Mental Health: Zoomed Out

For those who enjoy the shield a weakness provides, this may be triggering to your stagnation. Please try to read with an open mind, and if nothing serves you then soldier on!

What we consider to be mental health issues are simply imbalances. The organism as a whole is unbalanced, and thanks to our ever expanding vocabulary, we address this imbalance verbally with logic. The current socio-cultural climate in the west has become somewhat devoid of practical action, and there is an over-reliance in the capacity language has to address and resolve our issues. Language is vital, it is how you are incorporating this information in to your being right now; however we are more than verbal creatures, we are creatures of action. Mental health is one component, but often the mental imbalance is just a reflection of the very real structural imbalance that exists physically within the body of the one who thinks they are depressed, or anxious or avoidant or etc..

Mental health is simply one dimension of health as a whole. When we attempt to address the mental dimension without even considering the physical, spiritual, emotional, hygienic, habitual etc.. We cannot aim for true recovery.

And the reality for most is that healing isn’t recovering a past capacity you once had, because for many true health is foreign, and often appears distant. Where you are trying to go you haven’t been before; you don’t know that it’s really all that different. That’s where faith comes in, is in trusting that with getting better you’ll have new everything: capacities, views, desires, habits. The unknown can be scary and for most that’s why they settle for what is familiar (The devil you know vs the devil you don't). And yes, health requires aspects of yourself that you think you may not possess (Discipline, organization and structure for example). But what If you do already possess these qualities, you are just channeling them into something much less fruitful.

But I digress; Focusing on the mental aspect without attention to the other very prominent dimensions of our lives will always leave us lacking. Many who embark on the path of ‘healing’, perhaps better phrased as pacification, through the verbal or pharmescuetical, are looking for an emotional Tylenol: something to numb the pain. When pain isn’t felt, you cannot understand what is needed to heal it. To sit with it and understand it is not to sit in it and suffer. These are two distinct approaches that on a surface level appear to be the same.

Many ‘therapists’ & ‘psychiatrists’ are so by profession, not intention.

There are of course incredible exceptions, who aim to use their knowledge and their field to help the collective move towards a more healthy and balanced way of life; however I would say that is not your average. The majority has job security on the basis that you stay in need of their service. The idea is not to heal you completely, it is to help you get to a point to where your illness is manageable, but still present. This may be subconscious; it may be outside the scope of the textbooks that certified them, but simply put it is outside of their execution.

And for those of you who have been with the same therapist, or in the therapy circuit for years now: How many constantly check in with you regarding your habits: (For example)

• did you brush your teeth today?

• Have you gone on a walk?

• What excercize have you done this week?

• is your home/living space clean and organized?

• What food are you eating?

• How much water are you drinking?

Anyone who had any real desire to improve your life would first need to understand your life.

And all this isn’t to say that modern therapy is rendered useless; on the contrary, with a great therapist you can make huge strides. And for many (especially those who struggle understanding their emotions), therapy can be very important in unpacking hoarded emotional issues and restructuring one’s perspective. Therapy is a tool used at its best when it is used in conjunction with physical exercise, regular hygiene practices, good alimentation of food, water and influences. But think that one can fully regulate an unbalanced ecosystem through just therapy is reaching.

Ultimately, only you are responsible for you.

On the journey of self-improvement and growth in general, it is of great importance to understand that only you are responsible for yourself. Many with open parent wounds like to shift the blame to mom or dad for their own shortcomings, but as they are responsible for themselves, so are you for yourself. This is an unspoken rule that cannot be emphasized enough; for if you view your success/failure/growth/healing/illness as controlled by the hands of another, you will always fall short. When we don’t truly internally understand this concept, we look to medical professionals, coaching professionals, spiritual guides as being superior in knowledge to ourselves. While they may be more advanced in their readings and study regarding a specific topic, they are in no way accountable to the extent that your trust in them (or lack of self-authority rather) measures.

By putting the accountability in the hands of another, be it your mother, your therapist, your doctor, your trainer, your who-ever, you are neglecting the one thing you are really here to do: be. Be the authority in your own life that is. You don’t have to be a master of all trades, you just have to be open to learning and to doing the heavy lifting yourself. Professionals and specialists are here to share the information they have dedicated time in accumulating; so that you - the open vessel - can adopt the relevant information faster. That is why they say when the student is ready the teacher appears; that is exactly why they don’t say ‘when the student is ready they have to go learn everything from scratch and do it on their own’. The collection, understanding and dissemination of knowledge is how we progress as a society, it is how are not living in the Stone Age right now.

How do we balance?

Balancing your internal ecosystem is a process, and not one that has a quick fix. Although, depending on your level of imbalance, a few simple changes, consistently applied, may do the trick. We will delve into this topic deeper, but in the mean time analyze yourself and your habits regarding the following components:

• consumption (input)

  • In this case, it accounts for everything you consume and how you consume

    • (e.g: Food/ Water/ Entertainment (Audio + Visual)/ Air quality/ Conversations/ Chemicals/ Substances )

    • how are you breathing? are you rushed while you are eating? do you graze while bored or do you eat with presence?

• expression (output)

  • Now of what you have consumed, what products are yielded? What by products (things that are not intended or expected) are expressed?

    • Products: What words are spoken/ what are you always talking about? what activities do you engage in? what exercise do you do?

    • Unintended byproducts: When do you lash out unexpectedly? are your words out of your control when you are angry? anger itself? frustration? laziness? lack of motivation? Lack of focus (claiming ADD?)?

• habitat (environment)

  • What is the condition of the habitats you inhabit and frequent: organized? clean? orderly? Natural? Sunlight? Real earth beneath your feet (like… ever?) or processed?

If we notice one is out of whack, we can help bring it into balance by addressing the other components.

• If you are experiencing a lack of focus - what food are you eating?too much sugar? what state is your bed room in?

• If you are constantly watching reality TV/soap operas - what are the majority of your conversations about? How m

• Constantly feeling lethargic - how often do you go outside? what air are you breathing? how much take out have you been ordering? are you exercising?

This is just one method, and only just one aspect of what we need to do when balancing our being, I hope this tides you over in the mean time!

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