The Art of Healing Alone

Aren’t we all alone, always

In one way or another? 

Or is the truth that we

Are the same person,

Both you and me?

Healing

To heal means to make whole.  So, before we heal, we must be fragmented in some way.  Most people think of healing as being a totally physical thing, but fragmentation happens to many different pieces of our psyche; it is so much more than a physical thing. 

The physical part comes later, when our fragmentation finally reaches our outer layer, our physicality, and that’s when we develop symptoms.  But before that, there is fragmentation of our soul, on so many levels. 

This is in part how I developed the Sacred Foods list, by personal experience with fragmentation and then healing of myself.  For easier accessibility and communication, it’s divided into 8 parts, but before there ever was a Sacred Foods List, there was a fragmentation and then a healing of my own identity, purpose, joy, spirituality, abundance, social, growth, and lastly, physical. 

Why Alone? 

Surrounded by people, one can still feel utterly alone in a vast sea of misunderstanding.  And, no one can understand our pain and suffering on the same level as us.  The most understanding, empathetic person will not be able to spend a day in our body and mind.  So, we try to explain, and then when that fails, we collapse into ourselves, making our isolation even more acute.  We can try to find people who are going through the same things as us, and that can help to an extent.  But, even so, we need a tether, a technique, something to hold onto to help us sort through the messy parts of healing, since we will go through most of putting our pieces back together alone. 

Breathing Room: A Separation From Your Thoughts

Many times people mistake their thoughts for who they are.  If your mind plays tricks on you, is frequently negative or anxious, cycles thoughts or has judgmental ruminations, it’s hard to realize that you are different than your mind.  But, you are. 

Our mind’s job is to think.  And it’s going to continue to circulate thoughts and ruminations, both good and bad while we’re awake, working, sleeping, etc.  One of the first steps to healing inner fragmentation is to give yourself some breathing room.  After realizing you are not your thoughts, you can make a conscious effort to step away from your thoughts and observe them. 

Become the Observer

Give yourself the breathing room of being the observer.  You can develop curiosity for your mind and body by watching it go, sometimes on a treadmill, and sometimes in circles. 

When you give yourself that inner space to observe, when you become the observer, the thoughts and their clutch on your identity loses their power. 

You begin to have the breathing room to relax into yourself. 

That’s when you can begin to heal.