Our Living Well Psychotherapy logo gives an image of a tree with many seasons colors, reaching toward and emitting light. It is one with deep roots and many branches. Similarly, a well-lived life can have a holistic approach considering mind, body, health, spirit, and community.
Living well in our times is too often represented as a surface cover with the insta-image, photoshopped lifestyle with the shiny enamel of life, in the sparkle in our smile, the label on our clothing, sheen on our brand-new car, or the bubble in our beverage. What if the glow came from within? What if you were to bubble over with joy from your internal spring, and you were the resource you were pulling from?
The world we often see doesn’t represent how we feel, the depth of our being with all the interesting layers of sediment that create who we are.
We each are unique individuals with experiences that are the core of who and how we are. Yet, too often, we let these parts hide in the shadows. Living well brings all these parts to the light, loving all of who we are and being open to discovering the deepest parts of our internal well.
Mental health is a vital consideration in creating a roadmap to wellness. Nearly one in five U.S. adults lives with a mental illness (NIMH, 2020). A significant part of healing our mental health is considering the body, which holds 80% of our physical experience of the world and our cognitions the remaining 20%. Emotions & physical sensations experienced with stress are encoded into our body’s nervous system, not as memories but as physical responses in the present (Van Der Kolk, 2014). Recovery requires a renegotiation of experience in the body, integrating emotional regulation & reducing the physical stress of trauma (Levine, 2005). Being active and engaging in our physical bodies can help release the body’s trapped sensations we acquire when stressed so we can begin to heal. When we tune into bodily perceptions, we feel & integrate our emotions and increase control over them.
Engaging with others in your community with practices can create more openness and resonance such as yoga, mindfulness, meditation, movement, singing, chanting, or prayer. These can help create better attunement and overall mind-body integration. The body holds sensations, movements, emotions that support learning, creativity, experiences, and intelligence. By unlocking and understanding ourselves with greater awareness, we open the door to greater expression. Connect with our team to understand more about supporting your Living Well journey!
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