ANAM:

Restoring perspective to make a shift

There are many twists and turns in navigating this life and remembering who we are. In this following piece of writing I share some of my own experiences and also reflect on key points to support a healthy mental balance in times of challenge and change.

The opposite of depression is elation. Like a hot air balloon, that’s a feeling that pulls us up and up and up. And yet, it is not sustaining or sustainable to be loosing touch with our ground. Amid the challenges, to be able to experience a consistent and reliable core of emotional calm within our being is a worthy pursuit.

When I was a teenager, not even fifteen, I suffered very much from feelings of deep sadness. This was in hindsight, rooted in a number of factors. I was also physically beset by a scourge called eczema – this was itchy and weeping open sores that were particularly focused on the back of my head but also on other parts of my body. In my distress, I would scratch and open these sores and it was compulsive and quite sore. I came to understand the root causes of this sadness through years within the context of searching for a way to navigate deep sensitivities and overwhelming feelings as well as a constellation of, sometimes debilitating and often uncomfortable, physical symptoms.

I noticed the first great relief when I started to change my diet. Stopping sugar, wheat and dairy, I started to feel so much lighter. My eczema started clearing up completely and the brain fog and overwhelm started to recede. The impetus to change my diet arose through the insights that George Rhatigan had when looking at the symbols in a dream. I confirmed his insight by having an allergy test and sure enough, ( as I can sorely testify through experience) wheat does not agree with me. This includes beer. I had been experiencing severe cramps and stomach pain when I ate a simple meal ( where wheat was involved ). Nowadays, on occasion I make a mistake or stop my vigilance and the grim reminder returns. It can take me up to three days to fully recover from one of these negative food reactions. Stopping dairy, especially milk, was also a revelation. In this case, I felt it really impacted my sense of self, the heaviness I had felt and a kind of brain fog. I started doing so much better.

Taking control and becoming discerning and clear about what we accept into out bodies is a key cornerstone I believe on the road to recovery from health challenges. There is wisdom in simplicity and in following the bounty of nature in her pure form.

Where are you getting your water from?

Finding a local and reliably clean drinking water free from noxious and dubious chemicals or farming effluent is key here. There are so many holy wells in Ireland and, if they have become disused, why not become a custodian yourself? I can share a story of how the local well in Kinsale, Co. Cork came to be re-energized as a water source – it was our main go to source for drinking water while I was living there and Luna was a baby.

There are also ways to energise and activate our water – from using crystals in our water bottles to writing positive words like ‘Love’ on our bottles. If you haven’t heard about the power of our thoughts and words to influence water molecules look at the experiments of Dr. Masaru Emoto.

Mind your mind : What kind of thoughts are you feeding yourself?

Remember that if you think a negative thought for more than sixty seconds, due to the powerful magnetic nature of our mental state you only energise and accumulate more like feeling negative thoughts. This is why it can be so beneficial to have a discipline like daily meditation. The burden of our subconscious minds can be eased through creating a decompression chamber within us – as we create the space and stillness to simply allow ourselves to be. Our bodies can create all the happy chemicals within us – yet we need to learn how to support their release so that we can experience an innate joy, health and playful creativity that is our birthright.

Getting caught in the busy mind is also really a symptom of being disconnected from the body and from the earth. Thoughts are like army legions that keep on marching. They can come at us guns blazing, carrying the most unhelpful emotional stuff in their wake, dragging up the past into the present blocking us from the gift of the present moment. Knowing that we can talk to our mind and say, like”O my mind why are you troubled so” is another way to have some distance. We are, finally, not our minds! We are far more expansive and connected to the infinite cosmos – and all of our culture helps us to forget this. To put on some music and dance is one way to help shift the thought and heavy emotion into motion. Starting even with the sad songs can help us to bring some movement to what has been stuck or numb or weighing us down.

What are you eating?

