I’m on a healing journey. It can be day-by-day, sometimes hour-by-hour. All journeys are like that. You go five steps forward only to take three back, and on and on. That’s what makes healing and focusing on your mental health so important – and why it makes you stronger.
Part of getting stronger is pulling inward and being as mindful as possible. For me, perhaps my greatest learning in the past year is how important my mindset is – it’s really the only thing I can control and it completely affects how I see the world and whether I am happy.
How do I pull inward and direct my mindset? There are two tools I use: Meditation and tapping.
First, meditation. Don’t let the word or concept seem bigger than it needs to be. I started meditating in five-minute increments. You can even quiet your mind in seconds through some slow, deep breaths. Meditation can be prayer. It can be simply closing your eyes and breathing through a challenging or negative thought. There are no quick and fast rules about how to do it. What’s important is to turn off technology, go somewhere in the house without other distractions and just spend some quiet time with yourself.
Second, is tapping. This may be a more unknown practice than meditation, but I’ve used it to release stress or a specific emotion or pain. That’s what’s important with tapping – to focus thoughts on a fairly specific situation or challenge that I need to release. I’ve tapped around specific negative thoughts or emotions. Basically, I tap on specific body meridians or pulse points that have been scientifically proven to affect the mind and body. Think acupuncture points. This website has a good explanation of how to do it. Don’t knock it until you try it.
Both meditation and tapping are resources for you to try as you work on your healing. I still use them – as part of my general and mental health. Give one or both a try and see if they work for you. Remember, it’s all about reframing the mindset because that is everything.
