Most people only know about the “find and fix” way of being with the body: using the mind (yours or someone’s you go to for help) to try to figure out what is “wrong” with the body, and what to do to fix it. This is the model our entire health care model is based on. I call this the “top down” approach, because it places primary emphasis on the use of the mind to fix or control the body.

The top down approach is based on a set of beliefs about what the body should or shouldn’t be doing and is ultimately about trying to make the body be the way the mind thinks it should be. If the problem you’re having doesn’t respond to the things you/your mind are trying to make it do, you can end up in a tug-of-war with your body. You keep trying to figure out and fix it, and your body keeps staying the way it is.

And I’ll tell you … you cannot win this tug of war. You might be able to temporarily find a way to make the symptoms go away, or at least decrease. But they will return in some form, at some time, and on and on it goes. At best, you’ll end up in a stalemate with your body.