In 2018 as I first began the healing process from my hellish 2.5 bed-bound yrs of MH struggle, I took a flight to Jakarta, Indonesia, to take a 2 wk immersive course in Qigong Meditation.
I had very little $ at the time – hadn’t worked in those 2.5 yrs…had spent a lot of savings on docs/meds/just living expenses…so why spend to go to Jakarta?
Well: 1) My friend from college, Sheree, gifted me the course fee. She’d taken it previously, taught by the same doc who only teaches it in English once a yr. 2) My healing began w an Integrative Breathing course taught by the nonprofit-The Art of Living, & since that “woo woo, pixie dust” stuff seemed to work for me, I wanted to see what else was out there, that was healing.
These practices (like breathing & meditation) have been arnd for THOUSANDS of yrs. In the Qigong course, the doctor showed us writings/drawings on cave walls, going back all that time, which described the ancient teachings of these practices.
Sigmund Freud lived btwn the 1800s & 1900s. Lithium, the first psychotropic drug, wasn’t introduced till 1948. So…if talk therapy & med management were introduced (let’s round together & say 100 yrs ago), but these other practices have been arnd for many thousand of yrs (WITH documented success) why are these practices the ones called “alternative”? We know the answer. The question was rhetorical.
But it’s impt we intro mind/body practices – old ones like the ones above, & newer ones like Havening & TRE & Tapping, creatively, to break thru the clutter.
In the slides➡️ Richard Simmons wore short shorts w a huge curly mop, & got ppl “Sweating to the Oldies”…& Jane Fonda got ppl into tight pants & leg warmers – they both were marketing geniuses in the 70s/80s/90s, who normalized the WORK to be physically healthy. There’s a gym on every corner now.
Also on slides➡️ we are doing the same for MH, w STARR (Stress & Trauma, Active Release & Rewiring) Exercises. Mind/body movement is essential to improving & maintaining MH. We need creative ways (name, logo, videos, ppl w platforms) to normalize this WORK it takes to be mentally healthy…not bastardize it as “alternative.”