Mental Health Archives - Page 6 of 15

Anxiety About the Past

Written by enlightened solutions on August 13, 2018. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Often when we talk about anxiety, we hear it being described as an inability to stay in the present moment, a preoccupation with the past and the future. While we can be anxious about a great many things, often times our anxiety has to do with things that already happened, things we know we no longer have any control over. We might not be able to change what has already happened, but we can choose not to let our anxiety about the past get the best of us. We can shift our energy to make peace with the past instead.

When we are anxious about the past, it often comes from our inability to let go. We obsess about our past mistakes, embarrassments and regrets. We hold onto the painful memories of a relationship long after it has ended. Sometimes we feel we can’t let go of something or someone because we haven’t yet gotten the necessary closure. We hold onto the pain of the past and carry it with us into the present.

How would it feel to consciously choose to let go? For many of us who tend to dwell on things and obsess, this might feel impossible.

Even if we can’t change the past, we can change how we relate to it, how we perceive it, how we think and talk about it. What are the lessons learned? What can we take away from it? How can we apply what we’ve learned to other similar situations? What can we do differently in order to avoid the same pain down the line? Focusing on the lessons and how you can apply them in the future can help to reduce the anxiety.

Sometimes our anxiety comes from frustration with how we handled things. Sometimes we’re holding onto a grudge and can’t forgive the person who hurt us.

How would it feel to choose forgiveness, for ourselves and others, for the sake of our own peace of mind? Can we prioritize our own inner peace whether or not we reconcile, whether or not we even address the issue?

We have the power to choose how we think about things. One suggestion is to write everything down and feel the release and relief that can come from the writing process. It can be calming and therapeutic just to write it all out. Another suggestion is to use affirmations and meditate with them. Try repeating things like “I let go. I choose to move forward. I choose to forgive. I choose peace.”

The past doesn’t have to keep haunting you. The community at Enlightened Solutions has years of experience helping people. Let them help you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Human Nature – It’s All “Normal.” What Can We Learn?

Written by enlightened solutions on July 31, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Sober Living. Leave a Comment

When we judge ourselves and each other, and when we have expectations for how we should or shouldn’t behave, we’re often forgetting one really important concept- that of human nature. Human nature is expansive and all-inclusive. It encompasses all the different and unique variations of humanity. When looking at other people’ behaviors, as well as our own, many of them leave us feeling baffled, confused, angry, sad, horrified. Human nature is all of it. Human nature is objective- everything that is in our nature to do, feel, think and be.

Everything is normal, so to speak, because everything we do as humans makes up the big picture of what human nature is. That means that all of our behaviors are “normal,” even the ones we don’t agree with. Al of our fears are normal and common, even when they are irrational. Everything you’ve ever done or experienced that made you feel embarrassed, guilty or ashamed, is normal. It’s all “normal.” Human nature includes our mental health problems and addictions.

This is very far removed from how we usually perceive things. We judge everything a person does, has, thinks, feels, is. We assess situations based on what we think we would do, hypothetically. We judge people based on how we think they should be. We view things from our narrow perspectives, not realizing that our viewpoints are limited to our personal experiences and not taking into account that human nature is much broader than that- not to mention that when we judge, we are acting from a place of fear.

When we judge others, it is often because we judge ourselves, and these other people represent something reflected in us- whether that is a behavior we can’t admit to, a fear we carry, something that triggers us, or some aspect of ourselves being mirrored back to us.

When we judge, we reject, and that means we’re potentially missing out on important information and teachable moments. We can learn something from everyone and everything, from every experience, every story. Mistakes hold lessons when we are open to them. Relationships, including the unhealthy ones, teach us so much about ourselves and each other, about life and the world. We receive all kinds of guidance and wisdom from our experiences and from other people. When we are willing to give up our expectations, assumptions and preconceived notions about how things should be, how people should be, and how things should go, we open ourselves up to learn so much that we can apply to our own healing journeys.

The community at Enlightened Solutions has helped many people with their healing and recovery, and many of us have personal firsthand experience. We understand. Call us at (833) 801-LIVE.

Self-Hypnosis for Healing

Written by enlightened solutions on July 26, 2018. Posted in Alternative Therapy, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Self-hypnosis is a powerful tool to reprogram the subconscious mind, which stores our fears and emotions. With self-hypnosis, we are taking control of our minds and directing our thoughts more consciously, with intention. It can be therapeutic and really help you to feel better.

