In this episode, I talk to nutritionist and life coach, Nadja Polzin, about allergies and intolerances and the role that emotions play. Nadja explains how emotions not only trigger illness, but are also at the root of healing.
We also talk about this:
[g_podcast id="16279712"]
Julia: Hello Nadja! You have made a name for yourself as a holistic nutritionist and life coach. You offer workshops on nutrition and lifestyle. The reason for our interview today was that you took part in the free online intestinal congress. We are now going to restart it. I had this thought in the back of my mind: But Nadja wrote something like this ... She doesn't do anything with allergies anymore. Then I thought, I have to ask you what you're doing now.
So we said it might be a good idea to do another interview here in the podcast so that we can see where your journey has taken you. I can't quite remember exactly what you wrote, but I found it very impressive that you wrote: "I have overcome my own allergies. They are no longer there, so I have decided that I can no longer talk about this topic." I found that kind of exciting. Maybe you'd like to say something about that?
Nadja: Yes, that's quite an exciting story.
In fact, all my clients are still in contact with this topic, and I have of course taken a lot of people with me on the journey over the last few years. I've been writing and talking about allergies and intolerances for five years now, writing and talking about nutrition, and at some point I came to the point where I felt I had nothing more to say: I don't really have anything more to say about it now.
That's the first part.
The second is that I've always seen dietary changes and gut health as just one part. I'm doing better with the allergies. I still have these issues. I still have allergies and intolerances. I am changing my diet and the symptoms are less. I am physically more efficient again.
But the healing didn't happen on a nutritional level, but on an emotional level.
How do I actually lead my life? What belief systems do I have? What kind of mindset do I have? How do I go through life? What blockages might I have? How do I manage my relationships?
And so the topic has evolved. Away from nutrition, away from food supplements and probiotics, towards relationships and, of course, the big topic of freedom.
That was the focus for me.
I don't want to have to restrict my diet for the rest of my life, I want to be free. And I think that also means that I can eat a sandwich at a petrol station or freeway service station when I'm out and about.
And that wasn't possible.
So the topic of freedom also led me to the topic of relationships and I looked at: what does it actually mean on a psychosomatic level to have an allergy or an allergic reaction? To have an intolerance? In this respect, I haven't really moved away from the topic of allergies and intolerances, but have simply developed further in my knowledge: what actually plays a role when we have to deal with such complaints?
Julia: I found this so exciting because I had already asked myself this question. There are many nutritionists who have made their business out of their own medical history - perhaps because they have allergies or diabetes or something else. That also makes sense. You've experienced it yourself. But then I also asked myself, if I'm always involved in this illness on a daily basis and always talk about these complaints, can there be any healing at all if I focus on the topic in this way? I had already asked myself whether certain nutritionists, who are always circling around this topic, are actually almost preventing their own healing.
Nadja: That's quite possible. I can well imagine that. If you look at this story with the beliefs, a diagnosis is nothing more than a description of a condition or a reaction of the body. As long as I believe in this reaction and this diagnosis, the body will keep replaying it. It's very exciting.
At the naturopathy school, a lot of people go through all the diseases while they are learning them. "Morbus medicus" is also a topic at many medical schools. I learn this, I imagine how the body does it, and the body does it.
It's similar with allergies or intolerances, of course. At some point, we have a reaction in the body to a food, pollen or something else. We go to the doctor, get the description - what's happening here? - and the program is installed in our body.
That's actually the case. The moment I start to release this cause-and-effect link - whether through hypnosis, belief system work, deep psychology stories, constellation work ... I do that from time to time now, to see: What is really behind this? - I can also solve these illnesses. We're not allowed to talk about healing in Germany. "Healing" is always self-healing.
I can only accompany you on the way to finding out: What has happened? Why did the immune system make this mistake at some point and store it? Part of it is through language.
The doctor tells me: "This is incurable, and here's what's happening in your body." I get home, start reading - What is an allergy? What are allergies? - and so on and so forth. The more I know about it, the more firmly I establish what I "have".
It's actually like learning to read and write or learning to drive a car. You learn something and then you do it unconsciously. It's similar with allergies and intolerances. At some point, a person realizes: Okay, I'm reacting to something here. For whatever reason.
We have antibodies for allergies. We can prove all that. With intolerances ... I'm having a stressful day, or I'm going through a stressful phase in my life. I may experience a loss or extreme stress at work, bullying, etc. and suddenly start to be intolerant to certain foods, because food is love. If I'm under mega-stress, then that's not exactly what I can accept, really.
That's how I get into this diagnostic spiral.
Da was my way out again.
Then to look: Okay, what is my body actually doing here in terms of cause-and-effect chaining? And to resolve that and say: No, wait, I don't want that anymore! I don't want to experience this reaction again in the future.
