Prescription for Health
Similarly to when you go to an MD and ask for a prescription, I would like you to go within yourself and create your own prescription for optimal health! As you know, the key to processing trauma is making space in your nervous system by implementing self care for your body, mind and spirit. When you are able to create space you will be better able to cope with processing your experience without going into a healing crisis. The process of healing should be gentle and done at your own pace.
Please fill in at least one action in each of the three categories below and print this out and place it somewhere you will see it every day. Just as an MD will stress the importance of finishing a prescription of antibiotics and not missing any days, set the intention to follow your prescription with the same diligence! In order to be successful, start with really manageable self care goals. Remember, the goal of this prescription is to add pleasure to your life, not more stress! For example, even if you decide that five minutes a day is all that you can manage to meditate for, that is ok! That’s five minutes more than before you started and that is a perfectly acceptable goal! As always, be gentle with yourself! Most of us typically aren’t used to taking time to nurture ourselves and this will take practice. If you miss a day, that’s ok, set the intention to start again the next morning or take a few deep mindful breaths before falling asleep.
If you struggle with feeling like you are being selfish by taking this time for yourself, please remember that the healthier you are, the more capable you are of being the parent, partner and all round person you wish to be!!! You can’t fully help anyone else if you feel like you are drowning.
I’ve included three different sections, mind, body and spirit and they all overlap in the sense that we can mindfully incorporate all three things into anything we do. The point of choosing different activities is to make sure that we are addressing all aspects of ourselves! For example some of us are very left brained and like to really analyze things but don’t pay much attention to how our body sensations feel or to our intuition so this is an exercise in finding balance! In order to fully heal we really want to make sure that we are addressing all three areas so that we can heal in a balanced and integrated way! Here’s some examples of what I mean in each category. Please choose things you already love and know work for you or add new things you would like to try!
Mind: Reading self help / spiritual books, going to therapy, taking an email / phone / internet break etc
Body: Movement of any kind, taking healthy supplements, nourishing your body with healthy foods / treats, getting a massage, having an epsom salt bath etc
Spirit: Meditating, chanting, sitting by a fire, laying under the clouds and taking deep nourishing breaths, walks in nature etc.
You can download and print the Prescription for Health by clicking here.