‘We feel more close-hearted when we are in that state of fear. And that happens as a type of protection really, but unfortunately a side effect of a closed heart means we are less connected with ourselves so it is harder for us to hear our own intuition and our own gut feelings, our own sense of what is true for us and what is right for us as individuals but what it also does, it doesn’t just create that sense of disconnection from ourselves, but it creates that sense of disconnection from others and the world around us too. Not just in ourselves but division between one another.’ A very openhearted and real conversation around the state of the world through the eyes of one of Australia’s most well-renowned natural health practitioners Helen Padarin who in this interview guides us with science and soul back into our hearts with love and care. Knowing there is so much for our nervous systems to navigate right now it is clearly impacting our health with so many feeling the pressure. Helen believes the focus needs to come back to self-care and to truly nurture one self. Her clinic has seen more restrictions and pressures and coercions the base line stuff we are all dealing with now has added pressure like isolation or lock down or fear… it is not just emotional and mental which is huge but also a link to the physical. We talk soul, spirit and how to have an open heart. So to understand this more when we are in a state of fear our amygdala is activated and the frontal part of the brain shuts down – amygdala hijack – and we go into a reactive state of being. We make decisions out of fear in a reactive state rather than a sense of empowerment. And this shuts of our heart as a form of protection but a side effect means we are less connected with ourselves. It also disconnects us from ourselves and one another. It does not matter about your opinions or beliefs right now there is a lot of fear happening on both sides. Helen lets us know all the things that can bring us back to our present moment and into our body. To open our hearts we need to get back into our body and to know that our senses bring us back to the body. We talk neuro-psycho-immunology and how stress impacts our endocrine system and neuro-transmitters and nervous system innovation. This can make us susceptible to immune disorders and things like cancer, even our reproductive cycles and fertility. It effects our ability to produce digestive enzymes and how we absorb food of which the nutrients are the building blocks for health and wellbeing. The biggest emphasis in times of any stress is to maintain our sense of health and wellness. Helen acknowledges that no matter how smart or educated anyone is ultimately we are all human and all humans experience trauma over the extent of each person’s life. If we are not aware of the patterns created by these traumas, we can create repeating patterns. We are all to some extent children walking around in adult bodies with wounds and the need to heal some aspects of our lives. We never heal in isolation, we are always interacting with others so the more we can take ownership of our own stuff with compassion and empathy we can help the healing of the collective. Through experiences we have innate biases which will support our story. It takes a lot of courage to entertain another story… and actually question our beliefs and stories. There is so much influence from industry happening as well. We have always known that industry does not always have the best interests of the consumer at heart and there is a lot of vested interest right now. If we can meet with openhearted discussion and friendly debate, instead of a culture of not agreeing so you cannot be friends anymore, then there is more hope. It is very fascinating how quickly this shift in being able to converse and being able to have different points of view and healthy debate. We seem to have lost a lot of that lately which may indeed be driven by fear and hearts being closed off. We discuss the possibility of having more open-hearted conversations. Perhaps read ‘Non-Violent Communication’ by Marshall B Rosenberg and maybe understanding ‘The 4 Agreements’ by Don Miguiel Ruiz where one is to not take things personally. Helen believes pauses are so important. And to actually hear what the other person is saying and not take it personally, but rather find yourself saying, ‘That’s interesting.’ Somatic experiencing is a type of trauma therapy. This is about understanding where the memories are held in the body. The better we know ourselves the less threatened we will be by others. The more ok and openhearted we can be regardless of another’s opinion the more open we can be to learning understanding that we know everything. We have a lot of different shapes and shades to each of us. We go down the rabbit hole of who is ‘THEY’? When we are told ‘they say’ we have to do things or not do things. Helen has a variety of ...
