When Your Body Says Stop: Autoimmune Flares as Spiritual Messages

A Kosher Wellness Reflection on Healing Autoimmune Flares Through Faith and Awareness

Two weeks after giving birth to my baby girl, Yehudit Bashya, I found myself lying in bed—my hands and feet inflamed, my knees aching, barely able to move. My body had given out. I couldn’t understand why this was happening to me again.

It had been years since I’d experienced anything like this. And now, just when I needed my body the most—to care for a newborn and my five other children—I felt completely incapacitated.

That first week, I tried to push through. I took two ibuprofens every four hours just to manage the pain. I felt like Bigfoot—my hands and feet swollen and sore, every movement a struggle. Even opening bottles became a task. But what hit me hardest wasn’t the physical limitation—it was the fear. I didn’t know how long this would last.

It quickly became clear: I was having a lupus flare.

But why now? After being in remission for over twelve years? This was my fifth birth since my diagnosis—and only now was I feeling this excruciating physical pain, coupled with a deeper, emotional ache.

It wasn’t just my joints that were inflamed—it was my life, burning at both ends. I simply couldn’t function.

This wasn’t my first rodeo with an autoimmune flare. I had learned that when my lupus became active, it was rarely just about the body. It usually meant that something in my physical, emotional, or spiritual life had fallen out of alignment.

Still, the question echoed within me: Why now?

What was happening beneath the surface of my life that my body had to scream to be heard?

Like most people, my first instinct was to manage the physical symptoms—to analyze what I was eating, taking, or doing that could have triggered the flare. But as the pain persisted, a different possibility emerged:What if autoimmune flares are not just medical crises—but spiritual messages?

Learn more about how I approach healing from a Torah-based perspective on my Kosher Wellness page.

The Body as Messenger, Not Enemy: A Jewish View of Autoimmune Healing

When we’re faced with autoimmune flares, it can feel like our bodies have failed us. The physical pain is real—but often, the emotional weight is heavier. We begin to question our worth, our strength, our ability to show up in life. Suddenly, the simplest tasks feel insurmountable, and emotionally, we can spiral into helplessness or despair.

This emotional toll is, in many ways, the hardest part. And unfortunately, it’s also the very terrain on which autoimmune flares thrive.

But here’s something I keep learning—over and over again: our perspective is the most essential part of healing.

In moments of deep pain or immobility, it’s easy to become our own worst enemy. The frustration, fear, and emotional dysregulation that arise during flares only deepen the wound. But what if, instead of feeling weak or broken, we recognized that our body is not betraying us—it’s communicating with us?

Our symptoms are signals. They are divine messengers, alerting us that something in our life needs immediate attention, alignment, or rest.

Autoimmune disease, by definition, means the body attacks itself. But when we see this not as self-sabotage, but as an internal alarm, a different picture emerges.

When the immune system begins attacking healthy tissue, it’s like a sacred flare gun being launched from within:

“Alert! Something is off. Please come back to yourself.”

These signals might show up as inflammation, joint pain, heaviness, fatigue, skin rashes, fevers—or all of the above. And when compounded, they often trigger emotional collapse: sadness, anxiety, even depression.

But beneath all of that chaos lies something redemptive:

your body is not your enemy. It’s your greatest ally—trying, in its own language, to bring you home.

What Is Your Body Trying to Say? Exploring the Spiritual Root of Lupus Flares

An autoimmune flare-up may be triggered by many things—stress, exposure to certain medications (especially strong antibiotics), or even physical trauma. These are the explanations we’re most familiar with. They come from the world of science and biology.

But these are just the surface-level causes. If we only look at the physical layer, we miss the opportunity to truly heal.

Because symptoms are signs. Invitations. Messages.

When flares appear, we must ask ourselves:

• Am I doing too much?
• Am I living in alignment with my values and mission?
• Have I abandoned my boundaries?
• Have I disconnected from my Source?

In Body, Mind, and Soul (a foundational text for Jewish holistic health), Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh offers a profound perspective on autoimmune illness—especially lupus. He explains that every physical manifestation has a spiritual root. Lupus, in particular, he describes as a disease of disconnection—physically within the body, and spiritually within the soul.

Autoimmune disorders mirror the internal experience of alienation—feeling cut off from Hashem, from others, and from ourselves. Just as the immune system mistakenly attacks its own cells, a person in spiritual distress may subconsciously turn against their own essence.

The body, then, becomes a living metaphor for the soul’s pain.

Healing begins with shifting that perception of disconnection.

