Plant-assisted Mental Health Holistic Wholeness

[Alchemica]

I've moved away from seeking symptom reduction to seeking holistic wellness. It's a different approach. I've tried to include some of my photography of plants I've grown and got to know.

 

Personally I'm starting to want to self-observe a few things, more subjectively, hoping it can be felt with a ripple effect into the community.
 

Meaning and purpose. Have I made a positive difference today?
 

Connection. Do I feel connected to myself, the Earth and others? Have I reached out to someone today and tried to connect? Whether it be working on a friendship or a family member or forming a new connection. Have I challenged myself in the community to connect?
 

Physical wellness. Have I taken time to implement healthy diet and exercise?
 

Cognitive wellness. Have I learned something today? Read something and grown from it?
 

Emotional wellness. Am I taking time to reflect, understand myself and my emotions, am I feeling and working through them?
 

Mental wellness on the whole. Do I feel holistically stable, positive, in a growth mindset, showing self-compassion and self-care?
 

Spiritual wellness. Am I taking steps to develop spiritually, learn new ways of love, compassion, kindness? Put them into action?

Creative wellness. Have I felt a creative experience, be it an attempt at art, creative writing, enjoying music etc

 

 We can shift a person’s view from a rational-reductionist view of treating symptoms to an awareness of the potential in deep relationship with plants. With the plants, I'm not just treating a symptom, I'm growing and evolving in healing relationship with the Web of Life. It's a conscious evolving process, that reaches out to deepen our connection to the Earth, deepens humanistic aspects like love and compassion and nurtures spirituality.

 

http://kindredmedia.org/2018/01/herbal-medicine-moving-toward-source/

 

I'm slowly moving from purchasing herbs/growing plants for a symptom (a uniquely Western and rational, reductionist use of herbs) through the history, science and ultimately holistic understanding of our human relationship with plants and their potential to support our wholeness.

It was not long ago that herbs were disparaged as folk lore and old wives tales. I was one of those maximally into “Better Living Through Chemistry”. We believed everything new was good and the old was quaint. We thought science was taking us progressively forward, Western medicine healing us... I came to the conclusion through much suffering, it often wasn't.

 

There are still those who hold and propagate those negative views that plant medicines are mild and inferior to what your doctor prescribes. Are they are purposely avoiding the reality that plant medicines have a large, growing body of science revealing benefits to human health?
 

Feeling the Pain
 

 Trauma, in its widest sense, creates our woundedness and consequent insecurity and how in doing so it interrupts the connections between our head, heart and body. As well as hindering the development of any these parts, insecurity also hinders the development of whole self.
 

It's about repairing the connections between our heart, head and body, as well as developing the parts of ourselves that have been underdeveloped. This may be our heart in terms of being able to feel and label and understand our feelings. It may be our head in terms of developing our understanding ourselves in a cognitive way, from clarifying our own philosophy. For most of us there is a need to tune into and become more sensitive to our bodies. Through the heart, spirituality is about somehow our heart opening to a connection with Love. To being loved and therefore able to love.
 

"As a whole, we humans have lost connection to our true purpose. We have lost connection to our true essence, to our surroundings, to nature and to the divine. We have become isolated and overly independent. Many of us are no longer in touch with the phases of the moon, or the change of the seasons, we are disconnected from ourselves and from our hearts. We have forgotten our ultimate connection to the web of creation, we now have a strong belief that we are separate. We have lost our way and we no longer know how to honor ourselves, or how to honor mother Earth, our home.
 

Culturally, we are more focused on strengthening the ego and mental sheaths and when you focus on strengthening only a couple aspects of the whole, an imbalance manifests. We are whole, rather than the sum of our parts. We need to begin emphasising spirituality IN balance with the bodies (mental, emotional, physical, energetic), IN balance with our communities, IN balance with the earth and the divine, strengthening the whole rather than any of the separate parts.
 

...sheaths keep us in a cycle of disconnection. Over time our dysfunctional belief systems solidify, strengthening these sheaths, leading us further away from our true essence. The more power we give to the mental sheath the stronger it grows and the more disconnected we become. In turn the stronger these sheaths get, the more we feel separate, the more we push away love and true intimacy and the more our souls get depleted. The ego sheath has a desire to be right, and to know everything. It seems to keep us from trusting, from being open, it keeps us held in old paradigms and old belief systems." - Spiritual healing with Plants

 

Why do some people who experience traumatic events and come out stronger and resilient, while others stumble and never seem to recover? I always shrunk from my trauma, illness and injury, these days I'm trying to grow.

 

For me, it's not just dealing day to day with getting through illness, I have been in the losing Milly phase, trying to recalibrate to a new more social human world

 

"Loss is tragically beautiful, and in life, it is inevitable, and it catches us when we least expect it. It turns our world upside down and creates a hole in our universe. We spend the days doing our best to find our way around this gaping hole, and oftentimes at night, we fall into it, spiraling in emotions and confusion and getting tangled up in hatred and loneliness.

 

Losing someone close to you hits hard and is something that becomes part of you. You never learn how to get over it and move on, you just learn how to navigate around the vast hole that is their absence.

 

But there can be a beauty found in this grief. The astonishing beauty that can be found in grief is clarity."

 

Why do some find the upside of down, others not? "It’s like a type of death that brings forth new life. A new life that allows us to appreciate and see with a new set of lenses. Lenses that see past what once tripped us up so easily and so quickly. Lenses that give us the ability to rise above circumstances that we never thought we could. Lenses that cause us to see past words simply spoken, and places us at the heart of intention. The place where real truth and love dwells."

 

"Hard times are like a storm that strips us. The torrential wind can leave us agonized, humiliated or confused. The fury can rip away our friends, jobs, comfort, sense of justice, and understanding of goodness. The same storm can blow away a humdrum life. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been wind-whipped by life, but some are better for it. Like Dorothy when she returned from Oz, they come back with wisdom, compassion, kindness, and a gentleness they might not otherwise have known."

 

Why some people can use challenging—even traumatic—experiences as catalysts for positive transformation while others cannot? Are there practical things people can do to improve their lives? What are the factors that help people cope—even

thrive?

 

"Tools like meaning-making, optimism, connection, forgiveness, self-compassion, and grit can quell the effects of trauma. You can use emotional and physical interventions. Spiritual growth is a potent ally. Positive psychology like the broaden-and-build theory and explain the critical role rumination plays in post- traumatic growth. Personality traits like grit and resilience and explain the paradox of difficulties and the part they play in making healthy humans."

First, any good health plan should start with Love.

 

Mental health services make things so complicated. Lately I've been learning love, self-love, embodying love, filling myself with it as much as I can, trying to radiate it as love to others. From mindfulness programs to CBT to DBT to various psychological therapies and medicines... A really good thing would be to start with applicable lessons in love.

 

Being love and being inspired by love (in any way whatsoever) is a really beautiful thing.

 

Sometimes it's ourselves that we find hard to love. I have struggled with a lack of self-love for most of my life. I’ve experienced feelings of unworthiness, guilt and shame on a regular basis, self-depreciation. I was manifesting from the lowest sense of self-worth. It was crippling, suicidal depressions, turning to dangerous substances etc. These days, I'm feeling self-love that is empowering me to be the best me. To develop into True Self.

 

I felt the abysmal emotions, angry, mainly at myself for a long time, it spilled into my world, I put up walls around myself so that others could not get too close, and never felt worthy enough for lasting friendships and intimate relationships. when you find that place of complete acceptance of the past for what it is and of yourself for exactly where you are right now it is a truly powerful moment of transformation. You release the shackles the tight grip that you may have on your own point of view and embody a new growing you.