We are always hypnotizing ourselves, on a daily basis, with the thoughts and feelings we cling to the most. For many of us with mental health problems, emotional challenges and addictions, our default thoughts and feelings very often are negative. That nagging voice in your head that is critical, judgmental and analytical, that tells you you’re not good enough, or that other people are better than you. It complains. It worries too much. It overthinks. It’s pessimistic. It would rather see the bad than the good. It makes you feel sad and afraid.

The good news is that we can reprogram our subconscious mind, and self-hypnosis is a powerful way to do that.

Start by becoming more conscious of what you think and feel on a daily basis. Try keeping a journal or taking notes. Write regularly, then look back at the recurring themes. Get clear on your thoughts and feelings. Be thorough. What thought patterns and feelings are consuming you, making you feel bad about yourself, holding you back, or taking away from your happiness and inner peace? How do you feel about yourself and your life, and how would you rather feel? For example, if you’re struggling with feelings of insecurity, start looking at those insecurities. Where did they come from? What are you afraid of? What feelings would feel better instead?

Write down positive affirmations that detail the things you want to think, feel, do, have and be in your life. Try writing things like “I am happy and healthy. I am strong, brave, secure and confident. I am at peace. I am financially free. I am grateful. I do what I love for a living.” Get creative and be direct with yourself. Be brave. Reach for the stars. Believe in your power to make your dreams come true. You have the power to be happy, healthy and well.

Read what you’ve written multiple times a day. Keep it in your wallet, or post it on your bathroom mirror, anywhere you’ll read it often. Repeat it out loud to yourself as often as possible. Using a phone app, computer or studio, record your words and if you’d like, include beautiful meditation music behind your voice. Listen to it on repeat while you’re meditating, driving, exercising, or working. If you’re open to it, with time you’ll find that you feel better. You’ll start believing the words and believing in yourself. You’ll be doing the wonderful work of reprogramming your subconscious mind, and soon you’ll be able to feel the changes.

We believe in helping you find holistic healing solutions for your individual challenges. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Healthy Ways to Express Your Emotions

Written by enlightened solutions on July 25, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

All too often we hold in our difficult emotions, which is really toxic for our mental and emotional health. When we suppress our emotions, sometimes it’s because we are afraid to handle them, sometimes because we don’t know how to express them. Sometimes we don’t feel the space is safe to share our pain and vulnerability. Sometimes we don’t have the tools to express ourselves. Sometimes it’s just scary, anxiety-inducing and painful, and we avoid it as much as possible. We use our drugs of choice, we distract ourselves, we bury our emotions under other issues.

When we don’t work to heal our emotions, they have a way of coming repeatedly. We develop all kinds of life cycle patterns- mental and emotional illnesses, addictions, financial struggles, relationship issues, and so on. When we look at our patterns, chances are we’ll find emotions we haven’t fully dealt with and fears we haven’t yet faced. The resulting problems will keep returning, to test us, to determine if we’ve learned the lessons we’re meant to learn. When we’re used to drowning our sorrows in ice cream or Netflix, or sex or alcohol, it can feel overwhelming and scary to face our emotions directly. Sometimes we don’t even know where to begin. Let’s go back to the basics.

Talk

Many of us have a very hard time with this one. Maybe the people you’ve confided in have hurt you and you’re afraid to get hurt again. Maybe you feel like you don’t have anyone to talk to. Maybe you find it hard to talk in general and avoid difficult subjects. Talking things out with someone else can be comforting and remind us we’re not alone. If we’re open to it, we might receive really helpful advice, guidance and wisdom. It can be in therapy, with friends or family, in a support group, or calling a help line- being able to open up and talk is an important step towards healing.

Cry

Our culture tells us it’s weak to cry, especially in public, and that it’s something we should be embarrassed by. We’re taught to hold in it. Crying helps release stuck emotions as well as toxins stored in our bodies. Often we feel the wave of emotion come and we hold it back instead of letting ourselves cry. This suppressing of our feelings can be so destructive for our mental and emotional health. Let it out!

Music

Music can help us express our emotions by allowing us to really feel them, right alongside the stories and pain of our favorite songs. Music can inspire us to be honest and vulnerable about our feelings and experiences. Music is powerfully transformative; whether you’re listening or creating, it’s such a gift.