Julia: Okay. So it actually starts with a conscious decision: I'm not going to take part in this anymore!
Nadja: I'm not going to take part anymore. Exactly. I don't want that anymore! Period, that's it.
Then of course the question is: what do I want instead?
Illness also has a benefit for many people. You shouldn't forget that.
If I'm allergic to pollen, then maybe I don't have to mow the lawn. Then I don't have to do this or that. This is often reflected in my social environment. As long as I have an illness, I'm suddenly able to say no to certain things that I wouldn't otherwise be able to say no to.
Because I'm not even aware that I don't want to, for example. Many people don't even know that they don't want it.
Or they suddenly experience care that they wouldn't otherwise receive if they were healthy.
We have high performance expectations in our society, including in relationships, partnerships and families. Perfectionism. I'm not loved if I don't perform, but when I'm ill, I always get attention, I always get some form of attention. I'm suddenly the center of attention. All these things also play a role, of course. Maintaining these things.
So it's not a case of "No, I don't want to have this allergy any more", but there's a whole concept of life behind it. How do I actually live my life? What do I want? How do I treat my fellow human beings? How do my fellow human beings treat me? In this respect, the transition to "Okay, how do our relationships actually work? How does family work? How do partnerships work?" more or less flowed for me.
But the first decision is first of all - and that's the case with everything: "I don't want this!
Julia: I think that's almost the most difficult decision, because of course we're also taught: We are victims. "It's not your fault. You have an allergy." In the worst case scenario, they say: "It's genetic." Then it really isn't your fault. And then you get into it when someone says: "Why don't you see what you think?" Then often comes this defense: "Are you trying to tell me that I'm to blame for my illness?" Then you quickly get caught up in this victim mentality. I think that's why this step of "No, I'm taking responsibility now and I'm ready to stop wanting this and let it go" is almost the most difficult step.
Nadja: It used to be the case that allergies became less severe after 40. Now they only start in the 50s and 60s! I have my own theory as to why this is the case. But of course it's easy for those who really had allergies "from birth" - which is not possible - but from the 3rd month of life to say: "Nah, it must be genetic!" But the thing is: genes are not expressed - you know that too - if they are not activated. The question is: what activates the gene?
That was also my work and the research I'm doing in this area: what do traumas, what do emotions, what does family history do to our bodies, actually to our lives? There is simply no indication of this ... So, I have the genes. I had allergies. I no longer have any of them. It doesn't have to be just because I have the genes that I develop the disease. And that's actually the case with all diseases. I need a trigger for it, and the question is: what is the trigger?
Julia: Exciting. From your current perspective and experience, would you say that there is always an emotion or trauma behind every allergy? Or are there exceptions?
Nadja: I am now firmly convinced that allergies are a trauma reaction, absolutely. I haven't written about it in the book yet, but I've tried to explain it in a few publications and courses I've done: I have a mega stress reaction - in other words, a really traumatic experience - the immune system goes into full throttle, registers everything that's there, but can't fight anything at that moment, but of course still stores everything. And if, stupidly, there's a cat or a dog or milk or ... I don't know what, then the body starts to react.
Of course, I've collected these stories, including from my course participants. I go there with them: "So, look, when did this actually start? What happened back then? Can you remember anything?" We do this with meditation exercises or hypnosis: "Pay attention, go back to this point." We get there when we relax and when we are ready for our inner self, of course, and that's where many people don't get to.
Julia: Exactly. And these are things - I should perhaps explain briefly - that you might not consciously remember. If I say to someone now: "Remember when you were two years old, what happened then?" You don't remember that. But in hypnosis, there is the possibility of bringing up these subconscious memories.
Nadja: Yes. Also in meditation. It doesn't necessarily have to be hypnosis. I need a state of relaxation to be able to access the unconscious. Also with constellation work. It takes place in the daytime consciousness. Nevertheless, people have memories in those moments when I work with them. They get age figures that come to them and so on. I don't have to be in deep hypnosis. With hypnosis, many people also have this shudder - "Show hypnosis - oh God, this is being manipulated!" A certain defensiveness. I also like to work with people in their daytime consciousness when it's easier, and that's more accessible for many people.
Just two years old and then something happened. It could have been a rejection from mom. It could simply have been a moment when you were scared. I have stories of people where grandma killed the cats in the attic. As a result, the child has a cat allergy. All kinds of stories. Grandpa forces the boy to drink the milk and he gets a milk allergy. And, and, and, and, and ..
So, this more or less "exercise of power" in some consequence, which subsequently leads to emotionally traumatic experiences and is simply an excessive demand at that moment and then simply leads to something like that being stored. This can be resolved at this point, but of course there is more to it than that. It's not just the physical reaction that is stored, but there is usually also a change in behavior: the inability to say no, to set boundaries, to know: What do I actually want? Not always doing what others want. To be a service provider and slave to the family, and to please everyone all the time, so to speak, which is often noticeable and visible in our behavior. That you give up on yourself in a certain way.
