R.I.S.E | INNER | The Inner World Pt 1

(Read Time 10 min)

Picture this: you're struggling with chronic pain, anxiety, or depression, and nothing seems to provide lasting relief. What if I told you that according to recent neuroscientific and health studies, most "sicknesses" we experience today can be traced back to unresolved trauma, which manifests in various illnesses and diseases? It's a harsh truth that can leave you feeling overwhelmed and desperate for answers.

We've all been there, searching for solutions to our problems and yearning for a way to break free from the shackles of our past. But fear not—I hope this blog post can be a start to a guiding light on a transformative journey to address your inner landscape and cultivate a thriving mental garden.

As we explore holistic approaches to healing both mind and body, you'll learn how to dig deep into your subconscious to nurture your mental garden, fostering personal growth and begin an inner transformation that ultimately leads to a life filled with love, happiness, and success as the greatest version of yourself.

As we continue to dive into the INNER portion of our R.I.S.E. process, I hope to quip you with the beginning knowledge, awareness, and tools to transform and tend to your inner garden, ensuring that you plant the right seeds, cultivate a nourishing environment, and reap the rewards of a fulfilling, healthy, and beautiful life.

R.I.S.E Overview

The R.I.S.E. Process looks like this:

R - Reach 

I - Inner (we are now here)

S - Serve

E - Evolve

Make sure you download the R.I.S.E. work book and follow along.

Fixing the SOIL

In "The Body Keeps the Score," Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. explores how our bodies retain and process traumatic experiences, leading to a myriad of physical, emotional, and mental health challenges.

Trauma can disrupt the normal functioning of your brain, nervous system, and hormones, resulting in symptoms like chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and difficulties in forming meaningful relationships. These manifestations indicate unresolved past traumas that continue to shape your daily life.

Most of the "sicknesses" humans are experiencing today, can be tied back to unresolved trauma that has now manifested and expressing its self through different sicknesses and diseases.

If there is dis - ease in the mind, it manifests as disease in the body.

To achieve improved health and address the lingering effects of trauma, it's vital to embrace a holistic approach that considers both mind and body.

By being aware, recognizing, and confronting the ways your body keep the score, you can strive towards a healthier, more balanced future.

The inner journey transformation includes delving into past experiences, processing emotions, and developing effective coping strategies. By emphasizing self-reflection, self-compassion, and intentional healing, you create a fertile ground for personal growth and transformation, allowing you to flourish in all aspects of your life.

This journey may also involve seeking guidance from a trauma-informed therapist and/or moving through psychedelic therapy session(s) which we now know has profound positive impact with healing trauma.

You must begin or continue practicing mindfulness techniques like meditation and deep breathing exercises, and engaging in regular physical activities to release tension and foster your well-being.

Building supportive relationships and being involved in a community that prioritizes their health, share common values, and support each other is one of the most, if not THEE most, important aspect of fixing your inner world.

Understanding that our bodies store the memories of past traumas highlights the importance of first addressing your inner landscape, fixing your soil, before seeking external changes.

Just as a gardener must nourish the soil before planting seeds, you (we) must cultivate your emotional and mental well-being to lay a solid foundation for inner transformation. By tending to the garden of your mind and nurturing your inner self, you can continually evolve into your greatest self and experience life at the highest level.

THE GARDEN

Your mind is like a garden. What you plant and water the most will grow and shape your reality. You become what you think about most

To create a life brimming with love, happiness, and success, it is essential to nurture your mental garden consistently and intentionally.

We possess two minds - the subconscious mind and the conscious mind. Imagine the conscious mind as the visible environment above the ground in a garden, while the subconscious mind represents the hidden environment beneath the surface. Drawing a parallel between the subconscious and conscious minds to gardening can effectively illustrate their collaborative nature.

Just as a gardener attentively manages the environment above the ground (the conscious mind) by planting, watering, and pruning plants to yield the desired outcome, the gardener must also tend to the soil below the surface (subconscious mind) to foster and nourish new growth.

The environment above the ground, or the conscious mind, embodies the thoughts, feelings, and actions we are aware of and can control. This is where we make deliberate decisions and take purposeful actions toward our goals, akin to a gardener sowing seeds, planting, and pruning.