Holistic healing means finding solutions to our mental and emotional challenges. Enlightened Solutions is here to help. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Accepting Ourselves – Making Peace with All Our Stuff

Written by enlightened solutions on July 24, 2018. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Self-acceptance is something many of us struggle with, whether or not we have experienced mental health issues or addictions. It’s a pretty standard thing in human nature to have insecurities, dislike parts of ourselves, feel ashamed, and even hate ourselves. We base our opinions of ourselves on all kinds of factors, both inside and outside of ourselves: the judgments and criticisms of others, our status in society, our accomplishments, comparisons to other people, the expectations we have for ourselves and those others have for us, the mistakes we’ve made, the regrets we hold onto.

We carry a lot of burdensome weight when we reject parts of ourselves. When we can’t accept ourselves for who we really are, we often find ourselves in inner turmoil that affects all different areas of our lives: managing our emotions, processing our thoughts, making decisions, maintaining relationships. We can find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, scared, worried, anxious, and sad. We might feel inadequate, like we just aren’t enough, no matter what we do. We may feel inferior, like other people are better than us, and we don’t measure up.

What would it be like to feel unconditional self-acceptance? What would it look like to love yourself, right in this very moment? If you’re like many of us, there’s a little voice inside that often fills you with fear, doubts, judgments and comparisons. You might think things like, “well I love myself, but I hate my body.” Or “how can I love myself? I’m broke.”

How liberating would it be to love ourselves not despite our flaws, but including them? To see our “imperfections” as part of what makes us unique, special and strong. To realize that perfection is an illusion, and that striving for inner peace instead feels much better. How would it feel to take our biggest mistakes and wrongs and have forgiveness for ourselves? What was once our weakness could be our greatest source of power, when we open ourselves up to allowing that. Can we choose to see vulnerability and humility as strengths?

If we’re open to it, we can choose to see our struggles as necessary parts of our evolution. Our pain is an integral part of the journey. We wouldn’t be who we are without it. If we can figure out ways to be happy and find inner peace, it will all have been worth it. Accept yourself, just as you are, right in this moment. Of course there will be things about yourself and your life that you want to improve upon or change, or let go of altogether- that’s a part of life- but can we love and accept ourselves along the way?

Coming to terms with our mental health issues and addictions is not easy, and self-acceptance can be one of the hardest parts. Let Enlightened Solutions help; we’ve been there. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Becoming Conscious of Our Deepest Fears and Pain

Written by enlightened solutions on July 23, 2018. Posted in Alternative Therapy, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

One of the challenges many of us face is that we often don’t know why we are struggling with the mental and emotional issues we have. We suffer without knowing the deeper reasons for why we are suffering. We experience so much fear, often without realizing it, without knowing what our fears are and what they mean. To go deeper and gain more understanding, we have to go beyond what we are conscious of. We have to access the subconscious mind, where everything pertaining to our emotions is stored.

The subconscious mind governs 95% of our daily lives, including our behaviors, habits, thought processes, and patterns. It stores our fears, insecurities, memories, worries, traumas and pain. That means that if we allow the fears and pain of our subconscious mind to go unchecked, it will be our fears and pain running the show. Imagine your fear running 95% of your life. This is how most of us live- subconsciously driven by fear.

A major function of the subconscious mind is to keep us safe, and one of the ways it does this is by sending us warning signals to avoid things that might endanger us. Once our minds have been impacted by trauma, our subconscious mind will sometimes fire off these warning signals about things that don’t pose an actual threat to us, but that we feel afraid of and threatened by. Our deeply rooted fears stay lodged in our subconscious, which will send warning signs any time those fears are triggered. These fears become so deeply ingrained in our psyches that they play a huge role in our mental and emotional health. Our natural responses to these fears are often intense anxiety, nervousness, panic, sadness and anger. We usually carry out these responses in unconscious ways, unaware of what is driving us.

The first step to healing our fears is to be conscious of what they are. We can start by asking ourselves questions: What am I triggered by? What patterns do I keep repeating? What default thoughts and feelings am I experiencing? What do I have strong emotional reactions to? What problems do I keep manifesting?

When we look at the patterns in our emotions, thoughts, relationships and life cycles, we can start to analyze what fears have been driving us. Are we afraid of being abandoned by the people we love? Are we afraid we aren’t good enough? Are we afraid of failing? Are we afraid of taking risks because we fear people might judge us?

