How am I? How Can I? Who am I?
Do you need to know the ‘how am I’? Do you need to know 'how can I' get to where I want to go?' Or do you want to figure out the ‘who am I?’
Being truthful to yourself and understanding your needs will support you in accessing the correct tools at the right time. Coaching will support you to find out how to reach your goals, therapy will delve into why you experience certain feelings, perhaps anxiety, frustration, anger, and why you respond in a certain way to situations. The ‘Who am I’ is exploring spirituality.
Are people turning to spirituality to help them to regulate and solve issues?
Does delving straight into spirituality without therapy cause further harm?
Does it exasperate the feelings of guilt, self-judgement, and the judgment of others?
Is it normal/healthy to only feel peace and not experience the other areas of human emotion?
This is what Sandy Newbigging (ex monk, meditation teacher, author, and creator of Calmology) has discussed in his latest webinar. He is emphasising the importance of unifying therapy and spirituality. From what he was saying I get the impression that he has ruffled some feathers in the world of spirituality with his theories.
I like Sandy’s work because he looks at trauma, and childhood trauma which is where my passion lies. This trauma is not just the obvious big stuff but things that have caused anyone of us suffering. If we look at trauma as an inner injury does this give us all more acceptance to try to heal. Like taking a pain killer for a headache or bandaging a broken bone. Trauma requires attention, love and forgiveness.
We can face society and tell others and ourselves that we are fine and not broken, there is nothing wrong but the one area of our body which cannot hide inner trauma is the nervous system. The somatic nervous system works under our conscious control whereas the autonomic nervous system does not. This is our fight/flight/freeze/flood/fawn responses. We need these for survival, they are important! The issues arise when we become stuck in the autonomic nervous system and it is trauma that causes this.
Signs of trauma include anger, rage, disassociation, depression, wanting to be peace maker, low level states of consciousness, shame, guilt, being easily triggered!
Those with healthy nervous systems will be able to regulate these emotions much quicker than those who haven’t and suffer a bigger reaction and longer recovery.
So how are you?
Can massage and Reiki help you?
Massage and Reiki supports the nervous system by soothing it! The autonomic nervous system has two branches. The parasympathetic and the sympathetic. These therapies activate the parasympathetic which is the rest and relax function rather than the sympathetic fight or flight response. Reiki literally shifts the stuck energy. The western world pays very little attention to the inner energy. We study the energy outside, and rely heavily on our energy resources, but ignore our energy within. Everything we do is an expenditure of energy. We require energy to think, move, deal with emotions. Where does this energy come from? Have you ever had those days where you cannot be bothered to do anything? Even after a good nights sleep and food? Imagine then, you get some really exciting news. You can feel this energy source build up within you, you no longer feel tired and joy rushes over you, ready to take on the world. Where did this energy suddenly come from? The reason why you don't feel this energy all of the time is because you block it. There is nothing flowing. It is there but it can't get in. There are centres in your body sometimes known as chakras that channel your energy flow. When they are closed, there is no energy. When you open them, there is. The heart is an energy centre, and it can open and close. Keep your centres open! You do this by relaxing and releasing. Nothing is worth closing over!
The stomach may grumble towards the end of a session as relaxation has started working in the nervous system. A regular massage or Reiki healing session is highly beneficial to the nervous system and for maintaining well-being.
One of the five Reiki principles is to be compassionate towards yourself and others. We are all human, we feel emotions, the world can be tough, and we respond to it as humans do. This can lead to inner injuries (trauma) but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Firstly ask yourself what is it you are needing. Look to find your different therapies and use them when necessary. Never feel ashamed and look to the mind, body, and soul as these are all connected and all require love and compassion! Its about breaking down the injury to rebuild and therefore heal.
I would love to hear your thoughts! Leave your comments below :)
#mind#body#soul#sandynewbigging#therapeutic#therapies#therapist#massage#reiki
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