Mindful Being

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What is healing really?

‘Bliss is the balance that happens when we fully embrace both our shadow & our light and come to rest as Love”
Shakti Malan

Often the first stage of an emotional breakthrough is simply to see our emotional shadow pattern objectively for the first time. This may come as a shock as we realise how much of a victim we have been of that particular emotional belief.

Seeing the pattern clearly then leads to the gradual dissolution of the problem as our awareness continues to chip away at that pattern.
Eventually, our contemplative practices completely transform the old negative shadow and it no longer haunts us or causes us the pain it used to.

Breakthrough can come either in the form of a sudden realisation or as a steady emotional expansion as we uproot an old paradigm that has dogged us and our relationships for years.

In most cases, breakthrough lasts a considerable period of time since we are letting go of patterns that formed a long time ago when we were a child.

Allow, Accept, Embrace – the three stages of Breakthrough

With a clear intention to heal parts of us, we can experience the power of a breakthrough

Look for what triggers you in the outside world. How does it show up? What is your personal response to it? How does it make you feel? With no judgement, just observe.
Then hold the energy of that shadow and contemplate it.
The next time you feel uncomfortable – maybe physically, maybe emotionally, maybe mentally, think how that Shadow might be responsible.
Apply your intellect to the problem. Apply your imagination. Explore it inside you. Trust your intuition. Spend as long as you need on this process until your life shows you how the Shadow works inside you.
The process may be quick, it could take weeks months.
Be patient. 
This process of using life catalysts to illuminate where we have the potential to heal is the practice we use during the 6 week embody higher frequencies 

Once a  Shadow is illuminated...

Phase 1
The first stage is about allowing the painful feeling.
Whether the feeling is anger, fear, numbness, resentment, grief or any other emotion, the first step is to simply allow yourself to feel it.
You don’t have to like it or accept it. You can even hate the feeling. To allow the feeling is to provide some space around it. Until you allow the feeling in, you are in denial of the pain and it will fester inside your psyche. These are the psychic knots I describe in this U Tube video 

The beauty of allowing is that it opens the door a little, as much as we are comfortable. There is no pressure from allowing. We just take a peek at the pattern. We can even close the door again if it seems too painful. Allowing is a process in which we gradually open the door wider over a period of time

Phase 2
The second stage occurs when we have done a certain amount of allowing.
Acceptance occurs as we begin to get used to the discomfort. We realise that the emotional pain will not kill us. It can seem overwhelming, it can seem terrifying, it can make us feel irritated or deadened or filled with rage. As we come to accept a negative pattern, it is rather like taking in a stray dog or cat that has been abused. It takes time to rebuild trust. That hurt part of our psyche needs this acclimatisation period. Whereas allowing makes space for all manner of feelings and extremes, acceptance brings us to a deeper and more mature place in which we are authentically facing our own shadow.
 
Phase 3
The final stage is embracing and it is the culmination of any breakthrough. Once an emotional shadow pattern has been fully accepted at the deepest level, it is effectively purged from our system.
During embody higher frequencies we build upon the shadow we work with a range if feminine healing practices to support this phase of healing. The painful memory that gave rise to the difficulty has been met with our deepest, most heartfelt compassion. It has been allowed to express itself without being projected onto another as blame. Neither have we in any way repressed the shadow as something shameful that we wish to forget.

Over a period of time through our great courage, the pattern has been transformed, and in a beautiful twist it has become something remarkable – it has become Grace.

Grace can take many forms - it can come as forgiveness, self-empowerment, humility or any other profound sense of emotional resolution. The essence of the breakthrough is that our pain reveals its true higher purpose

All 3 of the above phases have their own rhythm and timing in our lives.
This process requires  patience, self compassion and gentleness. This does not have to be a tense and difficult process. When you approach this work with softness, it manifests as a wave of grace.

“Grace and self-effort are like two wings of a bird: The bird needs both to fly to the goal.”
Swami Muktananda