Healing on a deep level requires us to be conscious of the patterns of our thoughts, emotions and behaviors in order to start figuring out what our actual fears are. Our mental and emotional health depend on it.

On our healing journey, we sometimes need support. It can be scary stuff. Reach out. Contact Enlightened Solutions today.

Understanding the Subconscious Mind to Heal Ourselves

Written by enlightened solutions on July 20, 2018. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

The healing process requires that we get to know ourselves inside and out. As we learn more about ourselves and how we manage our mental and emotional health, it’s helpful to understand how our minds process our thoughts and emotions. We think an average of 60,000 thoughts a day, with 95% of them being governed by the subconscious mind. Our subconscious is where we store all of our emotional information and memory, such as the emotions we associate with our traumas and hurts, our fears, anxieties and insecurities, our mistakes, wrongs and regrets. Because our subconscious mind directs the vast majority of our thinking, we often think, feel and act based on our emotions. Until we learn how to heal the pain stored in the subconscious mind, we often find ourselves responding to life with the energy of that pain.

When we have unresolved pain, our emotional responses to things will sometimes be confusing, unpredictable or illogical. Sometimes they might be misdirected or misunderstood. We may transfer the pain of our old hurts onto current situations. We might lash out at people, even those trying to help us. We may take things personally or be easily triggered by other people’s words and actions. Our sensitivities and emotional issues are often the result of unhealed trauma.

Similarly, how we cope with emotional challenges can be impacted by the unresolved pain stored in our subconscious minds. We may find that we become easily overwhelmed or begin to panic when certain emotions arise. We might have crying fits or trouble sleeping. We may experience chronic physical pain and illness. Over time, all of this unresolved trauma can build up and cause us to experience a major breakdown in our overall health. Our subconscious mind is the key to healing our mental and emotional illnesses.

There are many powerful ways to work with the subconscious mind to find peace with our pain. Meditation, repeating affirmations, self-hypnosis and writing are a few.

One meditation you can try is visualizing yourself holding your inner child and together releasing the pain.

As we process the stories of our lives and work on our addictive behaviors and our mental and emotional issues, healing the subconscious mind is fundamental to resolving our pain and living our lives with more freedom and joy.

The healing journey isn’t easy, but the community at Enlightened Solutions is here to help. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Understanding Energy for our Mental and Emotional Wellbeing

Written by enlightened solutions on July 19, 2018. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

As living creatures, we are constantly producing and circulating energy. Our mental and emotional energies are made up of our thoughts, beliefs, intentions, actions and behaviors. Fear, trauma and pain can do a number on the health and balance of our energies. We often act from a place of fear, pain, anger, sadness and shame, and this can impact everything in our lives, from our daily routines to our most challenging issues. Our energy influences our circumstances, our relationships, our emotional, mental and physical wellbeing- potentially all the elements of our lives.

Many of us become trapped by the fears we create from the illusions of our ego minds. We tell ourselves we’re not good enough, that we are in competition with other people, that we can’t reach our goals, that we’ll never amount to anything. We watch the news and lose faith in humanity. We stay stuck in our fears and lose faith in ourselves, our lives and our purpose.

When our traumas go unhealed, our fears and pain can affect us in powerful ways. We become unkind and lash out at others. We judge ourselves and each other harshly and without compassion. We become dishonest, disrespectful, even abusive. We develop addictive behaviors. We struggle with toxic relationships. We self-destruct. Some of us become violent, towards ourselves or others, or both. We isolate and live in fear, some of us unable to leave the house or talk to other people. We develop all kinds of dysfunctional life patterns: phobias, neuroses, pathological tendencies, addictions, obsessions, compulsions, delusions, and countless other disorders.

As we become mired in our toxic thought patterns, our energy suffers. This is the energy with which we live. It’s how we respond to life; how we deal with ourselves, the world and the people around us. We create and manifest with this energy, and our lives show us direct results of our energetic blueprint. When we are experiencing inner turmoil, we manifest struggle and problems. When we are insecure and don’t love ourselves, we manifest relationships that are destructive and abusive. When there is violence within us, we create more violence around us. When we are drowning in fear inside of ourselves, we manifest more circumstances that cause us to feel afraid. When we feel unworthy and don’t value ourselves, we manifest more instability and pain.

