Self-healing is often needed these days. In native cultures, they often don’t have the same stresses that we do, although of course they often have more serious issues, like basic survival and lack of access to good medicines. But many people in western cultures are now a bunch of nerves, traumas and bad memories, made worse by noise, arrogant people and media, and this can leave many people out of touch, and often confused as to which of the various self-healing methods to choose.
How you choose to self-heal is up to you. But rather than pick and choose 50 ways, it’s better to just try an idea or two each week, and then over a year, see which routines work best for you. Then you can choose a small handful of things that find benefit your lifestyle, and go from there. For example, some people love yoga and meditation, while others may find it more healing to hit the gym and running track. Some people love classical music in the car, others find it depressing and find some uplifting easy listening music better. The trick is to just try a few things, without breaking the bank trying all kinds of different therapies.
- Self-Care. Know you’re worthy enough to get a haircut and wear nice clothes. Invest a little more to get good services. Get that cavity in your tooth fixed, or chop off your over-processed hair to start again.
- Get enough sleep. This is a biggie. Once you practice ideas and create a routine to get a full 8 or 9 hours sleep a night (like in Victorian times), it can solve all kinds of issues.
- Give up addictive behaviours. If you’re an alcoholic, smoker or drug addict, get these sorted. Likewise with eating behaviours (over-eating or under-eating) or addictions to gambling (that includes the lottery) and shopping.
- Exercise. You can walk, swim, cycle, practice yoga or just home-based exercise you enjoy. Find a routine you like and then stick to it, for results within a few months. Don’t flit from one idea to the other.
- Eat proper food. Nourishing plant-based foods are best, with lots of filtered water or hot tea. Take a multi-supplement to cover the bases. Again, you should see big results within a few months.
- Meditate. This is another biggie. You don’t have to chant mantras. Any kind of simple ‘switching off for a few minutes’ each day is going to help. Mindfulness meditation is good, take a local class if you wish. Or depending on your faith, you may find a weekly visit to a place of worship is your form of meditation.
- Go somewhere different. Sometimes getting away for a few hours can really focus on what’s important in your life, and gives new perspective when you return. Think of when you go on holiday, and when you come back home, everything feels different and you feel more clarity on how to live.
- Spend time around animals and children. They don’t have the same hang-ups as adult humans do. If you don’t live with animals, you could support a local farm sanctuary with a visit, or help out at an animal shelter or wildlife rescue. Zoos don’t count, as the animals are stressed, and visits just support this antiquated way to entertain children.
- Read good books. On everything from gratitude to God. Turn off the TV (especially if it’s upsetting information) and learn to appreciate what you have, and find out what speaks to your soul.
- Take a social media fast. If you’re someone who lives ‘checking your phone’, it’s time for some new habits! Be unavailable to banal phone conversations, and also remove constant unnecessary chatter from your life. Enjoy some quiet time. If people complain, that’s their issue.
- Learn what you want to do. If you’re in the wrong relationship in a job you hate with a home you don’t want to be in, making plans to figure out who you are and what/where you want to be, can transform your life.
- Rediscover your creativity. Ecological writer Satish Kumar writes that the happiest people he has ever met are people who work with their hands – this can be anything from woodcarving to painting to writing songs. We are natural creative beings (just look at a child), and yet so much of life is now automated.
- Find some new friends! Good friends of course should stay. But many people have friends from childhood or work, simply through habit. Not to say you should dump them. But if you have different interests, then look up those of your own kind! If you’re a vegetarian hill-walker, then have a few meals at a local veggie restaurant, and join a hill-walking club!
- Slow down and chill out! The happiest people are always those who are happy to turn off the media, and spend time alone and do nothing for a while. Learn to just ‘be’. We are ‘human beings’, not ‘human doings!’
- Get out of your own head. Volunteer or do something to help make the world a better place. If you’re upset at the state of the world, leaving the planet a little better than when you arrived, will make you feel good.
- Learn to love plants! Whether you have a balcony or a big outdoor space, growing your own food, herbs or flowers can help you to get back in touch with nature. See plants, flowers and mulches to avoid near pets. If growing plants indoors, see toxic houseplants to avoid near pets and avoid placing foliage near windows, to help stop birds flying into windows.
The sooner we heal our traumas, the sooner we liberate ourselves from the people who hurt us. Vironika Tugaleva
Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls your life. Akshay Dubey
