Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a horrendous emotional and/or mental black cloud?

Mine manifest in various ways and can include one or all of the following symptoms; grumpiness, anger, self pity, foggy thoughts, despair, irritability, eating unhealthy foods, sitting around too much, isolating myself and not answering the phone.

In defense of these emotional and mental black clouds, I have found they often help me longterm.

Blocked emotions and thoughts need to come alive again. They need to come into your awareness before they can be released. If you don’t become entangled with them, you will get the opportunity to release them and move on. Looking back on the times I have spent floundering in black clouds, I can see what incredible opportunities they provided. These challenging times made me grow, learn, become wiser and helped to set myself free.

If my inner turmoil happened to be particularly ugly, I would stop doing all those nourishing self-care practices such as yoga, prayer, meditation, movement and eating wholesome foods. Instead I would indulge in unhealthy habits and just wallow. Of course this only served to compound the problem further and the black cloud turned into a crippling inner storm.

Even though they can prove helpful long term, being in the middle of a harsh emotional/mental growth period can feel so heavy and dark. I decided a few years ago that I would no longer be a victim to myself and that I could help myself.

I decided to create a rescue kit that I would keep in a safe place in the house and only turn to when I was in a real pickle. (Please note, if I were ever in need of serious professional help, I would seek it. Here, I am referring to heavy times of personal growth).

The rescue kit I created gave me enough nourishment and space, so that in my perceived moments of darkness I was able to take a deep breath, ground myself and do a little of what I needed to do to sail my ship more effectively. Most often, I felt so much better I was able to pull myself out of my darkness, address the issue and move on.

So, in no particular order of importance, here is what is in my mental and emotional rescue kit:

Essential oils
It makes sense to include the relaxing ones we are all familiar with such as lavender and chamomile but I also include the oils I love such as frankincense, bay, juniper and sandalwood. Mmmmm, I can smell them just by thinking about them.

Raw organic chocolate
Need I say more?  For many people, any kind of chocolate improves the moment and I can appreciate that. I prefer raw organic chocolate because it is immensely nutritious and makes my body hum with happiness. I buy chocolate that is slightly sweetened with unrefined sugars. This avoids or minimises the crash that inevitably follows after eating refined sugar, making you feel worse than before.

Inspiring quotes
The internet has millions of them. There are many fantastic quotes published on elephant journal. I like to collect and write out my favourite quotes on beautiful paper and then read them when I feel a little too weird and wonky for comfort.

Photos of other people
I keep photos of people I know and love dearly and I have a few pictures of amazing people that inspire me.

Funniest moments/cherished memories
I keep my old watercolour paintings, cut them up and briefly write my favourite memories on them. These memories are either my funniest moments (you know, the memories that make you howl with laughter when you recall them) on them or the memories that make me feel all warm and golden inside.

Crystals
I keep three crystals in my kit that are special to me. One is a rose quartz, one is an amethyst and the other is a stunning lapis lazuli. I have considered adding black obsidian and black tourmaline for protection but have not gotten around to this yet.

Silver ring
I have a much-loved ring that I no longer wear (I prefer not to wear any jewellery these days). It is engraved with “ONE LOVE.” I keep it in my rescue kit, and it reminds me that I am love and that I am connected to everyone and everything.

I keep all of these things in a shoe box that I had fun decorating to make it look beautiful. It’s my little box of magic. It’s beautiful inside and out, and it reminds me that I am too.

Hopefully I won’t be needing to get my rescue kit out anytime soon, but I know that if I do need a little help, I have something that’s fun, free, effective and beautiful to help brighten a dark day.

~

Relephant read:

How to Practice Authentic Self-care.

Author: Carole Hills

Apprentice Editor: Kelly Chesney / Editor: Caroline Beaton

Image: Quinn Dombrowski/Flckr