Julia: Yes, that also impressed me in your interview at the Darmkongress, where you said that we have certain "social programming". We strive for things where we think for social reasons: I have to have that! House, car, dog, etc., and that we strive for these things and then accept that we are actually doing so at the expense of our health.
Nadja: Yes. What if I'm not a mom and I bring three children into the world just because society believes that I have to have three children at 37, have to be married, have to have a house? There are a lot of people who are really putting their partnerships at risk because they both want to conform to this social ideal. It simply has an effect on our bodies. If that's not me, if that's not actually what I want, if I'd much rather ... So what I'm doing right now - traveling the world with my backpack without a fixed abode - if that's actually what I want to do and how I want to live because I'm so flexible or because I don't want to have all this responsibility for anything at all, then what's the point if I work 60, 70 hours a week and can't do one thing or another?
This demand for performance and perfection in order to supposedly be recognized is a huge problem. Mega-stress that causes problems for many people.
Julia: Where do you think this discrepancy comes from? When you ask people: "How important is health to you?" Most people say: "My family is the most important thing, and then comes health." Or vice versa. Everyone always says straight away: "Health is totally important!" But how does this discrepancy come about, that people always say that it's important to them, but I behave completely differently?
Nadja: Well, you know the healthcare system. We live in a healthcare system where everything can be fixed. So, when in doubt, I take the pill.
One of the reasons, including allergies of course, for me to simply walk away from this topic: I'm in competition with doctors. These are people who have answers in a different way. Interestingly, not so many people are willing to spend money on knowledge about health, for example. I decided right from the start not to sell supplements. Not to do any of that, but really just to pass on knowledge, to pass on my knowledge, my experience.
It's really hard to get people to spend money to acquire knowledge about health. They read a lot of books, but sometimes ... If you read a lot about nutrition, you end up not being able to eat anything. I also have enough clients like that. If you know too much, it can really do something and prevent you from achieving the freedom you're actually looking for. But it's really difficult to get people to change their behavior in the end. To determine these changes in behavior: Okay, this is really me. I'm not a victim, I'm in my program - and we just have this program, that's just the way it is. We all have this program. Our social setting, family, society, etc.
There's something going on in my program that prevents me from being healthy. And to take this responsibility and say, I'm going to take a look at it now. I'm ready to go inwards. I am willing to look at what I actually believe, what has happened in my life, etc., that is simply a courageous step. Not everyone is prepared to do that. And not everyone has to.
I was recently talking about this with a colleague who is also working in the field of intestines, about accepting that not everyone wants to heal and not everyone can heal. It's frustrating, of course, because I would wish it for everyone. But that's just the way it is. We have a healthcare system that has been handing out pills since the 60s and 70s, and people can still grow old with a lot of medication. That's just the way it is.
Julia: And in the end, you're right. It takes courage too. I think that once you start to look into it, you start to have unpleasant feelings. You also said that so well in the interview, that even a negative feeling only lasts 10 to 15 minutes at most, which means you only need the courage to simply feel it and then it passes relatively quickly. It may be hard to go through it, but it's not like it kills us. It's actually helpful and cleansing, but it takes courage to go through it in the first place.
Nadja: And the problem is: if you don't have anyone with you when you start with these things and you don't have anyone to help you go through it. So especially the crying, for example. Sometimes I have clients where I just sit there and help them cry because they can't do it alone. Because the man in the family says: "I want you to be happy." I've had that too. Always wanting someone to be happy doesn't work. Our bodies simply don't work like that. Tears are the best thing that can actually happen to you. And it's a great liberation when they are allowed to flow. To have this emotional space, to have someone there who can bear it and then not be immediately confronted with their own issues, that's actually also a big driver of my own development, to say, okay, I want to be someone who can just sit there and where someone can sit opposite and cry and be angry and I don't immediately get anxiety.
I know in many contacts, especially in my family, that the conversation is ended when I cry.
Julia: Yes, I know that too.
Nadja: But it's always the case that if you haven't been in touch with your own feelings, with your own hurts, your whole life and don't want to know all of that, then it's difficult and then you might have to look for someone who can do that and where you have a safe space to be able to live with your feelings. And that 's what makes you healthy in the end.
Julia: You used to say - and maybe you can tell us how you see it today - that if someone has allergies, in order to alleviate the symptoms first or to get back to some degree, it makes perfect sense to change their diet and take certain supplements, probiotics, vitamins and things like that. Would you still recommend this today? Can nutrition be this first step or would you say today, no, you can do it completely differently?
