Inner Voice and Healing

Vishrutha Thulasiram
Feb 14, 2021
3 min read

The inner voice or inner critic more often than not dictates our perception of pressure which in turn decides how much stress we put on ourselves and our bodies. We already know from the Inner Critic and Self-Image blog post that we enter the state of “stress response” at least 50 times everyday. According to a Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), poor self-rated mental and general health were associated with increased mortality attributed to exposure of pollutants. What does this mean, to normal people like you and me? It suggests that if don’t start actively taking care of our overall health then,

last few years of our life will be riddled with disease and deformity,
we become more susceptible to non-communicable diseases (diabetes, cancer, alzheimer’s)
our life expectancy is drastically shortened
we are at increased susceptibility to the negative effects of chronic stress

You are probably wondering what all of this has to do with our inner critic and inner voice? There is a connection. A very real one. Dr Libby Weaver,one of Australasia’s leading biochemists, is an expert in the area of stress and its negative effects on health. According to Dr Libby, there are two factors that put us in the “Red Zone” or the state where the “stress response” is activated. They are our perception of pressure and caffeine.

Dr Libby emphasizes on the word perception here because in today’s world, stress is very subjective. What is stressful for me might not be stressful for you and in turn will not activate stress responses whereas it will be activated for me.

Now you are probably wondering what is the best way to deal with this? The answer is quite simple and something you are already probably doing. *cue drumroll*. The answer is self-care and self-healing. On one hand our inner critic and inner voice tends to alter our stress response, increases self-sabotage and in some cases blocks out our chakras. On the other hand self-care practices do the opposite: they unblock our intuition, help us centre ourselves and create balance. They take us into the what Dr Libby likes to call the “Green Zone” or the state of “relaxation response”

Here are some of the benefits of self-care practices

nourishing yourself inside out
restores the connection between the mind, body and the soul
helps us see the body as a whole rather than as separate individual parts
encourages diaphragmatic breathing and the relaxation response
helps us shift our perspective and see things for what they really are
they are calming, soothing and relaxing
encourages us to count our blessings and helps inculcate the feeling of gratitude
creates opportunities to reconnect with nature, family and friends
ignites the human connection
prevents burnout
enables better coping to distress and stress

You can fight me all you want about this not being true or that your self care doesn’t really help. If it feels that way then you have to change your self-care game. Self-care as we all know isn’t selfish but it isn’t supposed to be stressful either. It is supposed to be healing and recharging. Today self-care isn’t restricted to personal practices but it is also being used as an evidence-based model in hospital settings to instill hope and healing.

Here is a list of resources that are excellent places to look into for both recreating your self-care practice and creating a new self-care routine. Happy Self-Healing ❤