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Tag: Mental Health

Redirecting Stuck Emotional Energy

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

Our painful emotions, fears and traumas have a way of energetically becoming stuck in our bodies. We may experience this stagnant energy, years after the original trauma took place, as Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, as an anxiety disorder or neurosis, as persistent panic attacks, or even something as seemingly innocuous as over-worrying. These problems tend to grow stronger over time, and they feed off of our unresolved pain. It is highly important that we learn to shift our energy and work to remove these emotional blocks from within our bodies.

Shifting our energy can be done in various ways. One way is to meditate on the physical effects of our pain. Where does it manifest in the body? For many people, they feel their pain in very specific parts of their bodies. They might feel the uneasy energy of anxiety as heat or cold in their chest, or as a knot in their stomach. They might feel a lump in their throat, or tears welling up behind their eyes. They might feel a surge of nervous energy travel to their hands and feet. As we become mindful of how our pain manifests physically in our bodies, we can begin to use visualizations to redirect the energy in helpful ways.

When we feel the intense heat or cold of anxiety spreading in our chest, we can begin to visualize our breath bringing that energy into equilibrium more and more as we continue to breathe deeply. We can imagine the nervous energy we feel traveling to our hands and feet being released through our fingertips and out into the open air, and out through our toes and into the ground where it can be neutralized by the great earth. We could breathe mindfully through the lump in our throat, or the aching pain in our chest, feeling the pain subside over time as we allow ourselves to sit through it. And when we feel the tears coming, we could choose to let them flow rather than stopping them. All of these things help the energy to flow in healthier ways rather than allowing it to stay stuck, festering in the darkness of our denial or avoidance.

Other ways to shift the energy stored in our bodies are dancing, walking meditation and laughing. Singing and chanting harness the power of vibration to bring about powerful healing. Stretching the tight muscles where we hold onto our emotional tension can work wonders to bring a sense of peace and calm. Explore different ways of shifting your energy and find what works for you. Your mind, body, heart and soul will thank you!

We listen, and we understand. Many of us have personal experience with recovery. Enlightened Solutions offers therapy, mentoring, and friendship. Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

Grief Responses

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

Losing loved ones is often a very traumatic and painful experience. Not only do we miss them, our sadness can be compounded by anger and resentment, at the departed, at the higher power that took them away, at ourselves for our mistakes. We may feel guilt ridden and ashamed for the ways in which we feel we let our loved ones down. Our complex emotions, when not expressed in healthy ways, can create grief responses that can make the mourning process all that much more difficult to recover from.

Like many kinds of trauma, a death can prompt us to want to escape the pain. It can be unbearable to lose someone who plays a major part in our lives, whom we are closely connected to, whom we love deeply. Addicts feel a strong urge to numb that pain and self-medicate with drugs or other forms of escape and distraction- food, work, sex, anything that might soothe the pain, even for a little while. As we come to learn, though, the pain returns, and we can only run from it so long before it catches up with us. Becoming dependent upon unhealthy substances or behaviors can compound and exacerbate the pain of the initial loss. Instead of allowing ourselves the time and space to process our emotions in healthy ways, we may find that the grief accumulates within us and creates all kinds of emotional blocks and difficulties.

One such difficulty for people who have survived a traumatic loss can be a newly heightened sense of anxiety, anger and reactivity. They might find themselves easily agitated or aggravated. They might feel uneasy, restless or scared, more often. They might become easily enraged and transfer that rage to the people around them, without provocation. They might find certain things highly triggering. A build-up of unexpressed sadness can cause people to seem lost, or “off,” and to exhibit erratic behavior that is not normal for them. You might even find yourself uncomfortable with, or afraid of, their behavior. Grief can be extremely destabilizing, and especially so when we don’t process it in ways that allow us to fully feel and express it.

After losing a loved one, it is so important for us to find ways to cope with the pain. Grief is something that stays within us, we might never “get over” it, but we owe it to ourselves and the loved ones we lost to find healthy coping strategies, for the sake of our peace and wellness.

Let Enlightened Solutions help you process your pain. You don’t have to do it alone. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Moving Through Grief

Written by enlightened solutions on . Posted in Healthy Living, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Losing a loved one can cause us indescribable grief. Sometimes there are no words for the pain we feel, the emotional anguish that can leave us reeling for years afterwards. There is no one way to grieve, but there are some ways to help ourselves through the process.

