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| Healing™ |
It starts innocently.
You follow a therapist on Instagram.
You download a meditation app.
You light a lavender candle that promises “emotional release” in 14 burns or less.
🧘♀️ And suddenly, you're deep-breathing in the office loo, setting boundaries on Bumble, and scripting your dream job into a manifestation journal.
We're in the golden era of self-work™.
And yet, everyone looks... exhausted.
Spiritually dehydrated. One LinkedIn rejection away from texting their ex “u up?”
🤷♀️ So here’s the question no one wants to ask out loud:
If we’re all healing… why do we still feel like crap?
👉 Related read: Trauma is Trending, Healing Not So Much
😴 Your Inner Child Is Tired. So Are You.
“Reparent your inner child,” they said.
“She just needs to feel safe.”
You tried.
You really did.
But rent is up, your job feels like an episode of Black Mirror, and your “self-care” routine is just doomscrolling while eating cereal at 2 AM.
🧠 Everyone’s fluent in therapy-speak now:
Triggers. Narcissist. Inner child. Shadow work. Boundaries.
But ask someone how they actually feel, and they’ll say:
“I’m processing.”
(Translation: I’m spiraling, but in HD.)
We’re not healing.
We’re rehearsing.
We journal, but don’t feel.
We meditate, but don’t rest.
We do “shadow work” but still ghost people.
💀 And the saddest part?
The pain is real. But now, it’s trending.
👉 Also read: Reels, Rants & Rotting Focus
🇮🇳 Desi Healing = Guilt, Gaslight & Gratitude
Let’s talk about the Desi version of emotional growth.
It comes with a side of passive aggression and unsolicited WhatsApp forwards.
Your parents:
“Why therapy? We gave you everything!”
“Stop overthinking. Just get married.”
“When we were your age, we had real problems.”
🪷 Your attempt to heal turns into a family debate.
Your anxiety becomes a moral failure.
And your burnout is still expected to make chai.
Even your self-work has to pass the approval of elders who believe depression is a Western hangover.
So you do what every urban millennial does—combine Sanskrit affirmations with Western trauma vocabulary, and hope no one notices.
🎯 Real-world example: Mental health startup Lissun tried offering therapy to Tier 2 towns and found most leads still preferred "yoga" or "homeopathy" over talk therapy. Because healing is okay... but not too loudly, beta.
👉 Related read: Still Seeking Approval? The Desi Child Dilemma
👉 Also check: Indian Men Can’t Win
💸 Welcome to the Capitalism of Care
Self-love is the new skincare.
Healing is a subscription model.
And pain?
Pain is a high-converting sales funnel.
💅 You’re not broken.
You’re marketable.
From pastel apps to trauma release workshops, it’s all very… aesthetic.
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₹999 “inner child healing” Zoom sessions
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Podcast ads selling you mushroom coffee for childhood grief
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Journals that come with affirmations and EMIs
🧘♀️ Mindfulness is now a push notification.
“Breathe in.”
“Let go.”
“Pay ₹499/month to continue.” 🙃
📍Real-world example: India's top therapy platform BetterLYF has over 1,500 therapists but mostly gets used for break-up and productivity anxiety support—proof that the “problem” has been repackaged, not resolved.
👉 Deep dive: The Therapy Trap
👉 Don’t miss: Neuromarketing 2025
🎭 This Isn’t Healing. It’s Escapism Dressed as Growth.
You’re not evolving.
You’re just rebranding your coping mechanism.
In 2005, we escaped into F.R.I.E.N.D.S reruns and bar nights.
In 2025, we escape into journaling challenges and 3-hour YouTube breakdowns of our attachment style.
“I’m healing, so I can’t commit to this relationship right now.”
Translation:
“I have the emotional capacity of a soggy biscuit, but I’ll use buzzwords so it sounds wise.”
You’re not healing.
You’re just busy.
Too busy fixing yourself to ever sit and feel yourself.
👉 Read this too: Digital Detox in 2025: Escaping Reality or Ourselves?
👉 Emotional peek: Crying, Sex, and Emotional Release
🧑🎓 Healing in the Age of Hustle Degrees
Let’s talk about India’s student “healing” culture—if you can call it that.
Universities now have “wellness cells,” but students still study 10 hours a day, drink energy drinks like water, and cry silently between coaching classes.
🧪 In IITs and NITs, peer support clubs exist, but therapy is still whispered about like a scandal.
At DU, you’re more likely to hear “I’m so done with life” than “I need help.”
We’ve created an illusion of wellness by throwing a few posters on campus walls.
Meanwhile, DU students are on their 3rd semester of burnout and still calling it “grind culture.”
👉 Must-read: Marks, Meltdowns & Mental Health in India
🤝 Healing Alone = Staying Lonely
No matter how many mood lights you install or vision boards you pin—
healing isn’t a solo sport.
Yet somehow, we’ve made it another self-improvement task.
A checklist. A performance.
We sit alone with our lavender diffuser, whispering affirmations, and wondering why the loneliness still lingers.
😢 You can’t self-soothe your way out of isolation.
Healing needs:
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People who won’t flinch at your mess
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Communities where crying doesn’t need a caption
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Actual human connection—not algorithm-approved “safe spaces”
👉 Unmissable: Touch Starvation in India
👉 Bonus read: Digital Loneliness in 2025
🏥 Real Healing Doesn’t Look Good on Instagram
Let’s be honest. Real healing is ugly.
It’s crying mid-meal. Skipping the gym. Going silent on friends and then texting “Sorry, I was drowning.”
📸 But in the age of aesthetic self-care, real healing doesn’t get likes.
You’ll never see:
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The 3-day depressive spiral after therapy
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The friend who dragged you out of your room without asking questions
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The ugly journaling sessions, where nothing gets resolved
⚠️ Real-world moment: When Deepika Padukone launched LiveLoveLaugh, it was mocked for being “PR.” Years later, it’s one of the few Indian spaces that acknowledges healing without filters—and still faces backlash.
Because if your healing isn’t sexy, sellable, or sanitised, it makes people uncomfortable.
🧡 Maybe You Don’t Need Another Tool. Just a Hug.
Your inner child doesn’t need reparenting.
She needs a break. And some biryani.
🧘♂️ Maybe healing isn’t about becoming “your best self.”
Maybe it’s about being okay with who you are—unfiltered, unproductive, and a little bit broken.
So here’s your reminder:
You are not a project.
You are not a productivity app.
You don’t need fixing. You need feeling.
💬 Let’s Make It Human Again
Healing doesn’t always look like yoga and crystals.
Sometimes, it looks like:
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Crying in traffic
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Rage-texting your therapist
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Taking a nap instead of “doing the work”
So go ahead.
Be messy.
Be mediocre.
But be real.
Because that’s where the healing starts.
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