When we seek healing, we are usually seeking something to stop our suffering. We may be looking for a quick fix to take our attention off what is currently causing our pain. After finding the 'thing' that helped us move past this most recent painful experience, we may feel some relief. This may feel better, but how long does it last until we start to seek again?

The most common thing that happens when we seek healing is that we focus outside of ourselves. We run as fast as we can from the discomfort that we feel inside us toward anything that looks like it will take away the pressure of the sensations in our body. This is often done subconsciously, which means it is out of our awareness.

Awareness is key to the sustainability of any healing or change we engage in, which will allow us to access the Freedom to become who we truly are.

You are the healing process!

It's essential to broaden our thinking about how healing occurs. I hope to inspire you to notice how often you may be taken out of the healing process, either by yourself or by the system.

When I speak about being taken out of the healing process, it's when we don't fully take responsibility for our own healing. We look to others, which is fine, except when we take on what they say without checking if it resonates with us. We can tend to think they know more than we do and have lost connection with our own inner knowing.

I'm speaking very generally here, and I know there will always be exceptions. These examples are just to get you thinking about how a system may take you out of the healing process. Remember, we have been conditioned all our life to value the intellect and to blindly accept what is told to us.

Think about your schooling for a moment. Was there space for questioning and challenging the status quo, or was your experience like mine where we had to sit down, shut up and learn? I don't know about you, but I found that very boring and often disengaged. All of that natural child curiosity was crushed in many of us as we moved through the Education system.

What about the Medical system? How often have you been to your doctor and had an inkling of what was going on for you? When was the last time your doctor asked you for your take on what was happening physically to you? What has happened if you questioned your doctor's opinion? When was your doctor last looking at you instead of the computer?

I'm sure you can recall many situations from various environments where you and someone in power/superior were there. Reflect on how that felt. What happened to your inner knowing? Were you part of the solution, or was the solution given to you?

I believe that you are the only person who knows what is right for you. It's great to go to someone who has training and ask for their advice/support. We are not really used to chewing over that advice and seeing if it feels right for us as the individual. We often leave ourselves out of the equation when we seek healing.

I believe professionals need to become more of a facilitator, recognising the inner wisdom of the client and inviting in what they are aware of.

For the healing process to reach its full potential, we need to have a holistic view. Holistic is another word that is thrown around everywhere nowadays. When I use holistic, it means considering mind/body/spirit and environment. Let's explore this further.

▷ Mind - psychological/emotional
The mind is made to think. The mind makes an excellent servant and a very poor master! If we can harness the power of our mind and use it well, we create an incredible resource for ourselves. What usually happens is mind controls everything. We overthink and exhaust ourselves, depleting our internal resources. Using our mind like this destabilises our emotional balance showing up as anxiety, stress, or other illness. Many people have never experienced a state where their mind has been their servant!

▷ Body - physical/emotional
For optimal health, we need to pay attention to the physical aspect of ourselves. The body needs clean, fresh, whole foods and daily routines to support its vitality. Whole foods are full of life force and give life, while processed foods (including GM foods) are dead and cause toxins and disease. We are what we eat! Our emotions and past traumatic experiences can be held in the body. It would be safe to assume that we all hold our emotions in our bodies. How can we not? Society doesn't allow space for expressing the so-called negative emotions - so what do we do with them? Links have been made to disease and unattended feelings. The body has its own memory and language.​

▷ Spiritual/emotional
Spiritual doesn't necessarily mean religion. For some, that is definitely true. We are vibrational beings, made of the same elements as nature. We are interconnected with all beings and plants. For some of us, being in nature, near the ocean, or being with animals fulfills our spiritual connection. Sometimes just sitting on the ground and feeling the earth beneath us is very supportive. Connecting spiritually is a kind of acknowledgment that there is more than just us.

▷ Environment
The environment is vital and is not often considered in the healing process. Our environment matters. If you live with people/family where there is constant tension or fighting and your desire is to live peacefully, there will be inner and outer conflict. Your external environment doesn't match your desired internal environment. You can use this same analogy with your work. If you work at a job you hate, what does that do to your mind/body/spirit?

When you are the healing process, you will pay attention to all four aspects of mind/body/spirit and environment. You are the most important aspect of any healing you decide to do.

We are a society that seeks quick fixes, which unfortunately often fall short of genuine and sustainable healing. To attend to the core issue, not just the symptoms, is how you achieve sustainable healing.

If you know someone who may like to read this article, please share it.

May you be well, may you be happy, and may you have inner peace.