Allergies

Try thinking in terms of “breathing freely” and being grateful for your clear sinuses and the summer air! If you imagine yourself in this way, you can make it happen! When you say, “stop myself sneezing” you're actually reinforcing the idea of sneezing in  your mind, even if it's not what you intend. My mom taught me to think in terms of what I want, not in terms of what I don't want. “Why even give what you don't want the time of day?!” Thanks Mom.

As an adult, I remember taking a ferry from San Diego to Ensenada on very rough seas. My mother-in-law reinforced for me on that trip what my mother had always said. As people hurled over the side of the boat, my mother-in-law said, “Don't think 'I'm not going to barf,' instead think about how wonderful your stomach feels! Take deep breaths and concentrate on how well you feel.” It worked. It kicked in like magic, bringing back everything I had been told as a child. Those were some wise women, those two!!

You really can do it! 

I certainly feel for you Rob. Fortunately for me, growing up around animals, I bypassed the plant and animal allergies, but later in life, I started getting food allergies. It's certainly no fun. I was blessed to learn from my holistic vet that allergies were just stuck emotions in our body that were triggered by a substance that was also present during that time of emotional trauma.

Sounds woo-woo I know but I'll be darned if after seeing a kinesiologist and having the emotion “cleared” if the allergy didn't go away.  This worked for milk(that used to give me terrible migrains) and garlic and partially for soy. I haven't gone back to clear the rest of the soy allergy simply because it is not my desire to eat it any way. But there are rare occasions that soy will be in other dishes that I don't know about and then it zaps me, so I will go back and finish the clearing.

It is my understanding that this works for all allergies to plants, animals, foods, etc. If it resonates with you I highly endorse it. Could be just psychosomatics at work but hey, if it works, who cares what it is?

Hey, Rob, I am right there with you.  This is going to be my last allergy season as well.  I haven't had them as long as you; for me, they appeared after purchasing and living in a newly-constructed house, which I am convinced played a role due to the tight construction and outgassing of synthetics.  I've never been able to handle even the over-the-counter medications, at best I feel completely disorientated, at worst, I had some Coricidin-d literally knock me out for about 18 hours.

Interesting research into the etymology of the word allergy - I believe it was so named in late 19th, early 20th century, when bacteria and viruses were being discovered as 'causes' of disease, and they hadn't yet figured out what 'caused' allergies, and figured it had to be something 'other' - ?  I don't know about “abnormally high sensitivity” though.  It's the popular current model, but with so many more people now routinely experiencing them, what's 'abnormal?'  Same with athsma, diabetes, etc.  These are systemically passing through American society, while largely bypassing other nations.  Hypersensitivity, over-reaction (sounds like what all women were 'diagnosed' with a century or two ago!)… when such large swathes of the population are effected, it seems like something 'other' is playing a part, other than our own personal wonky 'overly sensitive' immune systems?  I recently read that we actually absorb more chlorine by-products through showering, and even flushing the toilet or running the sink, than we do through drinking chlorinated water - which sounds hinky, until you think about how volatile chlorine is, the force with which it is being pushed through pipes, and, in the case of showering, the enormous absorption capability of the skin.  Pretty weird to think that our bodies are chlorinated, too - maybe too clean in some sense?  Also, as more engineered, patented pollens enter the atmosphere, what effect, that (I wonder if Pfizer owns stock in Dow) - ?

Anyway, allergies certaily cause high reactivity from the immune system - whether it's OVERreaction, I don't know.  But I have also noticed that focusing inward can quell the 'attack' - especially focusing on breathing rather than sneezing (being rather than reacting - a handy trick in all areas of life!).  The perspective of an energy shift is also interesting - I notice I sneeze the most when walking from one room into another.  A hard-headed rationalist might say that it's a reaction to differing levels of allergens present (or fluctuations wafting on the breeze), but that's getting back to the model that something 'out there' is the cause.  We may live in the stinkiest air quality conditions in the world, but it is still how we interface with them that determines the quality of our breathing.  Plus, with seasonal allergies, you've got to figure it's just a whole lot of grass and trees trying to make love with your face (from a distance, of course, as is their way).

Very interesting topic, and I hope you will post more on the subject.  I think our society as a whole could do really well not 'taking medication for something I'm doing to myself.'  It's a very Zen thing to get in touch with your own damn self; Edward Abbey: 'If you feel that you must suffer, then plan your suffering carefully - as you choose your dreams, as you conceive your ancestors.'

Diane… LOVE the Mom wisdom of 'Why even give what you don't want the time of day?!' - that just says it ALL!  I've had the exact same experience of successfully avoiding sea sickness through breathing an making friends with my stomach - looking forward to trying that on really high seas some day (with some ginger snaps for reinforcement!)

And Shelly, I couldn't agree more that 'if it works, who cares what it is?' - AMEN!  Interesting experiences with kinesiology - I would love to hear more.  I think so much pain, disease, and suffering comes from 'stuckness.'