Be with people who understand your pain, who can empathize, and who make you feel safe to talk, cry or express anger. Avoid being with people who tell you to “get over it,” who try to rush the mourning process, or who try to sweep the sadness under the rug of positive thinking. Sometimes when we are grieving, the last thing we need to hear is “she’s in a better place,” or “he’s always with you in spirit.” Instead we might need the safe space and the time to express our sadness and have it be met with compassion and empathy.

Sit with the pain rather than trying to avoid it. Grief and the memories we associate it can stay with us for years, sometimes for a lifetime. Trying to pretend it’s not there, or that we’re ok when we’re not, only hurts us more. Stopping ourselves from crying because it hurts too much, or because we don’t feel safe with the people we’re around, can cause us to hold onto that pain energy in unhealthy ways, creating emotional blocks within us. There is a saying that grief is like a river, we must let it flow. Cry when you need to. It can feel so much better to let it out than to bury it. Running from our pain sets us up for all kinds of self-destructive coping mechanisms, emotional problems and addictive behaviors.

Honor your loved ones. This can be done by writing them a letter or a song, lighting a candle for them, or dedicating a special meal or holiday to them. Journal about the memories you shared with them. If you are holding onto anger towards them, or towards yourself in the form of regret or shame, work to forgive and let go of those burdens. Some of us talk to our loved ones who have passed on and continue to receive signs and guidance from them. When our loved ones pass, it can help us to keep their memory alive, to keep them present in our minds and hearts, to share our memories of them with others. When it comes to grief, one of the most damaging things we can do for our mental and emotional health is try to suppress it rather than looking for healthy ways to express it.

We listen, and we understand. Many of us have personal experience with recovery. Enlightened Solutions offers therapy, mentoring, and friendship. Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

Meditation to Manage Our Emotions

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

Many of us with mental health problems and addictions can find it very difficult to manage and navigate our painful emotions. Our minds and hearts can react to stressors, challenges and triggers in self-destructive ways rather than choosing healthy coping strategies, especially when we have experienced trauma which can program subconscious mind to be destructive rather than protective. There are many holistic tips, techniques and remedies to help us work with our emotions in ways that support us in creating inner peace for ourselves. Meditation is one of the best things out there, and while it isn’t always easy, it is worth every minute we devote to the practice.

There are countless forms of meditation to explore, both for beginners and those looking to incorporate new methods into their practice. Meditators come to learn that there is no such thing as perfection when it comes to meditation. It really is about the process and the practice, the journey rather than the destination. If the end goal is enlightened consciousness, the journey is a strengthening of mind, body, heart, soul and spirit. Any form of meditation you choose can help you, whether it be focusing on your breath or on a single point such as a candle flame, repeating mantras and affirmations, practicing visualization, doing a walking meditation, meditatively creating art, or practicing mindfulness while going about our daily routine.

The health benefits of meditation are numerous and continue to be studied extensively. What you might notice right away when meditating is an increased sense of calm and peace, especially in response to things that usually trouble you. You might find yourself becoming less reactive to your usual stressors and triggers. You may find yourself less quick to anger, and more inclined to choose forgiveness and healthy detachment. You might find it easier to come up with solutions to the problems that once overwhelmed and confused you. When meditating, your heart rate and breathing slow down, bringing an increased sense of overall wellness and contentment. When meditating, we often find it easier to enter into a place where we can connect with our spirituality, communicate with our higher power, and receive divine messages in the form of signs and guidance. Meditating teaches us to prioritize following our intuition, to really listen to our instincts, and to trust ourselves, as we carry infinite wisdom within us. Whatever emotional problems we might be facing, meditation has the power to open up new and powerful channels for healing.

