What is medication? “A drug to diagnose, cure, or treat, or prevent a disease.” So says Wikipedia. Merriam-Webster says more nebulously, “the act or process of medicating;” or, “a medicinal substance.” The OED defines it as, “drug or other form of medicine that is used to prevent disease.”
As society becomes more and more connected, and humans continue to live longer, the definition keeps subtly shifting. Technology is being integrated not only into our daily lives via lap-tops, but also via changing treatments such as stem cell research, and the growth of new tissue. It’s an exciting time to be alive, and a disconcerting time as well. The borders between, “technology,” and, “human,” are melting away. This is certainly becoming readily apparent in popular movies such as, “Alita, Battle Angel.”
All creatures are born with the drive to survive. If that is not consistently fulfilled, it becomes injured. There are so many creatures out there now, with a simple need to feel grounded by real earth or have home and food needs met. It is no wonder that it pervades the common spiritual need, and it is a greater psychic need.
Where do people turn to to fill simple, small needs that one might not consider injuries, but are in fact expressions of psychic needs? Common expressions are over-using caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. Co-dependencies of any kind, such as food, sex, validation, smoking, prescription or non-prescription drugs are all an expression of a wound.
Unfortunately, simple anxieties are triggered very easily in modern society. Living close together in cities, long workdays, loneliness, and dissociation are all quite common.
These anxieties are often relatively easily alleviated with simple, repeated treatment, but often the anxiety gets so bad that self-medication has simply gotten out of control. People with pre-existing trauma have an extra-hard time with this. Those who are destined to be wounded healers have first the task of trekking through their own issues before they aid others.
How can people in the spiritual community take note, and aid others to fulfill, instead of overfill? Begin with the self. It always behooves one to look inwards. Equally important, examining how one’s anxieties are affecting one’s simple interactions in the world. Healing with the elements, relaxing, breathing, and allowing oneself to feel the literal or figurative ground beneath allows the entire group to feel more relaxed and at ease. It’s that simple.
Breathing and allowing the energy to flow through you can be called being a channel, and it’s easy to be a channel for the wrong feelings. Being a talented channel for the positive and soothing feelings of a single person or a group and or a vessel takes practice and dedication. Sometimes there are those who call themselves mirrors or sponges. There are many people with these traits. It can be a bit dangerous for those who discover it, and find that suddenly people start to avoid them for some unknown reason. Seeing one’s true self in the mirror is addictive, at first. Then it gets embarrassing, seeing all those little flaws. Sound familiar?
Anxiety is a noted awakening of kundalini. Learning how to control this energy is a natural process. Whether it is or not anxiety is associated with kundalini, it is recognised that meditation helps anxiety in many cases.
In order to help others in the community that are not as awake, being a stabilising channel is a good course of action. It is good to note that a new person on the path may cling if one is the only person around with clean energy. Setting firm boundaries and modeling good behaviour is absolutely necessary. Suggesting but not dictating a correct path is also good. The path of excellence is always a choice for others, and it is their interpretations and life to choose.
Medicating oneself or being medication for others is not appropriate. This is different from giving aid out of compassion or being loving to oneself. Generosity should be delineated from prescription.
Integrity of the body, mind, and spirit should always be kept as the goal, but it doesn’t work when one has surgery or a chronic illness requiring medication. So where do these ideas meet? In the alembic of personal belief systems.
We medicate ourselves – over and under our personal boundaries. Aiding one another to the path we are each meant to follow, we raise the other higher.
How do you self-medicate? How do you help others? Tell us in the comments below.
Sign up for a free self-worth mini course with the form below, or click here to get instant access to the Remembering your worth e-course.
