If you are suffering from Candida and you’ve already tried diet and supplements, don’t give up just yet!

Most treatment programs take a cookie cutter approach to healing, only using diet and supplements. This is where they miss the mark…

Candida is not only a physical condition, but an emotional one as well.

Most chronic Candida symptoms have an emotional cause. When you focus on emotional healing, you don’t have to feel deprived on a restrictive diet and relying on costly supplements in order to fully heal.

I’ve created this guide to address how to heal the emotional root cause of Candida. This guide will help you understand exactly what Candida is, the symptoms, some of the physical and emotional causes, and most importantly, to share with you how you can finally heal!

What is Candida

Candida albicans is an opportunistic yeast that normally inhabits the mouth, throat, intestines and genitourinary tract of most humans and is usually considered to be a normal part of the bowel flora (the organisms that coexist with us in our lower digestive tract). However, it may become pathogenic when there is a disturbance in the balance of flora, or a debilitation of the host from other causes.

The job of Candida albicans is to recognize and destroy harmful bacteria: Without it, we would be defenseless against many pathogenic bacteria. In a healthy person, Candida albicans numbers in the millions and is controlled by a properly-functioning immune system and “friendly” bacteria. However, if the number of friendly bacteria is decreased (through antibiotics, birth control pills, acne medication and steroids), the immune system is weakened, or other conditions for yeast proliferation occur (a diet high in sugar and processed foods, improper pH in the digestive system, unresolved emotional trauma) Candida albicans will shift from yeast form to mycelial fungal form and start to invade the body.

The excessive proliferation of Candida albicans is called Candidiasis and can be in the intestines, vagina, mouth, or esophagus. Systemic candidiasis is an overgrowth of Candida throughout the body. It is estimated that 1/3rd of the world population suffer from Candida albicans overgrowth.

Candidiasis can be a difficult condition to diagnose, some treatments are less than effective, and recovery can be prolonged. However, when Candida is a problem (whether lab testing confirms it or not) and treatment is effective, there can be great health gains.

You can learn more about Candida here and here.

Signs and Symptoms of Yeast Infections

Early symptoms include itching in the genital area, pain when urinating, and a thick odorless vaginal discharge, as well as cravings for sugar, alcohol, and bread products are frequently present.For a more detailed list of symptoms, see this article.

What Contributes to Candidiasis

The list below are some physical things that can feed a Candida overgrowth:

• • • Lack of sleep
    • Excessive use of antibiotics
    • Use of steroids
    • The birth control pill
    • Eating excessive amounts of sugar or carbohydrates
    • Sensitivities to dairy or gluten
    • Alcohol, drugs
    • Heavy metals – usually mercury coming from silver fillings
    • Parasites
    • Chemical exposure, which affects your detoxification pathways
    • Imbalance acid-alkaline diet, which throws off your body chemistry
    • Malfunctioning pancreas-spleen causing incomplete digestion
    • Drinking reverse osmosis water or distilled water (de-mineralized) on a long term basis
    • Intake of over-the-counter or prescription drugs for heartburn (acid blockers reduce stomach acid)
    • Weak kidneys or liver
    • Living in a home/apartment which has a large quantity of mold spores in the air
    • A toxic colon
    • Lack of regular exercise
    • Under-functioning or malfunctioning adrenals
    • Thyroid dysfunction
    • Breast implants

There are also emotional experiences that frequently accompany Candida overgrowth, including but not limited to:

• • • Emotional trauma
    • Emotional birth trauma
    • Childhood trauma¹
    • Toxic, dysfunctional relationships with family members and romantic partners, business associates and friends
    • Imbalance in the spiritual, mental, emotional aspects of life
    • Emotional-induced immune suppression
    • Stress-induced immune suppression
    • Repressed emotions; lots of frustration and anger
    • Demanding and untrusting relationships
    • Not taking care of emotional needs
    • Lack of self-love and self-esteem
    • Complaining, blaming, and victimhood
    • Giving your power away, not speaking your truth

1: https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/childhood-trauma-can-impact-our-gut-bacteria-317561#.XdjUQo7Yo-U.facebook

Common Candida Treatments

Some of the most common Candida treatment methods can actually be as problematic as experiencing Candida in the first place.

