Tag: healing

Relax! The Case for Taking It Easy as a Path to Mental Wellness

Therapy is hard work. It’s so much more that talking about your problems with the fantasy that at some point, they’re just going to go away! If you don’t have the skill set for recovery, for catching your breath, for resting the body that produces thought, you’re probably wise to stay on the surface and out of that body. But you won’t heal. That’s what twenty years and over a thousand clients have taught me. The path to your healing begins with the ability to find your ease. Relax. Continue Reading Relax! The Case for Taking It Easy as a Path to Mental Wellness

Ready for the Holidays?

We are resourceful, creative creatures! And we can reclaim this holiday season for our own. We can defy the commercialism, the expectations of others, the din of the desperation surrounding us and instead use this time to heal, cultivating a deeper spiritual awareness, inner peace and joy. Continue Reading Ready for the Holidays?

Stress 101: Stepping Gently Into Your Body With Yoga

Trauma takes us away from our bodies, and turns us into their harshest judges. The path towards healing and away from this dissociation must therefore reunite us with our physical selves…Yoga, from the Sanskrit meaning “to join, unite, or attach,” invites us to enter our bodies gradually, allowing energy that has become stuck to begin flowing once more. It is even good preparation for entering a deeper meditative state, and the two together are profoundly therapeutic in becoming more mindful, and more present. Continue Reading Stress 101: Stepping Gently Into Your Body With Yoga

Stress 101: Meditation

Meditation is a discipline. Sometimes, it gets to me. In this video, in which I am upstaged by my dogs, I give a little taste both of the effort I put towards sitting, and how easy it is for me to get distracted from focusing on the present. What is important for all of us to wrap our minds around is that, if you’re expecting your brain to cooperate and stop thinking, you will not succeed. You will get frustrated, and you will give up on an intervention that is free and requires no travel, taking 15-20 minutes out of your day. Continue Reading Stress 101: Meditation

Stress 101: Resourcing…Finding the Lip of the Pool Before You Dive Deep

It was an awful day. I was young, barely employed as a door-to-door salesperson for cable (and really, who can’t sell cable! me!!!), and had just gotten my umpteenth rejection. The world reeked of malaise and despair… then I looked up, at the most wonderful evening sky. The skies in New Mexico are special, of… Continue Reading Stress 101: Resourcing…Finding the Lip of the Pool Before You Dive Deep

Religion and Healing: Final Thoughts

This series has been an important step on my journey, but I have no conclusions as yet. Religions have been the cause of much pain, but within them are beautiful rituals of healing, the comfort of tribal belonging, and the daily practice of faith.One of the practices that speaks to me shows up in almost every religion, the cleansing power of water. Pagan circles celebrate is as the western quarter, carrying the gift of emotion and of change. Monotheistic religions, including Judaism and Christianity, place high importance on baptism and cleansing ritual baths. It is not surprising that so many of my clients with highly distressed nervous systems find a rare calm in their tubs. Continue Reading Religion and Healing: Final Thoughts

The Case For…How Christianity Serves Healing

I have been thinking a lot about healing throughout my life. It’s not like I’ve had some miraculous kind of healing at any one time, although there have been several times that I’ve been in quite a bit of pain, and I have asked Kevin (husband) to pray for me at which time he will put his hand on me and pray silently. I don’t even know what he prays, but the pain has several times immediately disappeared. I have prayed for healing from the Crohn’s disease, and depending on one’s definition of healing, it is not gone, but I live a healthy life and I am fully functional.
Healing has come to mean for me being able to live well in spite of pain or sorrow or disappointment. Additionally I think healing can be physical or emotional. I certainly believe that if God wanted to completely heal me or Katy (daughter) from her diabetes he could, but I have learned that it’s through our difficulties that we are made stronger and healthier. Healing us completely might not be what is best for us.
One other short story comes to mind and takes place when I was eight years old. A brain scan revealed that I could have a seizure at any time. The docs told my mom no bike riding no bathing alone etc. Mom asked for some trusted friends to pray over me that I might be able to live a normal childhood. Nothing ever occurred after that prayer time.
I have grown up believing the Bible to be the Word of God, my creator, but on my journey my belief in the Word and its power in my life have been made real, not just a belief. I have found that the Word describes me perfectly. I have also found that when I depend on the promises given in the Word, they are reliable. The most important part of the Word for me is using it as a guide for living, and it has not failed me. I am able to find joy, comfort and peace in all circumstances. I have been tested several times in this life with tough circumstances and oddly in those times I have experienced the greatest peace and reassurance through the Word. When life gets hard, I do three things every day. I pray for help, read the Word and exercise. It works.
Continue Reading The Case For…How Christianity Serves Healing

Shame’s Opposite: An Exploration of Pride’s Healing Power

A child of four runs around the house, flying a towel above his naked body like a sail, shouting “I’m MEEEE!” Arms flung wide, he knows no shame…and why should he? In his home, there is the safety and love of adoring parents. What should we call what he is experiencing? Arrogance does not come… Continue Reading Shame’s Opposite: An Exploration of Pride’s Healing Power

Be Easy on Yourself – Releasing Shame through Imperfection

In the 50’s, the prevailing belief concerning crying infants was that, if you picked them up whenever they cried, you’d be spoiling them, teaching them to complain in order to get their needs met. The results? Adults all too often incapable of soothing themselves without chemical dependency or distraction. Adults resistant to asking for help,… Continue Reading Be Easy on Yourself – Releasing Shame through Imperfection