How to be Mindful Throughout Your Healing Process
A key aspect of the healing process is to be aware of your emotions and the way you are thinking. Being mindful is important as it helps to reduce your emotional suffering as well as help you make important decisions. When dealing with the healing process, I can’t stress enough how important it is to be mindful of your emotions and the physical sensations you are feeling. In DBT, there are three states of mind: reasonable mind, wise mind, and emotional mind. Each state of mind is useful for different situations, and it can be extremely beneficial to be aware of which state of mind you are in when you are experiencing severe emotions.
Reasonable mind is just that: reasonable. This state of mind uses logic, facts, thinking, and problem solving. In reasonable mind, emotions don’t get in the way because they are absent. As a survivor of sexual abuse, one would want to be in reasonable mind if/when they report their abuse, if/when they testify, or if/when they share their story.
On the other end of the scale, there is emotional mind. Emotional mind is ruled by urges and feelings, and logic is absent. One would act impulsively when they are in emotional mind. For example, when you argue with someone who might not support you through your healing journey, this is an example of emotional mind.
Wise mind is where reasonable mind and emotional mind meet; it’s your intuition. This is the dialectical part of the mind, where your emotions are valid and you can act on them reasonably. When you are in wise mind, you can recognize and respect your feelings and respond in a calm way. An example of wise mind is if you were to have a deep conversation with a friend, or something as simple as journaling.
Each state of mind has it’s pros and cons, and some of them are more effective than others depending on the situation. Nonetheless, it’s important to be mindful of what state of mind you are in throughout your healing process in order to get the most out of it.
-KelseyFlanagan