Apple Blossom Holistic Psychotherapy
Rob Hejna, LSW, ACSW
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Alignment With Nature
Perhaps if we only knew better how to learn from and align with the balance and harmony available in nature, we wouldn't even need such a thing as a therapist.
Many years ago, I became inspired to write a book on Great Lakes tribal culture, the Anishinaabe, including spiritual perspectives. It was a journey that brought me to fascinating knowledge as I met with ceremonial elders like Adam Fortunate Eagle Nordwall, author of Alcatraz! Alcatraz!. I learned that life is circular, and that all parts of the circle are interconnected and inter-reliant. I learned that knowledge can be conveyed through circle teachings, which are like roadmaps of discovery to one's own inner nature.
Let's take the "Elements Circle" for example, one of the most basic to many indigenous peoples, this particular version coming from the Great Lakes Medicine Society, the Midewewin.
Air
Earth Fire
Water
And let's overlay the aspects of being human.
Mental
Physical Spiritual
Emotional
Now let's look at the essential energetic value or 'medicine' of the elements. The essence of water is fluidity. The essence of earth is stability. The essence of air is flexibility. The essence of
fire is expansiveness. If we are in alignment with water energy, we will flow with our emotions. Plants teach us to give in this way because they communicate with emotion. To be in alignment with earth energy, we will be stable in our physical reality--our health, our diet, our exercise, our care for all our survival needs. Minerals teach us this connection since they are holders of energy. To be in alignment with the air, we will strive to have flexible minds, seeing multiple viewing points and out-of-the-box solutions. Animals help us to see this way, as they are balanced receivers, open to all that is intuitive. To be in alignment with fire, we need to be expansive in relation to our spiritual awareness, seeing a higher ethic, realizing an unbounded love. Highly evolved humans, great teachers can help us with this, as they understand sacred law.
Do you resonate with this way of connecting? There are many dozens more circles, like the circle of Self-Respect, that might be integral to your self-growth. But just learning them is the beginning. In this holistic way of therapy, homework might involve working with the circles on your own in a natural setting. Then the teachings begin to come alive, until you begin to dance the circles internally. That's when change really starts to occur.
Why Mindfulness,
Why Transcendental?
Imagine your mind as an ocean with the waves at the surface, undulating motion below, and deep down toward the bottom all is still.
Suppose the waves are like your regular conscious thoughts. Did you know brain research has found that our brains process over one thousand thoughts per second? It is virtually impossible for our mind to keep up with it all. So the vast majority goes into our subconscious (the mind of habit), and our unconscious (the mind of storage) areas of "preserved thought". When we dream at night, our dreams are an attempt by the active mind to make sense out of, integrate, and resolve some of that vast storage.
But, back to the ocean metaphor. Down at the bottom is something scientists have come to call "pure consciousness".
It's such a peaceful place deep within our mind, that our regular awareness loves to go there. It's more restful than sleep, and all it takes is a little sound, occurring spontaneously and intermittently in the mind to guide the way.
Mindfulness as a general concept is a very helpful thing. It encourages us to pay attention to the waves at the surface of the mind-ocean, so we notice patterns of thinking that might be unproductive, and notice who it is that's doing the thinking.
That 'who' is the sense of self, the conductor/director of our orchestra of "self layers". It's nice to get to know that conductor/director, and experience the reassurance that someone is in that role! That conductor/director, by the way, tends also to be the one talking when you're talking with a therapist.
Mindfulness meditation, like guided meditation, or meditating while listening to gong sounds, anything that involves an effort to not think, or to maintain focus on certain things, will be somewhat peaceful because it will create a theta brain wave similar to a trance. It's the brain wave we experience just before sleep or just as we wake up, and likely enhances our sense of love and connection with the rest of life on our planet.
What takes us to the bottom of the mind-ocean is transcendental meditation, using a mantra in that spontaneous, intermittent, effortless way as a guide. The brain wave associated with this pure consciousness is an alpha wave, similar to sleep, yet awake. It has been proven with brain research to create coherence in all parts of the brain simultaneously.
Further research has shown that regularly bringing coherence to the brain in this way significantly reduces symptoms associated with PTSD, ADHD, Anxiety and Depression, and even reduces psychopathic/criminal ways of thinking.