Most Western medicine doctors treat Candida with antifungal medications. Unfortunately, these medications can have dangerous side effects and they don’t address the cause. Some of the most common antifungal medications come with the following risks²:

• • • • Affect liver or kidney function.
      • Cause liver damage or failure, particularly when combined with alcohol or certain medicines.
      • Weaken the heart’s ability to contract, leading to heart failure.
      • Cause dangerous side effects when combined with many different common medicines.

During oral antifungal treatment, your doctor may require blood tests to check your kidney and liver function.

Possible mild side effects caused by antifungal medicines include stomach upset, headaches, and skin rash.

Possibly the most common treatment approach is an anti-Candida diet, and you’ll find that there are many variations.

Anti-Candida diets range from a simple approach of removing sugar from your diet and adding basic probiotics, to the more extreme versions that are heavily restrictive and require expensive supplements.

The Candida Diet by Lisa Richards³, a very popular resource, states that the following foods must be avoided:

Many other anti-Candida diets require even more restrictive, such as Medical Medium. When you remove so many foods from your diet, it becomes important to supplement to ensure your body is receiving the nutrients it needs. Unfortunately, these supplements can be very costly – upwards of hundreds of dollars each month – and many supplements sold today are unregulated and, quite simply, ineffective.

While it is certainly possible to follow these restrictive diets and eliminate these foods from your diet (thousands of people do), if you’ve ever tried to diet, you know it’s often easier said than done.

(If you want to try The Candida Diet, check out 10 Ways To Stay Committed To The Candida Diet and Donna Gates’ Body Ecology Candida Diet Guidelines.)

And although there are many aspects of an anti-Candida diet that would benefit anyone, like reducing sugar and processed foods, some independent experts question the diet’s claim that it can reduce yeast infections⁴. Perhaps the reason that the diet efficacy is questioned is because diet alone cannot heal Candida when there is an emotional root cause.

Most importantly, if your symptoms are rooted in an emotional cause, an anti-Candida diet can provide temporary relief from your symptoms, but it will not heal them.

2: https://www.cardiosmart.org/healthwise/tn23/93/tn2393

3: https://www.thecandidadiet.com/

4: https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/candida-cleanse-diet-does-this-work-and-is-it-safe

Spiritual Meaning of Candida

The yeast infection spiritual meaning is about learning how to love yourself, knowing you deserve love and you don’t have to earn it through being there for other people at your own expense. If you have chronic yeast infections then you most likely are codependent with poor boundaries, it’s hard for you to say no and ask for support.

The spiritual root of yeast infection is caused by demanding, possessive, and oppressive parenting, you become enmeshed with your parents to please them, while remaining disconnected from your true wants, needs, and feelings. The spiritual reason for yeast infection is to help you learn how to support yourself by listening to your feelings and asking for what you need. You become empowered speaking your truth.

Louise Hay Candida

According to Louise Hay, everything is an affirmation. And although affirmations do not allow us to get to the core emotional wound to fully heal, they can be a window into understanding what we need to heal from. In her book, “You Can Heal Your Life”, she covers yeast infections and Candida, listed below.

Problem: Candida (systemic yeast infection that can be anywhere in your body and affects an estimated 70% of Americans and 80% of people in eating disorders treatment centers).

Probable Cause: Feeling very scattered. Lots of frustration and anger. Demanding and untrusting in relationships. Great takers.

New Thought Pattern: I give myself permission to be all that I can be, and I deserve the very best in life. I love and appreciate myself and others.

Problem: Thrush (Louise Hay Yeast Infection)

Probable Cause: Denying your own needs. Not supporting yourself.

New Thought Pattern: I now choose to support myself in loving, joyous ways.

If you have trouble supporting yourself, saying the affirmation won’t change anything until you learn how to, that’s where affirmations fall short.

Your Chakra System and Candida

Candida represents energetic tension in the energy flows between the 4th and 2nd chakras. The 3rd chakra being caught in the middle attempts to restore some sort of balance and finds itself often struggling in the process. The outcome of this struggle is the creation of stress which causes the adrenals to become overstimulated. This overstimulation increases the amount of stress hormones in the body and ultimately results in the immune system becoming weakened.⁵

5: https://www.ritberger.com/Your_Health_Canidiasis_a/301.htm

Messages from the Body: What are Your Symptoms Trying to Tell You

Below are excerpts from Michael J. Lincoln, Ph.D.’s “Messages from the Body – Their Psychological Meaning” to better help you understand the messages your body is sending you through your physical symptoms.

