mental-health

How to deal with fear

/ selfactualizeyourself / 6 Comments

This is our trap. We need it, we hold on to it. It is voluntary slavery. Why voluntary? Because we do not want to be free and make the effort. It is a lifelong journey of awareness, but the good news is that we do not have to fight for our freedom; we just have to understand the substance of our apprehensions, and take a fresh look at life and ourselves. The reward is – growth, constant evolving, creating your dreams.

Fear is your only obstacle in achieving the freedom you desire to see in your work, social life, love, education. It is ironic that all those areas in life require mistakes, this is “normal life”, we need them, and we need a good variety of them.

The formula is simple – do what you are most afraid of doing. Start with the least effort; do not go for the sky diving first. Seek support. The only way to decrease your fear is by increasing the parameters of your freedom. Do it repeatedly, in a variety of ways, practice makes perfect.

The other very important part of the formula is – you are not a slave for sale. Do not allow anybody to put a price tag on you, even your boss, your community or significant other. You still can play the game, following the rules, but take your soul of the market. Feed your dignity, feel alive. Learn how not to be liked. Sounds scary? In practical life we need to learn how not to be liked, the same way we learn how to be likeable for others. Think about it – there are many people probably you, yourself are not a fan of, but they are living their life happily, learn how to do exactly that. Stretch your imagination, be flexible, play more, role-play with your friends, or be the only actor. Practice your behavior, your brave tone- find your fearless voice, it is somewhere there, waiting to appear on the palette of self-creation. Do not forget to acknowledge the little kid inside of you, let him just have fun and be silly. Realize that we all have this little one, remember that in your communications, and make every interaction a learning experience. Look for the kid in the person facing you, let your own child to be the explorer of the inner and outer world. Something feels risky? Expand the areas of your risks – it means development, it means success.

 

Mental – Psychological Health

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Mental Health is more than just an absence of psychological symptoms or fitting within some statistical norms. It is being in harmony with your physical environment, family, colleagues, friends and one’s inner-self or spirituality. When we describe issues in those areas, we use the terms psychological and mental interchangeably. These terms are often perceived differently from different people and can determine how an individual is treated.

Our society holds the prejudices that psychological problems are results of environmental factors or social circumstances and mental challenges on the other hand are seen as genetic faults or individual weaknesses. This puts stress/blame on the individual and points to inner responsibility for the problem. Farther more it suggests chronic state that is constant and cannot be “cured or improved”, just controlled, readily with medications.

 

Cautious is required when we categorize people for research and insurance purposes, but let us remember that the DSM is not a sacred text and it is meant to help in making treatment decisions, but not to dictate them. Approaching this issue asks for sensitivity, meeting the individual where he is, respecting of each person’s uniqueness, individuality and culture.

Identifying psychological challenges, the clinician examines the social environment that is affecting the patient and builds his hypothesis on the socio-personal model. The treatment is based than on correcting, improving, or integrating missing skills in the family system, or any other existential area – friends, colleagues, or inner self. Mental problems are identified by observation of symptoms and experiences that culminate in the psychiatric diagnosis.

The facts:

  1. Every one’s well-being is affected by the harmful influence of the environment. Social, moral, political, changes and distress in the society are often at the root of the “symptoms” and do not have individual solutions and are outside of the individuals control.
  2. The researches expose that the individual is better able to make positive changes in himself and his environment when he understands that there is nothing inherently wrong with him. The change is initiated when the symptoms are re-framed or not placed at all in the frame of “pathology”.
  3. A “therapeutic” relationship can be established only when the individual realizes his personal power, strengthened by the equal respect. This is achieved by actively involving the person in defining the challenges and conceptualizing the treatment strategy.
  4. The individual regains his power when his values and his views of the world are given priority.
  5. Meditation, yoga and variety of relaxation techniques are showing remarkable results in influencing the biochemistry and work of the brain and the whole body.
  6. The Bio-Psycho-Social model is commonly accepted today, but there are many areas of research that require reconsideration, dialog in regards to the focus and the nature of change and direction we want to go.

Our own personal experiences and thousands of clinical observations convince us that the traditional academic theories fail to answer basic questions about our psyche or soul and human consciousness. The main consequence from that is that many states or “disorders” accepted by the modern psychiatry as pathology, and treated with suppressive medications, in reality are “psychological/spiritual complications”, soul’s crisis, that holds healing and transformational potential, when used and guided accordingly.