There is an often quoted saying ” you are what you eat “. Well, leading on from the power of the mind eg. “you are what you think”, what we eat and the way that we eat, and even the environment in which we eat all have an impact upon our health and wellbeing. In my early twenties, I built upon the initial success of my adventures in diet, cutting out wheat and dairy and sugar – I soon discovered the power of ‘sprouts’! Now, if you have never experienced the super power that comes from eating lovingly prepared living food like a bowl full of lentil sprouts with sesame oil and salt, I would encourage you to at least give it a go. Yes, it takes a few days for the process to complete, but even a handful of sprouted greens each day provides exponential amounts of essential vitamins and minerals, in a living form. When I was living in Cork and met Patrick Quigley who went on to establish SuperSprouts and a vegan whole food restaurant in Cork city. When I met him, he really lived on sprouts as his main diet. The bottom line is to be aware that mental health is very much linked to physical health. It makes sense that ones needs to have the inner building blocks to nourish our best life. Of course, eating a lot of sprouts isn’t for everyone and it is important to consider constitution and the other dietary needs.

I would love to return to this topic to share more about foraged and wild foods, seaweeds, local herbs and salad greens from our backgardens, the joy of fermented foods and the importance of ….chewing!

These three questions are but the beginning.

Where are your people?

In this time of immense super-communications capability we are ironically living through an epidemic of loneliness and isolation. Yet, could it be that the focus on communication is also a block to connection? We reach out and we may receive a dopamine hit of acknowledgement and affirmation that is satisfying yet perhaps illusory. Our peace may become undermined in the cycle of endlessly reaching out. To simply sit and focus loving care on those who we may be missing, who are far away or suffering in other ways, is a form of connection. Of course, there is little to surpass real intentional purposeful presence and collaborative activity and togetherness.

Regardless of where we are, we are connected through our hearts and there is no space or time in the quantum dimension of our intention, prayer and expansive positive visioning capacity.

Original You

A key also is to know that it can be possible to be joyful without alcohol or drug use – to seek a way that allows us to grow in self awareness, to cultivate the natural joy and peace that is within us – and to know that we are not alone : by first of all becoming deeply present to your own Self, heart and soul. In this, a walk in nature or by the sea can do wonders. Or even better, a dip in the cold water to invigorate the senses!

Remember:

“YOU. ARE. ALIVE “

There are many topics here that deserve greater exploration. Of course a daily sadhana, arising in the early morning ambrosial hours of Amrit Vela, getting adequate sleep and rest can also help. Prayer and an awareness of and connection to our own spirituality allows us to see our challenges from a wider perspective. Having access to our basic needs, being free from oppression and abuse – these are very important too.

In a turning towards the earth as a life giving mother full of such beauty and abundance, we can also learn to work with the power of flower essences and the healing herbs. We can learn to be nourished by the experience of each season and the changes in the natural cycles as well as the changes of the moon and the movements of the stars. Shifting out perspective and experience of ourselves out of the two dimensional ‘screen’ ( which can also keep us in the limited faculties of mind ) and into the realm of our own creativity and soul essence, we can become more present to solutions and healing.

Community and a sense of support is another important and contributing factor in our wellbeing as we learn to cope in the face of the dysfunction and suffering in our world today.

The power of our prayer and intention can be magnified when we come together in a group – whether by tuning in at an agreed time, meeting in person or online. Adding song or mantra, music and movement to focus our intentions can add to the experience. This is something that I really enjoy sharing with others – for the benefit of all.

Celebrate Creativity

Regardless of what is going on, we can try to find our own way to express and move through an alliance with creativity. This creates space and makes more room for new experiences. A quote;

“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”

~Kurt Vonnegut

Ag guí gach beannacht,

Wishing you every blessing!

Sharon Ní Chuilibín

Simrit Kaur

Please Note:

The information above is not designed to treat or diagnose the issues discussed above. Please exercise caution when changing your diet and always work with a health professional. Everyone is different and unique. It is important to get individual attention and support if you are considering changes. Take the time you need to find what is right for You.