 

You slowly move from self-centeredness to embracing fears, it becomes a journey of depth and discovery, you stop running/escaping from yourself, you start being true to your self, you find autonomy and ambition, passion, love and more.

There is a direct correlation between the degree and depth of your capacity to love yourself and your self-esteem, self-worth, self-valuation, your self-confidence and even your sense of self-power.

 

I'm beginning to put loving attention to each task at hand. The more love that you put into whatever it is that you are doing, the more that you will cultivate a love-filled consciousness.

 

The more that you begin to honor yourself and do what you feel is for your highest good, the more love that you begin to feel.

 

"Guilt and shame- these are the lowest frequency emotions and the greatest blockages to self-love and joy. The frequency of guilt and shame is the exact polar opposite to your Christ or Buddha consciousness.

 

Fears- the fear of not being good enough and the fear of not being loved are the top two fears in humanity, often created in painful and traumatic childhood experiences.

 

Unworthiness and undeservedness- these states of mind, often the result of subconscious and unconscious programming will block you from embodying a state of unconditional self-love. If you feel that you don' deserve or that you are not worthy of being happy, successful, in love, etc. then this will be projected onto your holographic reality.

 

The Absolute Perfectionist Persona- If you are always trying to be "perfect", often subconsciously to what other people or society would regard as "perfect", then inevitably you will constantly diminish yourself and never feel truly satisfied, content or love your Self."

 

The most important step to loving others is to first love ourselves. Make choices that show yourself love. Eat food that make you feel good and nourishes your body. Find a way to get active in a way that makes you happy Make time to spend by yourself and to be creative. Praise yourself when you do something well and if you fail at something, be kind to yourself about it.

 

"Part of your human journey is integrating these painful events into your life in a way that serves you, free from the pain and your stories of blame, shame or guilt. As the old sages say, “the only way to transcend pain is to acknowledge that you experienced it.”

 

You can only “let go” of the attachment once you have dealt with the emotions that underlie your stories. In short “Pain suppressed is pain depressed.” Being able to fully ACCEPT yourself means transcending and taking the courageous journey with “Pain felt is pain dealt,” as you can’t heal what you can’t feel.

 

By fully accepting yourself and all the events that have happened in your life, you will find courage to identify and control your relationship with your thoughts, as opposed to your thoughts driving you subconsciously."

 

When we choose to let love in, we are choosing hope. We are choosing peace. We are choosing to trust. And this can allow for some beautiful things to happen. Try finding something extraordinary in the ordinary. Even the most mundane or simplest thing can be beautiful

 

Once you have learned to see, accept and love yourself, the art of being able to open to love and compassion for all is a relatively natural step that unfolds. You open to the fact that as a Spirit and soul you are no different to all others and see that all humans are traveling the same journey towards awakening. You can transcend the human differences as you open to love for all.

 

Slowly, we begin to take steps toward those passions and dreams. You develop a new way of thinking, being, and doing can be brought forth. Peace and love are what make up our true nature, we start to allow that peace and love to shine in our natural essence. That small self then becomes the grand self.

 

"Healing is a journey that engages our whole being of heart, soul and spirit and is not a linear process. As we spiral through life we periodically reach new understandings allowing healing to reach deeper levels each time filling ourselves more fully with our true essential nature. As we become more our self our unique path is revealed and that which doesn’t serve us on our path falls away."

 

Some plants to support Wholeness.

 

Green Tea
 

Tea consumption had significant acute benefits on mood and performance and creativity.

 

While some suggest taking supplements of green tea to reduce metabolic biomarkers alone is ineffective, as part of a diet shift it seems good.

 

Tea use was associated with reduced stress, increased calmness and increased electroencephalographic activity (increased alpha, beta and theta activities) in the midline frontal and central brain regions Green tea consumption in subjects with cognitive dysfunction (2 g/day for 3 months, approximately equal to 2 to 4 cups of tea/day) significantly improved cognitive performance. Along with the effects of lower doses of caffeine and small quantities of L-theanine, EGCG has sedative effects in the brain, partially through GABAA receptors, and consequently moderates an acute stress response in a dose dependent manner.

 

Green tea is believed to lower the risk of dementia both through it's polyphenols and active metabolites that exhibit effects on nerve cell proliferation and neuritogenic properties. The consumption of green tea catechins is generally believed to suppress age-related cognitive dysfunction, The neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and iron-chelating properties of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) make it promising for neurorescue. Diet induced neuroinflammation was restored by EGCG supplementation and homocysteine-induced neurodegeneration and neuro-inflammation in the brain was attenuated. It inhibits brain damage and promotes regeneration in the cerebral cortex of rats.

 

EGCG was able to effectively inhibit volatile anaesthetic-induced neurodegeneration and improve learning and memory retention, which is relevant to my case.

 

Teas significantly reduced AChE activity and partially reduced fat accumulation. Green teas reduced memory deficits. They reduced reactive species accumulation and reduced plasma triglyceride levels. The tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) has been shown to ameliorate metabolic abnormalities and fatty liver.

 

Spearmint Tea
 

 

 Spearmint is known to have cleansing and uplifting properties. It is said to elicit a sense of focus and positive mood. Spearmint may be a beneficial nutritional intervention for cognitive health. Recent studies show that compounds isolated from Mentha spicata are promising for neurodegenerative therapy.

 

Spearmint contains vitamins, antioxidants, and vital nutrients. It is rich in limonene, carvone and congeners, and cineol.

It's a potent antioxidant. It has carminative, anti-spasmodic, anti-oxidant, anti-depressant, anti-inflammatory, sedative and stimulant action. It's like the benefits of teas providing catechin, epicatechin with flavonoids like rutin and luteolin. It's also rich in rosmarinic acid, it's the highest of Lamiaceae (more than Rosemary).

 

Based on available research, it appears that spearmint is well tolerated in recommended doses up to 500 milligrams daily or taken as a tea twice daily for 30 days. Extract doses seem higher.

 

Results point towards 1,8-cineole as a good candidate for NMDA antagonism, with a weaker AChE inhibitory effect.

 

Cognitive function task scores suggest improved reasoning, significantly improved attention/concentration and planning from baseline after 30 d of treatment. Day one, subjects experienced acutely improved attention/concentration from pre- supplementation. It was well-tolerated and may improve certain aspects of cognitive function.

 

Using spearmint as an extract improved quality of working memory and spatial working memory accuracy, caused improvement in ability to fall asleep. Overall treatment effects were evident for vigor-activity, total mood disturbance, and alertness and behaviour following wakefulness, with trends observed for improvements after spearmint

 

Hibiscus Tea
 

 
Hibiscus flowers are used to destroy all life obstacles, spiritual and material, and to assist in realisation of all goals. They are said to purify the physical and spiritual heart, and to promote wisdom. Ayurveda says it increases devotion, promotes wisdom and aids in meditation. It purifies the heart.

 

Hibiscus flower normalises blood pressure and exerts a protective effect on the heart. New research is underscoring the possibility of using hibiscus to normalise blood sugar.

 

Possibly Effective for:

High blood pressure. Some early research shows that drinking hibiscus tea for 2-6 weeks decreases blood pressure in people with mildly high blood pressure. Other early research shows that taking a hibiscus extract by mouth for 4 weeks may be as effective as the prescription drug captopril for reducing blood pressure in people with mild to moderate high blood pressure. However, an analysis of results from various clinical studies suggests that there is not enough evidence to draw strong conclusions about the effects of hibiscus in reducing high blood pressure.