Nadja: Basically, you can do it completely differently. But in all honesty, my own experience is that you need a certain physical stability, a certain potential, in order to tackle the actual causes. If you spend all your time dealing with digestive problems, diarrhea and things like that, then it's simply not a given. That's why I do believe that it makes sense for many people to change their diet in order to get the body into a state where I can do emotional work. Because that is exhausting. What we just said: Even enduring 15 minutes of crying or anger is exhausting. That is exhausting. And I can't do that when I'm lying on the floor. I can do it, I can do it, but it's still incredibly exhausting and then it feels even more like dying than it already does.
If I can create a state with nutritional supplements, with my diet, in which I am stable enough to be able to do emotional work, then I think that's absolutely right.
It's not the way for everyone.
Julia: Not for everyone, but I think for many. That's actually exactly my philosophy. Nutrition is really just the gateway. That's why I still think it's very important, and I think a lot of people probably overestimate the time it will take them to feel better. It happens much faster than many fear. It's really not uncommon for someone to say "I can breathe better again" after just a week, or whatever their symptoms were.
I have someone right now who no longer has any joint pain after just one week. If someone is no longer in pain, then they are ready to address other issues that they didn't have the energy for before. I actually see it in a similar way.
I would also really recommend that all listeners listen to the interview from the online bowel congress, because Nadja gives very specific tips on how you can eat, what you can try in order to actually feel better again relatively quickly. So I think it's very, very worthwhile to listen to that.
Maybe you could describe a bit more about what you're doing now. Although I've already looked into it a bit, it's still not 100% clear to me: you also offer workshops. I've seen that there's also a group program where I think there are up to 30 people. What exactly do you do there? What do you mean by that?
Nadja: Exactly. What I've always been passionate about and what I've always wanted to do is simply get in touch with people. We can change on our own, we can meditate, we can go into hypnosis etc., but self-reflection happens in contact with other people. When I realize: I have inhibitions. I have hurdles. I'm afraid of that, etc.
I would like to offer this to anyone who doesn't necessarily live in Berlin, Munich or Hamburg and always has access to such services there. Corona has given me a bit of an advantage because Zoom has now suddenly become widely used by everyone. Now I just do it online.
I do the workshops online. This means that once a month - every 3rd Sunday from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm - I hold a workshop on a specific topic where we do reflective work. The next one is now in October, for example, it's "Finding meaning", an important topic, this "What do I actually want?". "Finding and living meaning". Then there's "life planning", which we'll have in November, and "abundance" and topics like that. So, really just life topics that we talk about, where I ask questions, where people can discuss with each other. I always have a lot of exercises where we can also reflect and go a little deeper.
For example, being able to express something that many people naturally cannot. We hide our shame, for example. Everyone has something they are ashamed of because we want to be perfect. Speaking out about it once already releases it emotionally. Telling someone, a complete stranger, what I'm so ashamed of can trigger an incredible change, because I realize that I won't die if I show it. That does an incredible amount to your self-confidence.
That's my approach in offering the workshops and saying that I want to offer this safe space where people can get in touch with themselves and with others on this level, because that's often not possible with friends and family.
The second thing I do is constellation work using the concern method. This is trauma therapy work. So, you could actually say that we go back to the source and take a close look: Where does it actually come from? What is linked in the unconscious to the allergy, for example, to certain issues? Overweight, underweight: what is connected to this? There is usually a family imprint that somehow plays a role.
Julia: And how do you find that? When you say: "Oh, that sounds good, finding meaning."
Nadja: On my website www.nadjapolzin.com. All the dates are there. You can read through everything there and see what the topic is and whether it appeals to you. There really is a workshop once a month. Otherwise, of course, I'm always happy to work individually.
Julia: You offer that too?
Nadja: I offer that too, exactly. You can have a free initial consultation on the website. Anyone who would like to work with me.
Julia: And that can also be done online?
Nadja: It's all possible. I do everything online. As I said earlier: I'm actually traveling at the moment. I'm going to Southern Europe next week and I'm looking forward to working with people wherever I am.
Julia: Yes, great. Thank you very much. I found that super exciting. It's great that you've taken such a great path and that everything is so coherent and fits together. As you said yourself, it's simply a further development. It's not a 180-degree turnaround. One thing came out of another.
Nadja: Yes. Life happens. And you can then pass on what you learn.
Julia: Thank you so much for the great conversation. I'm very happy if we stay in touch.
Now I recommend that you subscribe to the podcast so that you don't miss an episode, and if you like what you hear, I'd really appreciate a review on iTunes or Apple Podcast. Because these reviews also help other people find the podcast so we can spread the knowledge about gut and health more.
