Mental Health and Children 👶

What age do we remember our childhood from? 3 years? 5 years? Or in some cases even later?

For me personally, my blurry first memories go back to play-school which should be around 3 years of age. Dancing on "If you're happy and you know clap your hands" and making a tree with "palm painting".

I became more confident about my memories from my 4th grade when I was 8 years old. Sitting under a tree and eating cheeselings during recess, watching "Tiny TV", going to my friends place to play with her new kitchen set after school etc. 

So what about those first 3 years of my life? If I do not even remember them, are they even important?

Ofcourse they are. In fact the ages of 0-7 is considered to be the most crucial ages for shaping up your entire life. The great Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.”

If a child is not given proper attention during their first seven years, they can be highly affected throughout their lives and face problems in later stages of their lives such as :

• behavioural issues
• low self-esteem
• lack a sense of belonging
• depression
• addictions etc to name a few

This is exactly why it is advised to spend maximum time with your child in these years to give them proper guidance and training cause this stays with them for life. These years can make or break them.

Usually, it is more likely for parents to face issues with their first child since they are new to the whole concept of parenthood. Taking up any new responsibility is challenging and we are bound to make mistakes in the beginning till we learn better. This is also true for the new roles as "Parents" which is why asking for help and guidance of professionals is highly recommended to give your child a healthy environment to grow in.  

I believe the education goes both ways. A newborn learns from his/her parents and also trains them in return which is why us second children are lucky and get well trained parents.

Recently, since the issues faced with new parents are being highlighted more and more, some schools are taking the initiative to come up with parental counselling which is a beautiful initiative to train new and young parents about how to contribute in the physical and mental growth and wellbeing of their children.

I once volunteered for a company called Toybank a few years ago. They work towards teaching underprivileged children using games in order to build their cognitive mind. They had a very beautiful quote. It said- "It is easier to build stronger Children than to repair broken men". Now we definitely know why. 

That was all about the importance of educating yourself and your family/friends before planning a family in order to prevent children from suffering at a later stage. 

Now, what if you are the person suffering from one of these symptoms? How do we work on that when you do not even remember that phase of your life?

Since Bollywood helps immensely in bringing topics of concern to awareness of the masses, I was very happy to see Dear Zindagi, a movie starring Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh khan. This film is an amazing portrayal of the affect of a trauma faced in childhood in the adult life. Alia Bhatt, who faces abandonment issues in her adult life relationships traces back to the root cause of her problem which started when she was abandoned by her parents in her early stages of life. Well she had Shah Rukh khan to help her. What about you? 

I'll use some of the quotes from the movie to explain you what you can do in order to heal yourself.

The first step is to recognise the problem. Notice the pattern. It could probably be a certain fear or feeling of self doubt, insomnia or addiction to substance use. Sometimes it can be as basic as headaches. So bring to your awareness that you are facing a problem and decide to work on it.

The next step is to learn to express yourself. Go deeper into the problem. As Jay Shetty suggested in his book "Think Like A Monk" use the "Why Ladder". Keep questioning yourself. For example- Why are you scared of water? Why are you scared of expressing your feelings? Why do you feel angry all the time?Why can't you sleep? 

Once you start answering your questions you reach the root cause of your problems and then start releasing them. 

What people say or do stops bothering you. You live in a much peaceful manner and start attracting the same positivity that you reflect. 

How can PLRT assist in healing childhood traumas?

Past life does not just mean a life before this life, it can also be a part of this very life. Yesterday is also past for you today. Similarly, PLRT, or rather your subconscious mind has the ability to take you to a trauma that you faced in this lifetime. It could be last year, a decade ago, in your childhood or even in your mother's womb. It depends on where your problem actually lies. 

Yes, you read it right, sometimes it is possible that something you experienced when you were in your mothers womb affected you. Science has proven that there is something known as in-utero memory where a child starts registering things before its even born.

So what do the therapists do?  

There is something called as inner child healing that is used in such cases where the therapist guides its client to go to the time when he/she was a baby and talk about the experiences of those ages and how it affected the client. They make the client connect to their inner child and face the events that stayed with them and affect them negatively till date. 

I had a client who went back to the day she was born and her parents were holding her and she very vividly narrated the entire experience to me. It goes without saying that this memory was beyond her conscious memory.

Conclusion

In case of the movie- SRK, playing the role of a trained therapist, could heal the inner child in Alia and cure her issues such as insomnia, nightmares, relationship with parents, relationship with friends and partners and self confidence by making her aware that her problems lie in her childhood and once she re-lived them, she got the courage to face them. 

So, in conclusion, to actually fall in love with your Zindagi and live a fuller life, notice the things that affect you physically and emotionally and try to go back to its root cause. You can do this by PLRT, meditation or simply by journaling. Whatever works for you. I am always here to help.  Ending this blog with a beautiful quote from Dear Zindagi:

Happy healing! Do get in touch with me for more information on mmansukhani0@gmail.com

Hypnosis- Yay or Nay?

Now that we know a little about Past Life Regression Therapy, let us go a little deeper into this topic and talk about hypnosis!

If you are a movie buff like me, you would have seen hypnotism in some of them. Hypnotism is generally portrayed in a very negative light. We have been shown people being controlled physically and emotionally with the help of hypnosis. If you are a part of the group that believes hypnosis is negative and can be used to control or manipulate you, this blog is going to be a real eye opener for you!

Hypnosis, as verified by Daniel Block (MD certified psychiatrist, Pennsylvania), is a trance-like mental state in which people experience increased attention, concentration, and suggestibility. 