Candida (Systemic yeast infection)

“Flying off in all directions.” They are feeling very scattered and discombobulated. They just can’t seem to get it together to run their life effectively. They come from a chaotic dysfunctional family who undermined their capacity to cope.

“Tie that grinds.” They are entrapped and engulfed in an imposed symbiotic relationship with their mother that allows no independent life or self-manifestation. They feel very scattered and non-productive, and they are not able to own their own power.

They have a lot of unresolved negative feelings floating throughout their system, and they have a pronounced propensity to be blame-throwing regarding all this at the unconscious level.

They are demoralized and debilitated over the sealed unit folie a deux externally enforced life plan play-out. They were in effect not allowed to carry out their destiny or to connect or commit elsewhere — only with Mom.

“Forget it!” They have a “love is a poison apple” — “urban hermit” distrust of and in relationships. There may be sexual guilt and deep conflict with an intimate. They have been systematically prevented from manifesting any creativity, sexuality, capacity for generating for the future, or bonding in intimacy. They are the product of an engulfing, enmeshed, and untrustworthy relationship with their mother.

“Fuming fury.” They are full of frustrated rage at the futility of their life and situation. They seem to be going up the down escalator — and losing in the race. As a consequence, there is lots of resentment-rage that results in their being untrusting and bitterly resentful in relationships. Underneath, they are infuriated at their inability for meaningful contribution, connection, and commitment. Their family was intensely enmeshed, engulfing and competence-undermining, out of a “keep ‘em around the old homestead” motivational system.

“One way street — in.” They are highly demanding and exploitative in their relationships, in a chronic taker pattern. They are untrusting and bitterly resentful in their relationships. They can also be care-coercing and severely draining. It is a case of a “whim of iron meets will of spaghetti” parenting outcome.”

Yeast Infection (In the female sexual organs)

“Me last!” They are a “serve-aholic” co-dependent who is denying of their own needs and who is not supporting themselves. They feel that they don’t deserve love, that they have to “earn” it, and they therefore lack self-love.

They feel that they have to “serve themselves up on a platter” to get the “God Housekeeping Seal of Approval” that never comes. They were put on highly conditional and demanding love by their enmeshed and possessive but ambivalent mother.

“Self-rejection.” They feel that there is something “bad, wrong and evil” about them. They are therefore incapable of accepting or providing support for themselves, and they are unable to own or manifest their personal power. They are the product of a denigrating family who undermined their competence and confidence.

“Tripod-rage.” There is a considerable amount of the irresistible urge to kick anything with three legs, and of patriarchy-paranoia, which they carefully repress and suppress. They come from a highly exploitative, patriarchal and oppressive/suppressive family.”

The Emotional Root Cause of Candida

Emotionally, Candida is associated with feeling victimized and includes: helplessness, hopelessness, fear of responsibility, too much responsibility, overwhelming burden, suppressed rage, lack of confidence and betrayal. Often there are underlying and unconscious beliefs, such as: I am not good enough; no matter how hard I try, I can’t get what I want; I’ve tried everything and nothing works; I can’t heal completely; I am not lovable, etc.

Candida is an emotional condition causing people to act out and feel frustrated from unresolved pain from the past. You can heal and grow stronger with your personal power through Core Emotional Healing. Your emotional empowerment begins with your commitment to healing yourself and taking care of your emotional needs, instead of numbing how you feel and using sugar to feel better, which feeds Candida and your repression.

If you remain powerless, you will look only to the doctor, naturopath, supplements, detox center, water fast and restricted diet to heal you. While these all can be helpful on a physical level, until you get to the mental and emotional causes, you will not heal completely.

How to Heal Candida

The first step towards true healing is knowing you were once a victim to emotional abandonment, neglect and/or abuse and your wounded inner child needs you. Candida emotional causes and the emotional root cause of Candida is victimhood, which means you are still stuck in your victimhood and childhood pain. Candida is masking your repressed emotions such as sadness, fear, guilt, shame and anger. Now it is time to validate and stand up for your feelings by fully feeling them to release them!

You are holding the key to unlocking your full potential.

After a string of abusive relationships (including my relationship to myself), multiple addictions, and 15 years of chronic Candida symptoms, I resolved to get free from my symptoms and unhealthy patterns in relationships.

