Q: I'm sure you have worked with a lot of people that had experiences with mold. Is it possible for you to share how we can retrain and recover in an environment that may have mold?
A: It is important to remember that mold exists in the natural world and that not all types of mold are dangerous to us. Of course in the case of dangerous types, we want to do everything we can to remedy the situation. Outside of that, we need to remember that our limbic system is mis-perceiving the mold as being life threatening. This is setting off the stress response in your system, and it is this stress response that is responsible for causing the reaction, not the stimulus itself. In order to change this, we need to minimize our attention and the "air time" given in our thoughts to the mold. If you find yourself focusing on it, say "stop" or "cancel" and redirect. Consider elevating your emotional state by even smiling or laughing as you do so. This helps to send your brain the message that it is nothing to worry about. Do rounds of practice around the stimulus to change your brain's pattern of association with it. Think about how someone with a healthy limbic system would act/think and try to emulate that. Finally, stay away from information that triggers more fear around the topic as it will only make the recovery process more challenging.
Q: I have noticed some dissociation issues which seem to be affecting my ability to catch pops and stay in the curious observer. Do you have any tips on how to resolve this and enable me to stay in curious observer? I have tried setting a timer and asking myself what I am feeling/thinking etc but it has not been helpful.
A: Grounding and orienting exercises will help you with the dissociation. Consider checking out Irene Lyon's 21 day nervous system tune up or Peter Levine's book Healing Trauma (which comes with audio exercises to help with dissociation). As with anything brain related, consistent repetition of the tools is necessary in order to make changes.
Until next time!
If you have a question, please email me at dearcandyquestions@gmail.com
Candy Widdifield is Registered Clinical Counsellor, Wellness Coach, and Registered Reiki Master Teacher in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. She works with people all over the world, helping them to optimize their wellbeing and thrive in their lives. Her modalities include coaching, therapy, Reiki and the Safe & Sound Protocol. More information about Candy can be found at www.candywiddifield.com