Discover Your Path to True Healing
Are you struggling with trauma, anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges and seeking a more effective solution? You’re not alone, and there is hope. The FLW Method, a comprehensive approach to healing, harnesses the power of your body, emotions, mind, social interactions, and spirituality.
In life, the five levels of your being – physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual – are not separate. The FLW Method equips you with tools to use all the levels simultaneously, and that’s why it works. This method is unconventional, effective and it’s fun!
Start your journey to healing today and learn how to utilize the powerful synergy of your entire self to overcome trauma and reclaim your well-being!
The Physical Level: Your Body as a Tool for Healing Trauma
The Role of Your Body in Trauma:
It is well-known that ‘the body keeps the score’ – it can retain the memory of traumatic experiences. Your body:
- Stores trauma: in muscles, organs and connective tissues, in your immune system, in your nervous system, in your digestive system, etc.
- Signals its presence through symptoms: headaches, chronic pain, fatigue, digestive issues, etc.
- Generates cortisol, adrenaline (epinephrine), norepinephrine and other neurotransmitters and hormones associated with trauma
- Develops chronic conditions (fibromyalgia, sleep disorders, diabetes, autoimmune problems, etc.) as a result of trauma
Seeking Solutions – First Steps:
The first steps we take in an attempt to deal with our trauma typically include:
- Taking Medication
- Going to see a doctor about symptoms
- Exercising/ Working out
- Eating Healthy
- Breathing deeply and doing various breathing exercises
Issues We May Encounter:
In our attempts to treat our trauma through purely physical approaches, we quickly come across various issues, such as:
- Unable to change our diet
- Emotional eating
- Not having willingness or motivation to exercise
- Some treatments don’t work
- Treatments control symptoms but don’t resolve trauma
Seeking Alternative Healing Methods
When medication and other methods don’t work, we begin to seek more comprehensive methods to help us heal, such as:
- Mindfulness meditation
- Mindful eating
- Yoga
- Tai-Chi
- Walking Meditation
- Alternative medicine (acupuncture, herbal medicine, reiki, etc.)
The FLW Method – Utilizing the Power of Your Body for Healing:
The FLW Method is a comprehensive approach that engages and utilizes all five levels, including your physical body. This is achieved through:
- Physical movement
- Voice / Use of vocal cords
- Skill building exercises
- Starting with the physical level and gradually adding other levels
- Working with the physical level across the time continuum
The Emotional Level: Your Emotions as a Tool for Healing Trauma
The Role of Your Emotions in Trauma:
- Trauma spans the negative side of the emotional spectrum
- In trauma, negative emotions persist instead of going away
- Persistent negative emotion cause development of mental health issues (depression, anxiety, etc.)
- Negative emotions are triggered by several factors (internal and external triggers)
Seeking Solutions – First Steps:
In an attempt to improve how we feel, we usually try the following methods:
- Various types of therapy
- Medication (antidepressants, SSRIs)
- Self-help books
- Spending time with pets
- Other coping strategies
Issues We May Encounter:
While trying to heal, we typically encounter the following challenges:
- Chronic nature of mental health issues
- Therapy only partially helps
- New events bring back old traumas
- Coping strategies help but do not address the root cause of trauma
Seeking Alternative Healing Methods:
As we continue looking for solutions, we typically try some of the more holistic methods of healing, for example:
- Yoga
- Mindfulness meditation
- Spending time in nature
- Aromatherapy
- Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Ayurvedic medicine
- Crystals
The FLW Method – Utilizing the Power of Your Emotions for Healing:
Instead of avoiding or suppressing negative emotions, the FLW Method makes the full use of them, recognizing that:
- Suppressing emotions leads to extending the suffering
- Emotions are intricately connected to our body, mind and all other levels
- Emotions can be purposefully generated
- Emotions can be directed and used for specific purpose
- Specially designed exercises can be used for practice
- Emotions are powerful and should be used safely
The Cognitive Level: Your Mind as a Tool for Healing Trauma
The Role of Your Mind in Trauma:
- Store the memories of trauma
- Replay the memories of trauma
- Think about trauma (analyze, assess, reassess)
- Experience symptoms of trauma: racing or obsessive thoughts, forgetfulness, flashbacks, mental fog, etc.
Seeking Solutions – First Steps:
When experiencing symptoms of trauma on the cognitive level, we typically try some of the following:
- Therapy, for example Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), EMDR, etc.
