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Wholeness & Healing

Part 1 of 4

by guest blogger, Bethany Padgett, N.D., Ph.D. of Wholehearted Holistic Solutions

So many of us are searching for peace, happiness, health, wellness and much more. Each of us are on our own unique journey in this life time. For me, wholistic living through mind, body, and spirit are the major components I use on my journey. Every day I work toward living a wholistic lifestyle that allows me to care for my brain and my body. I participate in a Soul Learners group for my spiritual nutrition. This wholistic approach is very layered and intertwined. I love the manner in which Dr. Daniel Amen shares his vision and philosophy on Wholeness and Healing.

The 4 circles of Wholeness and Healing (Amen):

Dr. Amen encourages taking a balanced and comprehensive approach to healing by living according to the following principles:

1. Biological-understanding and being aware of how the physical aspects of your brain and body function. Healthy eating and living plays a crucial role in brain health. When your brain is healthy and working right you work right! Optimize your brain every day in every way!

2. Psychological-involves developmental issues and how you think. This area is about mindset. Train your brain to create quality thoughts that lead to an amazing quality of life.

3. Social-your current life situation and social support. Surround yourself with others that are living an excellent life of health and wellness.

4. Spiritual-having/finding a sense of purpose and meaning. Pursue a spiritual journey to discover your soul’s purpose. Understand the beautiful soul lessons in your own life.

Our brain is involved in everything we do; and, when our brain works right we work right! Our happiness and success depends on our brain being healthy. The brain is the most complex organ in the universe! When our brain is functioning optimally we are then headed in the right direction to our best lives. Mind. Body. Spirit. The three are layered and intertwined. A healthy spiritual life can be attained when we love our mind and body.

In my own quest for wholistic living, I participate in a special group of Soul Learners. (https://newpathwaytohealing.com/). I think most, like myself, desire to attain spiritual enlightenment. It’s a beautiful journey. At times it’s challenging; just like life. As I’ve studied holistic health, I have learned that the mind, body, spirit triad is the cornerstone to a balanced and wholistic life. I’ve started to realize I cannot reach true spiritual enlightenment and an understanding of my soul lessons without a healthy body and mind (brain).

So, this is the first article of a series on ways to optimize the brain (mind) and body in order to achieve a spiritual understanding of the wonderful soul lessons we all came to planet earth to learn.

Recently, our beautiful group of Soul Learners took on the Soul Lesson of Self Worth. Petey Silveira leads the Soul Learner Membership and throughout the month of November we focused on the Soul Lesson of Self Worth. Petey’s message on this soul lesson started with some beautiful sentiments. “Each soul was created with the utmost regard to having complete and total self-worth. Many believe self worth is just another name for self-esteem. They are not synonymous and are, in fact, very different.” Petey goes on to state that, “Self-worth comes from inside of us; and, we create it through faith, by acting on that one belief that we really matter. Self-worth is the foundation of our ability to believe in ourselves. And a valid sense of self-worth is really necessary so that we can get to love and peace, joy and power, and feeling good in our mind”. Petey’s next statements really resonate with me. She continues with, “You don’t really establish if you are worthy or not. In fact, the very moment you were born you were worthy. You were created from absolute worthiness”.

Self Worth and Self Esteem are not synonymous. Let’s start with the definition of Self-esteem. According to Wikipedia, Self Esteem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem) is confidence in one’s own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, “I am loved”, “I am worthy”) as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Dr. Daniel Amen states, and research shows, that self-esteem is defined as “self-respect; confidence in one’s own worth or abilities,” and it is associated with more happiness, greater life satisfaction, and fewer negative moods.

Unfortunately, low self-esteem is common and it typically fluctuates across the lifespan. Low self-esteem can impact the direction of one’s life. It can even lead to passivity, apathy when it comes to pursuing dreams, and staying in unhealthy or bad relationships.

SIGNS OF LOW SELF-ESTEEM: (Amen and Silveira)

  1. Feeling unworthy of being liked

  2. Looking at the world negatively

  3. Lack of confidence

  4. Excessive fear of failure and/or perfectionism

  5. Difficulty hearing criticism or positive feedback

  6. Over-focus and insecurity about one’s weaknesses

  7. Negative experiences color your outlook

  8. Worry

  9. People pleasing

  10. Difficulty identifying and expressing your needs

  11. Overly concerned with how others perceive you

  12. Feelings of anxiety, depression, shame, or inadequacy

  13. Inability to set healthy boundaries

  14. Insecure or jealous in your relationships

  15. Constant negative self talk

There are many causes of low self-esteem. Life circumstances often contribute to low self esteem and may include having parents (or other caregivers/teachers) who are extremely critical, doing poorly in school, abuse, and ongoing stressful life situations, etc.

Self esteem is also impacted by the brain you have. That’s right! The female brain differs from the male brain; and, there is research that indicates the female brain tends toward a negative bias. Recently, an article on www.amenclinics.com titled, Why Do Young Women Have Such Low Self-Esteem?, explored why it is females tend toward lower self-esteem than males. Stay tuned for why this is the case for women.

References:

1. “Why Do Young Women Have Such Low Self-Esteem?” Amen Clinics Why Do Young Women Have Such Low SelfEsteem Comments, 26 Oct. 2022, https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/why-do-young-women-have-such-low-self-esteem/.

2. Amen, Daniel G., and Tana Amen. “Training of a Brain Warrior.” The Brain Warrior’s Way: Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose, Berkley, New York, 2017, p. 215.

3. Petey Silveira’s website is New Pathway to Healing and can be found at: https://newpathwaytohealing.com/

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