In Layman's terms, it is a state of deep relaxation same as the one you experience before sleep and after waking up. This state is also called a semi-sleep state and is very natural. 

Let me ask you a few questions:

• Have you ever felt extremely engrossed in a movie/web series and lost track of time?
• Have you ever gotten so indulged in a thought or a song that you drove to a wrong place instead of your destination?
• Have you ever zoned out while someone is talking to you and completely lost track of the conversation?

If your answer to even one of these questions is a yes then congratulations my friend, you have experienced hypnosis in your life. 

Let us study a bit about the Human Mind

Human mind is divided into three parts- conscious, subconscious and unconscious. Since unconscious is a state of deep sleep, we will be focusing on are the conscious and subconscious mind. 

         The above image shows the roles of our conscious and subconscious mind

In a non-hypnotic state, your conscious mind is the most active. Hypnotism is the state where your subconscious mind takes over your conscious mind and your concentration shifts to inside your body rather than the outside world. Subconscious mind holds your long-term memories of this life and beyond it. The idea of hypnosis is to suggest your subconscious mind to take you to the root cause of your problem. 

So surprise... it is not a magic pill that can allow someone to control you. In fact you are completely aware of what you are saying and what is happening around you in a hypnotic state since the conscious mind is still active. And guess what? You can lie or omit information too while being hypnotised- as a matter of fact, I have. Although it is not suggested since your therapist is supposed to know what you are experiencing to be able to guide you better but it is a possibility. That is how much you are actions are in your own control. 

How do we experience hypnotism?

I am trained to use music and breathing suggestions to induce hypnosis or trance state. Guided breathing, as used in most meditations, has the capability to slow your brain waves, relax your mind and body and hence make your subconscious mind more active than your conscious mind. This is called the Alpha state. This is where we are aiming to reach with hypnosis. 

Is it scary?

Well of course it is scary. Thanks to the movies, books and advertisements that have successfully ruined the understanding of hypnotism for us. But in reality, hypnotism is as natural as sleeping. We encounter a self-hypnotic state almost everyday in our lives and therapist-induced hypnosis is no different. With enough experience, you can learn to hypnotise yourself and connect deeper to your inner self. This helps in healing. 

As mentioned in the book "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" by Joseph Murphy- in an alpha state or semi-sleep state, the subconscious mind has the ability to take suggestions very easily and once those suggestions are communicated to the subconscious, the mind works towards fulfilling it. For example: If in an alpha state, you suggest your mind to heal your backache, your mind will henceforth work towards it and make your pains better and ,with regular suggestion, eventually free you of the pain. 

Therefore, just like regular practise in cricket will make you a pro at it, regular suggestions to your mind will make you achieve your desired goals. 

I hope this blog gave you a better understanding of what hypnosis actually is. If you are 1% less skeptical about trying hypnotism on yourself, my goal is achieved!

Feel free to contact me on mmansukhani0@gmail.com for more information

An introduction to Past Life Regression Therapy

Hello and welcome to the very first blog of  रिiha- A step towards Liberation. This blog is an introduction to Past Life Regression Therapy. Hope you like it!

What is Past Life Regression Therapy?

Past life Regression Therapy or PLRT is a technique used to witness your past lives in order to cure a physical or mental issue or merely to explore and learn from your past. 

How does it work?

With the use of hypnotism, therapists take you to the time where your problem began- it could be a memory from your childhood, an in-utero memory (memory while you are in your mother's womb) or from a former life. The aim is to reach the time where the problem started and to heal it from its roots. PLRT is known to cure many diseases that modern medicine do not have a solution to. 

How was I introduced to it?

Two years ago, I was completely alien to the concept of PLRT. The whole concept of healing through hypnotism and meditation did not make sense to me. One day, I was introduced to this book called "Many Lives, Many Masters" by Dr Brian Weiss and my life has not been the same since then. 

A brief introduction to the book 

The author of the book, Dr Brian Weiss, is an American psychiatrist who has graduated from Columbia University and Yale Medical School. 

'Many Lives, Many Masters' is a story of Dr Brian's client- Catherine. Catherine approached Dr Brian for her issues of nightmares and anxiety. When traditional therapies did not work on her, Dr Brian decided to use hypnotism and what came next was a surprise to him as well. His client started witnessing past lives. This was a first for Dr Brian and to his surprise she started healing from her visions. He realised then that once you know that your issues are carried forward and you re-visit those memories, your mind starts releasing them. 

Since then Dr Brian has conducted various workshops and published multiple books highlighting the importance of past life regression therapy in order to heal oneself. 

Conclusion

To be honest, as interesting as I found the books and articles, I did not have 100% faith in it till I experienced it on my own at Amarantos. Amarantos is a Past life regression therapy centre in Bengaluru run by Dr Venu Murthy and Neha Murthy. Dr. Venu has more than a decade experience in the field of PLRT and has treated many people in the past. He also had the opportunity to attend Dr. Brian Weiss's workshop and I feel blessed to be given the opportunity to be personally trained by Venu.

My experiences at and after Amarantos made me realise how important it is to let go of the baggage that we are carrying not just since a few years or decades but probably since a few lifetimes. Hence, I introduce to you रिiha which is a Hindi word for "letting go". रिiha is a platform to understand PLRT, its process and its importance in order to heal and therefore live a fuller life. 

I will be writing more about PLRT and my personal experiences in the next blogs. Till then feel free to email me on mmansukhani0@gmail.com for any information or clarifications.