How To Adopt a healing mentality
There is one thing that I hear almost universally from people who have successfully reversed symptoms of chronic disease or autoimmunity, and that is that the journey is not easy. I’ve never met anyone who “accidentally” restored their health. Despite our bombardment of messages that this gizmo, gadget, pill or potion is all you need to successfully heal from illness, I have not personally met anyone who miraculously healed with a quick fix.
The good news is, however, that I have met an extraordinary number of real people who have recovered or are recovering from illness with nutrition and lifestyle changes, myself included. I have successfully reversed a number of autoimmune diseases and I am a cancer thriver. One of the most important lessons I want to share with others is that it is important to shift your mindset into a mentality of healing as you start a journey to wellness.
I have more than many tips for a healing mentality. Today I want to share my Top 10 with you.
The following are 10 ways to begin to transform your health by shifting your mindset to a mentality of healing:
Shift Your Focus.
It’s easy to focus on long term outcomes and expectations like “When will I feel better?” “When will I heal?” “How long will this take?” Yes, it’s the classic, “Are we there yet?” question.
It will help instead to set a long term goal for healthy behavior. For example, commit to adopting a health and wellbeing nutrition and lifestyle protocol for a period of 3-5 years. This gives your cells a good amount of time to really start healing in a meaningful way. This doesn’t mean you won’t feel better for 3-5 years. I hope you start to feel better in the first 90 days! But committing to healthy behaviors for several years will shift your focus from arbitrary expectations and timelines to a focus on daily behaviors that you will feel empowered to control.
No one regrets being well.
I have yet to hear a person say, “Boy, I really regret getting well. This improved health and wellbeing isn’t all that great.” No, what people say when they regain their health and wellbeing is that it was worth the effort and the sacrifice it takes to be well. Health and wellbeing is priceless, as anyone who suffers from illness well knows. Commit to a wellbeing journey - you won’t regret it!
You are worthy of this journey.
You are precious. You have gifts and a unique purpose. You want to have a life you love. You want to serve your family, people and causes you love, your career, right? You were created for contribution and you are worthy of the journey to health and wellbeing. You would likely sacrifice anything to help someone you love get well, right? Well, I want you to decide right now: You are someone you love and you are going to love yourself to health.
Don’t Let Fear Be Your Leader.
Fear is natural. We are fear-based creatures or we would not have survived. But fear doesn’t have to lead you - because we promise it won’t lead you where you want to go. It’s ok to fear hope that can you an heal. It’s ok to fear you won’t be consistent with a health plan or that you will fail to heal. We understand. But where is fear leading you? Decide today that you will lead yourself to health. Think of it this way: Fear can be a passenger on your journey but it can’t be the driver!
You are not an Ostrich.
We get it - there is so much information on health and wellness that it can be overwhelming. Every time you turn around, you learn about another thing that is a toxin, right?
It helps to remember that “knowledge is power.” Knowing something doesn’t change the facts and hiding from the truth isn’t helpful. Here is an example: You just read that EMF can be harmful and it feels overwhelming to figure out how to reduce your exposure. So you want to pull an “ostrich” and stick your head in the sand and “forgeddaboudit” right? And yet, ignoring the fact that EMF may be eroding your health won’t help or change reality. If EMF (or any toxin) is harming you, it’s harming you. Instead, go ahead and acknowledge the frustration, and then make an intentional plan to deal with it. Decide to allow knowledge to empower you to turn fear into action while making choices that empower your health!
Let Go Of Excuses.
We all make excuses and most of them are fear-based. We deeply fear something so we pre-make-up reasons we may fail. But do you know what? Excuses can be self-fulfilling failure scenarios. So let’s shift to talking about real obstacles that we face such as limited time, energy, emotional and financial resources. Those are real obstacles that we may need to talk about and work through. Ask yourself: are you working through real obstacles in your health and wellbeing journey? Or are you making excuses as to why you can’t even try? If so, journal or talk with someone to help you identify your fears so you can move forward. Fear is normal. But it doesn’t have to prevent you from even trying.
Self-Care is Not Selfish.
In fact, self-care is an act of service. Why? Because when you put your oxygen mask on first, you are able to continue helping others. If you don’t take care of your health, your health will slow you down - and eventually shut you down - without asking permission. So put your oxygen mask on first and consider it an act of service. When you take care of yourself, you can continue to serve others.
Healing is Not Linear.
Healing is a journey. And journeys do not unfold as planned, no matter how planned they are. Think of the journey to health as a hike up a lovely mountain. Some days will be delightful; sunny and warm and easy and joyous. Some days you will encounter obstacles like fallen logs or rock slides or muddy patches. And some days will be downright difficult; cold and dark and raining, or you may get lost on the trial, or a mountain lion may jump out at you. On these days, remember that your journey did not end - you did not go back to the beginning - you did not undo all your progress: you simply took a few backwards steps, or paused, or lost the path. Rest assured, the path is still there. You are still on the mountain. The weather will clear and you will find your way. You will be able to get back on track soon enough. Don’t let these days derail all of the work you have done.
Focus on Realistic and Sustainable Changes.
Short-term changes to your nutrition and lifestyle plan will result in short-term results. Instead, adopt one change that you can maintain forever. Once that becomes easier, adopt the next change. That might be one change per week or per month or per year. But even one change that sticks is better than a slew of changes that don’t. Remember, by committing to healthy behaviors indefinitely, you will shift your focus from arbitrary expectations and timelines to a focus on daily behaviors that you will feel empowered to control. So don’t feel rushed to make every change at once. I am almost 7 years into my journey and I am still making changes. All journeys unfold one step at a time. Make a change in nutrition. Then add another. Then make a change to your movement plan. Then another. And so on. I promise, these smaller changes over time will equal big results!
You May Be A Threat.
When you adopt healthy habits, your choices may feel like a threat to some people. You can’t control if your behaviors trigger something in someone else that feels threatening. It’s not your fault. You are not actually hurting anyone else with your choices. You can choose to just ignore this or you can have a simple or elaborate explanation ready. But you don’t owe anyone an explanation or justification. I simply say, “This is part of my plan to try to heal. It’s working for me.” Acknowledge to yourself that your behavior was some type of trigger for that person and move on. Or say with kindness, “I sense my healthy behavior feels frightening to you? Do you want to talk about it?”
These are just 10 tips that may help you to adopt a healing mentality in preparation for a successful healing journey.
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I also offer 1:1 wellbeing coaching in the areas of physical (eating, moving, sleeping), social, environmental, intellectual, occupational, mind-spirit, and family wellbeing. Time management, career change, purpose, interdependent communication, unleashing authenticity and life detoxes are my specialities.
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Shannon Lea is a formerly licensed psychotherapist and currently certified positive psychology and health coach. She successfully reversed autoimmunity and chronic Lyme disease and is a cancer thriver. Her mission and purpose is to inspire others that hope for healing is always possible. She helps others design customized nutrition and lifestyle plans for health restoration. She accepts private coaching clients and is launching an online wellbeing program later this year. She is the co-founder of the Lead Yourself To Health, Love Yourself To Health and The Roadmap to Leadwell programs.
