By Christian Chapman circa 2019
I was sitting in front of the Creator of Mental Health Matters Now when I was compelled to rush home and write this. While sitting in his living room brainstorming and building off of each other, I’d realized that I was not well.
It was almost as if something inside me clicked and in my head I heard “you need to address this, and you need to address it now”. In the moment between talking about merchandise and Mental Health Awareness Month (May), an energy inside of me told me to go and get to work, so I listened.
I’m not sure if it is being a woman, being a Cancer, or my upbringing is the center of why for the most part, I only listen to my heart, and I don’t exercise my mind. I realized how dangerous it was to only sit there and come from and emotional place with everything, and not allow my mind to work its wonders. I do a lot of things (or not do) based on feelings and emotions that stem from a sensitive place.
In these moments, I am working on healing from some things that hurt my heart. These things have affected the way that I think. This is detrimental to my journey of peace, because I am allowing my emotions inside of my heart to send signals to my brain. Signals of pain, suffering, and doubt that I have not dealt with are traveling to my mind and as a result, attacking my mindset.
I went home and sat silently for a moment and realized that I was making myself sick by not actively day to day making a conscious effort to heal. I came to the conclusion that in order to heal the mind, and tap into my true self, I have to heal what hinders me, my heart. It is very easy to become complacent and live in hurt, but it is not the health route. The healing of the heart in order to heal the frame of mine, takes hard work. Understand that mental health, and the process of being mental healthy requires daily training. It requires work from you. Are you willing to do the work?
Here are somethings that I am working on in order to heal at the heart, in order for myself to send healthy signals to the mind.
- TALK about it. Find someone you trust to not judge you. In some cases, that may be a complete stranger in the form of a therapist. Visit this websites resource page for recommendations.
- PRAY about it. I refuse to push religion on anyone. Whatever your belief are, wherever you stand, you spend some quiet time talking to that higher being. I chose to listen to gospel music to uplift me and prepare me for conversations with the God that I serve.
- FACE it. Allow yourself to hurt. Allow yourself to cry. You are humans. You can not ignore the pain because even if you try to mentally block it, your heart will send signals that can traumatize your own mind.
- SPEAK to yourself about it. Talk to your heart. Find a way to ease that pain and make your heart feel better. Do and affirmations exercise where instead of speaking life into the material things you want, speak life back into your heart. Tell your heart that you are working on easing the pain. Forgive yourself for the things that get you down. Enlighten yourself by acknowledging the possibilities of forming an alliance between your heart and your mind, and all you can do when these two instruments are on the same page.