Today, I’d like to write about something I think it’s very important in improving allergies and chemical sensitivity: the way we think about our bodies.
After developing palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) at the age of 24, I spent quite some time thinking, “Something has gone wrong with my body.”
I desperately tried to somehow get my “broken” body back to normal.
I went to hospitals, took medications, and ran around trying all sorts of things.
Whenever I came across something that promised,
“If you just do this!”
“This will make you better!”
I would jump right on it!
Every time I tried something new, I would get my hopes up, only to become disappointed.
I would work myself up, then feel completely discouraged, crying, getting angry, and so on…
I was constantly tense, trying so hard to “control” my body.
“There’s something not quite right…”
“But what is it?”
I spent my days feeling frustrated and stuck in my thoughts.
I am a “part” of “nature”
Around that time, I happened to read a book called Fragments of the Universe by physicist Haruo Saji.
In it, there was a passage expressing the idea that we are each a “part” of “nature.”
“This body is actually part of nature…”
I had never thought about it that way before.
After that, my symptoms continued to come and go, but I stopped thinking, “Something is wrong with my body.”
Instead, I began to think:
My symptoms are appearing because I am doing something unnatural.
In other words, if I listen to the voice of my body (nature) and stop doing things that go against it, my symptoms should become milder.
This shift in perspective became a major turning point for me, and I feel that it led to a dramatic improvement in my allergies and chemical sensitivity.
Perhaps the same idea can apply to other illnesses as well.
Body (Nature) is the Teacher
Once I started thinking this way, my entire approach to dealing with illness changed.
First, my way of thinking shifted from:
✖ “I have to cure my illness.”
↓
○ “If I leave it to my body (nature), my body can heal.”
“That’s it! I’ll leave everything up to nature!”
Once I thought this way, my mind suddenly felt lighter.
“How much easier this is…!”
Just as we cannot turn summer into winter or turn a dog into a cat, we cannot control nature.
So, in the first place, I had been going about it the wrong way by trying to force my body to obey me and trying to control it.
Perhaps the best shortcut is simply to listen carefully to the voice of the body (nature) and gradually learn what helps us feel comfortable.
Along the way, I think we can find incredibly valuable clues in understanding how nature works, the wisdom passed down from previous generations, and the experiences of people who have gone through similar situations.
When I think back to the time when I was desperately struggling in a dark sea, unable even to tell where the surface of the water was, I can’t help but hope that my own experiences might offer some kind of clue to people who are suffering from illness today.
Thank you so much for reading😊