Navigating our own healing and growth intentionally and effectively is about knowing what we can and need to do for ourselves, and when to reach out for support; it's about being as honest and transparent with ourselves as possible about what we are ready to heal and what we are secretly holding onto. Let’s ask this question about the quality of your reaching out: where are your strengths and your challenges? And now let’s dive a bit deeper into self-healing.
I think one of the keys to doing healing work on our own is understanding when to reach out to someone else. Let’s begin with a Sacred Pause to reflect and/or journal about how easy this is for you. Use a scale of 0-10 with zero being “I don’t ever call for support” and 10 being super easy and natural to reach out to others. See where you land. No matter where you are on the scale, let’s ask another question: how good do you feel after reaching out for support? I’m sure, like me, you’ve got a mixed bag of experiences. Conscious and healthy relationships take time and energy to co-create. Let’s get more intentional about our interpersonal world. Does it make sense that, if we get more intentional, the reward will likely be that we can improve our experiences overall? How can you actively invite someone to participate in a more nurturing interpersonal relationship? Is there a person who comes to mind? Take a breath to Pause here and ask yourself, Is there a next step that comes to mind? There are lots of clues that can help us know when – let's review some and then I hope you take a Sacred Pause to journal or reflect about what your specific clues are. Your body might clue you in on when you would benefit from support, by not being able to relax on your own with the resources at hand. Feeling overwhelmed or flooded by an emotion or stress is a good clue that it might be helpful to reach out. Sometimes a buzzing in the head, a headache, or a discombobulated sense of self might be a clue for you. A knot in your gut, a shoulder tension that causes pain can also be a sign of held tension. Your brain might also be stuck in a loop and, no matter how hard you try to jump out of that loop, you simply can't. Finding the words to tell someone else what you are experiencing is often what helps you jump to a new loop, a healthier loop. Your heart might feel broken, your spirit dampened, or you feel foggy and unable to identify what you're feeling. Maybe you want to fall into your escape mechanism: addictions from drinking and drugs to TV and shopping can distract you from calling a friend, from working on the THING.
Some questions to journal about:
What clues does my body give me? What clues does my brain give me? What clues does my spirit give me? What other clues come up for me?