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Overcoming Overwhelm

We all go through it – feeling overwhelmed. Especially this time of year. But – there’s something we can do about it (thank goodness!). This is my three steps to overcoming your overwhelm. I’d love to hear what you do to manage overwhelm in the comments below!

Here’s to a relaxing holiday season.

Warmly,

Briana Borten, founder

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Vithoulkas explains that we can think of humans as having a certain hierarchy in the way we’re constructed. First is a hierarchy of layers (which overlap to some extent): (1) the mental / spiritual layer, (2) the emotional layer, and (3) the physical layer. We’ve been hearing about the mind-body connection and the triad of body-mind-spirit for decades, so at first glance this may not seem new, but keep reading for Vithoulkas’s unique take on it. The central and most vital of these is the mental / spiritual layer, which, he says, is the true essence of a person. It’s through this aspect that consciousness enters the being, we register what’s happening in and around us, we understand that we are alive, and we are able to choose and communicate and evolve. There are three qualities present when this level is healthy: (1) clarity (2) rationality, coherence, and logical sequence (3) creative service for the good of others and oneself. Vithoulkas says this third quality is of greatest importance. Second and slightly more superficial is the emotional plane, which is our vehicle for the experience and expression of emotions as well as the receptor of emotion from our environment. Feelings can be broadly classified as positive – drawing us toward a state of happiness and creating a sense of unification with the world – and negative – drawing us toward a state of unhappiness and producing a sense of isolation and separation from the world. Positive emotions nourish us and serve our community; negative emotions (when chronic) diminish our health and are degrading to our community. Third and most exterior is the physical level – the body. Mainstream medicine has focused almost exclusively on this level, which has been of great benefit in the treatment of physical illness, but hasn't made as much progress on understanding how the spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects work and integrate with the physical. Next, Vithoulkas roughly defines a second hierarchy within each layer. Looking at the systems and functions in each layer, we can rank problems or impairments by how much they would affect the overall wellness of the organism. On the physical level, we could put issues of the brain and heart at the top of the list. We have only one brain, and if it’s damaged the consequences to our ability to get joy and meaning out of life are often dire. We also have only one heart, and when it stops working, that’s the end. (Cardiovascular disease tops the list of causes of death in the U.S.) Further down the list are the digestive and respiratory systems, which can usually sustain considerable injury without compromising the whole organism. Lower still are the urinary and reproductive systems, the muscular and skeletal systems, and the skin. Of course, there’s some flexibility to this list. On the emotional level, expressions of emotional dysfunction are ranked by their overall impact on the person. This is a harder list to make, since it’s less about the form the disorder takes and more about how much a given individual is affected. Major depressive disorder would be at or near the top of the list. Severe anxiety could potentially squelch one person’s ability to function while another individual might be able to manage it while continuing to work and socialize. Intense grief is high on the list. Lower down are moderate to mild anger, worry, irritability, boredom, and dissatisfaction. On the spiritual / mental plane, topping the list are impairments of consciousness, complete mental confusion, and delusion. In these cases an individual’s “personhood” is absent. Further down the list are impaired communication, milder confusion, poor memory, lack of spiritual connection, and difficulty focusing. The point of all this is Vithoulkas’s assertion that a thorough health assessment should examine and rank expressions of imbalance on all these levels. Keep in mind that the above examples are only guidelines. For example, there may be a case in which a minor brain issue is less significant than a severe digestive disorder. In viewing the whole person this way, we can determine whether someone is moving toward or away from wellness, and whether a given therapeutic intervention is beneficial or not. If we look only at one level at a time, we might be misled. For instance, if a doctor gives someone an opioid painkiller for back pain, the patient reports a decline in pain, and the doctor concludes that the patient has improved – without taking into account that they’ve become apathetic (a more significant impairment of wellness) – the doctor has clearly missed the point of good medicine. In homeopathic theory, in the presence of a challenge an organism will do its best to express signs and symptoms of distress at a level that is the least detrimental to its overall wellbeing. Seen through this lens, a skin rash may indicate that the organism is doing a good job of pushing the insult to a very peripheral level – the outermost layer (physical) and the least critical system. If this rash were an expression of, say, a dairy allergy, and we administered a topical steroid like hydrocortisone (a strong anti-inflammatory), Vithoulkas would say we would be suppressing the healthiest possible expression of that allergy and forcing it to be manifested at a deeper level. If the rash cleared but the patient then felt irritable (emotional level) or distracted (mental level), Vithoulkas would see this as a progression in the wrong direction. To give another example, if someone was recovering from severe anxiety through a deep examination of their fears and responses (a non-suppressive approach) and, as their anxiety abated, they developed gas and loose bowels, this could be seen as a positive trajectory. Even though the digestive upset is a new symptom, it represents a movement outward and from a more critical issue to a less critical issue. What do you think about this model? Have you ever been working with a health challenge that led to the development of new symptoms which ultimately gave way to a total recovery? Have you noticed an interplay between physical, emotional, and mental expressions of imbalance? Share with us in the comments section below. I hope my overview of this model has given you new insights into your wellness and how your many aspects are all interrelated. Also, if you’re interested in homeopathy, I wrote two other articles on the subject a few months ago which you can find here in the Articles section. Be well, Peter [post_title] => You Are An Onion: Getting to Know Your Layers [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => you-are-an-onion-getting-to-know-your-layers [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-04-10 14:42:52 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-04-10 14:42:52 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8983 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 2 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8966 [post_author] => 5 [post_date] => 2023-03-02 22:49:03 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-03-02 22:49:03 [post_content] => Seven years ago, Briana and I started working on a book for people who are ready to transform their lives. It’s called Rituals for Transformation. It features 108 lessons to be done over 108 days, and it takes the reader on a journey of healing and awakening. Of all our courses and books, it’s the thing I’m most proud of. I can go through the book myself, year after year, and get something new out of it each time. Today I’d like to share lesson number 83: Every hardship is an opportunity to let go. The following is excerpted from the book. What parts of life are hard for you? Take a look at your hardship today, and ask yourself these questions. First, what’s wrong with hard? We understand that you may prefer easy, but is it possible to see hard as just hard, and not wrong? Like a workout should be. Like a day of farm work. Hard, but manageable. Second, what is my role in the perception of this situation as hard? While there are certain circumstances that nearly anyone would perceive as objectively hard – like carrying boulders – others are only subjectively hard because of your personal viewpoint. Hardship is a state of mind that can be difficult to relinquish. Perhaps you were taught that hard work is noble, or that it’s the only way to achieve anything, or that easy equals lazy. Such notions could lead you to believe you get extra credit for leading a hard life. Third, could I let go of my feelings about this situation? Hold a hard situation in mind and feel what comes up in your body. Feel willingly. Invite the feeling. Welcome it. Breathe into it. And let it go. Fourth, what’s possible when I let go? What’s beneath that hardship? When you view your hardship as an opportunity to let go, a tremendous array of additional opportunities arise. Thus, every hardship becomes an opportunity… … to wake up … to forgive … to practice changing perspective … to find new ways to play … to put what you’ve been learning to the test … to practice flexibility … to reunite with a fragmented part of yourself … to level up … to reaffirm your values … to practice going with the flow … to discover your needs … to use your gifts … to connect to Spirit … to grow … to own your power … to access intuition … to live your purpose … to ask for help … to open your heart … to relinquish control … to be supported … to choose lightness … to experience trust … to love yourself … and to become who you really are. Holding this hardship in mind, scan that list, and see if one of these many opportunities jumps out at you. Make a choice to change your story. Now, what’s one thing you can do right now to move yourself in the direction of this choice? Be well, Peter [post_title] => Every hardship is an opportunity to let go [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => every-hardship-is-an-opportunity-to-let-go [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-03-02 22:49:03 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-03-02 22:49:03 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8966 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6622 [post_author] => 5 [post_date] => 2017-03-15 07:26:44 [post_date_gmt] => 2017-03-15 07:26:44 [post_content] => When Briana and I decided to leave Oregon, I had lived in Portland for 15 years and she’d been there for 12. As we prepared for our move to Boulder, Colorado – where we knew no one – Briana was concerned that we’d have a hard time making friends. I assured her it would be a breeze. Maybe I was a little overconfident. Until then, I’d never had to put much work into establishing a friendship; they just happened. I hadn’t considered that during my tenure as an Oregonian I spent seven years in grad school, I held several jobs, and I lived with many housemates – situations that caused me to be around the same people day in and day out, which made connections easy. We found it more challenging to get a friendship started through “single exposure” events. When you’re limited to short, infrequent meetings – like a dinner party or an event at your kid’s school – there’s a greater dependency on “chemistry.” We noticed that even after hanging out with people who were friendly and cool, if we didn’t feel a spark of connection, there wouldn’t be a strong drive to keep the ball rolling. Also, if the connection process started but lacked timely follow-through, it could sometimes get a little weird, as if there were a question hanging there: “Why didn’t we take this deeper? (Was it Murray’s gas?)” Eventually we found a tribe of dear souls who feel like family, but along the way, it became clear that chemistry isn’t everything. Sometimes it’s not there at the outset – it doesn’t develop until you “learn” each other and discover how to harmonize together. Other times, the chemistry never really happens, yet the connection can still be fruitful. For instance, while we might not share meals together, I know I can count on my neighbors to keep an eye on my house or feed my pets – and I’d happily do the same for them. Through this process, we felt moved to learn more about community building. We recognized the value in having multiple circles that served different functions. And we saw just how much the people can make the place. Until we made connections, we weren’t sure we wanted to stay; once we found our people, we could easily see ourselves living out our lives here. We go into this (and much more) in our book, The Well Life. Here’s an excerpt of some guiding questions we came up with to help people build community consciously. Feel free to share your insights in the comments section below.

