What can we offer you for 2015?
Sometimes we’re asked what we actually do here! So as we commence this New Year, let’s give you an overview of the power of Stillness Meditation Therapy.
We first get to know our client – and allow that person to get to know us a little, too. Here’s an example of first meeting.
At my invitation the man or the woman takes a seat. Having read the details stated on our registration form, we have a conversation which tells me their primary purpose for being here: to improve health, get over panic attacks, be free of symptoms, be less anxious …
Many people are very stressed – and so this person may be one who does not sink into the shape of the chair or merge with its softness but will sit on the edge, noticeably on edge. In many cases the eyes are either bright with hope or dull with desperation. Legs are crossed and uncrossed. Fingers are twisting and untwisting as each story unfolds.
Well … I was retrenched from my job … or … it started with post natal depression … or … my mother died of cancer and … or … I was on a train and I suddenly felt out of control … or … I’ve lost confidence … or … my blood pressure escalated … or … when my marriage failed … and so the ravages of anxiety become apparent. Since I too, once walked a very similar talk, I can powerfully empathise with the unfolding story.
Current or past treatment discussed might include the fact that this person is seeing a counselor or doctor or cognitive therapist to find relief and maybe to deal with life issues. Usually there is a rider that these strategies are helpful “but I’m still plagued by symptoms”. Always there is a passionate desire to discontinue medication. Medication, whilst being a useful ‘bandaid’ does not bring symptom solution. There may then be tears, or more anguished twisting – or conversely, a stoic response as our conversation continues. Always apparent is the anxiety that has brought weeks, or months or years of suffering and bewilderment – and I long to reassure and help this person just begin to let go.
Anxiety in its many forms evolves from stress. But it’s common knowledge today that stress damages brain cells, raises blood pressure, stimulates inflammatory hormones, aggravates the stomach and adversely affects muscles and joints. When sensitive people are challenged by stress their minds get busy analyzing, processing, ruminating and worrying. Worry is anxiety, ringing the warning bells of innate fear and the natural chemical fight or flight response begins. Though the majority of ‘stressed’ individuals don’t realize this, somewhere, sometime, tension has been learned as a way of fighting against unpleasantness. Over time, tension has increased further which in turn alerts more anxiety, manifesting symptoms such as those described above – or in chronic illness ranging from emotional disorders to heart disease.
Stress in itself is part of life. But a state of stress occurs through too much anxiety. To survive stress effectively, anxiety levels must be well managed and by natural means. We know that medication is not the long term answer. And we know that certainly, there will be factors within people’s lives that beg resolution and that good strategies for living make good sense. But the matter of anxiety is not about sense – it’s not about logic – but about self-defence taken to the extreme. However, this self defence can also be about positive change, where people can learn to reverse their situation as naturally as it arose.
So what do we do here? We help people to change their learned responses at a far deeper level. In the uniqueness of Stillness Meditation Therapy, four powerful components of healing contribute to this kind of change:
1. the recognized benefits of meditation
2. the deep experience of absence of disturbance leading to mental rest
3. the communicative value of calming therapeutic touch
4. the experience and expertise of the therapist in providing a supportive environment
As with any form of reputable treatment, this pathway to change takes some commitment and a little time. But when, a few weeks after that first visit I hear the words ‘it’s magic’, ‘truly wonderful’, ‘astonishing really’ … and see this in the eyes of the man or the woman, once more I have confirmed to me that what they came to discover is being found.
Pauline McKinnon
(Read Pauline’s story – In Stillness Conquer Fear)
