“
The mountains were just about the best therapy a person could experience.
”
”
Nimsdai Purja (Beyond Possible: One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks — My Life In The Death Zone)
“
You see, even after decades of therapy and workshops and retreats and twelve-steps and meditation and even experiencing a very weird session of rebirthings, even after rappeling down mountains and walking over hot coals and jumping out of airplanes and watching elephant races and climbing the Great Wall of China, and even after floating down the Amazon and taking ayahuasca with an ex-husband and a witch doctor and speaking in tongues and fasting (both nutritional and verbal), I remained pelted and plagued by feelings of uncertainty and despair. Yes, even after sleeping with a senator, and waking up next to a dead friend, and celebrating Michael Jackson’s last Christmas with him and his kids, I still did not feel—how shall I put this?—mentally sound.
”
”
Carrie Fisher (Shockaholic)
“
The brevity of mini (psycho)therapies is another efficient forestaller of healing. The neocortex rapidly master didactic information, but the limbic brain takes mountains of repetition. No one expects to play the flute in six lessons or to become fluent in Italian in ten. (189)
”
”
Thomas Lewis (A General Theory of Love)
“
A friend, Scott Egleston, who is a professional in the mental health field, told me a therapy fable. He heard it from someone, who heard it from someone else. It goes:
Once upon a time, a woman moved to a cave in the mountains to study with a guru. She wanted, she said, to learn everything there was to know. The guru supplied her with stacks of books and left her alone so she could study. Every morning, the guru returned to the cave to monitor the woman's progress. In his hand, he carried a heavy wooden cane. Each morning, he asked her the same question: " Have you learned everything there is to know yet?" Each morning, her answer was the same. "No." she said, " I haven't." The guru would then strike her over the head with its cane.
This scenario repeated itself for months. One day the guru entered the cave, asked the same question, heard the same answer, and raised his cane to hit her in the same way, but the woman grabbed the cane from the guru, stopping his assault in midair.
Relieved to end the daily batterings but fearing reprisal, the woman looked up at the guru. To her surprise, the guru smiled. " Congragulations." he said, " you have graduated ". You know now everything you need to know."
" How's that"? the woman asked.
" You have learned that you will never learn everything there is to know," he replied. " And you have learned how to stop the pain".
”
”
Melody Beattie (Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself)
“
If you’re working, it’s the best therapy for posttraumatic stress,” Juan says. Studies have shown that the gravity of posttraumatic stress is directly proportional to the length of time one lives with the threat of death, and Juan slowly unwinds the trauma of the sixty-nine days he lived inside a thundering mountain by going to work, fixing machines, then going back home, and then returning to work again.
”
”
Héctor Tobar (Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free)
“
One of the most common mental habits that makes us feel out of control is catastrophizing—otherwise known as making a mountain out of a molehill. A simple way to help kids avoid catastrophizing is to teach them to ask themselves, whenever they’re upset, “Is this a big problem or a little problem?” In cognitive behavioral therapy, kids are taught to distinguish between a disaster (like famine) and something that’s temporarily frustrating or embarrassing, between “I’ll die if this happens” and “I’ll be disappointed but I probably won’t die.” If it’s a little problem, the first line of defense is to use self-soothing mechanisms, like a cool-down spot, deep breathing, or Plan B thinking, to calm themselves down. For most problems, these tools will be enough. When problems feel too big, we want kids to seek help.
”
”
William Stixrud (The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives)
“
…we encourage you to trust your coping plan over the long haul. It is useful to acknowledge your small and daily successes, such as facing things you would typically avoid. There will likely be daily examples of slipups, too, but, similar to looking at a garden, we encourage you to focus on the flowers as much, if not more so, than you do the weeds.
As an aside, both of us have taken up bike riding in the past few years. In our appreciation of the multiday, grand stage races in Europe, such as the Tour de France, we have seen a metaphor that helps to illustrate the goal of coping with ADHD. These multiple stage bike races last from 3 or 4 days on up to 3 weeks. Different days are spent climbing steep mountain roads, traversing long flat stages of over a hundred miles that end in all out sprints to the finish line, and individual time trials where each rider goes out alone and covers the distance as quickly as possible, known as “the race of truth.” The grand champion of a multiday race, however, is the rider whose cumulative time for all the stages is the fastest. That is, if you ride well enough, day-in and day-out, you will be a champion even though you may not be the first rider to cross the finish line on any single day’s race.
