Every healing journey is going to have bad days. This doesn’t mean you’re doing the journey wrong, just the opposite, actually. It means you’re doing the work, living, and facing your fears and demons. Part of the path to healing is learning to take the bad days in their stride. Look at them curiously, ask questions, and confront your emotions.
When I started my healing journey, I had few healthy tools at my disposal, but as I got further along, learned, asked for help, and read the wisdom of others, I started to find tools that helped me work through the bad moments, days, weeks, and months. They didn’t make the bad less bad but allowed me to broaden my perspective and gain clarity about the situation I found myself in. Here are a few of those practices that I hope help you too:
Breathwork
Our breath is incredibly powerful. There’s evidence that breathing can do everything from calming our nervous system to strengthening our immune system to helping us lose weight! In fact, experts like Wim Hoff have created incredible breathing techniques that allow us to withstand freezing temperatures! Even if plunging into arctic waters isn’t on your list, breathwork still has tons of benefits for those on a healing journey.
Breathing can help you center your focus, release tension, and move through moments of big emotions in a safe and gentle way that can be done anywhere. If you’re interested in breathwork, you can find tons of reputable breathwork experts on YouTube. Start small and work your way up to longer and more complicated breathing patterns. Even the smallest breathing exercises can bring about dramatic change.
Therapy
Sometimes, you just need to talk to someone. Talk therapy is a great first step in any healing journey for that reason. Often, those who have been through deep traumas have a hard time trusting themselves or believing their own experiences. Sitting down with a professional who can validate and listen to your story can help with this.
The best thing is that in the world we live in today, getting access to good quality mental health services is easier than it’s ever been before. Many employers are beginning to offer the benefit of therapy, places of worship often have onsite counselors or ones they partner with off-site, and of course, there are so many options for virtual therapy services. I recommend Lyra if you are looking for that option.
Bodywork
Bodywork can mean a ton of different things, but at its core, it just means allowing your thoughts, feelings, and experiences to move out of you by moving your body. Bodywork can look like getting a massage or a chiropractic adjustment. It can look like taking an ice bath or going for a run. It’s not a way to ignore the physiological aspects of trauma-related healing but rather to allow that energy to move through and out of your body.
Personally, my favorite way to do bodywork is by hitting the gym. A good sweat is great for getting trapped energy and emotions to move through you!
Meditation
Meditation has long been my favorite way to reframe my perspective and find zen. But meditation can be tricky to get into. It feels strange at first, and for many of us, our brains are so full of so many thoughts, projects, calendars, schedules, and agendas that it’s hard even to know how to clear your mind.
Which is why I recommend starting with guided meditations. You can download many apps on your phone with different guided meditations for different scenarios and of different lengths. You can also find similar ones on YouTube, Instagram Reels, or TikTok.
Reading
A huge part of my healing journey was reading the wisdom of others who had been through similar experiences or professionals who had led others through the darkest moments. If you are looking for an author to start with, I recommend Brene Brown.
Brene Brown has written several books about releasing shame, all of which are a masterpiece. Reading her books feels like sitting on the couch with a wise friend, drinking tea, and listening to her remind you that you are worthy just as you are. Two books to start with would either be The Gifts of Imperfection or Daring Greatly.
Some additional books that have helped me along the way are included below:
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by author Don Miguel Ruiz
What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty
Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melody Beattie
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis’s Bradberry
There are plenty of tools out there to help you on your path toward healing, but I hope at least one of these helps you along the way. For those who are looking for more in-depth resources, check out the list I created below.
Apps:
- Sanity & Self: Hundreds of healing mindfulness sessions to melt tension away PLUS self-discovery, relationships, sleep, productivity, sex & more.
- Calm: Calm is the #1 app for sleep and meditation.
- Bloom CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): Bloom is the world’s first interactive self-guided video app to do therapy yourself.
- Blinkist: Powerful ideas—15 minutes at a time
- Cerebral: Mental health support for your whole being. Effective and affordable.
- Rise: RISE makes it easy to improve your sleep and daily energy to reach your potential.
Therapy:
- Medical Provider Resources (Kaiser Therapist, Apps, Services)
- TMS Therapy (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)
- Hormone Therapy
- EMDR Therapy
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Self-Care:
- Breathing Exercises (the Wim Hof Method® is my personal favorite)
- Daily Exercise
- Weekly Yoga
- Daily Meditation
- Monthly Massage
- Daily Journaling
Community:
- Peer Groups
- Community Groups
- Support Groups and Associations (Women Empowerment, Suicide Prevention, Mental Health)
- Volunteering with Nonprofits