The past 16 months or so have been very difficult for most of us, for many different reasons. Speaking for myself, we’ve struggled because we have two autistic boys who have opposing personalities and require very different things from us. Our younger son’s anxieties start from the moment he wakes to the moment he goes to bed, and his mental health is always very up and down. It very much took a down turn last summer, and having the time and opportunity to slow things down and notice more of what was going on with both our sons really helped us to realise how important it is to prioritise emotional wellbeing over anything else. With my 20 years training in authentic ancient healing, relaxation and energising practices, you might think I’d be able to sort my anxious son’s problems out no problem. Unfortunately, aside from the usual problem that children don’t tend to accept that their parents know much of any value, when it comes to one’s confidence, self-esteem, and willingness to accept we can be happy, it’s a completely personal choice and no-one else can do it for us. My son does try a lot of the techniques I show him, but for many reasons his confidence and positivity often gets in his way. We are all just trying to work life out, and for a lot of us, there are many mindset hurdles to overcome.
I was an extremely anxious child. I wasn’t very sure of myself and frequently asked my Mum to teach me at home so I wouldn’t have to go to school anymore. This also describes my younger son. He has always been very anxious and finds the world difficult to cope with, he has never been comfortable with the school environment and finally, now he’s 12, we’ve realised it will be better for his emotional wellbeing if we stop hoping that adjustments made by us, him or school will change how much he’s struggled for the past 8 years!
It wasn’t possible for me to stop going to school because of our family circumstances, so I struggled on with pretending to be happy-ish and vaguely sure of myself, while feeling completely out of my depth socially. I was picked on by a few people and sometimes misunderstood social situations. These are among the things I’ve overcome by practicing qigong, meditation, Daoist healing exercises and acupressure and tuina massage. These practices that I’ve been teaching for 19 years involve connecting with a positive way of living.
I’ve written before about my Mum’s difficulties with self-esteem, so I won’t repeat them here. I’ve always maintained that despite her not having confidence in herself, she consistently gave me the best advice for the situation I was in. My Mum was actually the first person to teach me a breathing technique for anxiety. When I was about 6 or 7, I can remember dreading standing in the line outside my class before the teacher arrived, and I would often be so anxious I would cry. My Mum told me that if I felt like I was going to get upset, to take a deep breath in, count to 10 and breathe out again. I don’t know if this was a technique she’d used in similar situations or if it was just the first thing she thought of, but it worked. Either way, this is an example of the inner wellbeing wisdom we all have, that’s been known and passed down through the ages. My Mum wasn’t great at making sure she was healthy and happy, but she knew what to do when needed.
We all know innately that rubbing our belly when we’re feeling unwell helps us feel better, but we often don’t have the confidence in our understanding of wellbeing to regularly do things like this to keep our digestion, and other natural systems, working smoothly. You have the power to clear, strengthen and restore balance to your whole body. The energy, circulatory systems, lymphatic system and all other processes in the body can be enhanced by us easily and naturally. If you’re interested in re-connecting with your inner self healing wisdom and developing your confidence in maintaining your physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, I can teach you endless different practices to do so. If you’re waiting until you feel more confident in yourself, please remember that you are not alone, we all struggle. Only you can make the decision to make your life better. See it as a small step on a long path rather than a leap across a precipice.
To experience a taste of what you could learn, I’m teaching a session this Sunday (18th July) to try out the relaxation sessions I’ll be delivering at Latitude Festival this year. Link below if you’d like to join the free session
Ruth Beech - Mindful Movement, Meditation and Art 