What if the emotional weight you've been carrying isn't just in your mind but is actually stored in your body?
Welcome to this quiet place of reflection,
A chance to slow down and listen closely to what your body and your heart may be trying to tell you.
So let's relax,
Take a deep breath and settle in.
Because what we're about to explore might just release something that's been holding you back for far too long.
In this ongoing series of reflections on words beginning with the letters R-E,
Our word for today is reconcile.
Reconcile.
Now most people are familiar with the phrase forgiveness is good for the soul but not too many people realize it's also good for the body.
Psycho neuroimmunologists and health psychologists now understand that holding on to unresolved conflict or resentment or emotional injury activates an actual physical stress response and the body treats that emotional weight like a threat.
It raises cortisol levels,
Increases inflammation,
Suppresses immune function and even affects sleep patterns,
All of which are deeply tied to our longevity and how well we age.
A study published in the Journal of Psychology and Aging found that people who practice forgiveness,
Especially self-forgiveness,
Tend to live longer.
But not just that,
They also experience fewer chronic conditions and enjoy better emotional stability in their later years.
So when we talk about reconciliation we're not just talking about being at peace with others,
We're talking about a fundamentally biological act of healing.
So let's take a minute here to release the healing power of reconciliation and to do that you have to be honest with yourself.
Is there someone you're carrying around in your mind or in your heart that you haven't released?
Maybe a broken relationship,
A conversation that never happened,
An apology you never received or never gave.
Or maybe it's not someone else,
Maybe it's you.
Reconciliation doesn't always mean restoring a relationship,
But it does restoring your peace.
Because as long as you're holding on to the pain,
Your physical body is holding on to it as well.
To reconcile is to release.
It may start with something as simple as writing an email you never send or saying a prayer for someone that you struggle to understand or gently forgiving your past self for decisions you made under pressure or out of confusion or fear.
Reconciliation is a personal act done for your health,
Your mind,
Your future.
Now don't misunderstand me,
It's not about forgetting the harm or hurt that was done to you.
It's about freeing yourself from the hold it has over you.
And here's the beautiful part.
This isn't just hopeful thinking.
These effects have been consistently demonstrated in clinical studies by physicians,
Health psychologists,
And researchers in the fields of behavioral medicine and psychoneuroimmunology.
The moment you begin to release that emotional weight your body responds.
Stress hormones begin to drop,
The nervous system relaxes,
Sleep improves,
Inflammation starts to subside,
And something deeper shifts too.
Your energy lightens,
Your focus sharpens,
Your path forward begins to feel clearer.
As the celebrated author Louis B.
Smedes once wrote,
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover that the prisoner was you.
Because at the heart of reconciliation is the quiet release of something that no longer serves you,
A burden your body was never meant to carry.
As I said,
Forgiveness doesn't change the past,
But it absolutely has the power to change your future,
Starting from the inside out.
That includes the mental and physical healing that only reconciliation can unlock.
