Inner Loneliness a Growing Epidemic
Inner loneliness has become a growing problem in the modern era.
Over recent months as society has changed in response to people trying to balance living within a viral epidemic, whilst trying to juggle “normal life”, reducing real world human-to-human contact, with the bulk of social contact moving into the virtual world, inner loneliness has become epidemic.
Due to it’s invisible nature, this epidemic of inner loneliness is difficult to quantify and track, but one thing is for sure, what can be observed, will only be the tip of a potentially giant iceberg. If left unattended this epidemic of inner loneliness will likely grow into a mental health crisis on a scale never seen before.
Our support group for those suffering from inner loneliness in the local community offers a guided programme to help keep strong mental health in the current epidemic.
Our Support Group
Following strict government COVID guidelines, at our support group meetings, inspired by dance and movement therapy, we use martial arts movements and exercises as a means of expression. This helps to free trapped thought patterns, catalysing the process of mental change. This assists in ‘opening us up’ for connection with our inner selves. As our relationship with our inner self becomes ingrained in our habit matrix, inner loneliness begins to subside.
Combining: expression through movement, frustration venting, and reflective analysis of our own state of mind, our inner child begins to feel heard. This in turn brings a feeling of safety within, which gives our vulnerable side permission to exist. This internal permission, starts a healing process on a deep level, which causes the feeling of connectedness to arise within.
This in turn fills our reservoir of inner contentment, creating a light in our heart. The brightness of contentment causes inner loneliness to fade into the background of awareness; just as a lit candle cannot be seen next to the midday sun, so the embers of inner loneliness cannot be seen against the warm glow of contentment.
Our Takeaway Methods
The key methods we learn to employ in our everyday lives to help combat our own inner loneliness are:
Br.E.A.T.H – “Bring External Attention to Your Heart”:
A profound but simple mindfulness technique to use every day, and especially when you feel the seed of inner loneliness start to stir.
N.I.N.P.O – “Nineteen Initial Nightly Personal Orations”:
A Nineteen day mindfulness home programme, training the mind to recognise it’s intrinsic awareness.
KYOJITSU - “Searching for inner and outer truth, and separating it from non-truth”:
Through reflective analysis we learn to be able to sift inner and outer truth from non-truth. Through this practice we learn and reinforce new habit patterns, that affect our cognitive and behavioural responses to life situations. Modifying our habit matrix in this way, slowly creates a new perceptual paradigm for our everyday living.