We listen, and we understand. Many of us have personal experience with recovery. Enlightened Solutions offers therapy, mentoring, and friendship. Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

Inclusivity- Broadening our Definition of Trauma and Embracing Others in Pain

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When discussing trauma and its effects on people, we sometimes tend to associate trauma with the most intensely traumatic incidents, such as being at war, experiencing extreme violence, or having a near-death experience. It would serve us, however, to expand our conceptualization of trauma, to broaden its definition, and to understand that any experience could be traumatic to someone. Limiting our definition of trauma to what we personally perceive to be traumatic, or to what we ourselves have been traumatized by, closes our hearts to others who might be suffering. We block ourselves from consciously empathizing with and understanding someone else’s pain when we decide something is not traumatic simply because we ourselves might not be traumatized by it. The consequence thereafter is often one of judgment; we harshly judge other people’s reactions and behaviors, their experiences and the ways in which they cope.

“That wouldn’t bother me.”

“I would never do that.”

“What’s her problem?”

“I’ve been through way worse.”

“Why won’t she just get over it?”
“It’s really not that serious.”

We sometimes fail to realize that pain is not objective. There are no hierarchies, standards or benchmarks for trauma. Pain really is relative; we perceive our experiences and circumstances relative to who we are, not as isolated incidents in a vacuum. Everything in our lives can factor into our perceptions: our upbringing, our relationships, our mental and emotional states. What might be trivial or benign to some might be catastrophic to others, because we filter all of our experiences through our uniquely personal combinations of fears, sensitivities, triggers and memories. Each of our subconscious minds holds differing beliefs and thought patterns, making the ways in which we process and react to things as vastly different as we are. And yet, one of our commonalities as human beings is that we are susceptible and vulnerable to the things that hurt us.

We have a tendency to be led by our ego minds, detaching us from our hearts. We think in terms of analysis, assessment and judgement, rather than connection, understanding and empathy. If we can open our hearts to the idea that we are all traumatized, each by our own particular set of painful experiences, we might be less likely to downplay other people’s pain, to judge and shun them, or to belittle them for how they are coping. We might open our hearts a little more and instead choose empathy, compassion and inclusivity.

We strengthen in recovery when we have the community, connection and friendship we need. Enlightened Solutions is here for you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

A Heart Healing Visualization Meditation

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

When we are struggling with mental health issues, emotional challenges and addictions, our minds have a way of compounding our pain and deepening our pain responses. When our ego is wounded and out of balance, it acts from a place of fear and fills your psyche with insecurity, self-hate, doubt, anxiety, judgment, criticism and all manner of inner demons. Our minds become tools for self-sabotage and self-destruction, rather than self-love and forward progress. Because our minds can be so loud and so powerful, we have a tendency to prioritize our egos over our hearts, and to choose thinking over feeling- in our daily lives, when addressing problems, when dealing with interpersonal relationships, when confronting our fears. Our hearts, however, hold infinite capacity for love, forgiveness, and healing. Sometimes shifting our focus from our minds to our hearts is all we need to feel an immediate sense of peace and calm, and to set ourselves up for healing rather than continued pain.

When your mind is overrun with fearful thoughts, practice this simple meditation and visualization exercise. Try visualizing light entering your heart, from your higher power above, or coming from the deep source of inner power within you, which is also a reflection of your higher power. Place your hand over your heart and visualize light glowing from your heart, radiating inwards to the deepest parts of your pain, and outwards to anyone else experiencing pain. That light is filled with compassion, empathy and understanding. It knows your pain and wants you to feel heard and understood, loved and protected. We hold within us infinite healing power that we can tap into just by giving it our attention.

Feel the light you envision helping to calm your anxious mind. Feel the light growing within you, spreading to every corner of your suffering. Let it bring you peace. Your mind will want to return to its fear-based programming. Gently return your attention back to the light emanating from your heart. Affirm to yourself, silently, out loud, or in writing, that you are a being of light, that you possess the power to heal yourself, and that your heart holds the key to your transformation. Meditate on this love and amplify its energetic power by practicing holding this light visualization often, especially when your ego mind is out of control and you feel it bringing you down.

Meditation and other holistic healing practices can make all the difference in your recovery process. At Enlightened Solutions, we will help you find what works for you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Fears of Abandonment and Inadequacy/Inferiority

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One common tie that binds us as humans is our susceptibility to fear. Our fears can manifest in countless different ways- as phobias and neuroses, as panic attacks and other anxiety disorders, as nightmares, insomnia and other sleeping disorders, compulsive behaviors, addictions, and so on. Exploring what we are consciously afraid of can provide clues as to what we are subconsciously afraid of, leading us to discover healing solutions.

