Health/Natural: Coping With 9/11

Q. I know that I shouldn't let it bother me, but the events surrounding the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are making me a nervous wreck. I'm having trouble sleeping, I wake-up often, and my days are filled with anxiety. Do you have any suggestions that will help me get through this period?

A. The events of this past week continue to reverberate throughout our individual lives, communities and nation. The universal sadness we all feel is tangible. We can see it in other peoples' eyes, we can read it in their body movements. The impact of a shock such as this can be felt by the great majority of people in similar manner, and we feel more unified through our grief.

Great healing is needed. The shock of Tuesday Sept. 11 has led most of us into a place of numbness, a place where all we could do was look at each other in horror and sadness. There are no words for how we felt, especially those first few days. I personally found myself bumbling and stumbling through those days, not having any words, and needing desperately to retreat to a place where I could perhaps find some space and silence to “deal with it,” yet at the same time not being able to tear myself away from the constant coverage on TV and radio.

I think most of us may try too hard to “understand” a horror such as this. When we fail to be able to wrap our brain around it, to define it, to categorize it and outline it, then we get frustrated to our core. Anxieties build and fears rise in our inability to “understand” it. How can we possibly “understand” such a fathomless and unconscionable act? Our mind tries desperately to apply logic to something completely illogical and therein lies the problem. This can create psychic and mental/emotional tension in our mind, which may hold us in a state of anxiety or fear longer. Instead of recommending several herbal or homeopathic remedy possibilities, I rather feel led to offer some insights from an emotional/energetic standpoint.

The progression from shock and anxiety, to grief, to anger and on to personal peace, is a common experience in the event of human trauma and loss. Most people move through this progression of emotion as they come to grips with horrible events such as these. Some people move more quickly into anger than do others, and some linger in one stage or another (such as grief) longer than others may. Each person being a unique individual, there is no universal timeline for everyone. How we move through shock and grief becomes then a unique individual expression of each human-being, based on their personality combined with their direct personal experience to events and loss.

Anxiety is a normal emotion in a painful situation such as this. It is OK to allow yourself to feel the shock and anxiety, moving into the grief, to anger, and hopefully resolving with a sense of personal peace. What can become difficult, though, is to remain in a state of anxiety for a long period of time. Anxiety begins as a state of the mind, and can become a catalyst for tension and stress in the physical body also. When anxiety lingers on and on, it can effect other situations such as sleep, or a lack of ability to concentrate on everyday tasks, to name a few.

In Natural Medicine, we understand the need of each energetic level of the human-being to express itself fully and completely to resolve imbalances which occur. A situation such as this is no different, we need to express how we feel. Anxiety is psychic and mental/emotional tension. Tension is created by a holding back or a suppression of how we feel. Therefore, express yourself.

Energetically-speaking, all levels of our being are constantly interacting with each other, every minute of every day. We can sense the Physical Body, all its basic functions and sensations and needs. The Physical level is the easiest to grasp, as we can literally see, hear, taste, smell and touch it, using all our senses to aid the mind in understanding it.

The next level is the Emotional Body, more hidden and elusive than the Physical. The Emotional Body defines our feelings: happiness, sadness, grief, joy, to name a few. This is the place where we allow ourselves to express laughter or tears.

The next and more hidden level is the Mental Body. The Mental is the part of our being which defines who we are as individuals. This is where our personality is sculpted, and the thoughts we hold here shape our ego and personal power. This is where all personal definitions are created, how we view ourselves and how we view our place in the world. The Mental definition of our personal-self is shaped by positive thoughts or negative fears held on this level of expression.

The deepest and most hidden part of the human-being is the Spirit. This is the core and connection with our deepest self, the active conduit to the energetic life which propels itself through us. The level of the Spirit holds all that we are, and all potentials for what we can become. It seeks constant expression through all other levels of the Energetic Body and guides us from the fullest depth of Spirit, depending on how aware and open we are to its guidance in our unique life-journey.

The connection between all these energetic levels in each human-being is the Heart. Countless mystical and spiritual writings through the ages have been written about the opening of the Heart-vessel. To understand the importance of the Heart, of love of self, of love of others, of compassion, of empathy, of tolerance and of peace, is to finally feel the integration of who we truly are as human expressions of Spirit. The Heart Center brings an opening and an expression to the emotions we need to release (which in this case can be anything from tears to anger). This allows true healing to begin. It then allows us to speak words thoughtfully and powerfully, and perform acts consciously in the world, to aid those in need perhaps.

The way to become a true peace-maker and/or warrior of the Spirit is through the Heart. Artists and musicians know how the need to express flows from them, especially in times of anxiety, strife and upheaval. The Heart Center allows for this expression, it opens like a flower, and blossoms of emotion and thought, sound and image, can come pouring out into the world. Anxiety can be transformed through the Heart Center in the form of music, drawings, paintings, and written word. (Journaling my thoughts through written word has been a tool of expression for me personally for as long as I can remember. It allows me to express my deepest feelings in a space of silence and privacy. Being a musician, playing music has also been a vehicle for expression for me, especially in times of pain and sadness.)

Transformation is the key. It creates the pathway and propels us across the threshold toward true healing. Transform your anxieties into expressions which speak to your soul and to the soul of the world.

In health and healing,

Dr. Susie

©Copyright 2001 by AlternativeApproaches.com

Susie Cooper, a community herbalist and homeopathic educator, has worked in the natural foods business since 1991 and has been teaching workshops on herbal and homeopathic medicine since 1993. In addition to presenting numerous talks, she has also appeared on radio programs pertaining to natural health. With her husband, Paul, she owns and operates Blue Mountain Herbs, a small health food store in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, where she also teaches workshops in herbal and homeopathic medicine. “Offering a proper base of education for people interested in maintaining health the natural way is of utmost importance to me,” she says. “So many options exist in the world around us, and it’s important to me to offer the best traditional educational support I can to people wanting a healthy alternative for prevention and wellness.”

Important note: The information contained in this column is not meant to diagnose or prescribe for specific ailments, but is intended for educational support only. Please seek the advise of a licensed health practitioner for specific illnesses and emergency situations.