 

Hibiscus Sabdariffa (Roselle) is a supplemental herb that is derived from the plant's calyces, which are the collection of sepals separating the blooming flower from the stem. The calyces have traditionally been steeped into tea where the anthocyanins (red-blue pigmentation) is steeped into the water and drank for medicinal purposes. Hibiscus sabdariffa derived polyphenols are known to ameliorate various obesity-related conditions. The mechanism includes the regulation of energy metabolism, oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways, transcription factors, hormones and peptides, digestive enzymes, as well as epigenetic modifications. Low doses of Roselle tea or supplements appear to be effective in reducing blood pressure, and may be anti-diabetic. It is unlikely that Roselle can cause weight loss independent of a reduction of appetite. It has antidepressant activity through 5-HT, DA and NE systems.

Reishi
 

Reishi is said to be considered a supreme Shen, or ‘spirit-enhancing’ tonic. "Reishi is said to balance, restore and cultivate Jing, Shen and Qi energies in the body, which together are the three fundamental energies that give us life, Jing being our deepest reserves of life force, Qi being the daily energy that sustains us and Shen being our spiritual energy/awareness or connection with the infinite." It acts to harmonize and relax the nervous system as a whole, with a particular emphasis on the heart. It works to heal, balance and energize the heart and its energetic-etheric components

 

Oral administration of the polysaccharides and water extract from G. lucidum promoted neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation to enhance neurogenesis and alleviated cognitive deficits - it could serve as a regenerative therapeutic agent for the treatment of cognitive decline associated with neurodegenerative diseases. It can enhance immunity and antioxidant activities

 

G. lucidum mushroom have numerous health properties to treat diseased conditions such as hepatopathy, chronic hepatitis, nephritis, hypertension, hyperlipemia, arthritis, neurasthenia, insomnia, bronchitis, asthma, gastric ulcers, atherosclerosis, leukopenia, diabetes, anorexia, and cancer.

 

Regular administration of the Reishi suspension improved the energy supply to the brain cortex and decreased the prevalence of inhibitory neurotransmitters that are characteristic of alcohol consumption. The alcohol-induced increase in liver proliferation was significantly suppressed by regular administration of the G. lucidum water suspension.

 

It has anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects, alleviates oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, the water soluble polysaccharides showing neuroprotective effects and has nerve growth factor-like neuronal survival-promoting and brain-derived neurotrophic factor-like neuronal survival-promoting compounds, it protects against the immunological effects of excitotoxicity

 

Cinnamon

 

 The important thing if you're using it higher dose medicinally is to get a good one. Cassia contains higher traces of coumarin (around 4%), while the amount of coumarin in Ceylon cinnamon is only around 0.04%
 

While I did a lot of cinnamon metabolite sodium benzoate, it's nice to get back to the plant. While benzoate looks good for augmenting treatment of psychosis with good significant effect, neurodegenerative things/cognitive deterioration and enhancing learning, recently it's been found it can impair memory performance and increase brain oxidative stress in mice. Using the whole bark is seemingly much more healing. The bark contains proanthocyanidins, catechin and epicatechin along with the precursor for benzoate, cinnamaldehyde.

 

Cinnamon could be beneficial to counteract deleterious dietary effects in stressed conditions. It could effectively prevent the cognitive dysfunction and the impairment of energy and glucose homeostasis induced by amyloid-β deposition by reducing neuroinflammation and enhancing insulin signaling. It efficiently inhibits tau accumulations, Aβ aggregation and toxicity in vivo and in vitro models. Indeed, cinnamon possesses neuroprotective effects interfering multiple oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory pathways. Cinnamon modulates endothelial functions and attenuates the vascular cell adhesion molecules. Cinnamon PPs may induce AD epigenetic modifications. Cinnamon seems to be effective and safe approaches for treatment and prevention of AD onset and/or progression.

 

"A Cochrane review on cinnamon states that long-term blood glucose control is essential in reducing the risk of complications associated with diabetes mellitus such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), retinopathy and nephropathy.

Insulin is one of the key hormones that regulates energy and metabolism use as well as transporting sugar from the bloodstream into cells. Cinnamon has been studied as a therapy for improving glycaemic control through its insulin-mimicking biologically active properties that enhance glucose uptake and utilisation in the cell by:

 

-modulating hepatic glucose metabolism through changes in pyruvate kinase (PK) and phosphenol pyruvate carboxikinase (PEPCK)
-inhibition of intestinal glycosidase
-translocation and synthesis of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT-4)
-insulin receptor de-phosphorylation and auto-phosphorylation.

 

In type 2 diabetes, higher amounts of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) are indicative of poorer control of blood glucose levels. Once haemoglobin has been glycated, its ability to transport oxygen, as well as collect carbon dioxide to return to the lungs, is lost leading to advanced glycated end product (AGE), elevated HbA1c and plasma glucose which are associated with retinopathy, nephropathy and cardiovascular disease.

 

In a clinical trial, 2g of cinnamon a day for 12 weeks alongside regular medication for type 2 diabetes, significantly reduced glycated HbA1c, as well as diastolic and systolic blood pressure compared to placebo.A recent double-blind trial reported that 3g of cinnamon significantly improved all components of metabolic syndrome such as insulin, blood pressure, antioxidant status and lean body mass when compared to a placebo"

Calendula

 

 

 

Calendula is used to bring comfort to those who are nervous and prone to fear, as well as those who have gone through a profound shock or trauma to the system. It is used to temper anger and rash behaviour. Calendula can also be used to encourage emotional warmth and tolerance, compassion and the ability to truly listen to what others are saying"
 

At "the level of the individual soul, it opens our hearts to receive the spiritual light, to receive the Word of another with that same receptivity and warmth we experience in the Calendula blossom. Thus Calendula is an excellent balm for human relationships, for cultivating receptivity and empathy. Rather than be wounding or cutting in our communications, Calendula teaches us to touch each other gently and profoundly with light and warmth of our words."

 

Calendula has anti-oxidant, neuroprotective, antiviral, antigenotoxic and anti-inflammatory properties. The flowers of C. officinalis are rich in polyphenols, contain flavonol glycosides, triterpene oligoglycosides, oleanane-type triterpene glycosides, saponins, and a sesquiterpene glucoside.

 

Dose is tea of 2 tsp of dried herb to a cup of hot water, three times a day The leaves can also be used for culinary purposes.

 

Spirulina.

 

This stuff isn't the trendiest anymore but I find it's a good addition and you can get some cheapish sources. Containing high levels of protein and many polyphenols, including chlorophyll a and C-phycocyanin, it has antioxidant, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory therapeutic effects. Spirulina also appears to protect and enhance cognitive function. Research has shown spirulina enriched diets enhance striatal dopamine recovery and induce rapid changes to microglia activation after injury of the dopamine system. A Spirulina diet can protect against neuroinflammation and decreased antioxidant defence in brain. Promising pre-clinically for neurodegenerative things and MS. In autoimmune CNS conditions, it could potentially improve neuroinflammation, protect from demyelination and axonal loss. It modulated the expression of genes related to remyelination, gliogenesis and axon-glia processes. Included in the diet, it promotes activation of BDNF/CREB neuroprotective signaling pathways in neuronal cells. It increased superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase gene expression and decreasing damage from oxidative stress

 

Goji berries.

