Listen to Your Body

Symptoms are your bodies way of telling you that something has to change.

A few months back, one of my clients was having a really hard time. He was having an anxiety attack and depression. He was desperate for help.

We worked together for quite a while. I adjusted him and I did some emotional work in an attempt to give him some relief. My patients were starting to back up, so I had him go for a walk and come back. I knew we had more to do.

When he came back, we sat down to have a chat. I told him about when I had anxiety attacks.

Here is my story in a nutshell.

Many years ago, I was having anxiety attacks and they were getting progressively worse. I remember driving in the car with my family and having crazy thoughts of dying, my car rolling, my wife being killed and my dogs getting lost on the freeways. After dinner every night I would need to go for a walk to calm my feelings of impending death. It was bad. I had pain and pressure in my chest that I just knew was my heart failing.

I had been checked out by a medical doctor. I was getting regular adjustments. I was taking all kinds of supplements. Nothing was working to alleviate my symptoms.

One night after dinner and my walk, it kept getting worse. I walked some more. I tried to focus on something else. Nothing calmed it. I woke up my wife, Barbara, and had her call 911.

The fire department came with the paramedics. I remember sitting on the edge of the fire truck with the sticky pads stuck to my chest as they ran the EKG. I remember the fear I was under. Mostly, however, I remember Barbara standing with a neighbor's arm around her as she watched me and cried.

That was my bottom.

I made a decision. Something had to change.

I started by assessing my bad habits, the toxins that I kept putting into my body, and right then elected to quit them. I started an exercise program, began daily affirmations and addressed other areas of my lifestyle. My anxiety went away and never came back.


I asked my patient, "Are there any toxins in your life that you know you should let go of?" He said, "Yes" and committed to quit.

He then asked me, "Can you please do something about this anxiety I am feeling now?"

I asked him, "If I waved a magic wand and took this pain you are feeling away right now, would you quit?"

He said, "No."


He quit drinking that night and now, he looks great. His anxiety is gone. He has a new outlook on life.

Our symptoms are our body's way of getting our attention. Numbing these messages out or ignoring them can lead to more serious consequences.

Listen to your body. It will save your life.