How To Heal Yourself - Journey Within

21 Mar How To Heal Yourself

Posted at 16:58h in Uncategorized by admin

We are living in a time that demands us to act with far more agency in regards to our health and wellbeing than ever before. This isn’t just in light of the pandemic that has swept our illusions of freedom and connectedness out the back door, never to be seen again. A demand for more conscious and compassionate health care has been rising for decades.

According to a 2019 Canadian study, antidepressant recommendations for children between the ages of 1 and 18 increased between 2012 and 2016, with SSRIs the most recommended, and fluoxetine taking the lead. (1). Fluoxetine is the generic name for Prozac, a drug that is used to treat major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

A CBC article reported the following stats just last month: According to a company that manages pharmaceutical benefits for 7 million Canadians, SSRIs increased by 17% in 2020, compared to 2019, with the spike rising to 20% around Thanksgiving time. The increase is owed to first-time patients seeking therapy, and it’s expected to continue as COVID-19 shows no signs of easing (2).

CAMH, The Centre For Addiction and Mental Health based in Toronto, Ontario, published some disturbing stats about mental health, which you can see here.

The good thing about all these stats is that they signal that more people are seeking help, which is a good thing; there is less shame around mental illness than in the past. They also signal that help is available. The problem, however, lies in one of the more predominant forms of help––pharmaceuticals. While drugs like anti-anxiety and antidepressant meds have been hugely helpful for many people, they are also prescribed in astonishingly high numbers in adolescence, and without requisite psychotherapy. Many people stay on these pills for years and without supplementary counseling therapy. Many of these medicines have serious side effects too.

Help––I Need Somebody!

This is a difficult need to admit, and we often cry out for it in ways that aren’t that obvious. John Lennon, Beatle extraordinaire, said this:

“When ‘Help!’ came out, I was actually crying out for help. Most people think it’s just a fast rock ‘n’ roll song. I didn’t realise it at the time; I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I really was crying out for help.”

While we all need help, we are arguably not seeking the most effective kind of help, but rather looking for a quick fix to numb ourselves from the pains of life. When we’re struggling with a mental health issue, such as depression, anxiety, or PMDD in the case of many women, the most important thing we must do first is recognize that there’s a problem. Then we must be willing to do something about it.

A major barrier to helping ourselves is the absence of self-love. Although the term self-love lurks an awful lot in New Age discourse, complete with a kind of paltry “fluff” feeling to it, it’s one of the most critical practices for maintaining optimal well being and preventing illness, especially mental illness.

In her book, The How of Happiness, psychology professor, Sonja Lyubomirsky explains that genes and life circumstances don’t matter as much as we think they do. In fact, circumstances account for only 10% of our overall happiness in life, but thoughts and actions make up 40%. That means we can influence our chances for happiness and wellbeing just by how we think and what we do. But it takes a great deal of agency––and self-love––to recognize that we are more in control of our lives than we think we are, and that we deserve goodness, contentment, and joy.

Pay The Mind No Matter

One of the key ways we practice self-love is not by becoming a more autonomous individual but by reaching out to others. By asking for help when we need it, and by tuning into our bodies with the same degree of compassion we would express for any one of our loved ones.

The mind likes getting involved when it comes to control. That’s because, in most cases, we believe the mind is the chief commissioner of what is known. That is, we give our thoughts greater clout than we give to the subtle messages our bodies send out all the time. Poor sleep. Chronic pain. Constant fatigue. Digestive issues. An inability to process challenging emotions. They all signal an underlying imbalance that, if left untreated, can lead to more serious health concerns and psychological distress.

We don’t need to disregard our thoughts, but rather notice when they are limiting, destructive, or completely useless. Meditation is an excellent practice for dropping back and witnessing the incessant activity of the mind that dominates our ability to tune into other less obvious forms of intelligence within ourselves. But it takes practice. It is both an act of self-love and a catalyst for it.

The horrifying notion that anything can happen to anyone at any time has never been more in our faces than during this past year. We have very little control over what happens to or around us. That’s why taking charge of our health is critical business. That means maintaining a healthy degree of skepticism when listening to the advice of health professionals. That means trusting in our own intuitive inner voice. That means managing our physical health with good nutrition and regular exercise, and managing our psychological health with an awareness of how we feel in the midst of different influences.

The stuff we feed our minds and energetic bodies is as important as the food we put into our bellies every day. Toxic people and relationships, excess media exposure, and inadequate rest and sleep have grave influences and we must manage them appropriately.

Self-Love Starts Here…

In Buddhism, the practice of metta, or loving kindness, involves wishing happiness and freedom from suffering for ourselves and others. In order to practice metta for another person, we must first give it to ourselves. This practice is translatable to everyday life in the sense that if we are personally experiencing mental or emotional challenges, we’re not going to be much good for anyone else.

Another more tangible way of expressing loving kindness toward the self is to tune into the body and give it some much needed attention. I’m not talking about bubble baths and new clothes and champagne in the name of self-love. I’m talking about accessing gentle and subtle healing. Self-massage, Reiki, and other forms of energy work can access layers of the self of which we’re not even aware, that have a powerful impact on the state of our health and wellbeing.

If you’re living in Clarington, Durham Region, or a surrounding area and you’d like to learn more about therapeutic energetic treatments that can aid healing, contact me here. I’m here to listen, support, and guide you towards a greater sense of peace, joy, and health.

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