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As in any traumatic experience, when left unattended these can eventually create chronic illness, pain, and disease on emotional, mental, and physiological levels. There are immediate remedies that can be implemented to rapidly facilitate healing on an individual basis. Healing not only assures future health and well-being, it also restores balance in our lives, allowing us to be of greater assistance to those around us and to our community and world at large. Following are six simple steps anyone can take to help restore a sense of stability and groundedness: 1. Breathe. It seems a simple task. Yet, when you become frightened, nervous, or unbalanced, your body instinctively begins to breathe more shallowly and more rapidly, sometimes even holding your breath. Remember that oxygen is nourishing for the brain, and in turn facilitates mental clarity. Simply take moments throughout the day to consciously breathe deeply. It is preferable to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. If you let out a sigh as you exhale, you will find that there is additional tension relief. 2. Meditate. Giving yourself permission to take ten or more worry-free minutes per day will greatly increase balance, clarity, and inner reflection, promoting rejuvenation, focus, and energy. In times of great stress, it is easy to let your mind chatter at dizzying speeds, replaying negative and fearful messages. These negative pathways can drive you to irrationality, depression, physical and mental dysfunction, and premature aging. Meditation can be easier than you may suspect. Simply choose a time and location that is comfortable and without distractions or disturbances. Give yourself permission to let go of the worries and responsibilities of the world for the length of time you choose to meditate. Close your eyes, turn your attention inward, and allow any thoughts you may have to float through your mind, remaining detached and neutral. I like keeping a notepad next to me. In the case that a burning idea comes to mind, I can jot a note to myself and return to my meditation. Like anything, meditation takes practice to become accomplished. It is well worth it! 3. Exercise. Burning up your excess energy in positive ways will help to calm your body and your mind. Exercise improves bodily functions such as digestion and sleep patterns and promotes strength and flexibility, mental clarity, and self-esteem. 4. Use an empowerment symbol. Everyone, at some time in his or her life, has experienced a sense of self-esteem, self-worth, confidence, and courage. In times of trauma and tragedy, these positive feelings may dissolve into a sense of vulnerability, weakness, and helplessness. Reconnecting with your own inner strengths will be an important step in the healing process and in making a difference in the world at this crucial time. In order to obtain your personal empowerment symbol, simply relax and go back to memories of a time when you felt confident and courageous. Relive that experience, and fully connect with those feelings. As you do so, ask your subconscious mind to create for you a symbol that you could hold in your hand that would represent those powerful characteristics. Allow your imagination to present to you this wonderful gift. Then, any time in the future when you need a boost of confidence and courage, simply imagine holding that symbol in your hand. This is a powerful anchoring technique. 5. Restore emotional balance. When negative emotions become overwhelming, even uncontrollable — as in grief or rage — this technique will facilitate their subsiding. As you regain emotional balance, you will begin to think more clearly and be able to respond more rationally. To accomplish this, allow yourself to fully engage in the emotion, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. As you continue to stay in the emotion, take the index and middle fingers of both hands and lay them on the "corners" of your forehead. The corners are the spots where the forehead curves to meet the sides of your head. Gently stretch the forehead outward, toward your temples. Hold that position, while continuing to feel your emotions. After a while, perhaps a couple of minutes, the emotions will begin to subside. Eventually it becomes impossible to stay focused on the issue. It is reported that it will be impossible to ever return to the same emotional peak concerning this issue. It has permanently been leveled. Be sure to only use this technique with negative emotions! You certainly don’t want to lose such emotions as enthusiasm, love, passion, and joy. 6. Keep a journal. Writing your thoughts and feelings has many great rewards. It allows you to voice your distress and frustration. It is a form of active meditation. You have the opportunity to channel wisdom from your subconscious mind, your deeper resources. You also can facilitate desensitization of the effects of the trauma. Further, you can communicate important information back into your subconscious mind, perhaps changing your karmic future. Writing your stories, over and over again, is much the same as talking it out, and will make desensitization possible. As you repeatedly reiterate your experiences and perspectives, you begin to dissipate the energy around it, losing the dramatic effects and the intensity of focus. The subconscious cannot tell the difference between the imaginary and a real event. When you write a story about your worst fears, in great visual detail and emotional connection, your subconscious may register that as a physical life experience. If your soul had considered attracting a disastrous event in order for you to learn an important life lesson, perhaps it will be tricked into thinking that it has already occurred. It would no longer be necessary for it to actually happen, as the lesson would have been learned. There are many more techniques that can be utilized to recover from trauma and for the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Some can be accomplished alone or in groups, and some may require the assistance of a qualified professional. We are all in need of support, love, and comfort in this tragic and turbulent time in our history. May God bless and protect you and yours. Mary Lee LaBay, author of Through the Open Door: Secrets of Self-Hypnosis, is in private practice as a certified clinical hypnotherapist in the Bellevue area. She is a nationally known public speaker and instructor. Ms. LaBay may be reached at <marylee@maryleelababy.com>, (425) 562-7277, or <http://www.maryleelabay.com/>. |
Shock. Terror. Disbelief.
People around the globe are experiencing these reactions to the
tragic events of September 11. As the reality of our world situation
begins to settle in, these initial responses may give way to
tremendous grief, trauma, fear, phobias, anger, the desire for
revenge, and senses of vulnerability, loss, and helplessness.