Energy Causes Of Swollen Lymph Nodes That Will Surprise You
Do you sense there is a spiritual meaning behind your lymph challenge?
Steve here. Back in 2014, I experienced a chain of lymph nodes swollen over 5 times their size on the right side of my neck. Along with chronic pain, fatigue, and other “mysterious symptoms.”
My family is my happy place, and I feel so grateful for their love and support while I navigated my health challenges. Anne is my rock and Ferne is my ball of endless entertainment.
That experience changed the direction of my life.
Despite consulting with doctors, having bloodwork taken, and an ultrasound scan done, I was left with no answers. After trying to heal my lymph nodes for two and a half years and investing in various treatments including acupuncture, massages, herbs, heavy metal detoxification, supplements, and a restrictive diet, I hit a plateau in 2016 where my healing halted.
I was frustrated, and exhausted, and I felt alone; however, I kept going. (Shout out to Anne, my incredible wife and business partner, who was there to support me though my darkest times.)
Before I became a healing guide, pain, emotional numbness, and unawareness dampened my ability to listen to my body. I didn’t even know that was something I could do because it was never taught to me! I reached a point where my body needed to “turn up the volume” so I would hear it. This was the height of my fatigue, pain, lymph swelling, mouth sores, and more.
After I hit my healing plateau in 2016, I was awakened to the world of energy, emotions, intuition, and the mind-body connection. I finally realized that my body was speaking to me, so I dug in and learned to listen. And I learned how to cultivate a newfound partnership with my body.
When I started to hone my focus on the emotional tensions and trauma patterns held within, that’s when I experienced a breakthrough. And the swelling in my lymph nodes cleared in less than 3 weeks, and I felt a sense of inner freedom I never experienced before.
Beyond just my lymph, a deep spiritual connection was ignited, and my healing gifts started to surface. I felt so much lighter as I allowed the years and years of inner tensions to soften and unwind. People started commenting on how peaceful my energy was, how I had a glow about me, and how I just looked content and more confident in myself. I felt freer and more expressed…more creative and alive. Unfiltered.
First off, welcome to this space!
My name is Stephen (I also go by Steve). I guide healing in partnership with your body & inner wisdom, to ignite freedom and authentic connection within yourself. I believe we are meant to embrace, not bypass, our emotional sides and human experiences as part of our healing paths. We’re on this planet, in this body for a reason! My values honor the full integrity of our human + divine nature, the inherent intelligence of the body, and the emotional strength within.
My health challenges were blessings in disguise, and when I realized that, it led to a whole new relationship with my body. My journey opened me to a profound discovery of the interplay between the body, mind, and spirit and the healing power that lies within. I cultivated a deep love and appreciation for myself, and my body…and it brought me back home to myself.
While it wasn’t easy and certainly challenged me, ultimately, I'm extremely grateful for the experience with my swollen lymph nodes because it was the catalyst for my true calling as a healing guide for others. If someone would have told me that would all happen because of swollen lymph nodes…I would have never believed it.
In this article, I will be discussing the spiritual meaning of swollen lymph nodes. I aim to provide a different perspective to help you understand the message your body is trying to communicate and bring light to a much more empowering truth.
I’m happy you were led here.
A quick note
When I was experiencing a chain of swollen lymph nodes in my neck, I tried to fight them for 2.5 years with a host of external treatments, believing it would solve it. What I didn’t realize was that I was in a toxic relationship with my body and self. I was full of repressed emotional pain, and the lymph nodes were just the messenger.
When I addressed the emotional trauma patterns my body pointed me to, my system found calm, and the swelling in my lymph nodes dissolved for good. I felt a sense of freedom and love for myself I had never experienced before. If that is something you would like help with, I would love to connect.
Flipping The Script
We have been conditioned to believe that symptoms are bad and wrong. When something in the body pops up, fear tends to follow. The thing is, this energy creates more 'wrongness' within the self and widens the chasm between you and your body's purposeful biological processes. (yes, I utilize the wisdom of GNM in my somatic work. :) And it keeps us stuck in a fearful and disempowering dynamic with our health.
Playing the blame game on the body is a repetitive and exhausting practice that is deeply ingrained in our society. I truly have so much compassion for the amount of misunderstanding and abuse our collective bodies have received.
Like many, I used to believe that the body was something I had to care for, otherwise it would break down. That it wasn’t an intelligent and supportive system that could regenerate itself. That it didn’t have a say or spoke to me; rather, it was here to listen to me and do my will.
Think about this dynamic…doesn’t feel so great does it? Definitely not a partnership.
Chances are, you were also ingrained into this “controlling your body” way from mainstream medicine. Take heart because it’s not your fault. You probably never consciously chose this mind-over-body belief system. You were just told this is how it is and that it must be the truth because that system says so.
But you can change that! The fact that you are here means you already question it. And I celebrate that. :)
I'm here to help flip the script by helping you see the purpose within your body's symptoms.
The body knows what it’s doing! We just have to get the rest of you on board with that to minimize the resistance, stress, and mental interference. Sometimes, this means breaking through long-standing trauma patterns that are keeping you in a box or a state of high alert.
