The Healing & Awakening Path
Demystifying the Healing & Awakening Path
The words Healing and Awakening are becoming more and more spoken of each day in the common vernacular. People are becoming increasingly curious about the nature of their own consciousness and aware of how their mindset affects the way they experience reality. Many new popular films are exploring spiritual concepts and higher consciousness, like the astral projection within Marvel’s ‘Dr Strange’ or the recent exploration in Pixar’s film ‘Soul’.
With recent events, including the effects of climate change and the policies surrounding Covid, many people are becoming frustrated and more distrustful of the big decision makers. It is clear that we need to find a better way to coexist with the environment. There is an opening in people towards something more, something deeper, something more connected, than the shallow, superficial life that most of us are presented with.
Deep frustration in the current system has led to the term ‘woke’. Woke nowadays refers to being aware or well informed in a political or cultural sense, especially regarding issues surrounding marginalised communities - it describes someone who has “woken up” to issues of social injustice. This can be a significant stepping stone and motivation towards an individual’s own true Healing and Awakening journey. Yet, there is more to Awakening than this.
The true Healing and Awakening path can only ever happen from within - and I would suggest, this is the greatest place we can enact positive change in the world.
Having walked the Healing and Awakening path for a long time, I now support others on their journey through mentorship, Vortex Energy Healing sessions, as well as powerful Breathwork journeys. So I would like to share my perspective on what it is all about.
Healing Pathway towards Awakening
First of all, I would like to start by saying that everyone’s Healing and Awakening path is completely unique to them, no two people’s journey could ever be the same - as we know, there is no real textbook to living life (thank goodness!). We all have our own gifts, tendencies, challenges, karma and conditioning to work with in our very own epic Hero’s Journey.
That being said, there are many spiritual lineages who have created a kind of map to guide people along their way to self-realisation. You can discover the treasure maps of healing and awakening in the Buddhist teachings, Shamanic traditions, Alchemy, the Kabbalist Tree of Life, Sufi Mysticism and many more paths that can eventually take you to the peak of the very same mountain.
All of these lineages could be considered as ‘the finger pointing to the moon’ as the Buddha said. The finger is useful to show where to look for the moon, but if you mistake the finger for the moon itself, you will never know the real moon. The teaching is like a raft that carries you to the other shore. The raft is needed, but the raft is not the other shore. An intelligent person would not carry the raft around on his head after making it across to the other shore. Eventually we must let it all go.
A fundamental Key to the Healing and Awakening process is to take responsibility for the way you respond to life. From here you have the opportunity to transform from a negative or exaggerated way of reacting, to a more balanced, transparent and harmonious experience. Taking responsibility means we move away from blaming others or events and begin to take the reins - this is where the real alchemy begins!
Once we begin noticing what triggers us in our everyday life, we can dig a little deeper to uncover, accept and integrate the root of whatever knocks us from being present.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
Carl Jung
When we drive a car, we must first clean the windshield to see clearly. Healing can give us this clarity and allow us to proceed with our evolution.
Before we plant a garden, we must first do the weeding and prepare the soil. The Healing path is a lot like this and this preparation is essential for a thriving garden. It is also true to say, once the seeds and plants start growing, we will still need to tend and weed the soil from time to time. The journey is often like this with Healing and Awakening, expansion, integration; the seasons cycling just like the medicine wheel.
I remember when I first sought out Healing sessions, many folks in my life were confused, like ‘what’s wrong with you? Are you ok!?’ This is because most people don’t approach their healing, be it to a Medical Doctor or a Therapist, until things are falling to pieces!
When we are proactive in our healing journey, we can prevent much more serious conditions arising later on. Like if there’s a tiny stone in your sock, you may ignore it as it’s within a very comfy sock, but after several thousand miles, you will have a very sore foot and may find that you even walk differently.
Sometimes it can be a lot like taking out these small stones we’ve ignored and didn’t realise were affecting us so greatly. I also liken it to the moment an extractor fan turns off in your kitchen, rather like a peaceful exhale, ahhh.
Healing can include things like overcoming past trauma, letting go of mental conditioning or programming, processing stuck emotions (including somatically from where they are stored in the body), deep inner-child work, balancing your inner masculine/feminine, or addressing your greatest fears. It can be a huge relief to put down these heavy burdens, we often do not realise we are carrying, or to integrate the fragmented aspects of ourselves.
Many studies have now shown the direct connection between our emotional & mental health to our physical health.
We now know that sustained stress can affect our health in severe ways, from a stress headache, poor digestion, to far more serious terminal conditions. The good news is, it also works the other way, if we look after our bodies through exercise and a good diet, we can positively influence our mind and emotions. Just as when we heal emotional trauma or uplift the spirits, we can radically improve the health of the physical body, or indeed, our relationship to life in general.
I have witnessed people who have had severe physical ailments their whole life, who have healed an emotional past experience which has meant they never felt that pain in their body again. Many people walk out of healing sessions that were focussed upon releasing grief or heart-ache with a completely different posture; less hunched over and much more open.
Beyond this, what is most interesting is that as we begin to heal and change our inner landscape, it is not long before it ripples into our outer reality too. Changing the way we see things, literally changes what we see!
This certainly does not mean that everything in life is rosy once we have done a lot of the ‘work’ or begun to awaken. However, it can give us the capacity to respond to whatever unfolds in our life with far more Grace. We are also more likely to attract relationships and experiences that are more aligned with this way of being.
So how do we go about it?
I think it is important to approach the journey with an understanding that ultimately, nothing is wrong with us, we are whole, we are complete, everyone has issues to overcome in order to evolve. That being said, wherever we notice areas where we do not feel whole or connected, this is a great place to start - and it helps to be very honest with ourselves!
Fortunately, there are a great many modalities available nowadays with a much greater understanding of holistic healing than ever before. It is incredibly helpful to reach out for support and engage with a person and modality that resonates with you. I have received so much from a range of approaches along the way, including: meditation, plant medicine, lucid dreaming, sound healing, somatic therapy and men’s circles.
Two of the most powerful and significant pillars upon my own Healing Journey have been Breathwork and Vortex Healing. I have experienced monumental shifts in my life through these modalities over the past 15 years, which is why it is such an honour to offer these transformational therapies to others.
Both Vortex Healing and Breathwork can release conditioning, trauma and suppressed emotions from the very root. Following a session, many people share that it felt equivalent to 10 years of talking therapy. Not to undervalue the merits of talking therapy, I was a counsellor for over 4 years and truly appreciate the benefits.
In my experience I have noticed that Breathwork can release these tension patterns from not just the mind, but also where we hold onto them in the body. I have been in hysterical tears, as well as laughter, as I recollect and release visions from my early years of life.
Vortex Healing goes further by releasing energetic blockages, emotional conditioning and negative belief patterns at their root, including within the genetics and karmic body. It has helped me in so many ways over the years, including: letting go of deep sorrow held in my heart, healing an agonising toothache, releasing countless ways I had ‘protected’ or more accurately withdrew myself from intimately connecting with the world.
This type of transformational healing is the process of facilitating positive change in one’s life through clearing, strengthening and balancing one’s mind, body and energy system. If you are interested to learn more about how I use these therapies to support others, check out the Vortex Healing, Breathwork and the mentorship journeys I offer.
In the next article I will discuss the Awakening Path and how it is intimately woven with healing.
Wishing you the very blessed along your way :)