SUPPORTIVE HEALING PRACTICES

Align Wellness Solutions is a holistic therapy practice. This not only means that we utilize holistic modalities – neurotherapy, biofeedback, yoga, meditation, breathwork – in addition to traditional types of therapy, but also that we believe that our bodies and minds are not separate entities. There are many things that you can do outside of therapy sessions that will support your healing.
 

• Eat whole foods as much as possible, and limit processed foods.
• Drink enough water.
• Limit your intake of sugar.
• Limit caffeine if stress/anxiety are a concern for you.
• Go easy on yourself with food guidelines, and all guidelines. Opt for grace, and do whatever you can ease-fully do without increasing your stress or feelings of shame.
• Move your body. Easy does it. More is not necessarily better. If you’re here for stress/anxiety – gentle exercise is better than high intensity workouts that will increase your cortisol and stress hormones. Walking, yoga, swimming.
• Eat a variety of foods so you are getting enough of the building blocks – our bodies, including our brains, are literally made up of the foods we eat! Your brain and body is healing, and it needs all the tools to do that. Looking for more guidance here? I suggest Dr. Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory food pyramid. And also – don’t get too caught up in this! There are no “bad foods.”
• Omega 3s and healthy fats – these are important! Your brain especially needs these healthy fats and oils to create new connections, which is basically exactly what we are doing in therapy as you learn new ways to react and cope. If you want to change your behavior or perceptions, we have to change your brain. And that requires healthy fats!
• Grace. Have I said yet to go easy on yourself? Curate your social media feeds. Delete accounts whose posts make you feel bad about yourself. Add supportive, non-shaming accounts. Fit-spo: NO. Body positivity: Yes. Photos of people partying when you’re trying to get sober: Nope. Russell Brand and other fun, sober celebs: Yes. Hustle, hustle hustle entrepreneur accounts when you’re stressed and feeling not-enough: Hell to the no. Brene Brown, Dr. Christianne Northrup, and other successful ladies who promote reasonable boundaries and rest: Definitely yes. Ask me for recommendations if you need some.
• Limit your media consumption in general. Take in just enough news to feel adequately informed, from rational, non-inflammatory sources. The news media makes money by very intentionally increasing your level of stress and anxiety.
• Establish a routine. Predictability and repetitiveness breed a sense of safety and control. This makes brains happy, especially traumatized or overwhelmed brains.
• Look at your schedule. Are there things you can take out? The deeper the work you’re doing in therapy, the more time you need to rest and reflect. Limit busyness. Limit rushing. Limit the hustle.
• Get enough sleep.
• Eat regularly. Don’t skip meals.
• Put your bare feet and hands on the earth.
• Breathe air, in through your nose, into your belly, out through your nose.
• Get in water. Add Epsom salts.
• Comfort foods can be your friends. Especially when we are stressed – warm, creamy, sweet foods are grounding. Sometimes that’s what our body needs.
• Essential oils: lavender, vetiver, sandalwood are some of my favorites for grounding and calming. Eucalyptus is clearing. Peppermint is energizing. Diffuse them or mix a couple drops into your lotion.
• Probiotics. The majority of the feel-good chemicals in your brain are actually created in our guts! Things need to be in balance, and for most Americans, they aren’t.
• Ashwagandha – this is an adaptogen, which means it can be both energizing or calming, depending on what your system needs. It is not mood altering, and is taken regularly to be effective – it just works to keep you in balance, especially stress-hormone-wise. Natural supplements like this are taken much like vitamins, not like western medicines, which we expect to have immediate effects.
• Anti-inflammatory agents like Turmeric or Ginger are great at reducing inflammation – which is involved in many physical and mental health issues. Add them to your food, smoothies, or teas. (or there are also turmeric tablets).
• Herbal supports - I'm not a medical practitioner or herbalist, so I don’t offer prescriptions or recommendations, just suggestions for you to explore via your own research and discuss with your medical providers, especially to determine how they may impact what you already take. I am happy to offer some more specific direction for your research when I have helpful info to give.
• Above all: healing does not (will not, cannot) happen from a place of shame or not-good-enough. Yes, you are probably in therapy because there are things you want to change. That can be true and at the same time, you must believe that you are already ok. You are already worthy and wonderful just the way that you are, even while you have areas you’d like to improve. It is from this space of dual awareness that healing takes place. If you only do one thing on this list, it must be this thing. You must know that you are good. You are deserving of the good gifts that therapy can bring. Already. Right now. Not once we do some work, or once you cross some items off this list. Already. Right now