We also talk about this:
- That the cause and effect of an illness cannot always be separated
- Why illness also has a benefit for many
- How emotions and allergies are connected
- What role nutrition plays
- What options we have to mobilize our self-healing powers
[g_podcast id="16279712"]
Julia: Hello Nadja! You have made a name for yourself as a holistic nutritionist and life coach. You offer workshops on nutrition and lifestyle. The reason for our interview today was that you took part in the free online intestinal congress. We are now going to restart it. I had this thought in the back of my mind: But Nadja wrote something like this ... She doesn't do anything with allergies anymore. Then I thought, I have to ask you what you're doing now.
So we said it might be a good idea to do another interview here in the podcast so that we can see where your journey has taken you. I can't quite remember exactly what you wrote, but I found it very impressive that you wrote: "I have overcome my own allergies. They are no longer there, so I have decided that I can no longer talk about this topic." I found that kind of exciting. Maybe you'd like to say something about that?
Nutrition isn't everything
Nadja: Yes, that's quite an exciting story.
In fact, all my clients are still in contact with this topic, and I have of course taken a lot of people with me on the journey over the last few years. I've been writing and talking about allergies and intolerances for five years now, writing and talking about nutrition, and at some point I came to the point where I felt I had nothing more to say: I don't really have anything more to say about it now.
That's the first part.
The second is that I've always seen dietary changes and gut health as just one part. I'm doing better with the allergies. I still have these issues. I still have allergies and intolerances. I am changing my diet and the symptoms are less. I am physically more efficient again.
But the healing didn't happen on a nutritional level, but on an emotional level.
How do I actually lead my life? What belief systems do I have? What kind of mindset do I have? How do I go through life? What blockages might I have? How do I manage my relationships?
From nutrition to freedom to relationships
And so the topic has evolved. Away from nutrition, away from food supplements and probiotics, towards relationships and, of course, the big topic of freedom.
That was the focus for me.
I don't want to have to restrict my diet for the rest of my life, I want to be free. And I think that also means that I can eat a sandwich at a petrol station or freeway service station when I'm out and about.
And that wasn't possible.
So the topic of freedom also led me to the topic of relationships and I looked at: what does it actually mean on a psychosomatic level to have an allergy or an allergic reaction? To have an intolerance? In this respect, I haven't really moved away from the topic of allergies and intolerances, but have simply developed further in my knowledge: what actually plays a role when we have to deal with such complaints?
Disease: cause and effect
Julia: I found this so exciting because I had already asked myself this question. There are many nutritionists who have made their business out of their own medical history - perhaps because they have allergies or diabetes or something else. That also makes sense. You've experienced it yourself. But then I also asked myself, if I'm always involved in this illness on a daily basis and always talk about these complaints, can there be any healing at all if I focus on the topic in this way? I had already asked myself whether certain nutritionists, who are always circling around this topic, are actually almost preventing their own healing.
Nadja: That's quite possible. I can well imagine that. If you look at this story with the beliefs, a diagnosis is nothing more than a description of a condition or a reaction of the body. As long as I believe in this reaction and this diagnosis, the body will keep replaying it. It's very exciting.
At the naturopathy school, a lot of people go through all the diseases while they are learning them. "Morbus medicus" is also a topic at many medical schools. I learn this, I imagine how the body does it, and the body does it.
It's similar with allergies or intolerances, of course. At some point, we have a reaction in the body to a food, pollen or something else. We go to the doctor, get the description - what's happening here? - and the program is installed in our body.
That's actually the case. The moment I start to release this cause-and-effect link - whether through hypnosis, belief system work, deep psychology stories, constellation work ... I do that from time to time now, to see: What is really behind this? - I can also solve these illnesses. We're not allowed to talk about healing in Germany. "Healing" is always self-healing.
I can only accompany you on the way to finding out: What has happened? Why did the immune system make this mistake at some point and store it? Part of it is through language.
The doctor tells me: "This is incurable, and here's what's happening in your body." I get home, start reading - What is an allergy? What are allergies? - and so on and so forth. The more I know about it, the more firmly I establish what I "have".
The subconscious plays a big role in the diagnosis
It's actually like learning to read and write or learning to drive a car. You learn something and then you do it unconsciously. It's similar with allergies and intolerances. At some point, a person realizes: Okay, I'm reacting to something here. For whatever reason.
We have antibodies for allergies. We can prove all that. With intolerances ... I'm having a stressful day, or I'm going through a stressful phase in my life. I may experience a loss or extreme stress at work, bullying, etc. and suddenly start to be intolerant to certain foods, because food is love. If I'm under mega-stress, then that's not exactly what I can accept, really.
That's how I get into this diagnostic spiral.
Da was my way out again.
Then to look: Okay, what is my body actually doing here in terms of cause-and-effect chaining? And to resolve that and say: No, wait, I don't want that anymore! I don't want to experience this reaction again in the future.