The research of the nature and origin of consciousness and the dimensions of the human psyche/soul crashes the common myth of the materialistic science that consciousness is epiphenomenon of matter, product of neurophysiologic processes, happening in the brain. The research reveals that consciousness is the original undivided property of the living, able to perform variety of actions, which the brain itself cannot complete. According to these modern researches, human consciousness is implicated and is part of the absolute field of universal consciousness, sustaining all that is.

The established academic psychology and psychiatry use the model of the psyche/soul, which is limited by the biology, the biography after birth, and the Freudian individual unconsciousness. However, if we really want to explain all of the phenomenon of the consciousness, our understanding of human psyche/soul should be deepened and expanded.

Mental or psychological symptoms or simply any emotional discomfort is just a response to our imbalanced understanding of our inner and outer environment.  Every one can easily identify, in his own context, which social messages and pressures are contributing to the symptoms or problems. When we silence the outer noise, we all can hear our inside voice, our true inner self, which if given a chance will grow stronger, clearer, louder, giving us confidence and guidance in our path to balance/happiness.

 

Being Balanced/Healthy

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All ancient scripts from around the world provide guidance and suggestions on how to keep our bodies healthy. Happiness is revealed as a natural state of being in response to healthy living.   We already know that our body is a sophisticated device; lets investigate what keeps it full of energy and life.

Our “soul level or body” is strengthened by everything positive we experience – from the miracle of a newborn life to the delightful observation of a gorgeous flower. The focus on the beauty of Life, on the amazing wonders of Nature gives us the highest feelings of admiration. Realizing and being part of the Universal harmony and Perfection fills our beings with love and gratitude.

Our “conscious level or body” is maintained by our creativity and constructive aim. According to Carl Jung, human beings are able to tap into the “Collective unconsciousness” or the unconscious mind. He believed that this is the source of art and it is the deep memory of human kind. Transpersonal psychologists see direct connection between the individual development and the evolution of human kind. The fetus progresses through a single-celled organism to a multicellular organism, fish, amphibian, animal, taking finally human form. The followers of the transpersonal psychology find answers beyond the individual memories after the birth event. Experiments point out that on a deep level, there is undoubtful connection between people, connection that cannot be explained if limited only to the knowledge of the afterbirth individual biography.

This level of consciousness is not only a deep source of memories and life paths, it is an engine that powers our ambitions and makes our goals come true. The role of the environment on this level is huge. The scientist know that the frog egg that falls on the algae  will develop into frog, but the one that falls on the bottom, will give live to the algae. Environment determines the dysfunctions in the conscious level. Miraculous recoveries from deadly illnesses show the unlimited possibilities of our conscious level, when we focus and align ourselves with the Universal balance.

Our “thought level or body” is strengthened by the absence of strong emotions and stress. Relaxation, meditation, sleep, spending time with friends and loved ones, visiting beautiful places and healthy diet sustain this level.

Our “subtle body or plasma level” is connected with our breathing, energy and biofields.  Active lifestyle – outdoor activities, (energy exchange with the Earth and all living), moving is direct interaction with the energy, which is charging us. Consistence and systematically increasing the intensity of the exercises create strong subtle body. It should become a lifestyle, because it quickly dissipates if not charged.

Our “physical body or level” is maintained by everything that makes strong the rest of the levels. Food has critical part – the quality of eating – following the physiological mechanisms of digestion and absorption.

This is a simplistic take on the sophisticated mechanism, which is the physical body. It 99 % of the mass is from the following biogenic elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, calcium, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, chlorine, sodium. The slightest change (especially oxygen) in their intertwinement leads to imbalances in the body and susceptibility to illness.

It is obvious that in order to possess absolute health, all levels of the human body should be kept operating properly. One of the reasons why medications do not work is because they target only the physical body and leaving residue in the organs, interfering even farther with the natural balance of the body, the diseases develop into a chronic illness. Positive attitude towards life is not only something we may accept or not – it is required for a long healthy living. Honest, clean thoughts, combined with a noble goals and aspirations, being close to our natural environment – Nature and all living, will give us the most precious gift – healthy, fulfilling life.