 

Super approve. Cheap, neuroprotective and seemingly a good addition. Using them for 14 days increases subjective feelings of general well-being, and improves neurologic/psychologic performance in a study. They have antiglaucoma, immunoregulatory, antitumor, antioxidant, antiaging, neuroprotective, and blood sugar level reducing activities. They promote in vivo proliferation of neural progenitor cells. In another study, treatment alone did not promote hippocampal neurogenesis when compared to the normal control, but could lessen the suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis induced in disease/toxin states.They can be a useful strategy for treating memory impairment induced by several neurodegenerative diseases.
 

Chamomile

Chamomile is OK, got some promise, you just have to often exceed a tea bag dose.

Shorter term, chamomile extract produced a clinically meaningful reduction in generalised anxiety disorder symptoms over 8 weeks, with a response rate comparable to those observed during conventional anxiolytic drug therapy and a favorable adverse event profile. We're talking chamomile extract 1500mg/day though, not a tea bag.
 

Long-term chamomile was safe and significantly reduced moderate-to-severe GAD symptoms, but did not significantly reduce rate of relapse.

Lower doses of chamomile extract can significantly improve sleep quality
 

Apigenin has gained interest as a neuroprotective agent

It's not just limited to sleep, it has antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal activities, angiogenesis activity, anticarcinogenic, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic effects. Besides, it is beneficial for knee osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis, premenstrual syndrome, and gastrointestinal disorders.
 

Grape Polyphenols!

Just as I was playing with polyphenols... http://neurosciencenews.com/dhca-grape-depression-8426/

 

"Conventional pharmacological treatments are estimated to produce temporary remission in less than 50 percent of patients, and they are often associated with severe adverse effects. Thus, there is an urgent need for a wider spectrum of novel therapeutics.

 

...currently available antidepressants are largely restricted to targeting the systems that regulate serotonin, dopamine, and other related neurotransmitters, and these treatments do not specifically address inflammation and synaptic maladaptations that are now known to be associated with MDD.

 

A bioactive dietary polyphenol preparation–a combination of three grape-derived polyphenol products, including a select Concord grape juice, a select grape seed extract, and trans-resveratrol–was effective in promoting resilience against stress-induced depression in mice.

Of course, Cacao!

Edited February 9, 2018 by Alchemica

[Alchemica]

You have power in your body to heal and be whole. That is to me, to have a rewarding, meaningful, good hearty life where you touch other hearts. How do you define wholeness? I've recently found the sacredness to life. A sacred healing transcendent plane opened up.

 

"A space can be sacred, providing those who inhabit a particular space with a sense of transcendence—being connected to something greater than oneself—and for those who believe in a higher power, a sense of the divine. The sacredness may be inherent in the space eg a serene place outdoor (you can even make facebook your sacred place). Alternatively, a space may be made sacred by the people within it and events that occur there."

 

For me through injury and 'soul loss'/'fragmentation', I lost a coherent driver of all sense who I was. Lost basic needs of safety, a self, ability to relate to people and connect, feelings of worth and meaning, everything. Driven by unconscious processes, I couldn't recover, I'd try building external connections but I'd just keep staying in loops of worsening illness, not able to push forward, rumination, building walls against connecting, extreme depressions and isolation, vicey self-medicating and cognitive decline. Sometimes internal alchemy relates you to Self. I really like this framework.

 

These days I stand on what feels to me to be 'Sacred Healing Ground' but it's taken quite a long bit trying to get any sense of these aspects. Still room for growth.

 

If we could approach a sacred relationship to healing in even our friendships, it would be so refreshing. We need to as individuals be a resource for the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of the people in the community. We need to adopt a system that turns no one away regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, citizenship status, or ability to pay.

 

We need Sacred Healing Space where we see things quite differently. It is a deep place, compassionate, loving, accepting, providing encouragement and positive growth opportunities at an individual's pace. You start to know that you are enough, just the way you are. You don't feel abandoned by yourself, or others, You start to hold your old grief, your fears, your sadness, and your worries—as well as your hopes, your joys, and your accomplishments great and small. You learn to explore emotions and regulate them constructively. You go through the stages, angry, afraid—of suffering, of being ill, or of dying. Maybe you feel like you are fundamentally flawed, physically, or in another way. Perhaps someone made you feel unworthy—of love, happiness, health. Or perhaps someone told you in some way that you are not enough the way you are...

 

For me, I'm finding Sacred Wholeness after so long of being a scattered, fragmented energy of brokenness, suicidal unhappiness and misery, pain and woe.

 

Psychosis can be a traumatic experience that may alter an individual's ability to meet their own needs. The Supportive Care Needs Framework (SCNF) could complement the recovery-oriented, person-centred approach that is the current foundation of mental health care.

 

Seven domains of SCNs are considered in the SCNF, including emotional, informational, physical, practical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs

 

Emotional “Needs for a sense of comfort, belonging, understanding and reassurance in times of stress and upset

Informational Needs for information to reduce confusion, anxiety and fear; to inform the person's or family's decision-making; and to assist in skill acquisition

 

Physical Needs for physical comfort and freedom from pain, optimum nutrition, ability to carry out one's usual day-to-day functions (i.e., activities of daily living) Practical Needs for direct assistance in order to accomplish a task or activity and thereby reduce the demands on the person (e.g., homemaking services, financial assistance)

 

Psychological Needs related to the ability to cope with the illness experience and its consequences, including the need for optimal personal control and the need to experience positive self-esteem

 

Social Needs related to family relationships, community acceptance and involvement in relationships

 

Spiritual Needs related to the meaning and purpose in life [and] to practice religious beliefs”

 

Spirituality aids in social functions, personal balance and commitment to endure the anguish of transience. Among professionals, it has been shown as an ethical-combative attitude to evil forms. Recently it has been identified there are associations between key types of spiritual struggles (divine, morality, ultimate meaning, interpersonal relations, and doubting) and indices of risk for suicidal behavior (suicidal ideation and probability of future attempt).

 

The meanings given to spirituality depend on how it influences the way individuals behave in life. Spirituality has the function of enabling the individual for the performance of social roles and imprinting constancy, and for this, it is necessary to use sacred practices that strengthen him for this performance.

 

Concerning the process of spiritual formation of these individuals, sacred practices were revealed: prayers, rituals, amulets, actions for which they think to impel on the common and profane plane a manifestation of the sacred plane.

 

Faith is trust and security. But the individual, when he becomes aware of the contrast between what he believes in those who believe in the ideal for which he should be assured in aspects of his life and his actual experience, experiences anguish and anger. It is again the moment to move the limits of reason.

 

There is something hermetic between belief and misfortune, dynamically offering mutual innovations. Belief is a predisposition to save oneself from misfortune, anticipating and preparing the individual for it, because it confronts it by faith, misfortune is the unexpected (un) expected, and by having this quality adaptations are required of the symbolic system of beliefs of the individual that can not measure logic in this conflict process.

[Tøn]

Thank you, I'm really enjoying reading your posts. There's a lot to digest but I'll try and incorporate some of the plants you've recommended into my own healing.

[Alchemica]

You're most welcome 

.
Nice to be able to share different things I've explored with others. Reach out anytime if you need to chat

[mysubtleascention]

 

 

 

 

                                   

 

 

 

 

[Alchemica]

My polyphenol/carotenoid etc spruced diet got somewhere but there's still severe relapse-remitting symptoms with such. Tailoring a balanced typical diet is healing but isn't the cure-all. Exercise is helping. So too attitude etc. I'm also noticing, to discount using alkaloids is short-sighted. I had a good break from our nitrogenous bases bar nicotine and some caffeine for awhile, I wasn't using them very well but they're potent allies.