But by doing this, you can receive your body's messages as opportunities for your highest growth. Your nervous system and mind can relax. And your body can complete its healing naturally, in this state of greater internal peace.
Everyone always comments on how that just makes a lot of sense!
It removes you from the victim role and into one of the empowered co-creator...and I just love that.
This is why it's not in my integrity to make a blanket statement of, "This is how you heal lymph challenges. Just follow this protocol." There are numerous nuances and "flavors" to each person's unique situation that are contributing to the overall picture. That are opportunities for their growth! That's why I work directly with individuals to meet them in their current capacity...and why it also leads to breakthroughs.
So let's get into the overarching patterns or themes that the body is communicating through swollen lymph nodes.
Swollen Lymph Nodes Spiritual Meaning
One of the main functions of the lymphatic system from a medical standpoint is to help defend the body by filtering toxic substances.
Pay especially close attention to the words DEFEND and FILTER because they are a metaphor that directly speaks to lymph issues. I love metaphors because, like a hawk, they allow us to zoom out of the weeds and see from a clearer, empowering view.
Our immune response is to defend and protect. As is our emotional response!
Filtering yourself (suppressing, self-sabotaging, dulling, numbing, etc.) is your emotional response pattern to defend and stay safe.
Just like the lymph helps defend the body by filtering, you defend yourself, emotionally, by filtering. In this case against a perceived or potential attack of criticism.
It's a direct mirror!
The spiritual cause of chronic lymph swelling indicates a need to defend yourself from attack or criticism, by filtering yourself.
The nervous system steers you into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—bracing for the expected attack or criticism—to shield you and minimize the hurt. All to keep you safe. Remarkable!
Meanwhile, the body intelligently adapts and responds to this emotional trauma pattern, as designed, by sending support to the area of “attack.”
So what can self-filtering look like?
Shutting down from expressing because of criticism, attack, or feeling unheard.
Filtering everything through your intellect and disregarding or doubting your heart & intuitive knowing.
Holding back your honest thoughts and feelings.
Dimming and dulling to fit in.
Analyzing conversations to see if the “correct” words were expressed.
Walking on eggshells and people-pleasing to avoid conflict.
Feeling the need to prove "rightness," overly explain, or defend beliefs to convince others.
I'm sure you can feel the energy in these...and how it doesn't feel great.
When you filter yourself, your spirit feels boxed in and disconnected. If you are disconnected from your spirit, you will feel it…physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Your spirit wants to experience freedom. If it's not feeling that, the body will show you and speak to you over time through chronic symptoms.
Me, happily amongst the dahlias in my garden holding our pup, Ferne. Gardening is a deeply nourishing outlet for me and holds many enriching metaphors that have profoundly impacted my spiritual growth.
The good news is that it's pointing you to the exact places, within yourself, where resolution needs tending. That’s what I help people with.
As a child, I grew up in a very critical household and even learned criticism to be a way of showing love. Out of this environment, I learned how to utilize my emotional defense filter of dulling myself, to try and stay safe. Through dulling myself, I tried to blend in and quiet my voice so that I didn't receive attention. Because, in my mind, receiving attention meant criticism and hurt.
This led to me asking myself the question, “So if my body was in ‘healing mode’ for over two and a half years, why did it take so long for the swelling to resolve?”
This trauma pattern created during my childhood was still active within me as an adult. It was my emotional safety mechanism! My body couldn’t complete the lymph healing process due to the emotional tensions this pattern kept reactivating within me. On top of that, I was in a great amount of fear and distress about my symptoms because I didn't know the intelligence of my body at the time.
I was stuck in a looping pattern that created a tumultuous and toxic inner environment, which kept reactivating the conflict. Meaning, the swelling was going to stay to protect me and keep me safe.
Me and my wife, Anne. She guides this somatic healing work too, and she is brilliant at it if you feel more drawn to her energy. :) While we help individuals with a range of health challenges, Anne has a special niche with chronic acne and bladder challenges.
This trauma pattern of dulling myself to avoid criticism activated a defensiveness and hyper-vigilance within me. I was easily affected by what others assumed, said, or thought about me. And I found it difficult to speak up out of fear of creating conflict. It was easier and safer for me to “keep the (artificial) peace.”
The heart of the matter that I needed to address was that I was unconsciously dulling myself again and again. My spirit felt it, and my body and lymph were validating my experience.
When I learned this, everything changed.
I tried to fight my swollen lymph nodes for 2.5 years with a host of external treatments, believing that would solve it. When I addressed the emotional trauma patterns my body pointed me to, my system found calm, and the swelling in my lymph nodes dissolved for good. I felt a sense of unfiltered freedom I had never experienced before.
There is a different way to heal. One where you can partner with your body instead of fighting against it.
I’ve learned how to help myself and others feel confident, peaceful, and free in their bodies again. And I would be honored to help you too. ↓
Ready to heal in partnership with your lymph?
Let’s get to the heart of the matter over a connective call. I will provide you with intel and clarity to best serve your unique situation and help you find relief. Use the scheduler below, and I truly look forward to assisting you. ~Stephen
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Sources
Hay, Louise. (1988). Heal Your Body. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc.
Romero, Joman. (2016). Knowing Ourselves: What Does The Body Want To Tell Us With Diseases? CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
