Third, they keep us from fully experiencing the joy of everyday life. Healing means that you have a sense of connection and connectedness, and a sense of being more in touch with your soul's purpose. One of the values of a neighborhood, which most people had at least until 50 years ago, is that these people know you. Many people today rarely, if ever, have experienced how good it feels to be accepted in this way. If you can't really open your heart to someone, it you can't really show all of yourself, then you are limiting how intimate you can be.
Support groups can help.
Part of what makes our support groups at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute so powerful is that people begin to realize they are not alone. We try to create a safe environment that gives them permission to talk about what they are really feeling, and to encourage the other members to listen with empathy and compassion without judging, rejecting, abandoning or trying to fix them. When people begin to experience how good it feels to open in this way, they develop the motivation and the skills to begin applying these approaches in their own lives and relationships. This has been documented by hundreds of scientific studies many of which I review in my book. And the beneficial effects of social support, love and intimacy aren't limited to humans.