I feel therapy is very important and essential for some people. Just a few types of therapies you might be familiar with are physical, occupational, respiratory, muscular strengthening and flexibility among other types which I refer to as the visible or physical therapies. I call these types of therapies visible or physical therapies because if a person does not have a visual impairment they can visibly see the therapist performing some action or if they do not have a hearing impairment they can listen to them perform these types of therapies.
I feel that we should not overlook the importance of mental therapy. When I describe mental therapy, although mental disorders are a very important topic, my version of mental therapy does not relate directly to mental disorders. My non-medical opinion of what mental therapy includes is one’s spiritual and mental clarity. I sometimes call this my inner barometer. Without mental peace and contentment, none of the many visible or physical therapies could accomplish as much as they could if a person’s body and mind was not in a healthy state.
For me it is far easier to do the physical therapies. This is because for me physical therapies do not require as much mental discipline and conscientious effort to maintain a steady and persistent mindful inner peace. However, I know from experience the physical therapies I noted above can be very strenuous, grueling and extremely painful at times. I know this first hand from having the experience of re-learning all over again how to sit up in bed, sit on a chair, talk, walk and feed myself among other typical life tasks.
I feel my inner senses around my physical well being have been enhanced since I lost all of my eyesight and I temporarily lost the abilities I mention above. One thought I have for the perceived extra bandwidth in my mind for additional sensory abilities is because I do not need to waste energy on actually seeing with my physical eyes. This extra sensory energy can be focused inwardly. Maybe others with other permanent or temporary disabilities have their own unique skills for sensing well being.
When I am in a good frame of mind mentally my mind is clear and the blackness I perceive to see is not so pitch black. I would describe what I see when I am experiencing inner peace and well being as like seeing a light grey color. In the foreground of the light grey color I am imagining images of the tasks I am doing or other thoughts as I move my eyes while I am concentrating on my tasks. When I am in this state of well being I am able to be my most productive in my personal and professional life.
Occasionally I might experience consecutive days where my perceived vision is dark therefore I know I need to take action. Over the last few weeks I have made a conscientious effort to dedicate time to occasionally take a short break to check in with my inner self and pay attention to my inner barometer (attitude) and the color of my perceived vision. If I notice my attitude is not positive or my perceived vision is dark I conscientiously focus inward and take some deep breaths, think positively and re-ground myself. I am diabetic and as a benefit of practicing my version of mental therapy it helps maintain a steady and correct blood glucose level.
If you have read some of my other blog posts, you might have noticed in my opinion I am extremely driven, relentless to overcome any obstacles and continually learning new skills to deliver positive and quality results. This attitude at times can be harmful if I forget to check in with my inner barometer and over look the importance of practicing my version of mental therapy. Since I love my profession, get pleasure from assisting others and enjoy being productive it is extremely easy for me to fully engulf my time and effort to complete my deliverables and thus neglect my mental therapy. I can easily get distracted and neglect my mental therapy while I am improving my business skills, working on the five operating systems and working on the many different types and versions of software with many user interface designs. All of these learning opportunities are compounded with teaching myself how to use over six different types of assistive technologies, solving interoperability complexities that come with such a changing environment, and many other skills that allow me to be effective and productive.
My recent practice of increasing the importance of my version of mental therapy has helped me to be more productive all while working through daily obstacles. As part of my mental therapy I have started to try to work less on the weekends if there are not any critical projects pending and thereby help me re-ground and re-energize. In addition I have recently taken up learning to play the Ukulele as part of my mental therapy which is an extreme diversion from all of the technical tasks I normally do.
I have found that practicing mental therapy recalibrates my inner barometer for sensing well being which allows me to work smarter, quicker and more efficiently all the while keeping my family life as the priority it should be.
I am sure others are far busier and have a more complicated life with more responsibilities than I do and thus might be able to benefit from my version of mental therapy to enhance their life.
Does anyone else practice mental therapy? If yes, how do you accomplish your mental therapy and what sense (internal or external) triggers you to do a recalibration check in? What benefits have you gained from it? If you sense your well-being is not positive, what techniques do you use to recalibrate your inner barometer? If you have a temporary or permanent disability, does your mental therapy aid in your ability to sense your inner well being?
I look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.
Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/
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