I explored endless healing modalities – energy healing, hypnotherapy, EFT, meditation, detoxing, fasting, holistic treatments, and more – but the patterns of unsupportive relationships and frustrating physical symptoms persisted.

Fortunately, I was determined and steadfast in my personal healing journey. I discovered that there was a missing piece in all of the healing modalities I tried…None of them, and this includes a lot of talk therapy, went deep into the emotional root cause of my symptoms.

The therapies, diets, and supplements only masked the symptoms, never going deep enough to address the cause.

My determination led me to give up a lucrative business career to spend 4 years in experiential therapy courses, and then let go of all my possessions to spend 2.5 years in Thailand, as well as months in Costa Rica, San Francisco, and several years in Atlanta, working with the best spiritual, ancestral, shamanic, energy, and emotional healers on the planet. As I immersed myself on a path toward physical, mental, and emotional health, I realized that Candida was more than just symptoms like bloating and yeast infections.

I learned that digestive problems, yeast infections, emotional eating, addictions, codependency, perfectionism, obsession with outside approval, and chronic victim mentality were all manifestations of emotional neglect and unresolved trauma of various types.

This newfound understanding of the mind-emotional-body connection gave me freedom and clarity in all aspects of my life and has done the same for my clients.

Get Started Today

Healing Candida is a journey of self-awareness and empowerment, feeling and releasing repressed emotions, setting healthy boundaries, and doing what you love without holding back or selling yourself short.

Empowerment is also about learning to trust yourself and trust you will find the next truly effective step in your process. A great first step to empowerment is to stop complaining and blaming.

Through my own 100 percent dedicated and intensive 15-year journey working with many types of healers, I’ve learned the core thought and emotional patterns that are as much a part of Candida as the yeast itself.

Candida is a gift. The root of Candida isn’t about what you are eating; Candida is there because of what you aren’t feeling, including your true self.

It is there to show you that it’s time to truly take care of your emotional needs. It will stick around if you look outside of yourself for the answer and comfort.

Final Thoughts

In our culture and our families, we do not receive the support to process many of our emotions, and so we continue to repress them by distracting and numbing ourselves and through controlling and addictive behaviors. It is these actions that lead to symptoms like Candida.

I have realized that unprocessed emotions cause chronic emotional and physical symptoms (including Candida), relationship problems, as well as feeling blocked from creativity, intuition, and self-worth. But this realization didn’t come easily. It took me more than a decade of physical and emotional suffering to finally find the answer.

My own extensive journey healing Candida (read more here) gave me the experience to guide hundreds to freedom from Candida, digestive problems, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, autoimmune disease, eating disorders, poor body image, and perfectionism by healing the emotional root cause to live a fulfilled, and inspired life.

While many of my clients have engaged in various types of healing approaches including medical and spiritual, because they bypass the embodied and emotional work, they have not healed.

Healing our emotional wounds is a journey that is unique for each person and full of twists and turns, as well as surprising realizations.

By healing our emotional wounds, we can experience relief, not just from Candida, but from many other symptoms like negative self-talk and self-doubt, chronic physical symptoms, emotional eating, unsupportive relationship patterns, feelings of failure, and so much more.

I invite you to learn more about how my clients have changed their lives through Core Emotional Healing in my Healing Turning Point series.

Candida FAQs

Spiritually, what does a yeast infection mean?

The spiritual meaning of yeast infection is about learning how to love yourself, knowing you deserve love and you don’t have to earn it through being there for other people at your own expense. If you have chronic yeast infections then you most likely are codependent with poor boundaries, it’s hard for you to say no and ask for support. The spiritual lesson is to learn how to take care of your emotional needs, receive support, and be true to yourself.

What are the first steps towards healing Candida?

The first step towards true healing is knowing you were once a victim to emotional abandonment, neglect and/or abuse and your wounded inner child needs you.

Candida is masking your repressed emotions such as sadness, fear, guilt, shame and anger. Now it is time to validate and stand up for your feelings by fully feeling them to release them!

Most people are treating symptoms, and even thoughts and behaviors, but not getting to the core. Because of this, they continue to suffer and feel victimized by their symptoms and life.