Describe the kind of community that would make you feel excited to participate.
If you could shape your community, what values would it have? Some ideas: mutual respect, creative expression, healthy living, education, helping, active participation, safety, tolerance of differences, honesty, integrity, fun, equality, inclusiveness, etc.
Write down the names of five people you value having in your life (they don’t need to be local).
What skills and gifts could you share with your community?
What sorts of people would you like to invite into your community to make it more diverse?
What forums can you utilize to make these connections? While the internet can sometimes promote physical disconnection, it also provides lots of tools (evite, Facebook events, Meetup, etc.) for organizing real-life get-togethers.

I encourage you to get a piece of paper (or use your journal) and write freely on these questions, even if you already have a healthy community. Wishing you an environment that supports you to be your best, Dr. Peter Borten [post_title] => Six Questions for Connection [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => six-questions-connection [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2017-05-03 18:49:49 [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-05-03 18:49:49 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.thedragontree.com/?p=6622 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 11 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) ) [post_count] => 3 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8983 [post_author] => 5 [post_date] => 2023-04-07 17:32:37 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-04-07 17:32:37 [post_content] => Around the age of 20, I got a book called The Science of Homeopathy by a Greek homeopath named George Vithoulkas. It was so eye-opening that it inspired my path into medicine. One of the most interesting parts was his description of our different “layers,” how they’re related, and what this means in the progression and recovery from disease. I’d like to offer a brief synopsis of it.

You may also be interested in:

You Are An Onion: Getting to Know Your Layers

Every hardship is an opportunity to let go

Six Questions for Connection

The Dragontree

Overcoming Overwhelm

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