Similarly, managing ADHD is an endurance sport. You need not cope perfectly all day, every day. The goal is to make progress, cope well enough, handle setbacks without giving up, and over time you will recognize your victory.
Just keep pedaling.
”
”
J. Russell Ramsay (The Adult ADHD Tool Kit)
“
The truth is that some days I feel I am ready for freedom and other days I am so tired I don’t want the responsibility it brings into my life. I want a rest from choosing, from trying to increase my ability to choose wisely. And then, in a moment of grace, I am given a certainty: if I never did one more meditation, ceremony, workshop, therapy session, course, or cleansing diet, never attended one more meeting or participated in one more community cause, never wrote another line... it would be okay. It would truly be okay. For a moment, as I fully feel this revelation, I am free to move toward what I love.
”
”
Oriah Mountain Dreamer (The Invitation)
“
When toxicity and inner turmoil feel like the standard, change feels otherworldly. It took years of therapy, self-reflection, failing, and processing on my journal pages to undo that mindset. Unlearning the dysfunctional things I’d been carrying so close to my heart for such a long time was a huge mountain to climb.
”
”
Alexandra Elle (How We Heal: Uncover Your Power and Set Yourself Free)
“
VITAL Action As you take action on your social-anxiety playing field, you can use the following skills to guide you in each and every action: V Identify your values and goals. (Hint: Values guide your actions and are never “finished”; goals are things you can check off and say you’re done with.) I Remain in the present moment, first anchoring your attention to the breath and then shifting your focus to, and staying fully present with, what really matters in the situation; revisit your anchor as needed when your focus drifts from the present moment. T Take notice of your experience from your observer perspective (perhaps embodying your inner mountain or another observer image), noticing feelings, thoughts, and urges to use safety behaviors (including avoidance). AL Allow your experience to be exactly as it is, with the assistance of metaphors (flip on your willingness switch, drop the rope, welcome Uncle Leo, and so on) and defusion strategies (labeling, thank your mind, and so on). Try bringing attitudes of curiosity, openness, compassion, and acceptance to your experience.
”
”
Jan E. Fleming (The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Free Yourself from Fear and Reclaim Your Life (A New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook))
“
As Sutherland writes: “In the 18th century, Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then known, became France’s wealthiest overseas colony, largely because of its production of sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton generated by an enslaved labor force” (Sutherland, 2007). There were three general groups of African descent: those who were free (est. 30,000 in 1789), half mixed-race and identified as mulatto, who were quite wealthy; those who were enslaved (close to 500,000 people); and those who had run away (called Maroons) who had retreated deep into the mountains and lived off subsistence farming. Despite the harshness and cruelty of Saint-Domingue slavery, there were rebellions before 1791. As Carroll writes: “One plot even involved the poisoning of masters” (Carroll, n.d.; Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020). Sutherland notes that “the Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful … rebellion [and revolution] in the Western Hemisphere.
”
”
Jennifer Mullan (Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice)
“
Breaking, burning. Sidney danced harder, aware of how the movement blended her into everyone dancing in the street. And the riling felt so very good. To cry, scream, sweat, and laugh through the physicality. Remaking her in the therapy of something primal. The more she danced, the more a tremendous lump inside her gave way, The beat bopped in her bones. Her muscles swelled of joy. Freedom. Laughter as a form of movement that popped, rocked, allowed her to slip free of herself and be gone into the rhythm.
Burning up. Boiling. Steaming. So hot she spiraled upward. They all did. Far away from everything. Hot and bright as stars. Together in cosmic unity. A constellation right there in the streets of Mobile.
Sidney welcomed the sensation. That she could be both alone and together. Down to the core. Down where everything and everyone blended into the dimension behind her eyelids connected, finally, in a living darkness.
While the rhythm lasted there were no sides. No lines in the sand.
No walls. No them. No they. Only us. Alone and together.
Like the fine molecules of a mountain.
