through-line with chronic symptoms.

The antidote? More ease, enjoyment and the spirit the French are known for.  Not to say that’s a cakewalk when you’re subsisting on kale. I don’t mean to downplay the intensely disabling effects of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Long Covid or persistent pain. I know firsthand, they zap the life force out of you like a hurricane sucking up warm air. You lose your pep and your reason for being—qualities that are essential for healing. ❤️‍🩹

Perhaps the most vital quality to recover is personal agency, as trauma expert Gabor Maté has found with his patients over many decades. To find a semblance of peace amidst the rubble, one must disconnect from the loud voices of others and tune into the still, silent voice within. One must ask: What do I truly want and need? As Léna and I discuss, the right choice is the one that feels right to you. It’s not what someone else did to heal or what every practitioner from here to Mars thinks you should do. 🚀👨🏽‍⚕️

Neuroscience is now proving that repressed emotions like resentment, rage, frustration, shame and grief influence the state of our nervous system. Our nervous system drives the state of our health. We do not get well by forgoing our inner truth and stuffing our emotions, no matter how many herbal tinctures we’re ingesting. That does not feel safe to the nervous system, and safety is our nervous system’s love language.

I finally recovered from 13 years of chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) after I learned that:

a) My symptoms were caused by my brain and nervous system.
b) I could recover.

I wasn’t stuck with insurmountable viruses or faulty mitochondria as doctors had told me—Halleluyah! 🎉

That sea change gave me a burst of energy. Then I needed to find my how-to manual. Here’s the reader’s digest version:

🧘🏽‍♀️ Observe body sensations through a lens of safety, a process called somatic tracking
😢 Acknowledge and feel my emotions
🧠 Retrain my brain by shifting thoughts and beliefs
❤️‍🩹 Cultivate self-compassion
💃🏾 Start living life on my terms!
🕵🏼‍♀️Discern the wisdom in my symptoms 

As I explored these steps day by day, I slowly regained my energy and well-being. Just as importantly, I found inner strength and deep-buried truths. It wasn’t easy but it was more gratifying than organizing my pill boxes.

As Léna wisely shared, “You go through the dark night of the soul and one day there will be the sun. You have to do the work and open yourself to new possibilities.” 🌈☀️

In response to her, I added: “With mind-body symptoms, there is a way out. It’s going to guide you back home to yourself.” 

Tune into the interview to hear our whole conversation! To whet your appetite, we end with:

📗The book I could not live without

📿A mantra I live by

🗣What I’d tell my 20-year-old self

At the risk of a spoiler alert, I’ll say the same to you: “Trust your gut. Honor yourself. Know that you deserve to be loved.” You have the power to heal within.🕯

To jumpstart your own healing, join us for my live Be Your Own Medicine course. Let’s do this together, friends! 👩🏽‍🤝‍👨🏾🧑‍🤝‍🧑👩🏿‍🤝‍👩🏽