 

Role of Plant Derived Alkaloids and Their Mechanism in Neurodegenerative Disorders

 

"There are several drugs, but they do not possess the efficacy to amend the disease progression, rather they exert copious side effects.

 

Plant derived components or phytomedicines such as alkaloids and flavonoids have been used from the ancient times against neurodegenerative and mental disorders.

 

They have been potentially proved as the most effective management and therapeutic agents to minimize the crucial aspects of such disorders such as AD, PD, stroke and schizophrenia"

 

I'm learning you can mindlessly ingest a plant, expect it to take you somewhere, or you can reciprocally work with it on a deeper level... it sounds airy fairy to work with a plant as a spirit ally, a conscious entity but sometimes bringing an aliveness and alive connection to the medicines gives a different result. Interacting with it as a reciprocal relationship energy just gives a layer of deeper connection. You can catalyse something different. I noticed that the other day.

 

"Sit down with a plant you are drawn to... Settle into quiet stillness... Move your awareness within, to your inner body environment. Breathe slowly and deeply, feeling the pleasure of your breath as it moves through you. Greet your body as a beloved friend, bringing your compassionate awareness to every part of your body, allowing your breath to keep your mind anchored in the awareness of any body sensations.

 

As you come into the presence of your body and heart, invite the plant in, becoming aware of the energy and feel of the plant as it enters your body. Follow the subtle energy of the plant and sensations it produces as it moves to different places within you.

 

Continue to breathe deeply, allowing your mind to calm, and relax into a space of receiving. With no expectations, just an openness to connect, greet yourself and the plant from your heart. Do not wait for anything; instead, actively welcome this friend and ally into your inner realms. Allow your heart to guide you into listening and feeling the plant’s energy as it washes through you. Open the eyes of your cells, dropping into the consciousness of your organs and body tissues. Allow your consciousness to move through your body as you breathe, following any sensations as they come and go. Witness how the plant interacts with you and feel how your body interacts with it.

 

Welcome the plant in... Relax into receiving whatever medicine the plant has for you, opening to enjoy this moment of connection to yourself, your body, and to plant consciousness. Allow your body to receive the medicine it’s needing, quieting your mind, and letting go into this space of rest. Following your breath, continue to relax into receiving and welcoming the plant into your heart.

 

Allow yourself to show up with all of your truth, all of what you are carrying in your heart and body. As you feel ready, relax into opening any hidden places within, places that are suffering, and invite the plant there. Ask for healing touch where you need it most. Greet yourself and your body with compassion and tenderness. Use this time with the plant to take you into the places within you that have been in need of your tenderness and listening. Allow the consciousness and energy of the plant to move through you one place to the next, feeling its way through you as it communicates with your body. Allow your organs, cells, and fluids to receive the plant’s energy in the places that need it most.

 

Breathe, held in the arms of the plant spirit, and let go of resistance. Give your body the nourishment and help it’s needing, resting and surrendering into the healing process. Let go of control, welcoming all that arrives along the journey of healing. Listen with a brave heart to all the voices within and to the guidance of the compassionate spirits.

 

Ask the plant to show itself to you. Welcome its energy and spirit into your body as if welcoming a beloved friend into your house. Meet it there under your skin. If you are bathing in the plant, smoking it, using it externally in massage, or covering yourself in it’s sacred smoke, invite the spirit of the plant in. Listen to the messages coming from your body as you take the plant in. Call the spirit of the plant to you until you feel its energy and presence arrive. If nothing comes, keep dropping into your body, relax, and continue to invite. Ask to enter into sacred relationship with this green intelligence.

 

Allow any messages or images that come through you as you journey with the plant, letting go of expectations or assumptions, and allow the plant carry you where it does. Lay back into the arms of this ally, inviting it to dream with you, opening to receive its intelligence, its memories, and its landscapes. Let your consciousness open to the plant. If your thoughts drift, bring yourself back to your body sensations, back into your breath, gazing again from your heart into the eyes of the spirit who has come to greet you. Return to listening and receiving, with honor and gratitude for who is with you." [1]

 

The bisbenzylisoqinoles are nice tonics, they also add an interesting dimension to other medicines. Balanced with some polyphenols and polysaccharides in their medicine, which is neat.

 

There's current interesting research on the β-carbolines, too, also covered in this article. Loss of inhibitory tone in amygdala with its subsequent overactivation contributes to the development of multiple mental disorders. It's possible with β-carbolines to selectively potentiate the inhibitory but not excitatory transmission onto the amygdala projection neurons, which may contribute to its antidepressant and anxiolytic influence.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Alchemica

[mysubtleascention]

 

 

 

 

 back into breath -
 gazing heart greeting
 .. eyes of spirit

 

 intro !

 

 

 

 

[Alchemica]

Finding what a full spectrum living a life plan is for yourself is important. Sinking into another's 'recovery model' is dis-empowering, it's what works for you. You should do this, do that, hurry up - simply doesn't work. I jumped into volunteering, forced myself to feel productive and validated through activities when I wasn't keeping enough care of myself going, just makes you crash and burn. Self-worth can't be generated through an activity IMO, it has to be valuing yourself as you are, where you are. It can be enhanced by meaning and purpose through activities but it has to come from yourself, not be hinged on the outer world.

 

I think the fundamentals of self-care health are diet, exercise, self-defined social, addressing personal psychological - find your own tools that help your mind - if inclined spiritual then you can potentially address more engagement with the world and medicinal options if needed. Pretty much in that order.

 

Before you can chip away at anything in the world productively, you need some real self-care from the ground up. IMO if you try and build and sustain momentum to do things that other people think you should be doing, when that's too much you'll get worse, it needs to come at your sustainable healthy pace. I've tried pushing myself to expectations many times, it easily fails and does more harm than good.

 

It starts with giving a crap about yourself and your inner world. Being comfortable with you as you are, an attitude of friendliness towards yourself, self-compassion without rushing into the world to feel completed by an activity or another person. If you don't have a feeling of initial self-respect and self-worth, evolving self-love, you go nowhere and stay seeking external solutions, validations and fixes. If you can generate that internal feeling of self-love, the world out there starts to become more loving.

 

There's a progressive outward spiral into the world that becomes less and less self-centric as you move through those but it's not selfish to take better care of yourself, you cant be a helpful influence to others when you're ill. I find if I jump, try tackling the social too quick, without self-care basics addressed, I fall into a heap, you can try for awhile but it's not sustainable.

 

Diet I've covered quite extensively, that's hugely important to feed quality nutrition and keep it going.

 

The social sphere doesn't always offer success and continuous positive encounters, so you need something individual you can work on. Could be a hobby but I find exercise is important for it's healing potential. Diving into more self-less activities can be too intense if you don't have fundamentals addressed. Exercise is a super good stepping stone I believe. That gives a continuous sense of meaning and purpose. improves self-esteem. Gives you SMART goals. You can achieve something every day and push yourself for a sense of achievement. It becomes a stress regulatory activity as well as potentially an active meditation exercise in Nature.

 

What happens when you turn away from the social? I've been progressively ditching the world, what does that do?

 

You get a rapid increases in depressive symptoms, self-worth declines, you get jaded with world, increased fearfulness of social situations (sometimes resulting in paranoia) develops

 

Your HPA axis dysregulates, you'll get an abnormal stress response over nothing, executive function rapidly deteriorates, oxytocin (the “social hormone”) function is apparently decreased; brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), one of the most abundant background facilitators of neuronal plasticity and nerve health, is decreased; and allopregnanolone, an important health-positive neurosteroid in the brain, is also decreased.

