"Miserable Morphine Morning
My muscles don't work
Won't somebody get me my pills"
- excerpt from a poem
I grew up in a pill culture. If you are from the United States like I am, it is probable you did as well.
We took pills for everything. Sore throat, headache, anxiety, focus, depression, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, gas, acid reflux, to get pregnant, not to get pregnant, acne, better skin and thicker nails: pills, pills, pills, and more pills. If there was a problem, you could bet there was a pill for it. It was the norm. Everyone I knew took pills.
We all agreed to call these pills medication, and when something was wrong this is what we headed for. The challenge: no one ever explained what the real purpose of medicine was supposed to be, or that medication did not always have to come in the form of a pill. As a result, while in some cases the medicine we reached for was genuinely doing its job, in many cases it was having the exact opposite effect.
It was not until years later, in my 30’s and already meditating and practicing yoga for a long time, that I learned medication and meditation share the same root word; meaning “to make whole”. This was laughable to me. At this point in my life, medication had taken much more from me than it had ever given and, most certainly, it had never made me whole.
I went on anti-depressants for the first time at the age of 12. At 18 I began taking pills to control my anxiety. I was so used to taking pills for problems that, by the time I was 25, after a major car accident and a serious cervical spine injury, when my doctor prescribed me morphine; I took it.
Nine months later I woke up; a shell of my former self. Where was this wholeness medication was supposed to provide?
Before this time, I was a distance runner. I ate well and read voraciously, was a university graduate, and had established a decent career for someone my age. At the end of this time, I could barely read a cereal box, let alone focus long enough to watch a television show. I could not remember how to feed myself beyond peanut butter and marshmallow cream on crackers, and my body and muscles were weak from inactivity.
I went to my doctor: “I am not going to take this medication anymore. I need something else. What am I supposed to do?”
My doctor had no answers for me. Pills were the only medicine he knew, as well.
I had no choice but to go my own way. I threw myself into wellness and self-healing and more education. I knew that medical doctors had taken me as far as they could on my journey to wholeness. If I wanted ultimate well-being, I had to take matters into my own hands.
And this, my friends, is what has led me here to you.
I have devoted more than a decade to understanding how to give medicine to the body and mind in a way that authentically creates a sense of wholeness. And, while this may occasionally mean taking pills, the majority of the medicine we should be taking to bring us a sense of wholeness is almost never swallowed in a tiny, compressed tablet.
Over the past two years I have been working hard to develop an online platform that can be a support to anyone on the path to ultimate well-being and wholeness. A platform that offers medication in a way beyond what it is traditionally viewed as. During this process, I have created a new kind of medication based on self-inquiry and meditation. And today, I am excited to be announcing this new program to the Mindful Island community first.
Now available on www.mindfulisland.com are Generalized and Personalized Prescription Meditation and Self-Transformation Plans.
Aside from being based on science, research and experience, this work comes from deep within my heart. What I have shared in this month’s contemplations is only a small taste of my life story. A story that has created a burning desire to devote my entire life to being a voice of encouragement for others. Others who, like me, have gone as far as they can on their search for wholeness and are ready for something more.
I challenge you this month to explore your own relationship with medication. I ask you to expand what you consider to be medicine and look at it in all the various forms it comes in; the good, the bad, and the in between. Explore all of the ways you can make yourself free from dis-ease and ask yourself how you currently contribute or detract from your personal sense of wholeness.
Finally, I invite you to experience the new Mindful Island Prescription Meditation and Self-Transformation Plans and to share them freely with anyone you know who may benefit.
While this type of work is never going to be as easy as swallowing a pill, on the path to wholeness it is the ultimate medication.
Until next time; live mindfully, be well.
Love, Sarah
PS. We believe in helping anyone who needs it no matter why. If you or someone you know could benefit from our services but do not have the funds to access them, email us at info@mindfulisland.com and we will help you achieve your goals.