A colleague once said to me, ‘Be happy that at least we’ve got a name so we can talk about it now.’
Well, I’m not happy. It’s not the truth and ‘mental health’ is so much more than mental health!
Yes, society’s moved on and we can talk about ‘it’ now more freely. But its name suggests that kind of dis-ease is a product of the mind. And the mind is only a part of it.
So, I’m having a mini-rant because it’s Mental Health Awareness week and the very name places us squarely in ‘I think therefore I am’ Descartes philosophy. In his Discourse on Method (1637), he postulated that concept as a first step in demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge.
Yeah… logical mind knowledge!
But what about woman’s knowledge gleaned from the old ways, from our feelings, from our senses, our inner wisdom, and from observing nature and understanding health in its wholeness?
OK… Just so you know, that was a bit of a diversion but, hey, I couldn’t leave out the sexism angle!
Ask somebody with anxiety if it’s in their mind and the truth of it is that their thoughts are in their mind but their feelings are in their guts, in their chest, and even in the racing of their heart. It’s not a one-modality matter!
Working with the part of their personality which carries the anxiety, for its healing and growth, and teaching someone techniques holistically aligned with how we humans are wired up, like systematic breathing… Now you’re cooking!
AND…
What if your distress is caused by a spiritual crisis of meaning and purpose manifested through the whole of your body-feelings-mind to get your attention? To get you to understand and freakin’ do something to create a more fulfilling life for yourself?
What if your depression has the potential to be a rite of passage from one stage of your personal/spiritual evolution to another? What if you embraced it and worked with it instead of flailing around in its depths which I know to be like hell on wheels?
What if you could listen to the message your Wild Soul embeds in your distress or dis-ease; a message for your healing and growth on which to focus and purposefully anchor yourself in recovery?
IT IS JUST NOT ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH!
This week would be better called ‘Holistic Health Awareness’ week to trumpet the importance of your body, feelings, mental mind, AND spiritual health in the mix.
If anything I’ve written is too close for comfort, speak to someone. To start, that could be your GP, a supportive relative or friend, your personal or spiritual advisor, or google The Samaritans for your area’s phone numbers.
Hold tight, seek help, and know you can recover. With help and your Wild Soul’s Inner Wisdom, YOU WILL!
Finally, if that’s not you, is there someone in your life for whom you could be that supportive relative or friend?
Love and wild warm wishes…
Teaching mid-life women who feel lost how to
powerfully reclaim who you are, where you’re going
and what you came here to do.
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