Something really strange has been happening in our home lately.
First of all, our house has been clean and seems to always be picked up. This, in and of itself, feels quite monumental. And quite foreign considering we have two kids ages 5 & 8.
Getting the kids off to school has been a breeze. We never feel rushed and even arrive early. Alarming, right?…
I was numb. Asleep. But I didn’t even know it. It was a subtle growth of numbness. Like a limb left in one (albeit seemingly) comfortable position too long. I didn’t realize until movement came with the intense zinging of nerve sensation returning that I had been numb at all. A drifting off to sleep. The thick, deep sleep that when you wake, somewhat startled, you realize you were not even aware you had fallen asleep at all. I had to be. Because I needed a break from the pain. It was too much. It hurt too bad. I couldn’t do it anymore. I had resigned to the fact that I did not have what it takes to live life like everyone else did, nor did I want to. I was told to take the pills, because if I didn’t, I might try to kill myself again. This was probably true. The pills were the fix. I was “clinically depressed.” I knew I was depressed, or so I had the sense that this was true, but “clinically,” boy I didn’t know it was that bad. I still don’t even know what that means.…
Typically, when we think of asking permission, thoughts of authority and submission come to mind. We don’t like asking permission for things because it puts control into someone else’s hands. But what happens when the tables are turned? What happens when we start giving ourselves permission to do what needs to be done?…
A couple years ago, while playing football for a small college, I suffered a severe concussion. The hit to my head was bad enough that it not only took me out of the sport for good, but it took me out of classes for a whole semester as well in order for my brain and body to properly heal. After a few months of taking it easy, trying various types of medication, having a very limited list of activities I could do, and being shuffled in and out of various doctor’s offices and rehabilitation centers, I was “cleared” to go back to school. The few months off allowed my brain to recover enough to the point where my cognitive tests scores were returning closer to my baseline test scores, thus inferring the concussion damage was healing and I was on track to a full recovery.
I thought that was going to be the end of that, and I would return to school to again excel in my classes and resume life as a fully recovered post-concussion Braden. However, that was not the case.
Upon returning to classes I realized that my cognitive skills were still nowhere near where they should …
Ah, ‘tis the season for corn mazes, apple cider, and yes…pumpkin spice-flavored everything. Fall is nature’s way of easing us out of warm and welcoming summer days and into the harsher winter. During this transition, it is so easy to focus on how much we’re craving just one more beach day or how shoveling a path to your car in the midst of a blizzard seems like the last thing on earth you want to do. If we aren’t careful, we’ll slip between the cracks of the transition and miss out on an opportunity for growth. Without making the choice to be present this season, winter will be here in the blink of an eye, and we’ll have failed to take advantage of its abundance.
We’ve all read plenty of motivational quotes about how to “be here now” and “live in the moment,” but what does that actually mean? …
“Music is the silence between notes,” said French composer Claude Debussy. As people, we need to sleep, and we need to be active. We have to do things, but we also need silence while we are awake. It’s the way that we center and ground ourselves. It is how we reset our minds. Can we know what/who we are if we don’t know what it is like to be?
Be-ing is only available in peace (of the mind and body). Humans naturally crave peace and quiet, yet it’s not familiar to us anymore. If you don’t know what you are missing, you don’t know what to look for. It’s important to delve deep into grounding and centering…to reclaim that sense of self that comes from direct experience.
Have you ever stared into a fire and gotten lost in the glow? Where was your mind? Where were all of your thoughts? They weren’t focused or unfocused. You were grounded. You were connected. You had become cohesive and intuitive.
Meditation is synonymous with silence. Going into full meditative mind for more than a few minutes can feel as restorative at a full night’s rest. Meditation is a (passive) exercise in allowing
…
At some point in our lives we have experienced the joys of being outside. Whether it be an outside BBQ or a brisk hike in the woods, spending time outside leaves us feeling better in a number of ways. As a person who spends most of his life outside, I have seen and experienced Nature improving my life daily. Here is a (very) brief list of some specific benefits I have noticed.
1. Your ego drops away.
Bills, drama, worries, anxiety, self doubt, you know all that normal brain activity, it tends to revolve around one person: YOU. This ego based thinking keeps US at the center of the universe. Everything we do and see in life is based on ME.
However, when we develop a relationship with the wild things, we realize that we are not the center of the universe. That no matter what we do or what we think, Nature continues on. Long before we got here and long after we will be gone, Nature will continue to be.
This concept might make you feel uneasy. That’s ok. That’s just your ego being upset. This shift from an EGO-centric viewpoint to an ECO-centric viewpoint allows us to …
I’ve been contemplating my inner child and the emotions that arise from her lately. I hold the belief that emotions should be acknowledged, felt and processed, however, a recent encounter with a friend revealed a different perspective.
“What have you been studying lately?” he asked.
“I was just journaling about my inner child,” I replied, “and how she should be acknowledged when emotions arise from her.”
He thought for a moment and responded, “I see where you’re coming from, but I think emotions are delusions. They hold us back and are products of expectation. Depending on the extent to which our expectations are fulfilled, an emotion is felt.”
He is discrediting what makes us human, I thought. Does he not feel? I let what he said soak in and replied, “What about joy, excitement and awe?”
He said, “Those are also a product of expectation.”
I thought about this. “How our expectations are met cause us to feel certain emotions, but is this wrong? To expect? What about desire? And will?”
He responded, “I think they hold us back. They are delusions, attachments we cling to that prevent us from growing and moving on.”
As we parted ways, I said, …
Mike Cohen, mediation coach, Enneagram coach and friend of ours here at Continuum Healing, will teach Using the Enneagram in Relationships in Michigan April 3. If you’ve attended Micah’s workshops (or not), this class will be a great opportunity to learn how to put it to use in your personal relationships and shift from conflict to connection. Here’s a story Mike shared about how the Enneagram helped this couple.…
“People’ll tell you where they’ve gone
They’ll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you’ll never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Others just come to harm” – from the song Amelia by Joni Mitchell
I hit rock bottom while pursuing natural health treatments. I was in deep denial of my disordered eating, and I had unknowingly reached chronic stress fatigue. Unfortunately, what was recommended for me was an even more restrictive diet, a pile of supplements, and a detox that eventually sent me over the edge. I know now that what I really needed was nourishment, not more restriction.
Thankfully, through the doom and fog, I had enough clarity to flee back to my family doctor. She helped me to get my head above water again. After several months I regained my footing, but I was still suffering deeply. A friend recommended a naturopath to me. It is shocking to me, after all that had happened that I would even consider giving an alternative approach another try, but I was desperate. This naturopath came highly recommended. I made the appointment, and so began my healing journey.
On one hand, alternative treatments ushered …