Julia: Okay. So it actually starts with a conscious decision: I'm not going to take part in this anymore!
What benefit does your illness have for you?
Nadja: I'm not going to take part anymore. Exactly. I don't want that anymore! Period, that's it.
Then of course the question is: what do I want instead?
Illness also has a benefit for many people. You shouldn't forget that.
If I'm allergic to pollen, then maybe I don't have to mow the lawn. Then I don't have to do this or that. This is often reflected in my social environment. As long as I have an illness, I'm suddenly able to say no to certain things that I wouldn't otherwise be able to say no to.
Because I'm not even aware that I don't want to, for example. Many people don't even know that they don't want it.
Or they suddenly experience care that they wouldn't otherwise receive if they were healthy.
We have high performance expectations in our society, including in relationships, partnerships and families. Perfectionism. I'm not loved if I don't perform, but when I'm ill, I always get attention, I always get some form of attention. I'm suddenly the center of attention. All these things also play a role, of course. Maintaining these things.
So it's not a case of "No, I don't want to have this allergy any more", but there's a whole concept of life behind it. How do I actually live my life? What do I want? How do I treat my fellow human beings? How do my fellow human beings treat me? In this respect, the transition to "Okay, how do our relationships actually work? How does family work? How do partnerships work?" more or less flowed for me.
But the first decision is first of all - and that's the case with everything: "I don't want this!
"
Allergy through emotions
Julia: I think that's almost the most difficult decision, because of course we're also taught: We are victims. "It's not your fault. You have an allergy." In the worst case scenario, they say: "It's genetic." Then it really isn't your fault. And then you get into it when someone says: "Why don't you see what you think?" Then often comes this defense: "Are you trying to tell me that I'm to blame for my illness?" Then you quickly get caught up in this victim mentality. I think that's why this step of "No, I'm taking responsibility now and I'm ready to stop wanting this and let it go" is almost the most difficult step.
Nadja: It used to be the case that allergies became less severe after 40. Now they only start in the 50s and 60s! I have my own theory as to why this is the case. But of course it's easy for those who really had allergies "from birth" - which is not possible - but from the 3rd month of life to say: "Nah, it must be genetic!" But the thing is: genes are not expressed - you know that too - if they are not activated. The question is: what activates the gene?
That was also my work and the research I'm doing in this area: what do traumas, what do emotions, what does family history do to our bodies, actually to our lives? There is simply no indication of this ... So, I have the genes. I had allergies. I no longer have any of them. It doesn't have to be just because I have the genes that I develop the disease. And that's actually the case with all diseases. I need a trigger for it, and the question is: what is the trigger?
Julia: Exciting. From your current perspective and experience, would you say that there is always an emotion or trauma behind every allergy? Or are there exceptions?
Nadja: I am now firmly convinced that allergies are a trauma reaction, absolutely. I haven't written about it in the book yet, but I've tried to explain it in a few publications and courses I've done: I have a mega stress reaction - in other words, a really traumatic experience - the immune system goes into full throttle, registers everything that's there, but can't fight anything at that moment, but of course still stores everything. And if, stupidly, there's a cat or a dog or milk or ... I don't know what, then the body starts to react.
Of course, I've collected these stories, including from my course participants. I go there with them: "So, look, when did this actually start? What happened back then? Can you remember anything?" We do this with meditation exercises or hypnosis: "Pay attention, go back to this point." We get there when we relax and when we are ready for our inner self, of course, and that's where many people don't get to.
Relaxation as a method of accessing the subconscious
Julia: Exactly. And these are things - I should perhaps explain briefly - that you might not consciously remember. If I say to someone now: "Remember when you were two years old, what happened then?" You don't remember that. But in hypnosis, there is the possibility of bringing up these subconscious memories.
Nadja: Yes. Also in meditation. It doesn't necessarily have to be hypnosis. I need a state of relaxation to be able to access the unconscious. Also with constellation work. It takes place in the daytime consciousness. Nevertheless, people have memories in those moments when I work with them. They get age figures that come to them and so on. I don't have to be in deep hypnosis. With hypnosis, many people also have this shudder - "Show hypnosis - oh God, this is being manipulated!" A certain defensiveness. I also like to work with people in their daytime consciousness when it's easier, and that's more accessible for many people.
Just two years old and then something happened. It could have been a rejection from mom. It could simply have been a moment when you were scared. I have stories of people where grandma killed the cats in the attic. As a result, the child has a cat allergy. All kinds of stories. Grandpa forces the boy to drink the milk and he gets a milk allergy. And, and, and, and, and ..
.
