Healing Modalities

Whether you’re looking for a big change or are in the mood for a treat, try one of these healing modalities:

Circling/Authentic Relating —

Basically meditating out loud with guidance from the group, directing you to focus more on the feelings, on the other side, you really get to practice active listening (Thur 7PM)

Improv Comedy —

Has taught me to think on feet, be more playful and joyful, and creative (there are groups all over Meetup)

Courses on

Using Intuition/Spirituality —

There’s a lot of courses, but by far my favorite is Duality by Jeffrey Allen. He is an ex programmer and has a very practical approach to the subject. I came away with numerous exercises to connect to my intuition.

Since doing so I became a much more balanced person. I have Bipolar, and I’ve noticed how my new discernment abilities have reduced its negative impacts

AcroYoga —

acrobatic yoga, awesome for feeling into another person, understanding their body reactions, rather than just their words (groups in every major city…sadly less available during COVID)

Thai Massage —

A similar mentality to Acro, it’s often taught together

Cuddle Parties —

This caused an enormous shift in my self esteem, self love, and being able to understand what I want, and ask for it (as well as say no to things I don’t want).

It’s preceded by a 1 hour workshop with practical exercises to learn these skills. Again, not happening due to COVID.

But there are virtual cuddle parties all over FB (such as this one) which teach you the important part — the workshop. Seriously, bang for the buck, this was the most effective modality I’ve tried

MDMA Therapy

I did a session in NYC. It helped, kicked me right out of my depression. I didn’t get a chance to do further sessions.

I ended up having a manic episode a month later (I also took psilocybin and lsd at a music festival, so that probably contributed).

After the episode I decided it wasn’t the best course of action to continue MDMA Therapy

Iowaska Ceremony

I did one in Costa Rica. It also helped quite a bit. I had an overwhelming sense of peace and belonging. It was roughly in the same timeframe as the MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD.

I feel the mix of everything at once was probably not a good idea.

Writing

I only recently discovered the joy of writing. It started by being involved in some FB BDSM and Spirituality groups. There are plenty of great questions and prompts to get you started.

My 2 best articles are Why We Focus on Negative Emotions and How We Can Change It and Getting Back to Love (which explains by view on reality)

Meditation

I’ve found the Calm app to be simple and effective. A daily practice really helps recenter yourself. I also use a technique where I take 5 minutes to meditate every 25 minutes of working.

It helps me refocus and keep from going down the wrong path for too long (you “zoom out” and see the big picture). I’m playing around with various ways to meditate.

My friend showed me a really cool exercise where you alternate with your friend, in rapid fire, noticing the feelings or emotions you feel (ex: “itching nostril”, “pressure in stomach”, “guilt”).

I did this for 30 minutes and I felt a similar feeling to being on MDMA. It’s incredible what’s possible with meditation.

Illustration by MOLLY FERGUSON FOR STAT