Traumatic Stress: When One Moment Changes Everything
By award-winning author and stress-relief expert Susie Mantell
It takes great courage to get up one more time...to keep on hoping when the spirit has been shaken to its core. In the blink of an eye, our world as we know it was forever changed, and more challenges lie ahead. But over the years, people finding their way back from traumatic stress have taught me much about Hope. My wish is that you will find some here.
In cities and villages, the hearts of people of diverse faiths and colors, creeds and politics, grieve unspeakable loss. We grieve for families, and abrupt endings, for symbols, and for a way life...before we knew this could happen. Hearts overflow with admiration and gratitude for heroes we've never met who live..and die..for the rights and safety of others.
Healing is an inside job. 'Curing' may come in bottles..but Healing comes largely from within. Loved ones and friends, world leaders and clergy and healthcare professionals...commentators, and even I, will help as best we can. But ultimately, how you cope; how these events change you and strengthen you; how they clarify your values and courage and influence your choices in life...those will be up to you.
GROWING "STRONG AT THE BROKEN PLACES"
One reality has been shattered, but we will heal into a new form. We don't need to know how. It is what people do...one-breath-at-a-time at first...then one hour..one day...and so on. Everything changed..everything except the love we've known, the good we can do, the compassion and faith and courage that are uniting disparate peoples of the earth asking, "What do you really value, and what are you willing to sacrifice?" Have you noticed people seem more patient lately?
Hemingway said, "Life breaks us all, and afterward many are strong at the broken places." Allow yourself to process in ways that are personally nourishing and help you to move forward. Some may avoid The News altogether, others are glued to the TV. One is unable to sleep, while another sleeps more than usual. We may over or under-eat, seek comfort or pull inside. And...the SAME person may do ALL those. As you seek balance, you may vacillate between numbness, and times of feeling perfectly normal; sorting socks--the next moment, weeping. Now is a great time to review those stress-reduction strategies we've talked about here every month for about 3 years.
If you need a refresher, visit archived "Tips" page on my website: http://www.relaxintuit.com/tips.asp
"Coping With the Stress of Terrorism & Recent Global Events"
http://www.relaxintuit.com/displaytips.asp?ID=176
"Helping Children Cope with Stress"
http://www.relaxintuit.com/tips.asp#emotional
"3 Top Tips for Stress Reduction"
http://www.relaxintuit.com/displaytips.asp?ID=159
"Coping with Loss"
http://www.relaxintuit.com/tips.asp#emotional
(See more tips in this section)
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Award-winning stress-relief expert Susie Mantell ...is the author of the deeply soothing relaxation CD, "Your Present: A Half-Hour of Peace,” clinically approved for symptoms associated with stress and sleeplessness, depression and grief, anxiety, P.T.S.D., Fibromyalgia, caregiver stress, cancer, pain, divorce and addiction recovery. Featured in The Los Angeles Times, NBC, ABC, CBS-TV, Town & Country, The American Pain Society, Hazelden and The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, listeners include The Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, The Betty Ford Center, V.A. Hospitals,and Canyon Ranch (#1 Spa.) Customizing stress-reduction for Fortune 500 companies, distinguished hospitals and spas, Mantell has facilitated thousands in relieving health-related, work-related, chronic or traumatic stress. Her multi-sensory, mind-body techniques appear in national media, medical and corporate publications. Susie Mantell's Stress-Relief & Wellness Tips are intended as an adjunct to, not a substitute for, professional health care. Order “Your Present: A Half-Hour of Peace” and find more of Mantell’s stress-relief tips at www.relaxintuit.com