In my work as a therapist, my practice as an Aikidoka (Aikido student) and my experience as a human being seeking personal growth I have come to question whether we truly have a problem with our mental health.
When I look at what is ailing my clients, my community, my planet, my marital arts practice and my personal growth practice- I don't see a mental or emotional problem. I certainly see rampant symptoms of mental and emotional distress. I see very alarming levels of depression, anxiety, stress and anger. I see violence, suffering, suicide, conflict and more.
However when I endeavor to look into the root of the problem, whether it is with a client, with a training partner, in the world or in myself, it does not seem to be a mental or emotional health problem. The mental health and emotional health symptoms that are being experienced seem to be the result of poor physical living and poor spiritual living. The depression or anxiety or conflict that exists, never seems to be the result of thoughts, talking or not enough mind. Rather the symptoms seem to be too much thinking, too much talking or too much mind and not enough spiritual or physical being.
If you see our way living as a dinner plate, it would be with a tiny piece of chicken, a giant heaping of mash potatoes and a few peas. We keep poking and prodding the mash potatoes. We keep asking what is wrong with them. Why are they so bland? Why do they keep overpowering the rest of dinner? We diagnose our dinner as having Major mash potato disorder, Severe, In Partial Remission, Without Psychotic Features, but we fail to address the chicken or the peas. Maybe the potatoes are fine. Maybe feeling depressed when you don't engage your body or your spirit is how you are suppose to feel. Maybe if you are not living as a whole person anxiety is the correct response.
As a "psychotherapist" or "mind therapist", this might not be something I should be putting out there, but wholeness seems to be the only way. Wholeness seems to be what will lead to peace.
One of the most effective and fastest growing treatments for mental health disorders is meditation. Meditation is calming the mind and slowing thoughts. Another is evidence based practice is exercise, engaging the body and to an extent reducing the role of the mind in what is happening. The most established path to inner peace and contentment has been spiritual practice, so often involving prayer or chanting or silence that focuses the mind in a way that brings us out of thinking and into our bodies and our spirits.
We are living in a world that dramatically reduced the need for physical activity or the need to face spiritual challenges everyday. We are constantly engaged with distractions, quick fixes and promises of an easier way through life. It is so easy to ignore the physical and spiritual suffering within ourselves, our species and our planet. Our physical and spiritual health suffer, while we delve increasingly more deeply into the mind, entertainment, thinking and feeling without experiencing the wholeness or fullness of life. What we seem to be left with is less confidence, less trust, less connection, less motivation, less love and less wholeness and with a planet that is slowly losing its vibrancy, harmony and balance.
Our bodies and our souls seem to be less engaged than ever in the history of any earth species. Obesity and chronic health diseases are glaring, even among children, while the populations of most spiritual communities are aging, often dramatically. Our minds are more educated, more stimulated and more engaged then the kings and queens of old and yet our bodies and spirits are less vibrant. Perhaps that is where the healing is.
In my intimate relationships endless talking and thinking has not resolved conflict, endless processing has not lead to productive changes or deeper love. In my sessions with clients talking and thinking and feeling have been very loosely tied to resolving mental health symptoms. Action, faith, exercise, meditation, mindfulness (which ironically is less mind and more whole being) and facing fears seem to be much more dramatic indicators of a client having symptom reductions. A client who is more deeply "practicing" being who they are is sure to make change, whereas a client who examines the nuances of their thoughts and behaviors often repeats the same cycles endlessly.
This is not to say that talking can't be helpful or that cognitive therapy isn't a powerful tool. Simply that what I see in the world, my client's, my practice and myself is the importance of balance.
Humans seem to be unbalanced. Too much mind. Too much talking, too much thinking, too much feeling. Not enough action. Not enough doing. Not enough spirit. Not enough faith. Not enough being.
How can we mind less. Think less. Be more. Act more. Live more.
We are three dimensional beings. Body, Mind and Spirit. How can we bring that more fully into being. How can we act with deeper love? How can we care for our bodies and the body of our planet? How can we face the challenges and suffering in our world with clear eyes and skillful action?
How can we be more human? How can we live more balance lives? Seize the moment. Act. Delve more deeply into truth. Find our path. Step out into the abyss of whole living. It is scary and it is painful, but it produces real and meaningful change in our lives. Change our planet depends on us making.