-areas of the brain having to do with the perception of (social) pain are strongly activated
-gray matter density decreases in an area of the brain related to social perception
-areas of the brain having to do with “mentalization” (imagining other people’s minds) are decreased in activity
-the brain (in the all-important amygdala, for example) shows increased activity, with decreased recovery in response to negative stimuli

 

Ref https://www.health.harvard.edu/…/im-so-lonesome-i-could-cry…

 

The personal psychological you can work through, so too some spiritual, they become self-learning and self-development.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Alchemica

[Alchemica]

What if we moved out of pathology, restored hope and viewed illness as an initiation into an energy of awakening, enlivening, and of recovery?

 

Many ancient narratives involves a descent, which can be seen as a rite of passage, or initiation into a more cohesive yet differentiated relationship between the ego and the Self.

 

We need to adopt a person-oriented process that involves self-determination/choice, and growth potential and addresses the biopsychosocial-spiritual. Lots of religions have valid spiritual teachings if used correctly, here's just one example.

 

Initiation and Individuation: The Shamanic Journey in the Judeo-Christian Tradition

 

Given the psychological and spiritual aspects of mental illness, an intervention that addresses these using spiritual resources in addition to psychological resources may be particularly effective. It can result in psychological symptoms (eg, shame, guilt, rage) and spiritual symptoms (eg, spiritual struggles, moral concerns, loss of meaning, self-condemnation, difficulty forgiving, loss of faith, loss of hope).

 

Diminishing ego function and "encouraging the emotion of awe has been described by the psychologists Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt as a combination of two elements: a sense of vastness—in terms of size or power or prestige—and a “need for accommodation”—a desire to somehow accommodate the experience into one’s worldview.

 

If awe reduces a sense of certainty, then it should also lead to pattern-finding and thus greater religious belief."

 

In a sense, It allows “imaginal dialogues,” conversations between self and other that happen in the mind. These can be therapeutic because the reality to which someone responds is always partly of their own creation, and an imagined therapist (an immaterial God necessarily must be imagined) can thus re-create that reality as effectively as a human one. When God becomes that therapist, It’s obviously different from ordinary psychotherapy because the “therapist” is more powerful than any human therapist and also more perfect.

 

Individuals higher on Spirituality/religiosity (S/R) also reported less substance use, risky behaviours, and better affect. It is important to target inaccurate or maladaptive beliefs—called stuck points—that result in guilt, shame, and self-blame, rendering individuals stuck. Forgiveness (Recall, Empathize, Altruism, Committing, and Holding on) and possible targets of forgiveness (ie, self, others, God).

 

The impact that trauma and mental illness can have on one’s spiritual well-being is explained and spiritual distress is normalised. Lament is introduced as a formal expression of sorrow and spiritual grief.

 

By focusing on cognitive restructuring using spiritual/religious resources (ie, spiritual beliefs, practices, sacred writings, values, and motivations) it is possible to challenge maladaptive thinking patterns.

 

One can instill spiritual concepts and rituals of compassion, grace, spiritual guided imagery, repentance, confession, forgiveness, atonement, blessing, restitution, and making amends.

 

You can build Forgiveness, Esteem and Trust

 

Address Power, Control, and Spiritual Discrepancies: Spiritual discrepancies and spiritual issues related to power, such as anger at God, the limited nature of human perspective, free will, and active surrender, are discussed. The theme of intimacy related to self, others, and God can be explored. Spiritual partnerships are discussed, both in terms of how trauma and MI can impact these relationships and how deepening or reengaging in spiritual partnerships/community can help with the healing process.

 

Spiritual Partnerships and Intimacy: The theme of safety related to self, others, and God/divine can be explored

 

"Just as the sun also rises each day to birth the dawn, this novice-initiate of life’s unfolding may also know an inner resuscitation or renewal – one marked by expansion, cohesion, and an intimate connection to the mystery that emerges from the sacred sourced deep within."

 

Each day through enacting their deep mysteries, psyche renews herself day by day.

 

Rather than “suffering from,” the imperative becomes to “suffer into” as a path towards personal wholeness. Individual suffering takes on meaning, then, rather than serving as a narcissistic or cathartic – but not transformative – experience in itself.

 

(1) an initial separation, marked by (2) a return to origins, followed by (3) a rebirth

This can additionally be framed this patterning as preliminal, liminal, and postliminal

 

One experiences:

(1) a separation or break from that which is familiar, functional, ordinary or “normal” (van Gennep’s preliminal stage);
(2) the initiate needs to enter into a period described variously as chaotic, messy, liminal, or radically unstructured, both internally in one’s (lack of a sense of) psychic cohesion and/or in society; for example, living on the fringes of society, perhaps in an alternative communal setting, or simply spending a period of one’s life in solitude or on pilgrimage;
(3) there is a sense of re-emergence, or “coming together” with the whole again – whether internally/psychically, or externally/socially. This can be seen psychologically as an increased sense of cohesion of the new self, now
expanded with greater awareness or differentiated wholeness (i.e., more individuated), or socially/relationally as re-entering society or the family from the perspective gained post-initiation.

 

The tripartite structure in many ways mirrors Edinger’s (1972) stages of ego development (inflation, alienation, individuation).

"Because individuation is an heroic and often tragic task, the most difficult of all, it involves suffering, a passion of the ego… [which] suffers, so to speak, from the violence done to [it] by the [.S]elf….Through the Christ-symbol, man can get to know the real meaning of his suffering: he is on the way towards realizing his wholeness…. The cause of suffering is… “incarnation,” which on the human level appears as “individuation.”

 

It is only through the loss of self that this person may find rebirth in new life. This occurs psychologically as the death and integration of the ego through its contact with the numinous Self, which is often experienced as a death.

Edited March 30, 2018 by Alchemica

[Alchemica]

How we can view mental illnesses and why it's healing through a shamanic view:

http://nautil.us/issue/58/self/a-mental-disease-by-any-other-name-rp

 

"Excessive focus on distress weaponizes it into ressentiment, a state of reflexive anger about one’s position in the world that only adds to suffering rather than resolving it. All too often, therapists are complicit in this process, reflecting back and growing the distress of their clients. An obsession with individualized distress positions the client as a discrete and disempowered entity in the world."

 

It's usually through some story that we become ill and that includes diagnoses. What if you undo that story and re-master yourself?

 

We encourage a medicine of submission. Can you help me? Patients give all the power to Drs/therapists. It's priestly medicine. The idea that the Dr/therapist holds the truth needs to go.

 

We need to regain Mastery and empowerment

 

The only therapy worth doing is one of engagement. One of expansiveness, multiple views and complexity. Expansion vs. contraction - otherwise one promotes prototypical contracted states of consciousness are found in the fixations of neuroses, addictions, obsessions, compulsions, and attachments.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by Alchemica

[Alchemica]

Tapping into emotional auditory-sensorimotor functioning as therapy.

 

 

One of the interesting things to me was when I escaped my rigid analytical linguistic mind to try and move from explicit self-regulation to restoring implicit self-regulation recently, I got emotional and sensorimotor engagement back. That is a very under-developed aspect of myself.

 

Brain-to-Brain, Body-to-Body we can tap into emotional sensorimotor psychotherapy with hoping to improve connection to a whole self and find interpersonal synchrony. Relying exclusively upon language is less than optimal for a myriad of reasons.