It can be so helpful to understand how energy works and how it relates to our addictions and mental health issues. Enlightened Solutions can help you find healing solutions. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

The Law of Attraction, Mental Illness and Addiction

Written by enlightened solutions on July 18, 2018. Posted in Addiction, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

What we focus our attention on grows. When we focus on our complaints, we are left with more to complain about. When we focus on what we’re grateful for, we find more things to be grateful for. When it comes to mental health and addiction, a huge part of our recovery is working with how we feel about ourselves as people, as people who are unwell, as people who are struggling. We carry a lot of shame, regret and embarrassment. We feel we can’t live down our pasts.

As we work to heal our self-image and grow in self-love, we have to change how we talk to and about ourselves. The Law of Attraction says that what we focus on we attract, what we emit we receive. If we focus on healing and recovery, and align ourselves with those energies, we are more likely to heal and recover. Self-talk is huge. Choosing our thoughts and words consciously goes a very long way.

Constantly thinking or saying “I’m an addict” tells yourself, the people around you and the universe that you are an addict, that you believe you’re an addict, and in a way implies energetically that your identity is your addiction and little else. Repeating things, mentally or out loud, such as “I’m too depressed to do anything,” “I’ll never get better” or “I’ll never change” keeps you depressed, blocks your growth and sets you up not to be able to change. It stifles your capacity and your potential, not to mention draining you of your energy and motivation to do the healing work. These negative words and thought processes don’t reflect healing or the recovery process, and they don’t invite in the people, tools, resources and solutions that can help you.

Try affirming “I am healing” instead, and “I am learning how to be at peace.” Affirmations work best when they are framed in the affirmative rather than the negative. For example, “I am healing” or “I am recovering” will help you to manifest your healing and recovery, while saying “I’m not going to drink alcohol” reinforces the idea of drinking alcohol, making your energy more likely to attract the drinking of alcohol.

When we learn that we are able to consciously manifest what happens in our lives and that we can change everything by changing our energy, we can begin to direct our words and thoughts differently, for the sake of inner peace, wellbeing and progress.

Learn new healing solutions and manifest a life you are happy to live. Enlightened Solutions can help. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Gratitude Practice as a Tool for Depression

Written by enlightened solutions on July 16, 2018. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

If you search online for ways to deal with depression, one of the things you’ll find highly recommended is starting a gratitude practice. In our daily lives, we tend to take things for granted, the blessings of our families and friends, having a roof over our heads, having enough to eat. Depression can be exacerbated by focusing on everything that is going wrong in our lives, rather than all the things that are going right. Gratitude can help change some of the mental thought patterns that contribute to depression such as a scarcity mindset rather than an abundance mindset- feeling like you never have enough can be transformed into being grateful for everything you have. You have eyesight to read these words, you are able to read, you have a mind working to process and understand. You can choose to be grateful for anything and everything. With gratitude, painful experiences become lessons learned, challenges become opportunities for growth and empowerment.

When you first wake up, when you go to sleep, and/or throughout the day, try listing some of the things you feel grateful for. If you’re depressed or anxious, this might be really hard to do, but try. Maybe the sun is shining, and even if you’re feeling too depressed to go outside, even saying the words “I am grateful for sunshine” might spark the motivation to put your face in the sun, even for just a few minutes. Any steps you can take will help, and gratitude can often be the catalyst. If you woke up in a comfortable bed with pillows and blankets, or got enough sleep, or are waking up in order to get to work, be thankful for anything and everything- the bed, the pillows, the sheets, the blankets, the job you have that allows you to pay for the things you need, the family you’re supporting by going to that job, the love you feel for your family. Be grateful you got to eat today. Be grateful you made it home safe. Be grateful there are people out there who care about you and want you to be happy.

Positive thinking isn’t always easy, especially when we’re depressed and giving up hope, but try, and keep trying. The more you practice looking for things you’re grateful for, the more your mind will naturally direct itself to find more things to be grateful for. Gratitude helps program our minds to start seeing the good in things automatically. Having the energy of gratitude opens you up to receiving even more blessings. When we are feeling down and defeated, simply saying “Thank You” for the blessings we have can transform our energy and help lift us out of depression.

Let Enlightened Solutions help you discover new ways of healing. Contact us today.

Tag: Mental Health