As a kid, and as a teenager, I had severe seasonal allergies. I used to call it Sinus Hell.
I was addicted to those powerful nasal sprays and had stashes of Otrivin and Dristan. I remember when I decided to go cold turkey and stop using them, which ended up being a horrible, self-induced asphyxiation kind of thing (I don’t think I could breathe through my nose for close to seven years after I kicked the habit).
But I remember the day they were gone! I was travelling in the Alps with my friend Megan. We were on the train and the windows were wide open. Pollen, and bits of mountain grasses and tree cotton, were floating around us like a raging sea. She was sneezing to death and all puffy eyed, yet I was fine. Nada.
I’m not sure what changed in my immune system. Now that I think about it, it was most likely because I was done with school (I was never good at elementary and high school and I nearly failed at everything…except for art), and I was finally studying something that I loved (human physiology and exercise science). I also love travel and I love the mountains.
Put simply, my immune system was happy. So, no allergies.
My nervous system and stress response system, plus the other parts that it connects to, such as the inflammatory responses in the body were less “ON.” I wasn’t bathed in the stress chemicals of cortisol and adrenaline, which when on 24/7 can cause immune dysfunction.
To this day, I still experience zero seasonal allergies.
(Pollen? What pollen? I’m not even allergic to cats anymore!)
Check Out This Story
I want to share one more story of immune system healing.
This excerpt is straight from one of my private Facebook communities where people are embarked on a 12-week nervous system rewire program called SmartBody SmartMind:
Further to this Facebook post, this student also emailed me this interesting piece:
Dear Irene:
Thank you ? Yes eczema is clearing bit by bit! I have some left on my eye.. But tiny! Also I’m itching my skin less in general. Biggie for me this morning… Normally after a big pile of food (that includes gluten, dairy, alcohol) I’m so bloated, sneeze like a trooper and I normally itch for hours/days afterwards. This morning I have none of those symptoms and I’m able to just relax, thinking about how much fun I had the night before, normally I’d be so frustrated with my body and would get so upset and ask myself why put myself through all that just for a bit of fun! It’s just beautiful and the freedom is huge.
Eczema, and intolerance to certain foods, while many may say are genetic, don’t have to be a life sentence. You may be predisposed to skin troubles (like I am), or food intolerances (as so many are), but they need not be forever. They can change. I’m living proof of this, as is this client.
(A budding new field in medicine, called Epigenetics, which is how our environment affects the expression of our genetic makeup, is changing how we see ALL of this. Finally.)
This person started my self-study starter course, the 21 Day Nervous System Tune-Up, earlier this Fall. We did some private work to help process some traumatic events from childhood, which helped move some stored up energy that (I’m certain) was putting a hold on the immune system, and ‘VOILÀ’ – fewer reactions, with no change of diet or added medications.
And here we are.
I work with so many people who have become food Nazi’s: blaming gluten, dairy, alcohol and other ‘things’ for their immune-related problems. And while I do know some people do have real, deathly allergies to things, I can’t help but wonder how many of our allergies and sensitivities are simply a by-product of a highly stressed out and toxic autonomic nervous system.
These same people are going from specialist to nutritionist to doctor to naturopath, trying to find answers. They get allergy tested, stress themselves out with endless food elimination diets and invest HUGE $$$ on supplements. They rarely get answers. They ‘think’ they find an answer, and feel a bit better, then, months later, they have a reaction to something else. And then the same time and financial stress starts up again.
They kinda go nutzoid and wonder: WILL I EVER BE NORMAL?
The story above is a great example of the science called psychoendoneuroimmunology, which is the study of psychological processes and the biochemical interactions that occur between the nervous and immune system.
I have ZERO doubt this person got better, and remains to improve, because they’re:
- learning how to better regulate their autonomic nervous system,
- processing difficult emotions such as fear, sadness and anger (rather than suppressing them)
- engaging with the world in a perspective that is 180 degrees different (or as I call it “they’ve taken the red pill.”)
Anecdotal Evidence Is Still Real
When I was doing my research studies back in Australia, it was the anecdotal evidence collected that had the greatest promise for health benefits in my subjects! (Sadly, I couldn’t publish any of it because we didn’t anticipate the results, so we never tested it with a standardized survey and lab test!)
This person above, who enhanced their immune system by embarking on a journey of self-study and deep inquiry into past traumas not fully processed (heck – they had NEVER processed ANY of them!), shows the power of a neurosensory approach to healing. It also shows the power of having a world class education in understanding the biology of our stress reactions. If we don’t understand what’s going on inside of us, we can’t change it.
If you have ANY signs of a weakened immune system:
- Allergies (food or seasonal)
- Viruses, that common “cold,” that seems to linger, and take FOREVER to go away. (By the way, getting a cold once or twice a year isn’t such a bad thing, what’s bad is when you get them monthly, and/or never fully recover.)
- Always having swollen lymph nodes.
- Digestion that’s sluggish and leaves you with un-regular bowel movements.
- Scrapes and cuts on the skin that take weeks to heal.
- Physical injuries that take longer to heal than the common recommended healing time.
I’d love to see you on the other side, learning about the inner workings of your stress physiology, why the nervous system is so important for ALL human health, and why this education and the practical neurosensory exercises within will get you on the path to becoming your own very best medicine (just like my client above experienced).
Irene.
PS Just today, I received this email from the same person I mentioned above:
“I’m still in awe about it and everyday I’m thinking ‘oh my god my nose!!’ Even during my visit here in OZ and the wedding – not a single histamine attack! I drank the wine, ate the cheese, snorted the pollen – NOTHING!!”
(QUICK SIDE-NOTE: This person hasn’t even changed their environment. They haven’t moved, they are with the same supportive partner, they work the same job that stresses them out…but they are more resilient in how they deal with the stress…AND, they’ve even started buying vegetables that aren’t organic to save money!)
