Putting The Pieces Together
For many, asking for help feels like having our pride and sense of self-sufficiency aggressively pulled from under us. Seeking counseling is often a decision that turns into a multi-step process of being put on waitlists and once we are in, making sure we feel aligned with the counselor we have booked. This is not something with which Ubuntu Wellness is unfamiliar!
As a therapist seeking help, I’ve run into the very same problem of reaching out to therapists who read well on paper but don’t feel like a good fit once meeting them. I always give it more than a couple sessions before “swiping left”. And then without fully processing, my immediate thought is “there’s something wrong with me that I don’t feel right here”. But when I put on my counseling hat, the challenge I would pose to any of my clients would be: don’t you owe it to yourself to feel heard, understood and aligned with someone you are trusting with the most intimate details of your life?
Societal norms influence the approaches people take to healing in the Western World in a market where approximately 90% of healthcare costs account for preventable chronic disease. At Ubuntu, we believe that holistic options should be available to supplement counseling and serve as preventative measures to enhance and expedite your healing process through movement, energy and body work, and workshops
embodying the principles of whole health and creativity. When we make a decision to explore and embrace any one or combination of these practices in addition to counseling, we find that our bodies may often know more than our words can express.
To summarize without the intent of cheapening the extent of both the individual and collective benefits of the aforementioned approaches:
Individually:
Counseling gives us space to be authentic and vulnerable when processing.
Yoga and movement give us a space to develop a relationship with our bodies beyond comprehension either alone or in a space of comfort and trust with others over time.
Massage and Reiki provide us with movement through stillness, as energy works its way through fibers holding our emotions (issues in the tissues!).
Collectively, counseling, yoga, massage, and energy/bodywork all converge on nervous system regulation, immune balance, cardiovascular health, and pain reduction. Together, they create a holistic environment where the body has the best chance to repair, restore, and thrive.
In closing, life is never going to remain calm or challenging, it ebbs and flows as described so beautifully in this quote by Pema Chodron which is also framed on our wall at our Chagrin office.
“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that.”