In contrast, the environment below the ground, or the subconscious mind, represents the beliefs, habits, and patterns that mold our perceptions and sway our behaviors. We may not consciously recognize or see this, much like whats happening in the hidden environment and roots of plants beneath the soil.

Similar to how a gardener tillages the soil to facilitate healthy plant growth, we must begin to cultivate our subconscious mind to foster positive beliefs, habits, and patterns that align with our goals and aspirations so we can produce the fruit and harvest we want to have.

Examine your current mental garden.

What does it resemble? Is the soil healthy to grow and produce fruit? What or who are the weeds stifling your growth? What kind of things are growing in your garden?

Evaluating your mental landscape is the initial step towards nurturing a more fulfilling life.

Much like the soil in your garden influences the growth and vitality of your plants, your environment and social circle significantly impact your personal development and growth. Surrounding yourself with positive, supportive, and like-minded individuals can help you flourish and achieve your goals. Be mindful of the company you keep and the environment you cultivate for yourself.

The universal law of cause and effect or sowing and reaping governs every aspect of life, including personal growth. Your thoughts, actions, and habits today will shape your future outcomes. What you plant now will begin to grow in the future to which then you reap a harvest.

By comprehending this principle, you can become more self-aware and make conscious choices that align with your personal development and growth and the inner transformation you want to experience.

Tending to your mental garden and understanding the interplay between your conscious and subconscious minds are crucial steps towards inner transformation. Tilling your soil for positive beliefs, habits, and patterns, and surrounding yourself with a supportive environment will pave the way for a life filled with love, happiness, and success.

Just as a gardener nurtures the soil and plants, you must nurture your mind to create the life you desire.

GARDENING 101

We are all just farmers and gardener's.

To foster a thriving mental garden, it is essential to focus on the various components that contribute to personal growth and the health of your garden. These encompass:

1. Soil: Your environment is crucial for inner transformation. Surround yourself with settings that encourage and inspire progress. Till your soil. Make sure your soil is enriched so the healthy seeds you being to plant, take root to grow.

2. Seeds: The seeds include music, shows, podcasts, movies, mentors, books, friends, and ideas. These significantly impact your garden and determines what grows. Opt for positive and uplifting sources of inspiration to nurture your mental garden. Cultivate a higher-awareness to see what seeds are being planted.

3. Thoughts and Trees: Recognize the connection between your thoughts and your reality. The thoughts you nurture the most, whether positive or negative, will grow and shape your life experiences. These thoughts grow in your brain and look like trees. Grow healthy trees in your garden.

4. Dis-ease and Disease: Understand the correlation between mental and physical health, and prioritize well-being in all aspects of your life.

5. Mind and Body Relationship: Acknowledge the interdependence of your mind and body, and strive to achieve holistic wellness by nurturing both aspects of your being. The body is a servant of the mind. Most people have the mind being a servant to the body.

6. Your Mind and Your Brain: Differentiate between your mind (consciousness) and brain (physical organ), and ensure you care for both in your pursuit of personal growth. It starts in the mind, grows in the brain, and then takes root in the body. This is top-down processing.

7. Watering and Growing: Continuously nourish and till your mind (garden) with new knowledge, experiences, and perspectives to encourage growth and transformation in your mental garden.

8. Law of Sowing and Reaping: Embrace the principle of harvest—what you plant and nurture today will shape your future outcomes both positive and negative. By planting and sowing seeds of positivity, knowledge, and well-being, you will reap the rewards of a fulfilling life and a beautiful garden.

Cultivating a healthy mental garden requires conscious attention to various elements that promote personal growth and inner transformation. As you begin to tend to your soil, plant new seeds, remove weeds, grow, and experience harvests, you'll start to become more aware of the feedback loops we discussed in You Move, God Moves.

With awareness and feedback, comes opportunity for change. You become better and better at gardening over time. This allows your garden to grow in more beautiful ways. With time, everything will be compounded. Compound the harvest by tending to your garden.

It's your garden. What do you want to grow?

Keep going.