Social programming
So, this more or less "exercise of power" in some consequence, which subsequently leads to emotionally traumatic experiences and is simply an excessive demand at that moment and then simply leads to something like that being stored. This can be resolved at this point, but of course there is more to it than that. It's not just the physical reaction that is stored, but there is usually also a change in behavior: the inability to say no, to set boundaries, to know: What do I actually want? Not always doing what others want. To be a service provider and slave to the family, and to please everyone all the time, so to speak, which is often noticeable and visible in our behavior. That you give up on yourself in a certain way.
Julia: Yes, that also impressed me in your interview at the Darmkongress, where you said that we have certain "social programming". We strive for things where we think for social reasons: I have to have that! House, car, dog, etc., and that we strive for these things and then accept that we are actually doing so at the expense of our health.
Nadja: Yes. What if I'm not a mom and I bring three children into the world just because society believes that I have to have three children at 37, have to be married, have to have a house? There are a lot of people who are really putting their partnerships at risk because they both want to conform to this social ideal. It simply has an effect on our bodies. If that's not me, if that's not actually what I want, if I'd much rather ... So what I'm doing right now - traveling the world with my backpack without a fixed abode - if that's actually what I want to do and how I want to live because I'm so flexible or because I don't want to have all this responsibility for anything at all, then what's the point if I work 60, 70 hours a week and can't do one thing or another?
This demand for performance and perfection in order to supposedly be recognized is a huge problem. Mega-stress that causes problems for many people.
Incorrectly programmed?
Julia: Where do you think this discrepancy comes from? When you ask people: "How important is health to you?" Most people say: "My family is the most important thing, and then comes health." Or vice versa. Everyone always says straight away: "Health is totally important!" But how does this discrepancy come about, that people always say that it's important to them, but I behave completely differently?
Nadja: Well, you know the healthcare system. We live in a healthcare system where everything can be fixed. So, when in doubt, I take the pill.
One of the reasons, including allergies of course, for me to simply walk away from this topic: I'm in competition with doctors. These are people who have answers in a different way. Interestingly, not so many people are willing to spend money on knowledge about health, for example. I decided right from the start not to sell supplements. Not to do any of that, but really just to pass on knowledge, to pass on my knowledge, my experience.
It's really hard to get people to spend money to acquire knowledge about health. They read a lot of books, but sometimes ... If you read a lot about nutrition, you end up not being able to eat anything. I also have enough clients like that. If you know too much, it can really do something and prevent you from achieving the freedom you're actually looking for. But it's really difficult to get people to change their behavior in the end. To determine these changes in behavior: Okay, this is really me. I'm not a victim, I'm in my program - and we just have this program, that's just the way it is. We all have this program. Our social setting, family, society, etc.
There's something going on in my program that prevents me from being healthy. And to take this responsibility and say, I'm going to take a look at it now. I'm ready to go inwards. I am willing to look at what I actually believe, what has happened in my life, etc., that is simply a courageous step. Not everyone is prepared to do that. And not everyone has to.
I was recently talking about this with a colleague who is also working in the field of intestines, about accepting that not everyone wants to heal and not everyone can heal. It's frustrating, of course, because I would wish it for everyone. But that's just the way it is. We have a healthcare system that has been handing out pills since the 60s and 70s, and people can still grow old with a lot of medication. That's just the way it is.
Courage to heal
Julia: And in the end, you're right. It takes courage too. I think that once you start to look into it, you start to have unpleasant feelings. You also said that so well in the interview, that even a negative feeling only lasts 10 to 15 minutes at most, which means you only need the courage to simply feel it and then it passes relatively quickly. It may be hard to go through it, but it's not like it kills us. It's actually helpful and cleansing, but it takes courage to go through it in the first place.
Nadja: And the problem is: if you don't have anyone with you when you start with these things and you don't have anyone to help you go through it. So especially the crying, for example. Sometimes I have clients where I just sit there and help them cry because they can't do it alone. Because the man in the family says: "I want you to be happy." I've had that too. Always wanting someone to be happy doesn't work. Our bodies simply don't work like that. Tears are the best thing that can actually happen to you. And it's a great liberation when they are allowed to flow. To have this emotional space, to have someone there who can bear it and then not be immediately confronted with their own issues, that's actually also a big driver of my own development, to say, okay, I want to be someone who can just sit there and where someone can sit opposite and cry and be angry and I don't immediately get anxiety.
I know in many contacts, especially in my family, that the conversation is ended when I cry.
Julia: Yes, I know that too.
Nadja: But it's always the case that if you haven't been in touch with your own feelings, with your own hurts, your whole life and don't want to know all of that, then it's difficult and then you might have to look for someone who can do that and where you have a safe space to be able to live with your feelings. And that 's what makes you healthy in the end.
