It is common for clients to come to therapy with the hope for a speedy resolution to their challenges. Especially in the era of Youtube videos and bio-hacks, more than ever people are desperate for a quick fix and to get to-dos or how-to tips.
Barring the occasions when clients come to therapy to learn something relatively simple to address an immediate, daily-life challenge, the quick-fix strategies are seldom, if ever, useful in addressing long-standing, deep challenges.
It can take a long time to embed a new, positive belief once it has been changed, and so it is important to complement short interventions with consistent practice.
The work of healing from past traumas and changing beliefs and behaviours is gradual and progressive. Every change we create today slightly changes the course of our journey, usually, if intentional and skilful, in a positive direction. We focus on the change, not the outcomes.
Modern therapeutic techniques have greatly improved and their impact is more tangibly felt by the clients and therapists who implement them.
The use of talk-based interventions (most types of psychotherapy) is great at addressing many mental and emotional challenges, and often yields visible, positive results relatively quickly. Often, however, these issues re-emerge, perhaps less frequently and hopefully less intensely, but they re-emerge.
Often this is because much of who we are and how we behave is stored in our physiology and not only in our minds. Psychotherapy techniques can do a lot about the way we think and feel, but changes must also occur in our physiology to be deeper and more sustainable.
Evidence is mounting that our attitudes, thoughts and feelings can actually have an impact on our physical wellbeing and health. And vice-versa, how we treat our body and our physical attributes can influence our mental health.
The mind-body connection shows that one affects the other, either positively or negatively, and that sometimes physical illness or symptoms can be the outcome of psychological and social factors. This can include your quality of relationships, coping skills and the ability to manage your emotions.
When we experience stressful, overwhelming events, these will impact our physiology. Our nervous system will react and the body will sometimes lock these memories into our muscles and fascia. We may experience chronically tensed areas in the body as a result.
We now know that early childhood stressors essentially program how our physiology will run for the remaining of our lives. We tend to be easily triggered into Fight-Flight-Freeze mode, depending on which hormones are being released in our system, running into an autopilot programme of defensiveness or escape or inability to deal with the situation which deeply impact all our relationships.
When we just address our physical condition, the discomfort can be alleviated but can persists if the psychological root cause of it is not addressed.
It is for this reason that marrying psychotherapy with practical, physical experiences can both speed up and deepen the impacts of psychotherapy and the positive impacts itcreates.
Our Latin ancestors Latin use to say ‘mens sana in corpore sano’… they already understood the mind-body connection, modern science is now rediscovering and reinforcing this link in more overt manners.
COMPLEMENTING TOOLS TO PSYCHOTHERAPY
Some of you may have turned to or are considering complimentary practices to reduce your stress, energise your body & mind, find meaning and fulfilment that is missing in your life in meditation, yoga, dance, art, music and other activities.
All these practices can indeed help you to feel better and more alive.
And what if you could get a strong foundation to your well-being in one programme addressing mental, physical and emotional health?
As a trained psychologist, Wim Hof Method and Oxygen Advantage instructor, a long-term yoga practitioner, cyclist and experimentalist, I have always enjoyed the opportunity to include physical practices in my own pursuit for a balanced life. Many of these practices are today shared with my clients, who have experienced similar, powerful results as I have.
Based on science and tested by many, many of these practices have the potential to unlock our physiology and help us release trapped traumas and tensions, let go of unhealthy emotions and reframe unskilful beliefs.
My wellbeing retreats are specifically designed with the mind-body connection in mind, and marry robust scientific tools of physical and mental practices to help participants break through their limiting beliefs.
In the upcoming 3-day retreat, we will actively explore and identify the most impactful behaviours you currently engage in, which hinder you from stepping into the next level of your potential.
We will identify the core, limiting beliefs that fuel these negative patterns, and effectively replace them with positive beliefs that accelerate your potential.
And we will create a robust commitment framework, that will practically enhance the chances that you will commit to seeing your necessary changes to their natural conclusion.
The retreat is designed for all individuals or couple who want to accelerate their achievements. These are participants who are currently thriving and are looking for a breakthrough for the extra edge.
It also caters to individuals or couples who face a current personal challenge either physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, who are looking for a breakthrough for a more joyful life.
And it caters to individuals who face a current professional challenge as business owners, leaders or employees, who are looking for a breakthrough for further progression.
If you have already seen some benefits from your psychotherapy and want to complement this work to accelerate your growth, healing and learning, join us at our transformative retreats. Indicate your interest with your preferred dates here if you cannot make it.