- Medication
- Various coping strategies (exercising, distracting our minds by TV, gaming or hobbies, channeling our trauma into art, etc.)
Issues We May Encounter:
As we’re trying to heal, we may encounter some of the following issues:
- Therapy can be only partially effective
- Medications suppress the symptoms but don’t resolve the past traumas
- Flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive memories persist
- New traumas reactivate old ones
Seeking Alternative Healing Methods:
As we continue looking for ways to heal, we typically try some of the more holistic methods of healing, for example:
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Other alternative treatments
The FLW Method – Utilizing the Power of Your Mind for Healing:
Our mind’s have incredible powers when it comes to helping heal our trauma and the FLW Method uses them to the fullest extent possible – more than any method currently in existence. This is achieved by:
- Using the mind’s power to create
- Combining the mind’s powers with other levels’ tools
- Utilizing both the mind’s strengths and its weaknesses
- Using the power of logic and science to escape the trap of believing and disbelieving
The Social Level: Communication as a Tool for Healing Trauma
The Role of Social Level in Trauma:
- Social level often serves a source of our trauma (what someone did or said might have hurt you)
- Our relationships with other people get affected by our trauma
- Our interaction with people, animals, nature and the entire world can be determined by what happened to us
- The symptoms we experience typically include: fear of people, social anxiety, anger, loneliness, withdrawal from people, constantly seeking support and approval of others, etc.
Seeking Solutions – First Steps:
When experiencing issues on the social level, we typically try the following:
- Medication (anxiety medication, etc.)
- Therapy, such as CBT and other forms of talk therapy
- Self-help books and resources
- Various Coping Strategies
- Support groups
Issues We May Encounter:
When attempting to resolve our issues, we often become aware that:
- Medication reduces the symptoms but does not address the cause
- Therapy can be only 50% effective and relapses are possible
- Coping does not mean healing
Seeking Alternative Healing Methods:
As we continue looking for solutions, we begin to explore other, more holistic methods:
- Mindfulness Meditation
- Herbal medicine
- Aromatherapy
- Yoga and Breathing Techniques
- Other alternative approaches
The FLW Method – Utilizing the Power of Communication for Healing:
The FLW Method uses your ability to speak in a creative and effective way that allows you to resolve your traumas. Communication is at the heart of the method, however:
- You will never have to share your trauma
- You don’t need to have any special communications skills
- You will not need to involve other people in the process
- You will not need to go anywhere public
The Spiritual Level: Spirituality as a Tool for Healing Trauma
The Role of Spiritual Level in Trauma:
- Experiencing ‘spiritual distress’ symptoms such as suicidal ideations or even attempting a suicide
- Fearing death
- Asking questions about the meaning and the purpose of life
- Perceiving oneself as a ‘bad person’ or an ‘innocent victim’
- Questioning why bad things happen to good people
- Questioning religion and cultural traditions
Seeking Solutions – First Steps:
As we begin looking for ways to help ourselves feel better, we typically first turn to the following:
- Various types of therapy (CBT, psychoanalysis, etc.)
- Medication (antidepressants)
- Support (community, groups, online, phone, etc.)
Issues We May Encounter:
Eventually we come to realize that the methods we have tried are not as effective:
- Therapy helps but often only partially
- Medication may help with symptoms control but the symptoms never go away
- Many important questions remain unanswered
- Other people have own perceptions, different from yours
Seeking Alternative Healing Methods:
When in spiritual distress, we also seek alternative solutions, such as:
- Religious practices
- Exploring new forms of spirituality and adopting new beliefs
- Immersing oneself in ancestral cultural traditions
- Exploring scientific approaches
- Abandoning all religion and traditions
- Exploring philosophy
The FLW Method – Utilizing the Power of Spirituality for Healing:
Spirituality plays a central role in the FLW Method, ensuring its comprehensiveness. However, spiritual level is approached completely differently than it is done in any religion or tradition:
- You don’t need to have any spiritual belief or follow any religion
- All the work is strictly internal and does not involve any external ‘god’
- In FLW Method, you will be asked to abstain from believing or disbelieving anything
- You will be invited to explore the dualities of life
Embrace Your Path to Healing and Self-Discovery
Healing is possible, and the power to achieve it is in your body, your mind and your spirit. Embrace this journey and explore the engaging techniques and practices that will help you transform your past into your path. You have the tools to create a new, unique identity and become who you want to be. Take the first step today, and discover the brighter future that awaits you.