Nutrition is just the gateway
Julia: You used to say - and maybe you can tell us how you see it today - that if someone has allergies, in order to alleviate the symptoms first or to get back to some degree, it makes perfect sense to change their diet and take certain supplements, probiotics, vitamins and things like that. Would you still recommend this today? Can nutrition be this first step or would you say today, no, you can do it completely differently?
Nadja: Basically, you can do it completely differently. But in all honesty, my own experience is that you need a certain physical stability, a certain potential, in order to tackle the actual causes. If you spend all your time dealing with digestive problems, diarrhea and things like that, then it's simply not a given. That's why I do believe that it makes sense for many people to change their diet in order to get the body into a state where I can do emotional work. Because that is exhausting. What we just said: Even enduring 15 minutes of crying or anger is exhausting. That is exhausting. And I can't do that when I'm lying on the floor. I can do it, I can do it, but it's still incredibly exhausting and then it feels even more like dying than it already does.
If I can create a state with nutritional supplements, with my diet, in which I am stable enough to be able to do emotional work, then I think that's absolutely right.
It's not the way for everyone.
Julia: Not for everyone, but I think for many. That's actually exactly my philosophy. Nutrition is really just the gateway. That's why I still think it's very important, and I think a lot of people probably overestimate the time it will take them to feel better. It happens much faster than many fear. It's really not uncommon for someone to say "I can breathe better again" after just a week, or whatever their symptoms were.
I have someone right now who no longer has any joint pain after just one week. If someone is no longer in pain, then they are ready to address other issues that they didn't have the energy for before. I actually see it in a similar way.
I would also really recommend that all listeners listen to the interview from the online bowel congress, because Nadja gives very specific tips on how you can eat, what you can try in order to actually feel better again relatively quickly. So I think it's very, very worthwhile to listen to that.
Online workshops with Nadja Polzin
Maybe you could describe a bit more about what you're doing now. Although I've already looked into it a bit, it's still not 100% clear to me: you also offer workshops. I've seen that there's also a group program where I think there are up to 30 people. What exactly do you do there? What do you mean by that?
Nadja: Exactly. What I've always been passionate about and what I've always wanted to do is simply get in touch with people. We can change on our own, we can meditate, we can go into hypnosis etc., but self-reflection happens in contact with other people. When I realize: I have inhibitions. I have hurdles. I'm afraid of that, etc.
I would like to offer this to anyone who doesn't necessarily live in Berlin, Munich or Hamburg and always has access to such services there. Corona has given me a bit of an advantage because Zoom has now suddenly become widely used by everyone. Now I just do it online.
I do the workshops online. This means that once a month - every 3rd Sunday from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm - I hold a workshop on a specific topic where we do reflective work. The next one is now in October, for example, it's "Finding meaning", an important topic, this "What do I actually want?". "Finding and living meaning". Then there's "life planning", which we'll have in November, and "abundance" and topics like that. So, really just life topics that we talk about, where I ask questions, where people can discuss with each other. I always have a lot of exercises where we can also reflect and go a little deeper.
For example, being able to express something that many people naturally cannot. We hide our shame, for example. Everyone has something they are ashamed of because we want to be perfect. Speaking out about it once already releases it emotionally. Telling someone, a complete stranger, what I'm so ashamed of can trigger an incredible change, because I realize that I won't die if I show it. That does an incredible amount to your self-confidence.
That's my approach in offering the workshops and saying that I want to offer this safe space where people can get in touch with themselves and with others on this level, because that's often not possible with friends and family.
The second thing I do is constellation work using the concern method. This is trauma therapy work. So, you could actually say that we go back to the source and take a close look: Where does it actually come from? What is linked in the unconscious to the allergy, for example, to certain issues? Overweight, underweight: what is connected to this? There is usually a family imprint that somehow plays a role.
Julia: And how do you find that? When you say: "Oh, that sounds good, finding meaning."
Nadja: On my website www.nadjapolzin.com. All the dates are there. You can read through everything there and see what the topic is and whether it appeals to you. There really is a workshop once a month. Otherwise, of course, I'm always happy to work individually.
Julia: You offer that too?
Nadja: I offer that too, exactly. You can have a free initial consultation on the website. Anyone who would like to work with me.
Julia: And that can also be done online?
Nadja: It's all possible. I do everything online. As I said earlier: I'm actually traveling at the moment. I'm going to Southern Europe next week and I'm looking forward to working with people wherever I am.
Julia: Yes, great. Thank you very much. I found that super exciting. It's great that you've taken such a great path and that everything is so coherent and fits together. As you said yourself, it's simply a further development. It's not a 180-degree turnaround. One thing came out of another.
Nadja: Yes. Life happens. And you can then pass on what you learn.
Julia: Thank you so much for the great conversation. I'm very happy if we stay in touch.
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