If you’ve tried treating with supplements, diet, energy healing, therapy, and everything in between, but still find yourself experiencing symptoms and stuck in unwanted patterns, sign up above to watch my free webinar.

What are the behavioral symptoms and patterns of Candida?

The associated behavioral symptoms and patterns of Candida and yeast infections are: emotional eating, addictions, codependency, perfectionism, obsession with outside approval, and chronic victim mentality. These are all manifestations of childhood emotional neglect and unresolved trauma of various types.

You are still stuck in feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, fear of responsibility, too much responsibility, overwhelming burden, suppressed rage, lack of confidence and betrayal. Often there are underlying and unconscious beliefs, such as: I am not good enough; no matter how hard I try, I can’t get what I want; I’ve tried everything and nothing works; I can’t heal completely; I am not lovable, etc.

Candida is an emotional condition causing you to act out and feel frustrated from unresolved pain from the past. This frustration is taken out on other people, especially your loved ones, and how you treat yourself. You may feel very scattered, demanding and untrusting in relationships where you don’t ever feel supported. You are actually denying your own needs and not supporting yourself.

What is an affirmation for yeast infection that I can use?

“I listen to how I feel, and ask for what I need.”

If you have trouble supporting yourself, saying the affirmation won’t change anything until you learn how to, that’s where affirmations fall short.

The first step towards true healing is knowing you were once a victim to emotional abandonment, neglect and/or abuse and your wounded inner child needs you.

Candida is masking your repressed emotions such as sadness, fear, guilt, shame and anger. Now it is time to validate and stand up for your feelings by fully feeling them to release them!

What is the yeast infection metaphysical meaning?

Metaphysically you are the victim (host) to the yeast/fungus/parasite which is feeding off you and taking your power. The yeast if showing you that you are still stuck in your victimhood, denying your own needs and feeling powerless. You can reclaim your power and get your yeast and your energy back into balance through Core Emotional Healing.

How can I heal the root cause of Candida?

You can heal the root cause of Candida by healing your wounded inner child, which includes expressing and feeling your repressed emotions, asking for what you need, speaking your truth, setting healthy boundaries and listening to your feelings to guide your healing and decisions.

What food should I eat? Do I still need to be on the Candida Diet?

The most common question everyone has when healing from a Candida overgrowth, as well as autoimmune and digestive issues is: “What should I eat?”

I followed a very strict “healthy” diet for most of my life, which became even more restrictive while I was focused on healing my Candida symptoms. I was on a raw vegan diet, the blood type diet, Ayurvedic, back to raw with juice cleanses, then I finally committed to a strict Body Ecology Diet (BED) for 2 years. When I was on the BED my brain fog went away and I felt really good. Then I started to eat things off the diet and was bloated again. I even tried a 30-day water fast and ate only fruit and salad after and my bulimia flared-up so I went back to my normal healthy but still restricted diet (no gluten, dairy, or processed foods and low sugar). I would still binge on chocolate and then would restrict and detox when I felt bad. Then during my cleanses, which was similar to the BED, I was in an emotional trigger and old pattern and my yeast and bloating flared-up with a vengeance. That’s the moment I realized my Candida symptoms were emotional and I focused on healing my wounded inner child instead of focusing on food.

So, to answer your question, diet can help to an extent and is important in the beginning to cleanse your body. Choosing the diet that is right for you is personal, some people do better on raw vegan or cooked vegetarian, others do better on Paleo or BED (light meat and vegetables). What’s most important is to know your body type and what your body (not emotions) wants. Always pay attention and listen to how your body reacts to certain foods over what other people tell you or what you read in a book.

Your body may be reacting to certain foods such as gluten, dairy, and sugar (even fruit and grains) now but once you learn how to take care of your emotional needs you may find yourself eating those things again with no reaction. I can eat whatever I want now and it’s important for my inner child to not feel restricted (punished or shamed).

4 years ago (4 years after I healed my Candida symptoms fully), I wasn’t sure if I could eat gluten or cow dairy ever again (after not eating both for 20 years) so I wanted to check. I ate 2 slices of regular pizza with zero reactions – no bloating, no cravings and no guilt. So I ate 2 more from the leftovers the next day! That’s when I felt truly healed. Eating pizza was a huge milestone for me. My husband and I have been enjoying pizza ever since. You don’t have to eat pizza to be healed, that was my personal experience. I hope you discover your own milestone in healing.