Health, Well-Being and Spirituality: An Unspoken Connection
By Salvatore Gencarelle
Health, Well-Being and Spirituality. The anguish that people are afflicted with has little to do with injury, physical disease, starvation, or other ills that historically caused great sorrow. Modern medicine and industry have all but eliminated those types of pain. The new illness that people suffer is from their inner world. It is more elusive, more subtle, and thereby more difficult to distinguish. If we cannot recognise the source of the pain, how can we stop or treat it?
When we are in pain, we need to clearly identify the cause so we can take the appropriate actions. Pain is just a sensation that is intended to draw our attention to the source. Where are you hurting in your life? Where is your pain located? Is it physical? Mental? Emotional? Spiritual?
When we identify the source of the pain, we can make a distinction about the source. By naming it, we can begin to determine the cause.
The lack of congruence between the lack of connection in lives we currently live and our spiritual needs is the underlying source of misery. This is a low-grade misery that many people feel like a void at the centre of their being. This emptiness is a constant reminder that something isn’t right in this world.
I believe the inner pain that many people experience is caused by a spiritual disconnect and hunger; this pain is elusive, and so people often struggle to explain or describe the discomfort, except in metaphor.
Words like emptiness, loneliness, sad, tired, fearful, and apathetic are commonly used in attempts to name the pain. Not being able to find the source of such boundless pain and thereby not being able to do anything that adequately addresses the issue leads to hopelessness––this is real suffering; this is a suffering of the spirit. We have become so shielded and isolated from that which nourishes the inner being that we are starving for connection.
Too many individuals live with hidden traumas and grief in ways that prevent them from deeply connecting or loving other people, the world, or even themselves. People’s internal connections and perception have become fractured and contentious, and people don’t know how to heal.
What does the current scientific research say about disconnection as the root cause of the lack of wellness? The cause and effect relationship between detachment and trauma is so vast that it’s difficult to distinguish because it permeates every aspect of modern society. Dr. Peter Levine, a pioneer in trauma research, says, “Trauma has become so commonplace, that most people don’t even recognise its presence.”
It can be said that the circumstances that caused the emotional/spiritual injury is not the essential problem but the disconnect from the self that happened is the actual issues. There are numerous coping strategies people have adopted that are not actually dealing with the issue but provide a way to lessen the suffering. Substance addiction is one such coping strategy. Addiction is an unsustainable strategy that Dr. Gabor Mate has studied for decades. Dr. Mate states that trauma represents events that disconnect one with oneself and that addiction originates in a person’s desperate attempt to solve a problem. The problem of emotional pain, crushing stress, lost connection, loss of control, and deep uneasiness with the self. Addiction is an attempt to relieve the pain.
Addiction is just a symptom of the real issue. I propose that that one of the most visible forms of the Disconnection Sickness is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Working as a paramedic, I am familiar with PTSD. One aspect of my 17-year career was to offer initial therapeutic sessions with first-responders who experienced a critical incident stress event (events with the known potential to be internalised into forms of PTSD).
After learning about the symptoms of PTSD and having my own experiences with trauma, I began to understand just how pervasive traumatic stress is in our society. I started to really look at the symptoms and realised that many people were displaying them. Some people manage to mask them; however, aspects of PTSD seem to be universal, even considered normal. Below is a list of symptoms associated with PTSD, see how many of these symptoms are shared complaints with the average person.
- Loss of interest in life and other people
- Hopelessness
- A sense of isolation
- Avoidance of thoughts and feelings associated with the traumatic events
- Feeling detached and estranged from others
- Withdrawal
- Depression
- Emotional numbing
How do we heal from disconnection? We want to see a positive change in the world, nature and ourselves, but the question that we all face is what can we do as individuals? Returning to a connected relationship with nature is a critical step in finding true wellness.
Nature is the pure source for support of well-being via a connection. One of the beauties of this life is all unbelievable purity and help that we can receive from nature. All we must do is choose to engage with it. There is a reason why so many people go to nature for pleasure, for relaxation, and for renewal. Nature feeds our spirit!
The reasons that people are drawn into nature is because it’s a pure source of connection energy. Nature has laws, and those laws are dangerous when not followed, but it welcomes all with openness. Nature doesn’t judge us in the ways that we do to each other and ourselves. It provides an opportunity to feel a sense of connection without the layers of social criticism, tension, expectation, or demands. This is so refreshing to our spirit, mind, heart, and body.
Nature provides a vital nutrient for our well-being. It also supports us to embrace change as nothing in the landscape is static. Nature helps free us of the chattering mind and the endless cycling of thoughts spinning between our ears!
When we enter into nature and find the peace and calm we’ve been desiring, then the ability to observe ourselves more clearly is finally possible. Through the healing nature provides we can find our true personal spirituality.
For more on this topic please see the upcoming book by Salvatore Gencarelle, Thriving in Uncertain Times, How to Find Well-Being Now and into the Future.
FREE Webinar:
To learn more on health, well-being and spirituality join Salvatore Gencarelle and Marina Robb (of Circle of Life Rediscovery UK Director) on a free webinar May 7th 2019. To join the webinar register here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Together, we will create a safe and welcoming container to ask good questions, identify where we are out of balance and remember our kinship with all of life.
Hosted by: Salvatore Gencarelle and Marina Robb.
Where: Mill Woods, East Sussex
Cost: £95 for the day workshop.
Time: 10.00 – 15.30
Inipi (Sweatlodge) will take place at 6pm (arrival by 5pm). We ask for a donation of between £35-£55.
Booking: Please book online here.
Information: Please visit the website for full details.
Transforming education, health and family through nature.
Circle of Life Rediscovery provides exciting and highly beneficial nature-centred learning and therapeutic experiences for young people, adults, and families in Sussex woodlands, along with innovative continuing professional development for the health, well being and teaching professionals who are supporting them.