We have all of these practices that we do because we know they make us feel better. Healing is our goal. We exercise, meditate, practice compassionate communication, show up to yoga, go to church, and walk in nature. The main task is to show up. And when we show up, we arrive as the observer/witness.
As we continue to show up, we begin to notice the ebb and flow of life. We begin to notice each day there are subtle differences. We begin to observe how we show up when we have slept well and how we show up when we have slept poorly. We pay attention to how we show up in the sunshine and how we show up in the rain. Rather than judge ourselves for feeling low some days and high other days, we can begin to sit with ourselves wherever we are. We can breathe into our bodies and practice among the highs and lows, stability and instability, security and insecurity.
Why we do the healing work
I am doing the work I am doing, because I know the depths of the struggle firsthand. Uncovering the layers of the struggle took years of research, inquiry, and insight. And I continue to find that exploring our relationships with food reveals so much more than I imagined. Sitting below our behaviors and our limiting thought systems are our beliefs that reflect what we feel we deserve in this lifetime.
Revealed through the lens of our relationships with food and our bodies are our core beliefs about self-worth, love, purpose, and soul.
As I continue this journey, I am beginning to notice this exploration can go deeper and deeper the more we sit with it all. This exploration is about life itself— the process of breathing, being, interacting, observing. It is about how and why we do the things we do with food, with work, with money, in our families, in our communities, in nature— and what we think about soul/spirit/God. Our minds change, our behaviors change, our bodies change, our life changes.
As we choose to heal, we feel like we finally have a say about the direction our lives are heading. Once we access our inner compass, there is no going back to the numbing haze of the ego’s seduction. We are awake…do not go back to sleep.
The essence of healing is the effort, the commitment, and the moment-to-moment practice of reclaiming our souls and moving from the center of our beings.
Healing is a new way of being
Although the transformation that ensues when we revitalize our lives and move from our soul selves is bigger than we could ever imagine, the process happens with each small step we take. There is no epiphany, no cure, no one idea that will create this transformation, because the essence of this healing is a new way of being with ourselves.
I wish I knew that nobody else had the answers at age 15 when I took the plunge into dieting hell. I wish I had accepted that I needed support, but I also would be the only one who could make the choices to show up to life more fully and take divine care of myself. I wish I knew healing begins right now, not tomorrow. I wish I knew that no diet, cleanse, exercise, or weight loss would restore my vitality and bring long-lasting peace and joy back into my life.
Healing is a practice of showing up to each moment of our lives and staying awake through it all.
The essence of healing is practice.
And then letting go of our attachment to the outcomes. We restore faith and trust we will be led home. We arrive home with full hearts, nourished bodies, clear minds, and acceptance. We become the students and the teachers, forever learning from our own experience and teaching others by simply being our authentic, whole, vital selves. This is the miracle of healing and the miracle of being alive.