 

Have you ever found yourself tapping your foot, nodding your head, or drumming with your fingers along to your favorite song? Chances are you have, and are unaware of the extensive neural connections firing throughout your brain attempting to keep timing and coordinate your movements.

 

The non-verbal legacies of ill minds and trauma comprise three general areas of difficulty: dysregulated arousal, maladaptive procedural learning, and impaired sensory processing. Coupled with the socio-emotional-spiritual aspects

 

How did this manifest for me? Simple uncoordinated finger tapping to music. Having quite an autistic brain (it's odd having the ASCs and autism), I've ranged from stereotypical hand flapping which is quite a common thing that can manifest in autism.

 

You cannot force a rhythm, that's a big mistake. We see overlap in activated areas during synchronized sensorimotor and reward systems that facilitate interpersonal synchrony related to the brain's reward system and activity in the caudate but ONLY if the rhythm comes easily

 

When distress is not tended to in a timely manner, the pathways between higher brain and these lower brain structures fail to develop, and the amygdala may be chronically overactive causing the person to be chronically hyperaroused.

 

"neuroimaging based upon beat tapping experiments to a metronome show connections between the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and primary motor cortex. These are all areas known to be involved with coordination and motor control modulation that facilitate neurotransmission of action potentials throughout the body."

 

Treatment that seeks to amend the profound effects of early trauma, illness, neglect, and attachment failure on the final wiring and function of the brain may be enhanced by interventions other than top-down “talking about.” Bottom-up interventions that work directly with movement, sensation, regulatory and sensory systems might address problems that originate in the reptilian and limbic systems, rather than the cortex.

 

Brain-to-Brain, Body-to-Body: A Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Perspective: http://www.drbonniegoldstein.com/…/Ogden-Goldstein-Fisher-B…

Cognitive Functioning of Drumming and Rhythm Therapy for Neurological Disorders: http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/1983

 

It is said those characterised by “grossly non-reality-oriented ideation, abnormal perceptual experiences, profound emotional upheavals, and bizarre mannerisms” go through a shamanic resolution in five stages:

1. The Precondition: Fear; Feelings of Impotence and Failure; Guilt;
2. Preoccupation; Isolation; Estrangement;
3. Narrowing of attention; Self-initiated sensory deprivation;
4. The fusing of higher and lower referential processes; and
5. Cognitive Reorganization: “a reorganized set of perceptions and conceptions in which the structure of reality is “something else”

 

How did I find my first attempts at feeling/engaging with music to the beats with quasi-drumming? I pushed past the 30min, it works quite well. It would be observed as being pretty uncoordinated so it's not like I'm going to do it at a drum circle but yeah... I feel like once again, throwing yang constructively brings more receptive yin

 

Research reviews indicate that drumming enhances recovery through inducing relaxation and enhancing theta-wave production and brain-wave synchronisation. Drumming produces pleasurable experiences, enhanced awareness of preconscious dynamics, release of emotional trauma, and reintegration of self. Drumming alleviates self-centeredness, isolation, and alienation, creating a sense of connectedness with self and others. Drumming provides a secular approach to accessing a higher power and applying spiritual perspectives. [1]

 

Exposure to 15 minutes of either repetitive drumming was sufficient to induce a decrease in cortisol levels.

Exposure to rhythmic drumming sequences for 15 minutes, have been shown to be an efficient inducer of ostensibly shamanic imagery. The subjective experiences reported by participants were different between the groups receiving instructions for shamanic journeying and the groups receiving instructions for relaxation with studies reporting the evocation of ostensibly shamanic mental imagery in participants [2]

 

the first step in a shamanic journey consists in finding an entrance to the so-called “Lower World”. Once this entrance is found, the participant may encounter his or her “power animal” or other “spirits”, in what is often experienced as a lucid dream. At the end of the journey, participants are led back to “everyday reality” by going back to the “entrance point”

 

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447805/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4085008/

Contrary to most music, I find I can learn to engage with music like this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOWwuZldfFQ

Edited April 2, 2018 by Alchemica

[Alchemica]

There are very different shamanic type journeys.

 

There's the one many people encourage but I get annoyed with people who think it's the only one: the more meditative inner journey of accept, non-judge, go in to, surrender etc through an introspective state. That's cool and if your health is OKish, psychological processes are adequate, it can work really well. I've explored that a bit. Last night was a nice inner introspective going within happening which was nice.

 

I've noted though you can't rely on only that process, when there's a background of crippling neurological, emotional, psychological and spiritual content that needs to be restored ie after suicide attempts/heavy trauma/clinical level pathology etc, I find you need to be open to a quite messy high-voltage 'externalise to depathologise, accept and in healthier states, re-internalise and grow through embodied action'. This is a heavily reliant on putting out the ill processes, 'exorcising' them from being ill inner processes creatively, to bring fragmented pieces of Soul back to healthier states, to experience new modes of thinking/feeling/being through whatever means comes naturally in flow, to restoring through that creative potential, a healthier inner emotional/psychological/spiritual process.

 

Anyone else find that?

[mysubtleascention]

 

 

 

 

                    

 

 

 

 

[Alchemica]

I see how much mental illness, to my eyes, are a sort of inner 'death drive' of consciousness, which can either give way to resignation and pathology, or to a healthier resurrection.  You've got to alchemise those death/negative barriers to life. Affirm new life from suffering, if you don't want to be ruled by it.

 

You start with an unhappy consciousness,  with no possibility of transcending its unhappy state. As Hegel would say, the life-and-death struggle is important, I'm not going to go abstractly philosophical. It's a spirited growth process to develop Self-consciousness. It's making quantum leaps from pathology, to less pathological that reaffirms life. From me to us.

 

You pass through things that need to be slayed. As your social macrocosm reflects better health, so too does your mental health

 

'Me Barriers'

 

Victim-hood: Life's not fair, Poor me! Why me?  You are bound to suffering as unequals in a relationship of dependence to pathology. Bondage: Tied to suffering. Tied to medicines. Tied to professionals
Alienation from self and social? What about me? Brain network dynamics are a reflection of social network dynamics, if that network is limited, more an I network than a a social network, you'll get pathology.
Can't barriers: I can't do this etc

 

You have dialects of
Won't/Can't vs Can
Growth vs stagnation
Liberating negative emotions towards self and 'others'
Fear vs love
Prosocial vs selfish

 

In being ruled by these processes, you are not making conscious choices, illness is ruling you. You're at the mercy of negative emotions. Selfish reward processing. Extreme hypofrontality. You write OFC circuitry of negative reward expectancies, causing obsessive negative loops

 

You can look everywhere for a saviour, from medicine to God but what happens if you take that role to get yourself better, do it as an inside job? That is Self-love.

 

In these states of (un)consciousness, your DMN is tied to pathological subcortical victim consciousness, you ingrain 'me loops', from obsessive fixation to self-feeding addictive reward dependencies, your sense of I is pathological and tied to social exclusion processing, you're not focused on the outer/social world, because it's too painful. You're not loving yourself and that reflects in non-mentalising/empathising. You're maintaining stress responses, epigenetically maintaining illness.

'Them Barriers'

 

Developing a theory of mind, empathy, prosociality

 

You move through

Difference: I'm not like them etc
Social victim and social defeat barriers: getting trodden down by others

 

Into Self-empowerment where barriers are re-internalised as personal choices to overcome struggles

 

Self-actualisation becomes the drive

 

Work through establishing sense of meaning and purpose. You get to life as a creative force, rather than destructive. You move to generate over stagnate.

You move from inner barriers to forming Us.

 

You start engaging socially, with yourself more healthily, finding your tribe etc.

