Allow. We need only to allow.

I wrote the below thoughts to someone who wrote to me seeking guidance. All I can ever do in response to such queries is share what worked for me. The truth is I do not know what you need to do. That is for you to discover.

So below is how I responded to someone who wrote to me who was feeling very stuck in the typical despair of protracted withdrawal syndrome. I know it well: 

note: I’m talking about both emotional and physical pain and sensations here….not one of the other.

I did one thing that led me out of the sort of darkness you are now describing. I was also bedridden, couldn’t sit upright and was non-verbal. I could only communicate via typing most of the time.

The one, perhaps most foundational, thing I did was practice feeling what I was feeling.

Since that was overwhelming and incomprehensible, amounts of pain that meant 30 seconds at a time at first and slowly slowly practicing BEING WITH WHAT IS…what is was a ton of pain and agony…what is was a ton of fear keeping me from feeling the agony.

The practice was to ALLOW.

No one can really show another how to do that…we need to simply start practicing and finding out what it means for us. Once I started to pay attention and be curious about what I was experiencing I started…slowly, slowly finding that somewhere deep inside me I knew exactly what to do and that if I paid attention I had all I needed within to get well.

We all find out how to do that on our own…in the end…we are guided to those who can help us, to foods that will heal us, to movement that will nourish us…etc etc…there is a sharp learning curve when our nervous systems are shot to hell and so we just keep going. You’ve already said enough so I know you have what it takes…just put one foot in front of the other and start paying attention and ALLOWING. We need only to allow. This is it. This is reality. Allow it.

It’s not much and it often doesn’t feel like enough but it’s what I’ve got. The moment is all we’ve got. It passes. With allowance we can receive all that the moment has to offer. Sometimes we don’t want it and then it’s okay to scream into your pillow or do whatever release is safe. I’m sorry that safety is not always available. I continue this work in the hope that we can eventually create more safe spaces.

This might give you some ideas of how to get started: The Beauty of Informal Meditation

Also see the It Gets Better series and Feel the Feeling

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*it is potentially dangerous to come off medications without careful planning. Please be sure to be well educated before undertaking any sort of discontinuation of medications. See: Psychiatric drug withdrawal and protracted withdrawal syndrome round-up

For a multitude of ideas about how to create a life filled with safe alternatives to psychiatric drugs visit the drop-down menus at the top of this page. 

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