Take Charge of Your Mental Health!
By Karen Muranko, Anxiety Wellness Mentor
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. Did you know that 40 million adults in the United States alone live with some type of mental health disorder? My name is Karen Muranko and I’m one of those millions. Gratefully, I’ve been in recovery for 5 years now.
I speak from my personal experience of the extreme challenges one faces living with Panic Disorder. For 30 years I was hostage to sometimes-daily crippling panic attacks. I lived with the disorder for 20 years before being diagnosed and an additional 10 years until I was fortunate enough to meet a group of women who helped me achieve recovery.
My 5-year road to recovery using alternative and holistic techniques actually happened quite accidentally. I began having symptoms quite different from my usually full-blown panic attacks that I’d endured for 30 years. I felt I was out of my body, out of control and as if I would just turn into dust and quietly blow off the planet.
Other times, I wished I could unzip my skin like a suit and gently slip out of it… in hopes that would make the emotional pain go away. When I felt like that it helped to sit very, very still to center myself until I felt more in control. Sometimes that required sitting still for an hour or more, which was very frightening.
During one of those episodes, I called a friend of mine crying and explained all these feelings to her. She asked if could drive. When I said yes, she urged me to come to her house immediately. When I arrived, she asked me to lie down on her massage table and just trust her… and I did.
She proceeded to tell me that what I was feeling was exactly in alignment with what she was sensing… I wasn’t grounded or centered which lead to the feelings of being out of body and out of control. Using a modality called Reiki, she was able to get me grounded enough to feel a little more safe and secure in my own body.
She asked if I would consider seeing her Reflexologist. Trusting that she thought this person could help me, I immediately called for an appointment. That’s how I literally fell into the world of alternative and holistic approaches, which became my lifeline to recovery. You see, what my friend didn’t tell me was that her Reflexologist was actually an Intuitive Healer… because she thought this would scare me and prevent me from exploring this possibility as a solution to becoming anxiety-free. 5 years later, I am so glad she encouraged me to start this path.
What I came to realize on my journey to recovery is there are many options available for mental wellness that a person may not learn about through conventional channels. These include Reiki and Radiance®, body energy techniques and Emotional Freedom Technique®, an Energy Psychology Technique® that helps with all kinds of conditions from anxiety to phobias.
Since I was now open to the options of complimentary approaches to living a better quality of life, having a Feng Shui consultation seemed like the next logical step. I work from home, so I thought it was important to make sure the energy was beneficial for both my businesses and my health.
Ever since implementing my Feng Shui remedies, my business as a personal assistant has grown and I’ve launched my Anxiety Wellness Mentoring business, which has been really exciting for me. It gives me such great pleasure to work with my clients to help them find their own personal solutions to becoming anxiety-free.
As an Anxiety Wellness Mentor, I speak openly about living with Panic Disorder and, more importantly, how much my life has changed for the better being in recovery. I share how I’ve accomplished my goal of being panic-free and most of all how enjoyable it feels to live without the constant worries that can accompany Panic Disorder.
I’m happier than I’ve ever been and feel like a completely different person. I truly like the person I am today and want to offer hope to others living with panic or anxiety disorder, because I believe that recovery and mental wellness is achievable.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Recently Karen Muranko directed and produced her documentary “Putting a Face to Panic; Surviving Anxiety Disorder” which is currently in post-production. Karen also offers personalized Anxiety Wellness Mentoring sessions to assist others in finding their solutions to help achieve recovery. To learn more about Karen visit her web site at www.AnxietyWellnessMentor.com
© 2007 P.K. Odle. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P.K. Odle is a celebrated classical Yi Jing Feng Shui consultant and the Executive Director of the world-renowned American Feng Shui Institute®, where she has taught since 1998. She created The Feng Shui Advantage's "Lifetime Keys Personal Directions Self-Mastery Toolbox." To learn more about using the ancient Chinese science of Yi Jing Feng Shui to improve your Health, Relationships and Finances... through 16 weeks of FREE TIPS subscribe to her award-winning eNewsletter, The Feng Shui Advantage MONTHLY, at http://www.FengShuiAdvantage.com. The next issue could change your life!
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