This is the third instalment of an 11-part series of articles that will appear in Brainz Magazine online throughout the year!
“There are many motivational factors in life, and all of them are emotional. Inspiration, joy, pain, empathy, love, shame, guilt, hope, and fear. Each of these emotions simultaneously triggers brain and body responses and can be the symphony to which we dance throughout life. Some of those dances are slow, graceful, and luxurious, with every movement felt and experienced, and some of those dances are disjointed, frenzied, thoughtless, and exhausting. Fear is one of the latter.
It is common practice in the medical model and in the fields of psychology and psychiatry to categorize any strife, uncomfortable emotion, or challenging behaviour into “mental health” pathologies or diagnoses. And when diving deep, you will inevitably experience all kinds of emotion, none of them bad, but some certainly less pleasant and even deeply painful.
In the medical model, emotions and states of being such as depression and anxiety are pathologized. Behaviors such as addiction and phobias act as shields from perceived danger. Labels such as narcissism and borderline personality disorder frighten us. Medications are the standard of care, dampening both the difficult emotions but also the potential for growth and discovery.
These states of being, the struggle, the painful emotions, and the unhealthy behaviours, are very real and can be highly destructive, fragmenting relationships and even the self, yet what is missed is the reason for the disharmony, the fact that these difficult and sometimes dark experiences are not a metaphorical dark night of the soul, but very real ones. They are the very paths we need to walk while on our varying Hero’s Journeys until we return home stronger, wiser, forever changed, tattooed with maps of our lives, with “every lesson learned a line upon your beautiful face” (Get Out the Map by the Indigo Girls).”
Give the series a read to find out how to shift into kick-ass health empowerment!
Carla Atherton, MA, FDN-P, is the Director of the Healthy Family Formula and the HFF Practitioner Training Academy, Host and Producer of the Children’s Health Summit, Author of Family Health Revolution, Mountains Rise from Earthquakes Writing Experience Facilitator, Health Empowerment Coach, Holistic Family Health Consultant, Yoga Instructor and Mind/Body Facilitator, and Children’s Health Advocate. Spurred on by the love for her three glorious children, Carla’s mission is to support families to achieve their best health through information, guidance, inspiration, and empowerment.