 

As you liberate those pathology frameworks, consciousness becomes less tight, you make room for a Growth Mindset, you incorporate higher functioning mentalising socio-emotional and stronger task positive networks that are severely knocked out by many illnesses. Start engaging stronger goal-directed use of the theory of mind.

 

Your sense of who you are moves from victim/unworthy etc, to worthy to being self-conscious and rekindling growth by conscious choice.

 

You move past that hypofrontality by engaging through Will, executive and task-positive networks. You forcibly engage goal-directed behaviour to the best degree you can and strengthen frontal cortical functions.

 

 

I've tried to write what it's like working biopsychosocial-spiritually with a brain that isn't functioning well to try and encourage better holistic health. I'm trying to enrich my environment multidimensionally to bring new life richness - I like to use things like the social, diet, plants, arts, creativity and fitness

 

Forming new less pathological pathways is like a tree of life, forming new life pathways in the world and in the brain. Sometimes it's better you bring new ways of life to the constant strife - strengthen through pathways that may not be so ripe

 

Minimising stress, life is not a test... Tap into simple easy flow that can be just enough challenge to encourage one to grow

 

What was a story of pain and trauma can be modified, made liable and reconsolidated in new growth mindsets to new gains

 

Utilising neuroplasticity to modify erroneous brain spasticity, we boost neurogenic niches, restore hippocampal plasticity, modify functional connectivity and bring the brain to greater elasticity. Meta-cognitive openings bring new pathways, ways of growing.

 

Painful memories that were on replay turned around into creative ways, of new hearty expansive play

 

In divergent creative thinking, one can bring new conceptual expansion to previous learning, empathy boosts and socio-emotional health restores, that's what I call a reason for yearning

 

Wholes can be encouraged in the unwhole soul - forged in different thinking.Tapping into untapped potentials gives new roles to parts of the brain that were shrinking

 

I like to see plants as psychointegrators - Used correctly they can set in motion a growth of pathways, of thinking, feeling, being. Acceptance and growth mindsets, hearty feeling that encourages better incorporation of new ways of seeing. Split parts left without roles, one stops a life of Self fleeing

 

Retrieve concepts of past and reconsolidate to new functional pathways, rather than strengthen highways of pathology that are burning. What was dissociative splitting can be healed, through bringing light hearty acceptance to inner rifts. The brain has an ability to shift from pathways of fault, to stop it's never-ending internal pathological revolt

 

One can be encouraged to thrive, allowing one to progressively strive through action, towards finding healthy ways to learn to grow, slowly, into life better holistic whole goals. From pathology to creative being brings new brainwave spectral power and taps into different brain regions, new Soul. Creating connections within and in the community brings environmental enrichment and states not driven by illness - It's a way of becoming more heartily whole

 

Whereas strengthening old cognitive highways can boost erroneous thinking, we create byways that connect new pathways between old and less used regions. Tap into functions less explored and enrich environments that were sinking into stagnation and stale, form holistic new highways. Language to emotions, audio to visual, motion and motivation, you use a new repertoire to bring new ways to pathological thinking. Expansion over contraction boosts regions to form allegiance in ill brains that were dissolving and shrinking

 

You bring growth content to the forefront, what was driving pathology loses it's grip, you tap into regions of the brain that function correctly and expand ideas to strengthen those that are experiencing a functional dip

 

Consciousness becomes different, more mindful and no longer shrinking into lower brain recesses. One starts to become the witness to inner processes and new brain regions click into action and cause progress

 

Inclusion shuts down pathways of social pain which encourages mentalising and socially connecting momentum gains. A life of pathology wanes and you begin each day empowered again.

 

I've recently taken up running

 

Acute Bouts of Exercising Improved Mood, Rumination and Social Interaction in Inpatients With Mental Disorders.
 

I don't think walking etc is enough for mental health... It's got to be essentially you saying, with an internal choice "I'm going to kick this pathology's ass."

 

This matches my experiences, when you start pushing yourself intrinsically through some more intense physical activity and with other environmentally enriching small steps, quite quickly, along with established CNS benefit of environmental enrichment with exercise as a component, it's great for a sense of some personal achievement and restoring some endogenous rewards.

 

It breaks loops of pathology and gives some higher order cognition a chance to form. I'm using it for CNS benefits over weight still but there's beneficial potential side effects...

 

After some masochistic days, drew some blood in my fitness adventures, pretty drained but quite quickly, the tics have gotten a lot better, the uncontrolled executive stuff, drive into life without feeling in control, that I couldn't sustainably reclaim improved

 

Stress responses are much better, had to ease back a bit I got pretty exhausted today but you bringing the Yang to the day with pushing yourself and you find you become more receptive, the Yin flows in alignment.

 

Exercise really needs to be a component, not a standalone, several studies have found that combining exercise interventions with cognitive training produces significant benefits compared to exercise or cognitive training alone.

 

I'm trying to induce that window of plasticity and use it for learning and ingraining new things, socially and cognitively.

 

Joggin' the Noggin: Towards a Physiological Understanding of Exercise-Induced Cognitive Benefits.
 

Contemporary literature seems to support the idea that greater cardiovascular fitness can contribute to many improvements in cognition via multiple mechanisms that share in common upregulation of neurotrophins including BDNF, made more available by long-term improvements of cerebral circulation, yielding greater neurogenesis and improved capacity for adaptive brain plasticity.

 

Short term, there's CBF changes, slight beneficial functional connectivity changes

↑ BBB permeability
↑ Serum BDNF
↑ Neuronal IGF-1
↑ Serum and hippocampal VEGF

 

BDNF expression rapidly improves and in weeks you start regulating the transcription of the genes - CREB/PKB activation takes hold

Through restoring cardiovascular fitness:

 

Angiogenesis improves in 10 days, along with things like transcriptional regulators of crucial proteins associated with the many diverse functions of cells like FOXO1 (main target of insulin signaling and regulates metabolic homeostasis in response to oxidative stress)/FOXO3a

Slowly CNS inflammation decreases

 

Improved cerebral circulation - in 3 weeks there's notable shifts

Brain plasticity shifts in a slower timeframe, giving way to structural changes and cognitive benefits

 

I'm pushing myself to my fitness level in a way that I can hopefully sustain. Exercise‐related improvements are dependent on continued exercise compliance. In one study, hippocampal neurogenesis was significantly elevated in mice after 10 days of aerobic exercise, but that this increase returned to baseline just 24 h after cessation of physical activity. Within 10 days of dropping exercise, CBF can return to prior baselines.

 

Even a single bout of exercise changes regional blood flow and brain activation [1] Widespread exercise effects on brain structure and function at the systems-, cellular-, and molecular level of brain organisation. These neurobiological mechanisms may explain the well-established positive influence of exercise on performance in various behavioral domains but also its contribution to improved skill learning and neuroplasticity.

 

Many growth factors and neurotransmitters, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), and serotonin, increase with running and have been causally linked to running-induced upregulation of neurogenesis. Exercise plus learning enhances LTP, myelination and synaptogenesis.

 

"Short-term exercise usually potentiates cell proliferation, while long-term exercise primarily enhances neuronal differentiation and survival. Chronic moderate running led to an increase of cell proliferation, survival, neuronal differentiation, and migration. In contrast, intense running only promoted neuronal differentiation and migration, which was accompanied with lower expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, insulin-like growth factor 1, and erythropoietin."

[1] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0085163

 

There's a review of the effects of exercise here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurobiological_effects_of_physical_exercise

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by Alchemica