Fear of Abandonment

When in relationships, many of us with mental health problems or addictions might find ourselves irrationally afraid of being cheated on, betrayed, lied to, rejected, replaced or otherwise hurt by our partner. We might find that our worries take over our minds, that we become paranoid and obsessed, that whether or not we have good reason, we simply cannot trust our partner. This often boils down to a fear of abandonment, something so many of us experience but might not always be conscious of. Perhaps we stay in toxic relationships to avoid being alone. Perhaps the pain of a breakup reminds us on a visceral level of the separation we experienced in our families as children. Perhaps we avoid committed relationships altogether and choose casual sex over the possibility of being abandoned.

Fear of Inadequacy/Inferiority

So many of us have an inner voice full of fear and self-doubt, anxiety and self-loathing. Once traumatized, our subconscious minds store our painful emotions and memories, creating the thought patterns that will stay with us for years to come until we work to dismantle them. Perhaps your inner critic is always telling you that you’re not good enough, that you’re inferior to other people and don’t measure up, that you’ll never be as good as them. For example, when a family is divided by divorce, separation, incarceration, violence, or death, children will often internalize these circumstances and interpret them as meaning that they are inadequate. They might develop an inadequacy/inferiority complex, where they consistently feel insecure and suffer from low self-esteem. They might find themselves consumed by jealousy, envy, bitterness and resentment towards the people they come to believe are better off than they are. These two fears are common in human nature overall, but especially common in those struggling with issues with their mental and emotional health. Over time, as we practice the self-destructive coping mechanisms that distract us from our pain, such as our addictive behaviors, we compound these fears because we give them power over us when we try to run from them rather than face them head on.

Fears can be debilitating, but Enlightened Solutions can help. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Traumatic Family Dynamics

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

Many of us dealing with mental health issues and addictions share a commonality; we have experienced some form of trauma. One source of our trauma can be the family dynamics of the home environments we grew up in. Trauma can chip away at our sense of self, our feelings of safety and security, and our understanding of peace, love and family. When a person is traumatized at any age, but especially in the formative childhood years, this affliction of soul and spirit can manifest in very toxic ways.

Many of us come from “broken homes,” families that were divided by divorce, separation, violence, incarceration, or death. In such homes, there are many family dynamics that come into play- here are a few:

Abuse

One form of trauma that readily comes to mind is that of abuse. Abuse can take place physically, emotionally, mentally, or any combination thereof. The spectrum of abuse can be wide: from severe violence to persistent insults. No matter the severity of the abuse, an abused child will often show signs of fear and anger, such as high anxiety or volatile outbursts. Any of these things can morph into addiction, depression, or any other form of mental or emotional unwellness.

Conflict

Children can sense when there is conflict in the home, whether that conflict is expressed or not. As families, and as humans, we absorb each other’s energies, and children especially so, with their still-forming minds and hearts, their innocence and their sensitivity. When parents or caregivers are not at peace with one another, children know. Fights are scary to little people and can have a lasting impact on their sense of security.

Silence

Just as loud arguments and violent fights can be especially frightening to children, so too can silence. People withdraw from one another for many reasons. A parent might be depressed and unable to talk. Another parent may be holding onto residual anger or resentment towards the other parent. Some families continuously sweep things under the rug and never resolve conflicts. Others simply stop talking. When family members choose silence over communication, the energetic space between them can be filled with toxicity. In that silence there is so much unspoken hurt, bitterness, fear-  all of which manifest more pain, especially for the child caught in the middle.

We all need safe spaces to communicate our worries, our fears, our pain. We need to be able to express these things and be met with compassion and empathy. When we aren’t able to, our most painful emotions can have a tendency to become stuck within us, creating blocks, which can develop into all kinds of mental health issues and addictions.

Many of us have experienced trauma within our families. We address this and so many other important issues at Enlightened Solutions. Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

Disillusionment and the Lies We Tell Ourselves

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Along our healing journey, as we are able to observe our thoughts and beliefs, we will inevitably be confronted with all kinds of things we have come to believe are true but that our hearts, souls and spirits know to be false. Changing our limiting beliefs about ourselves and the world around us involves reprogramming our subconscious minds, and in doing so, we have to confront the lies we tell ourselves. This process of disillusionment will bring up all sorts of painful and triggering beliefs. Our ego minds will want to attach to these beliefs because that is what they are accustomed to. Our minds will fight us as we try to shed these beliefs. As we resist our mind’s often neurotic ways of thinking, we only compound the negative energy accumulated within us.

