Book excerpt: Explores the body as a map of consciousness, where physical symptoms reflect stresses on our minds, emotions, and Higher Self • Offers a comprehensive guide to 800 physical symptoms with the description of their inner cause and the message they are sending to our consciousness • Explains how learning a symptom’s message empowers the individual affected to take charge and effect change on the inner level • Addresses the individual as well as the helping professions, healers and therapists, to help them understand more fully the dynamics of the body-mind interface The body is intimately connected to the mind and the Spirit. Each physical symptom reflects a deeper part of our Spirit and consciousness, the part the Western traditions know as the “unconscious” or “subconscious.” When we make a decision that leaves us with stress, it affects our consciousness, and therefore our energy field or aura. When the tension increases in intensity, it reaches the physical level where it creates a symptom. This means that if we make a different decision, or change our mind about something, we can let go of this stress, and the symptom. The symptom itself is not the problem, just a message that, once understood, has fulfilled its purpose and can be released. Integrating Martin Brofman’s more than 30 years of research and healing practice, The Inner Cause comprises an A to Z compendium of 800 symptoms and a psychology of their inner causes, the messages they are trying to send to our consciousness. Woven into the descriptions of symptoms, the author also discusses personality profiles associated with certain symptoms, derived from his understanding of the chakras, the body-mind interface, and the connections he discovered when developing his Body Mirror System of Healing. He explains that when you explore the inner cause to a symptom, you recognize that you have created this symptom through the stressed way you chose to respond to the conditions in your life. By learning a symptom’s message, you become empowered to take charge and effect change on the inner level. For each symptom discussed, the author explores the message of the symptom, which chakras are involved, how you may be affected, and which issues you might need to look at to resolve the tension or stress--although a specific solution will always depend on the individual’s personal situation. With its correlation of symptoms and psychological states of being, The Inner Cause provides invaluable insight into how we can effectively support our own healing process physically, emotionally, and spiritually.