“Just think more positively.”
I heard that advice over one thousand times in my healing journey. It’s the mental health advice heard worldwide – just think better. But when I put it into practice, disciplined practice, I didn’t feel any more optimistic. In fact, I felt like I was falling further into a dark place, not just because of my thoughts but because what was supposed to work wasn’t. If it didn’t work, what was left?
I know so many people who want to change. They need to change. I was one of them. Living as an actual pain addict, I didn’t know another way. Even though I hated the pain, it was also incredibly comforting to me. It was my normal, even if it wasn’t healthy.
I had to change, so I invested time into talk therapy. It was incredibly beneficial – something I recommend to most people. But I found the process exhausting. It worked but only for so long. As soon as we started to dive into the deeper places, my entire body shut down, and I stalled out.
The healing didn’t happen the way I had expected. At least not until I added the extra component to mental healing (and biological healing), the deep intimate connection of our body, mind, and soul. When I began to nourish my body by energizing and feeding it well, my mind went a little deeper, allowing me to heal the things I had been unable to deal with. Things that were running and ruining my life because I wasn’t in a place I could deal with them.
Today on the podcast, I talk with Niecia Nelson about the desperate need for physical health in mental healing. You can’t heal your mind without supporting your body. Learn the tools to heal inside this podcast, broken up into two parts.
Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/286