Meditation or Medication?

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meditation

Answering a question depends on the point of view we would like to choose. For a long time the society has been rewarded for living unreflectively – for living an unexamined, inauthentic and superficial life. The ideal of a person as promoted in the media was self-centered, materialistic, anti-intellectual and often driven by sensuality or greed. Today we witness how beneath the distorted value system, the eternal human qualities are being remembered, strengthened, and given the freedom to evolve. We are regaining the power of human relationships, discovering the harmony with our physical environment, colleagues, friends, family, our inner-self and our spirituality.

The knowledge of the realms of mind and body has been wrongly separated for centuries. We were created with a capacity to experience pain, with a certain level of discomfort or “healthy” anxiety. This is our continuing fear of moving through life towards death. Our symptoms have important meaning. The pain is a response to a situation or person that unsettles us. The feeling of being depressed or anxious provides us with a chance to reflect upon ourselves and to change the behavior that brought these emotions to us. If we choose to mask these feelings with medications, we evade the search for the reason behind our unsettledness. We avoid taking responsibility for our relationship with our selves and life.

However, the designer of the Universe felt that our pain is instructive.  It is our gift if we accept it as a loving part of who we are. It is the most invaluable lesson that lies deep inside of each of us.  Everyone discovers the message in his own time, the message of how fragile life is and how brief is our time.

Meditation is a system of practices, that helps people take responsibility for the quality of their thoughts. Meditation practices can help you enter the center of your stillness and serenity, to reach a “zero point”. From this point, you can observe apart the flow of your changing emotions, thoughts and intentions and gradually understand their origin and meaning.

 

In the past, meditation was viewed as spiritual or religious practice. Today more and more people turn to meditation to receive the benefits of deep relaxation, and to handle successfully the psychological and psychosomatic challenges, releasing the accumulated stress in the body.

 

Some psychotherapists believe that meditation and hypnosis are similar states of mind and that the first one is just a part of the second. Electroencephalography or EEG shows that meditation is a more structured state of the consciousness. Hypnosis has different indicators. If it is a quite hypnotic sleep, we will see decreasing or complete disappearance of alpha rhythmic brain activity, reducing the frequency and amplitude of beta rhythm and appearance of delta like slow waves. The recording of the brain’s electrical activity during hypnosis can be like the normal activity when you are awake. The person who is meditating is in a state of a focused concentration and the electrical activity in his brain is as he is ready to fall asleep. These facts are leading us with great curiosity and increasing attention to study the teachings of Yogis. During meditation, they report that their whole body is in a state of deep sleep, and their mind is in a state of a special type of wake.

 

The word “meditation” is from the Latin – meditatio,” is moving to the center”. There is also a version that meditatio comes from meditor– “to think, to contemplate, device, ponder”.  Exactly this is what happens during meditation. Without strain, without applying any kind of effort, you are appearing in the center of yourself.  You are experiencing the feeling of being on a high elevation and observing from it everything that is happening. You can see clearly and distinctly what is important to you and undoubtedly realize it. From this elevated point, you can find out a lot about the person you thought you are or were. You will begin to understand this person’s life scenario, the plot of his destiny. Did his parents reject him?  If this happened, did he allow this situation to influence his life? On the other hand, maybe the mother loved more his older sibling. If that was so, does the youngest continue to compete in order to be the first in the eyes of his mother? Does this person live in fear that life is passing him by? … All this begins to seem to you like a script written for someone else. You notice how old emotional “wounds” start t to heal.

 

Now let us go back to the pharmacology. In the past, the business interests of managed care and the paradigm of biological psychiatry have challenged our society. Today the facts speak for themselves. The power of human mind and consciousness over the human body is not any longer denied. It is common knowledge that the only reason medicines work is because they mimic the natural processes of the body, after the mind gives its permission and faith.

 

How would you answer the question now, from the perspective of knowing that your body has all the recourses to heal and overcome any discomfort? What would you do, knowing that the depression you experience is a gift to show you that you are missing something in your relationships? Your relationship with the physical world, your relationship with others, and your relationship with yourself, with the spiritual world – do you feel any unsettledness there? If yes, smile, because you are alive and given the courage to see a possibility of a greater fulfillment of Life.