In nursing school, no one prepared me mentally to cope with human suffering. Over two decades in the healing business, I leaned on my faith to prepare me to enter the hospital by connecting to God and asking for his protection and guidance in helping patients. When you care for people in their most vulnerable states, you experience various energies, such as anger, fear, and great sadness. Protecting your mind, body, and spirit by putting on your body armor is essential.
Last week, I attended a virtual Global summit of psychologists, healthcare professionals, and mental wellness leaders. I wanted to share a technique that a forensic psychiatrist uses that I found very helpful for healthcare professionals and people sensitive to the different energies in their environment.
The psychiatrist works as a court-appointed professional to diagnose criminals in preparation for court cases. He explained that he visits prisons to treat clients. While in the prison halls, he noticed the cold and hostile environment. To help him cope with the hostile environment and all of these different energies coming at him, he used visualization to help him manage.
Visualization is a therapeutic tool used in mindfulness or meditation to make undesirable situations less distressing by creating a visual image in one's mind.
The psychiatrist reported imagining a warm, bright light surrounding him like a force field. He could only control what was in his force field, and he ignored the negative energies that came his way.
I appreciate hearing about using imagery or visualization to help cope with situations that are not in our control. As I mentioned, I used my faith as my protection and body armor to help manage the different energies I faced in my nursing career to help me stay well and help improve clients' lives.
He had another technique that I found essential, which was to let go of negative stories of the day or situations that challenged his beliefs. He reported a ritual he would use when he came home from work: he would shower and state an affirmation, which I will paraphrase, " I did the best that I could do with the knowledge that I have, and I let go of the things that do not support my belief.". The psychiatrist reported having a better sense of mental well-being through these daily practices.
I gained insight from the psychiatrist using the valuable technique of stating an affirmation and doing a natural somatic ritual to release the worries of a chaotic day. I have learned by releasing the thoughts of "I could have done this or that differently" or of the negative thoughts that plague our minds after a challenging day, that we give ourselves permission to accept the day as it was, unchangeable, and let go of statements that are self-defeating or negative with a somatic ritual, which connects the mind to the body; such as washing away the negative thoughts with a shower or taking off your uniform jacket like it is your physical armor.
As a suggestion, remaining mindful and aware of any negative energy draining you after interacting with others is helpful. Visualizing putting on your body armor and removing it through somatic exercises and affirmations is a powerful technique to boost one's overall well-being.
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