We live in a special time in human history. A few unprecedented developments in our collective psyche are coming together to shift the world as we know it. Essentially, people are looking for more than they were taught was available to them – more happiness, more inner peace, more fulfilment, more healing and more freedom. They are aware that there are serious limits to the happiness that material things can bring them and are connecting their happiness not with the things outside of them, but with the ongoings of their mind. Mental health has become a global discussion, with serious actions taking place, at a national and interpersonal level, to support the wellbeing of the mind.
The growing popularity of the conversation around mental health and what constitutes real happiness is opening the door even wider for Eastern introspective practices and Western therapies to be globally accepted, respected and utilized. Meditation is no longer strange or new, seeing a therapist is no longer taboo, taking time to cultivate and heal our minds is now becoming more common.
More than ever people are seeing that much of what we have personally felt in the past is still inside of us – an emotional history that very much impacts how we feel, think and act. Achieving self-love is a combination of finding a way to release the things that have been accumulated inside of us, breaking old patterns that do not serve us, building new habits that support our happiness and giving ourselves the rejuvenating rest that is so rare, yet necessary, for our success in this fast-paced modern era.
Once people notice that they can be happier and that they have much to uncover and release, the logical next step is to seek the tools they need to build a real inner peace. One of the benefits of living in a globalized world is that the best healing tools that different cultures have created and brought forward are now more widely accessible than ever. Since people are in very different places and since we all have our own unique emotional histories, we each need to go out and find the tools that work for us. A practice that is challenging but not overwhelming will certainly help us in our personal transformation.
In It’s Not You, It’s Me, Camilla uses tools that invite us into ourselves in an accessible yet effective way. What is special about this invaluable book is that it is a gateway into the inner world, something that can profoundly lift our self-awareness so that we can better understand ourselves and thus understand the people in our lives. Though we all have different mental content, the structure of the mind is essentially the same – understanding the similarities between the human experience helps us to improve the success of our relationships. When we work on knowing ourselves, there is a natural expansion in our compassion and our ability to explore multiple perspectives. When we become familiar with our own inner landscape, we can better manage the ups and downs of life and respond to our relationships with greater wisdom.
Society is created by the relationships amongst individuals. If we can improve our relationship with ourselves and those around us, it can only have a positive impact on the world at large. As people continue expanding their self-awareness and using tools that can help them let go of the old and build the new, this will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our world.
Yung Pueblo