An elderly lady had suffered with restless leg syndrome for many years. It was particularly bad in the evening when she sat down to watch television. She usually kept two televisions on, so she could sit down for a little while in the lounge, and then stand up in another room to keep watching the programme. This was what she had to do until her legs settled, and she could sit down and relax again. Eventually, she told me that every time she sat down as a child her father would hit her over the head with a rolled up newspaper, and tell her not to be lazy. I really believed that she had never addressed the issue of her father, and so it still dominated a part of her life.
She wanted to rest and relax, and watch television, but somewhere deep within she still held on to the belief about being lazy if she wasn’t doing something. So, her legs kept moving and doing something. I associate any muscle problem with being pulled in two directions or divided loyalties.
She wasn’t particularly open to the way I thought, so I never discussed my ideas with her. I believe that the body is only in distress because it is trying to attract attention to something we need to deal with. I usually try to discover what the underlying emotional or lifestyle issue could be, or if an inherited belief patterns is the cause.