I am curious:
I am curious about the role of spirit in mental illness. The Mayo Clinic website offers that ‘Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behaviour.’ It basically relates to anything that does not have a physical cause.
We know health captures body, mind and spirit. Spirit is energy, emotions and feelings. Are we combining both mental and spiritual aspects of health under the topic of mental illness? If so, what is the significance? From my perspective, life happens to each of us. We all feel. We all react. We all try to suppress our feelings to cope. If we tag these reactions as mental illness we are indicating that there is something wrong with us. If we believe there is something wrong with us, we will attempt to cope by building further defences. This takes energy and when things get overwhelming, they break down.
My feelings are reactions to events in my life:
If we acknowledge the role of spirit in health, we can embrace our feelings as a normal reaction to the events in our life. From our understanding of spirit, there is a recognition that words have power beyond meaning. They have a power to shift energy. Through this lens, rather than thinking that there is something wrong mentally when life happens, we can appreciate our reactions as normal responses. And we can appreciate that we can use words to let go of the energy to aid in neutralizing these reactions. I view it as letting off some of the steam when the pressure builds.
With a recognition for the importance of spiritual health, we can ensure we include techniques to enhance spiritual care in our wellness programs. As much as we may recognize the limitations of religious organizations, we cannot ignore the value of connecting with spirit through these communities. Mindfulness meditations and yoga also allow us opportunities to quiet the mind and connect with spirit. The Logosynthesis® method is a unique, guided technique that aids in locating and releasing the emotional triggers to past events and neutralizing our reactions. The process was developed through psychological work with trauma and anxiety but has strong spiritual connections.
I have a new tool to support my health:
If we can appreciate the significance of spiritual health, we can begin to trust in a complementary set of resources to better manage total health. As humans, throughout history, we have been programmed to cope for survival and to use the power of words to help let go when life gets overwhelming – individually and collectively. Let’s trust in the power of spirit to support our mental health and overall wellness.
My inspiration for this work:
#RememberingCarter with Love!
Resources on Logosynthesis®:
A beautiful self-coaching book by Dr. Laurie Weiss: click here
Explanatory videos with founder, Dr. Willem Lammers: click here
To arrange workshops, keynotes and coaching, contact Cathy.