5 Tips for Healing

• Live Your Purpose
  ‘He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.’ (Friedrich Nietzsche). Living my purpose as a mother, business owner, and writer has been the most powerful tool in my full recovery. In fact, scientific studies show that people with a strong will (reason) to live often recover faster from illness and live longer.

  Action – Ask yourself, what is my purpose? What small step(s) can I take today to start (or continue) living it?

• Lean on Your Higher Power (or other resources)
  ‘The universe is always conspiring to help us, if we only trust its wisdom.’ (Ralph Waldo Emerson). If you have faith in a higher power, it can be a source of great comfort, companionship and inspiration. It also can help you ‘think greater than you feel’ on tough days, accepting them as part of the process.

If you do not believe in a higher power, then draw on something that supports you like spending time with loved ones and animal companions, or out in nature.

I also recommend reading psychologist Albert Ellis’ book, ‘How to stubbornly refuse to make yourself miserable about anything, yes anything!’ In it, he helps you get rid of ‘stinking thinking’ by unconditionally accepting yourself:

‘You always, under all conditions, evaluate yourself as a valuable, good person because:

-You are you
-You are alive
-You decide to do so

And because you acknowledge your bad traits, and dislike them, but still accept yourself with these because you refuse to give any global rating to your Youness.’

Action: What’s one thing you can do today to support yourself, e.g., sit in the park, reach out to a friend, etc.?

• Build Your Own Healing Team
  ‘Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.’ (Edmund Lee). People with the exact same illness often recover using different healers and approaches. For example, my friend Tom and I shared the same diagnoses, but he healed mainly through…
• Chi Gong (Teacher Wei)
• Internal Family Systems (Dick Schwartz)
• Heart/Brain Coherence Meditation (Joe Dispenza)

…while I healed primarily from:

• Integrative Manual Therapy (Ali Leitheiser, Joe Keeney)
• OCD Recovery (Robert Bray’s team)
• Somatic Experiencing (Jake White)

Even though our approaches were different, they shared key things in common—namely loving, supportive mentors and communities, who gave us hope, encouragement, and practical tools to empower our own recoveries.

Action: List people and approaches that can help you in your journey. If you already have a team, assess if you’d like to make changes.

• Indulge in Laughter and Pleasure
  ‘Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.’ (Mark Twain). Life is short. We have the choice of making it: ‘Solitary, nasty, brutish and short.’ (Thomas Hobbes) or ‘Life is short, and life is beautiful, and everything is lovely.’ (Daisy Whitney).

When we become ill, we tend to get very serious—and self-focused. We can fall into constantly ruminating about pain and loss instead of seeing all the good in our lives.

Make time to find your joy again. I was mostly bed-ridden when I first started so I did small things like reconnecting with my family, watching funny movies, and eating Talenti sorbet (careful, that stuff is as addictive as crack 😉).

The more joy you experience, the more of it you will attract. It’s like the Keynesian multiplier effect on steroids. And you’ll be so busy enjoying yourself you’ll start to forget all about sickness.

Action: Is there a book, movie, or song that makes you laugh or brings you pleasure? Spend time enjoying it.

• Give and Be Grateful
  ‘The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.’ (Norman Vincent Peale). I’m sure most of us are tired of hearing well-worn phrases such as:

  ‘Develop an attitude of gratitude.’ (Brian Tracy).
  ‘For it is in giving that we receive.’ (Saint Francis of Assisi).

But they are well-worn for a reason. They work!

When you feel down, one of the quickest ways to elevate your mood is to give. There is always something you can give. Even if you are bedridden, you can pray for someone else. After all, at least you have a bed! Some people don’t even have that.

Additionally, find things for which to be grateful. When you do this simple exercise, you’ll be amazed how quickly your outlook starts to brighten.

Something about the brain chemistry (mind consciousness) of giving and being grateful heals. Remember these gestures don’t have to be big. You simply can pay someone a compliment at the market or say thank you for a sunny day.

Action: Before going to bed, say three things for which you are grateful. The next day, say three new things. Keep saying new things you’re grateful for until your brain starts automatically to look for these things. Just this one practice alone can open you to opportunities you otherwise would’ve missed.

Hugs, from a grateful, wickedly funny Tuula