”
”
Cebo Campbell (Sky Full of Elephants)
“
But what if they are coming from God?” asked Elliot. “Isn’t it better to be safe, so I don’t go to Hell forever?” “Can you imagine God creating this vast universe, full of oceans and mountains and stars and galaxies – and then being so petty that He punishes you for loving who you love?
”
”
Dr. Harper (I'm a Therapist, and My Patient is Going to be the Next School Shooter: 6 Patient Files That Will Keep You Up At Night (Dr. Harper Therapy, #1))
“
If you live in a mountainous area, hypobaric therapy can be as cheap as a gallon of gas!
”
”
Steven Magee
“
Also known as “blowing everything out of proportion” or “making mountains out of molehills,” catastrophizing involves giving negative events or outcomes more weight than they deserve.
”
”
Olivia Telford (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Simple Techniques to Instantly Be Happier, Find Inner Peace, and Improve Your Life)
“
This visualisation take the client on a journey. The story is about the troubles in life and how we respond to them. Clients have choices during the visualisation so they are able to make their own story. The mountain climb gives clients a chance to reflect on their life so far and to acknowledge and celebrate successes along the way.
”
”
Roger Day (Stories That Heal: 64 creative visualisations for use in therapy)
“
Can you imagine God creating this vast universe, full of oceans and mountains and stars and galaxies – and then being so petty that He punishes you for loving who you love?
”
”
Dr. Harper (I'm a Therapist, and My Patient is Going to be the Next School Shooter: 6 Patient Files That Will Keep You Up At Night (Dr. Harper Therapy, #1))
“
Lesage Cosmetic Tattoo is a boutique permanent makeup studio in Kelowna BC that specializes in kelowna microblading, keratin eyelash infusion, cosmetic tattoos, freckle tattoos and scalp pigmentation. Lesage Cosmetic Tattoo is truly an oasis for relaxation. With its breathtaking mountain views, the tranquil soundtracks and essential oil aroma therapy will help you soothe, settle in and relax as expert microblading and permanent makeup artist Susan Lesage performs her kelowna microblading magic.
”
”
Lesage Cosmetic Tattoo
“
But Horney did not deem self-analysis as merely a possibility, rather, in many cases she thought it to be more desirable than traditional therapy. The therapist always begins as a stranger who requires months if not years of analysis to learn of the inner workings, complexities, and depths of our mind. We, on the other hand, are intimately familiar with ourselves. Given the right attitude, we can, therefore, explore and expose the elements of our unconscious wrecking havoc on our life more efficiently than a trained therapist. Furthermore, self-analysis has the added benefit that it can increase our strength and confidence to a greater degree than traditional therapy. Just as traversing a difficult mountain path on our own grants us a greater feeling of accomplishment than following a guide, so too, Horney notes,
“there is a certain extra gain in having conquered [inner] territory entirely through one’s own initiative, courage, and perseverance.” (Karen Horney, Self-Analysis)
”
”
Academy of Ideas
“
Based on my research, the most significant dietary factor causing both pain and inflammation in the body are the consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). In my book Cancer: The Metabolic Disease Unravelled, I present a mountain of evidence revealing the following negative health consequences of PUFA: - It directly inhibits the cytochrome c oxidase enzyme
- It inhibits the immune system by shrinking the thymus gland and by directly killing white blood cells
- It lowers oxygen use by cells
- It inhibits thyroid function in at least five ways
”
”
Mark Sloan (Red Light Therapy: Miracle Medicine)
“
Evidently, rigging cables is therapy for the Swiss: or part of their theology. What was it that he used to say? A balanced arc between mountain rows / as servant to his master shows / the power of besieged belief / in something something something, something something something-something to do with ducks, or rainbows.
”
”
Mark Helprin (Winter's Tale)
“
I keep hearing all these jokes on TV about how people in Arkansas are still barefoot hillbillies. Sure there are plenty of people living up in the hills and mountains on Arkansas. Why not? The scenery is breathtaking from their million-dollar houses up in those hills. Those people bought Wal-Mart stock early. They paid cash for those homes.
-Little Rock resident on how some people from "up North" view Arkansas
”
”
Maryln Schwartz (New Times In The Old South: Or Why Scarlett's in Therapy & Tara's Going Condo)