The Baal Shem Tov taught that God’s presence is always with us. The distance we feel is merely illusion. The moment we realize that our connection to God, to ourselves, and to others was never truly broken—only hidden—we begin to heal.

Because sometimes, when the body says stop, it’s not just crying out for rest.

It’s crying out for reconnection.

My Turning Point: A Personal Story in My Kosher Wellness Journey

I’ve always found comfort—and even a sense of empowerment—in turning to books when I’m going through an autoimmune flare. As if somehow, reading the right words could offer healing. And sometimes, they truly can.

During this most recent flare, I picked up Body, Mind, and Soul (a foundational text for Jewish holistic health) by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh. As I read his teachings, something clicked. I began to see the deeper spiritual parallels behind what I was experiencing.

My body had just gone through the trauma of giving birth. I returned home to a house that never stops moving—where I am the homemaker, the anchor, the one everyone leans on. Bringing home a newborn with colic meant little sleep, even less rest, and a constant state of overwhelm. I was pouring from an empty cup.

And then, as I turned one of the pages, it hit me.

I hadn’t invited Hashem into any of it.

Not into the sleepless nights. Not into the endless tasks I was tackling, one after the next, with no sense of presence—no awareness that this was my mission in the world. That being here, with my children, was a divine calling. A gift.

I was carrying the weight of it all—alone.

I was stressed about our family’s financial situation. And yet, I hadn’t prayed for help. I hadn’t asked for guidance. I hadn’t looked for the bigger picture that only hindsight usually reveals.

Instead, I let the stress pile up, believing I had to hold everything together. That silent, heavy burden—that sense of being overwhelmed, unsupported, and disconnected—was what pulled me out of remission.

Looking back, I can see it clearly:

My body didn’t betray me. It simply couldn’t keep going without my soul being part of the journey.

Learning to Listen: A Spiritual Practice Through Journaling, Shabbat, and Faith

My flare gave me something unexpected: an invitation to return to myself.

It forced me to slow down. To listen. To ask:

What does my body need? What does my soul need? Right now, what is truly important ?

In the stillness, I was reminded of something so simple, yet so often overlooked—the sheer miracle of being alive. Even just being present in a room with my children was a gift I had been rushing past.

One of the most powerful tools I’ve found for tuning into the messages behind a flare is journaling.

Start by writing down:

• Your physical symptoms or changes in routine
• The foods you’re eating that may contribute to inflammation
• Your emotional patterns and triggers
• Any thoughts that surface about your spiritual alignment

And then go deeper:

• Where am I not being true to myself or my values?
• Where have I stepped out of integrity in my relationship with Hashem?
• What parts of my life have I been trying to control instead of surrendering?

Often, a flare is your body’s way of saying:

Pull back. Rest. Reset.

It’s an active state of rest. A divine intervention dressed in discomfort.

For the observant Jew, Shabbat is built into our spiritual blueprint as a weekly invitation to regenerate. When we sync our bodies and souls with this Divine rhythm, something remarkable happens—our nervous systems calm, our spirits soften, and our perspective widens.

Another piece that was instrumental in my healing came through the voice of my mashpia, my spiritual mentor. She gently encouraged me to explore this experience not only through prayer and rest, but through learning.

She recommended Body, Mind, and Soul—and that book became a lifeline.

It helped me see my flare not as a breakdown, but as a message.

A realignment. A return.

From Breakdown to Breakthrough on the Path to Jewish Holistic Health

To support my healing, I temporarily went on prednisone while my system stabilized. I began rebuilding gently—starting with hot yoga, lymphatic drainage massages, warm salt baths, and castor oil packs.

I supported my body with supplements like collagen, curcumin, vitamin B, and electrolytes.

But most importantly, I supported my spirit.

Instead of feeling defeated, I chose to feel called.

I began treating my body not like a battleground—but like a sacred vessel.

This autoimmune journey is not a punishment. It’s a custom-designed spiritual curriculum.

And when I see it that way, even the pain becomes purposeful.

A Blessing and a Reminder to Listen, Realign, and Heal

An autoimmune flare is never just physical.

It’s a sacred message—a signal that something in our soul’s alignment has shifted.

These flares are not here to break us.

They’re here to bring us back.

Come Back to the soul.

Back to Hashem.

Back to our true inner selves.

“May we learn to listen before our bodies have to shout.”

Take five minutes today.

Sit in stillness.

Place your hand over your heart.

And ask:

What does my soul need right now?

You might be surprised by the answer.

Or maybe…it’s something you’ve known all along.

Read more on the impact your spiritual wellness has on your health: Art of Well-Being: Spiritual Wellness Is the Key to a Healthier You