To change these beliefs in a deep way, we can challenge the lies our ego minds tell us, while also working to calm and neutralize the stored anxious energy within. Try writing out the fears you’ve unearthed, then meditating on these fears by sitting with them and breathing through them. This is a powerful healing technique that allows you decrease your resistance to painful thoughts and fears, which helps to lessen their power over you. Anyone who has tried to stop obsessing, for example, knows that trying to resist the thoughts only makes them more frequent. We can’t avoid the thoughts, we have to face them. We have to feel them to heal them, as they say.

See if any of these fears apply to you. Do you feel a reaction when thinking about them? Do you feel triggered by them? Write down any fears that come to mind. Think about your patterns, habits and cycles, all of which can point you to your subconscious fears. List your fears, read them, sit with them, feel the full weight of them, and breathe through them. Repeat the process as much as needed.

Fear of abandonment

Fear of inadequacy

Fear of inferiority

Fear of being replaced

Fear of being rejected

Fear of being betrayed

Fear of death

Fear of success

Fear of failure

Fear of judgment

Etc.

As we sit with our fears, we start to feel that they bring us the opposite emotions from the natural joy and peace we feel in our hearts when we’re happy. They cause us tension, anxiety, panic, anger, and sadness. These fears are illusions of the ego mind. Our ego, or sense of self, becomes wounded after trauma, and instead of being self-protective, it can be self-punishing and self-deprecating. Living our lives in fear not only keeps us small, it works to actually manifest those fearful things into our reality. Meditate on disillusionment. Meditate on releasing your fears. They aren’t real. Your heart and soul and the light within them are what is real.

Enlightened Solutions can offer you support in addressing your fears. We provide various kinds of therapy, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT.) Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

Affirmations for Depression, Anxiety, Panic and Addiction – Enlightened Solutions Aisling Peartree

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

For many people, healing from complex, deeply rooted emotional issues can require a multi-pronged approach. A person’s healing is often an involved process, including unearthing buried memories and facing long-held fears. There are countless techniques, tips and remedies to try, but at the foundation of it all there must be the underlying belief that you can heal. It may sound simplistic, but for many of us, we simply don’t believe we can heal. We feel we are too far gone. We are so ashamed of ourselves we don’t feel we deserve to live. The depression has recurred too many times, for too many years, to hold out hope. Anxiety is a daily battle. Waking up in panic, being unable to sleep, finding it impossible to get out of bed, having persistent suicidal thoughts, inner demons that haunt you relentlessly… It’s enough to make anyone feel hopeless. But if we can muster even a little bit of strength to start the process of changing how we think, we can start rebuilding and regenerating our mental and emotional wellbeing. The thought processes that have become ingrained in our minds, our negative subconscious programming after trauma, all of it can be changed, if we believe it can.

Our subconscious mind responds very well to both repetition and to the written word. Try some of these affirmations or make up your own. Write them down and keep them somewhere you will see them often. Repeat them throughout the day, out loud and to yourself. When you feel the negative thoughts coming, replace them with your new affirming, empowering thoughts. Positive words alone may not bring about much change without the right energy behind them, but as you repeat the affirmations, make the choice to believe in the words you are saying, and to believe in yourself. Little by little, you will heal.

For Depression:

I am more than good enough.

I love myself.

I believe in myself.

I am healing every day, little by little.

I am aligning with my purpose.

I have the power to manifest the life I want.

For Panic:

Everything is going to be ok.

This too shall pass.

I am safe.

I am secure.

For Anxiety:

Everything happens as it’s meant to.

I trust in the divine plan.

I allow myself to stay in the present moment.

Be brave.

For Addiction:

I am strong enough to do what is best for myself.

I am powerful.

I can redefine my life and begin again.

One day at a time.

We listen, and we understand. Many of us have personal experience with recovery. Enlightened Solutions offers therapy, mentoring, and friendship. Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

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