Written by: Laura Flanagan, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Mental health problems are increasing globally. The World Health Organization estimates more than 264 million people suffer from depression. Suicide rates worldwide have skyrocketed to more than 60% over the last 45 years.
The unfortunate truth is that we still live in a world that normalizes physical health challenges but stigmatizes mental health challenges. As we head into a new post-pandemic reality, we need to reframe our understanding of mental health and well-being. Just because you are not depressed doesn’t mean you’re not struggling. Just because you are not burned out doesn’t mean you’re fired up. By acknowledging that so many of us are in a state of what I call post-pandemic trauma disorder (PPTD), we can start giving voice to the muted despair and begin lighting a path out of the void.
What does a healthy future look like? People often asked Dr. Jung, “Will we make it?” referring to the cataclysm of our time. He always replied, “If enough people will do their inner work. This soul work is the one thing that will pull us through any emergency.”
Like the overview effect experienced by astronauts, meditation can catapult us outside the bounds of our everyday consciousness, enabling us to look back at ourselves with a new type of self-awareness. Meditation can be thought of as a catalyst for consciousness change. It can induce the experience of oneness and elicit non-dual perception. Meditation also increases our connection to nature. This is so important right now. The ecological crisis we are experiencing is often masked by the psychospiritual crisis – which is at the roots. We must understand that healing ourselves and resolving the contradictions in the human-earth ecology is the same thing!
We should all be thinking about the post-liminal phase of the pandemic. Liminality is an anthropological concept referring to rites in life-course transitions such as birth, marriage, divorce. They mark the passage from one social status situation to another.
The pandemic constitutes a 3-phase liminal structure to include:
Separation – People separate physically from one another.
Liminal phase – The past state and norms are temporarily suspended.
Post-Liminal phase – Integration into a new status.
Some people may be holding on tightly to a return to the past as if nothing has happened. Hopefully, however, the time in the liminal phase has allowed people to contemplate how they might re-emerge into the ‘new world’ in a way that raises the global vibration, begins to dissolve the illusion of duality, and ultimately save a planet in critical need.
It is never too late to learn to meditate. Meditation can help one achieve a deep sense of peace and relaxation as it teaches us to be present – here and now. A common misconception about meditation is that it helps us control the mind. Rather, meditation is about not letting the mind control us. It helps those who practice gain greater sense of awareness and introspection.
The powerful practice has been scientifically proven to change the brain through its innate neuroplasticity. In just 8 weeks, MRI studies show changes to the brain. This is why I have developed an 8-week meditation course that is great for beginners and seasoned meditators alike. This course allows participants to cultivate a practice.
For those who already have a dedicated practice, the course offers layers of methods to go deeper such as specific pranayama (breathwork), mudra (hand positions that can elicit changes in the physical and emotional body), and mantra (vibrational chants that help tune the subtle energies of the body). For more information and to register for the upcoming series, check my website.
Laura Flanagan MS, RYT, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Laura Flanagan is a Scientist by education and career, but she recently left her corporate job and moved to Costa Rica with her horse to open an Equine Therapy Center. Concurrently with her career as a scientist, she has been teaching Yoga and Meditation for over 18 years. Laura is a Yoga Instructor, Yamuna Body Rolling Instructor, Meditation Teacher, and Director of the Socrates Center in Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica. She has helped thousands of clients with physical pain through her certification with Yamuna, who uses small ball therapy. She has used her Yoga, Body Rolling, and Meditation practices to help her recover from breast cancer. She is also enrolled in the Functional Nutrition Counselor program through the Functional Nutrition Alliance.
