the stages of Healing
“I have travelled through madness to find me”
The process of healing your mind, body & soul can leave you with scattered thoughts nearly all of the time; scared, confused, lost and overwhelmed to name a few! and then comes the uncomfortable emotions and symptoms your body shows you; that you can no longer ignore!.
Of course we as human beings are incredibly unique and each individual should most importantly listen to there own intuition and body’s needs for answers… but a simple timeline should at the very least take the edge off and help you identify with what stage of the process you are at to gain more understanding or peace of mind.
1. unconscious living
Unconscious behaviors and beliefs that get you through the day:
Surviving the days
Depression, anxiety & other mental disorders
Self-hatred
Outrunning fears and insecurities
Suppressing emotions
Bad habits
Numbing yourself with drugs & alcohol
Binge watching & eating
Living a limited life
Limited thinking
Fear of what people think of you
Believe the negative thoughts you have are true
Lack control of your mind and your life
2. awareness:
Start to become aware of:
Your thoughts (both personal and cultural)
Your thinking patterns (both personal and cultural)
Your beliefs (both personal and cultural)
Your behaviors (both personal and cultural)
Your habits
Your limitations
Why you think the way that you do
Your reality & your way of living
Your upbringing & your families mindset
Your environment or society’s conditioning
Possibility of a different way of thinking & living
Deeper meaning of life
3. learning and unlearning:
Start to learn more about:
Yourself & your thoughts
More personal & cultural realizations
Your ‘ego’
Your ‘soul’
The mind
The body
The spirit
Spirituality
Philosophy
Nature
The universe
Nature of reality
Consumerism, societal conditioning, environmental corruption etc.
You are not your thoughts
Start to unlearn:
Your conditioned thinking patterns, beliefs & behaviors
Everything you thought you were
Everything you knew about reality
Essentially stripping down layers of your ‘ego’
4. dark night of the soul:
A dark period; manifested from your perception of reality being shattered:
Thoughts & feelings of insanity
Dark thoughts & nightmares
Past or hidden trauma’s resurface
Lost, lonely, hopeless & depressed
No desire to live or the will to do anything
Suicidal thoughts
Hermit stage; anti-social, the need to be alone
Soul searching; the need for purpose, answers & healing
Can no longer live the same way
Learn a lot about yourself by isolating, contemplating & observing
Dark night of the soul is essentially the death of your ‘ego’ & will always lead you too ‘integrate’
5. integration ‘of the mind’:
Start to integrate your new awareness by:
Completely surrendering
Stop resisting (everything)
Accepting who you are (flaws and all)
Accepting where you are at right now
Forgiving yourself & others
Dedicating your life to yourself or to god or the universe
Prioritizing your peace of mind & your mental health
Prioritizing yourself & what is important in your life
Learning how to love all aspects of yourself unconditionally
Realizing you are not your thoughts; but the observer of them
Commitment to yourself, your life & the healing process is a must!, there is no alternative
Manifestations of integrating:
Old ways of being & living begin to disappear
Start to fear less & love more
Fear of what others think of you disappears
No longer bothered by insignificant or superficial problems
Bad habits dissolve naturally
Begin new habits & practices that bring peace of mind
Become more grateful
Become more light hearted
Become more creative & passionate
Loving yourself; your mind & your body
Become more present & aware (in every way)
6. awareness of the body:
Start to become aware of:
Symptoms your body shows;
Fatigue, tiredness, low energy, high energy, pulsating, head pressure, ringing ears, etc.
Wide range of uncomfortable emotions;
Anxiety, sadness, grief, fear, embarrassment, depression, jealousy, etc.
Emotions from past and present experiences that have been suppressed come up to the surface
Fear of the past & the future shown as anxiety
7. integration of ‘the body’:
Start to integrate your new awareness by:
Feeling your uncomfortable emotions fully
Observing what your feeling with compassion & without judgement
Not suppressing or distracting yourself from feeling
Being still & present with what comes up
Change of diet
8. ‘now’:
The only time that exists is the present moment:
Become aware that the past & future does not exist
Become aware that your level of awareness in the present moment creates your reality
Being present right now becomes a priority
Acceptance to the present moment regardless of how it feels
Anything other than focusing on the ‘now’ causes some form of discomfort
Become more grateful
Become an observer of reality
Become more aware of your mind, body & spirit
Become aware of how miraculous life is
Focusing on the present moment becomes a daily practice
Focusing on your emotions and listening to your body becomes a daily practice
Unfortunately the process is not as straight forward as these stages; as much as I wish they were!, you may come to realizations at different times and also repeat the same stages more than once until ‘the dust settles’ and you integrate your new awareness with more understanding. Remember there is no shortcut through this, it’s a process. Just keep loving yourself and where you are in your journey right now…
I will go into more detail in a separate blog but here are four essential reminders that are needed to progress you along your journey:
“Listen to your body; not your mind”.
“You are not your thoughts; but the awareness behind them”.
“Unconditional love for yourself and where you are at in this very moment; no matter how difficult!”.
“The longer you resist what is coming up for you in this very moment, internally or externally; the longer the process will take”.
Peace and love.
