Blog 2 Cultivating Critical Reflections in the Social Work Landscape – A road to death or healing…what’s your choice?

I chose to cultivate my critical reflection on the article More Healing More of the
Time By: Dori Midnight. Before I can state why I felt inclined to reflect on this article, I will say why
this article called out to me. In my childhood, teenage years and even my young
adulthood while living at home with my parents, I was never taught how to take
care of myself in a healthy aspect. If anything, I was judge ridiculed and abused.
Whenever I felt tired because I had a long day at school, work or because I cleaned
the entire house or babysat all day; a normal person in a healthy household would
decide to take a nap or relax by doing something that can ease your mind and body.
Well, in my parent’s household I would hear words such as I am selfish, lazy,
stupid, or will not amount to anything; the moment I put my feet on the bed or sit
after a long day’s work. As you can imagine, not being taught that I have the right
to take care of myself, I would then be afraid of allowing myself to rest or when I
found an opportunity to rest I would do it in private, as if it was a dirty little secret.
Emotionally I would feel broken, and even sometimes as if my heart was tearing
because I thought my parents were supposed to love me and want the best for me.
But their words were so painful and brutal it created so much doubt and self-
proclaimed abuse because I didn’t think I was worth anything good, even when I
deserved it. Somehow, I would talk myself out of being given a well-deserved gift
for something I worked hard for; this is a lifelong journey that I am committed to.
As an adult this became a hard habit to break because I had to relearn mentally that
I have the right to take care of myself; mind, body, and spirit.

Choosing this article was a no brainer for me, as soon as I read the topic I was sold.
The part that stuck with me the most was paragraph 2, which was where collective
liberation and community-based healers were discussed. I recently started getting
back into my love for teatime. I do not have a specific frame of time when I have
these moments but when I do, I allow myself a moment to turn off the noise or
listen to music that can help me propel positivity and nurturing my mind, body and
spirit that is in need. It was not long after I started teatime when I realized the
amount caffeine, I would take daily to function because I was so exhausted. Well, I
swapped out the coffee for tea and after I had some testing done, I found out I have
sleep apnea and diabetes, which explained my heightened level of exhaustion. Not
only did this ancient healing tradition allow me to have some time to myself, but it

gave me a reason to listen to my body and get the additive help that I need to heal
and rest. When we heal remembering that we are not just healing through us, but
we are healing through time, healing broken patterns, healing our and ancestral
line, these difficult habits aren’t easy to break through and it will take a lot of time
and work by incorporating ancient healing and new age healing which you could
find it beneficial to create rituals and even allow others who are willing to know
about the practices that you are evoking in, just so we can get back into some of
the most important practices our ancestors have kept up with; which explained the
long and healthy lifestyle they had. We can transform healing and stop the illusion
that our struggles are private. The margin of clinically mentally ill patients
struggling with mental illness, disassociation from our bodies and continue pushing
away from people with healing traditions.

Another way we can help others in self-care is by eliminating the thought of
judging and criticizing others who need the knowledge of being taught how to take
care of themselves or knowing when to ask for help. I know for me, asking for help
is one of my weaknesses. Regardless of how tired I am or overworked, my past
traumas would try to take over my mental health to guilt me into taking on more
because I would be considered lazy, stupid or I would not amount to anything.
Ultimately that is just the inner voice of all the abuse I’ve experienced, which I am
currently working on bettering. We need to get back to what kept our ancestors
alive and well for so long and stop accepting a hard and short life because of these
terrible practices that we’ve adapted to. Encouraging more collective care can
support people into taking care of themselves, by stop being judgmental and
maximizing the support in self-care by getting in groups that can be something as
simple as bodywork, resting, and even knitting. My guilty pleasure lately has been
going to a spa or getting a pedicure or manicure for some much-needed leisure or
reading my bible.

1 Corinthians verse 6:19-20 speaks your body being a temple of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you; whom you have receive from God. You are not your own, but you
were brought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. The best way you
can be deemed honorable with your body is incorporating selfcare tactics and
boundary building exercises. Not only will you be doing yourself justice, but you
will honor what your ancestors have been practicing keeping their health aligned.