The Role of Essential Spirituality in Healing

What comes to mind when you hear the word spiritual? Are you thrust back to religions run by humans that made you believe that God was to be feared? For many, this is the reaction. And yet, we all know that when we are out in nature, there’s a deeply connecting force that our bodies and hearts feel even if our minds can’t grasp it. There’s a symmetry alongside messiness that appears inconceivable. Just look at the night sky and find yourself in awe of the vastness of the stars and the gentle light of the moon. 

I bet you’ve heard the term spiritual, but not religious. Did you know that today’s religions might be filled with people who don’t understand true spirituality? They perform all the rituals, they sing all the songs, they offer all the service, and yet, their hearts remain hard, cold, and unchanged. This is why many people are shifting to using this term spiritual, but not religious. If you have a bad taste in your mouth from a religious upbringing, I want to clear the air and speak about true, heart-centered, transformative spirituality. 

One of the amazing parts of my personality is the capacity to connect the dots and recognize patterns repeating themselves from various sources. Did you know that the latest psychological breakthroughs point to everything taught by the various mystics from across the world and throughout the ages? There is an essential truth that underlies all of the wild chaos and varying perspectives, and it is this truth that I would like to share with you. 

Essential spiritual wisdom revolves around the capacity for us to tap into our inherently divine nature which is rooted in love, mercy, justice, creativity, compassion, and playfulness. We are sparks of divinity residing in a human body having a human experience amongst so many various living beings surrounding us. It’s a wild world filled with chaos, confusion, and quarrel alongside the peacefulness of a river flowing around the obstacles, trees rustling in the breeze, the healing capacity of the plants offering us nourishment and sustenance, and a birdsong that resounds with joy. What a paradox, right? 

Let’s dive into the wildness of the world for a minute because it is built into the script. We are all conditioned to various degrees by our upbringing, the various circumstances we find ourselves in, and the trials we all go through to varying degrees. Some of us seem to have it harder than others, and yet, some who have the roughest lives have the most bright spirits that light up the room. Again, another paradox, huh? 

There are many things that impact our capacity to thrive in this world, and one of those is how we deal with the various challenges that arise from our own minds and bodies, from other living beings, or from the natural world around us. Whether we are caught in the grips of anxiety or chronic disease holding us back, trying to recover from harm caused by other humans who chose to dominate and dehumanize us, or have been left devastated by natural disasters, these trials can clearly throw us into feeling the chaos and confusion swirling around us. When we are caught in the grips, it’s hard to see the way out. Our minds get stuck in self-limiting beliefs and narratives, loops of fear or anger that cloud our judgement, or grief or shame that seem to be ever present companions. 

The door to unlocking our capacity to heal resides in acknowledging all that life has thrown our way with a lens of compassion and softness leading the way. Our own self-judgement keeps us locked into narratives and patterns that keep us closed off from the light of loving mercy that is ready to be offered the moment we pause and acknowledge we need to face a new direction, chart a new course, and journey inward to find out who we are beyond what the world dictated to us. 

If we can pause long enough to recognize that the patterns of relating to ourselves, others we come in contact with, and the world around us are often rooted in conditioned narratives that have sought to keep us safe and protected, then we can start to open up our vision to see through a lens of woundedness which opens the door to treating ourselves with the compassionate care a dear friend might have for us. This is the key to unlocking our wise self, our trusted adult self, or our divine source rooted in love, mercy, and guidance springing from within the core of who we are. 

The journey of essential spirituality is bringing this wise self, higher consciousness, and broad perspective online to help support our forward movement towards uncovering who we have always been before the world and our conditioned minds took over. This higher consciousness is rooted in calm awareness, recognizing that life may be different than we imagined it might be, but somehow we are still alive, breathing, and capable of making decisions that support coming into greater alignment with values and purpose that we define for ourselves. 

There’s a discomfort that comes with this journey because it asks us to go against the deep ingrained conditioning that we have been carrying around and acting through for so many years. And yet, have you felt that nudge from within the core of your being calling you to something more, something higher, something that utilizes your greatest gifts and talents? Carl Jung spoke of the greatest journey of our lifetime being found in returning to exactly who we have always been. He spoke of the process of individuation, or separating ourselves from the collective and societal roles to find out who we actually are. Who we truly are is also rooted in our divine source which is eternal, merciful, loving, protective, and creative. 

Richard Schwartz calls this source the Self with a capital S because it is rooted in a power greater than our minds can conceive. Have you ever been inspired to create something and stepped back after creating to be amazed that it came from you? I know that is how I feel when I’m in the midst of an inspired writing. I will read it a few days, weeks, or months later and wonder how that came from me? And yet, I am deeply aware that my wise guide was clearly working in and through me to offer nectar out through my greatest gifts and talents. 

Religious circles will define this source as God in some way, whether that’s Abbah as Jesus referred to him, Krishna, Rama, or Vishnu in the Indian realm, Allah in the Mohammadean traditions, or the Great Spirit residing in all things in the Native American and Indigenous traditions. 

The essential teaching is, there is a force far greater than ourselves that is ready to support our journeys, but we must be the ones to put in the effort to uncover this source and connect to it from within ourselves. This source is filled with wisdom that can help us reconnect and harmonize our minds, bodies, and spirits, offering us the love, care, and protection we need. But, we can’t access this wisdom if we are locked in stories or states of being that are rooted in woundedness, fear, anxiety, or shame. 

So, the question might be, how do we access this force far greater than ourselves? What is our starting point? And, I firmly believe our starting point resides in creating a bubble of safety to deeply explore our inner world. Sometimes that bubble of safety will be through another person such as a trusted friend, a counselor, a coach, or someone else who can compassionately witness your story with active listening and validation. One of the greatest needs we have is to feel seen, heard, and valued for who we are, even if we are a hot mess because of the conditioning of the world. This offers us a safe container where we can enter into the uncomfortable aspects of waking up to our conditioned state, taking responsibility for our lives, and experimenting with tools and resources that can help us navigate the journey towards coming home to our Self. 

That safe container helps our nervous system settle, releasing the highly reactionary state locked in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses that keep us stuck in loops of life happening to us, so that we can begin entering into a state where we are consciously responding to life as it shows up. This safe container helps us to learn how to accept what is, see the lessons in what was, and begin to explore a future of what might be without our emotions or self-limiting narratives hijacking our capacity to enter into an empowered state of living. 

Learning to build our own safe containers through various tools and techniques that work with our bodies and minds while tapping into our uniquely creative spirit can unlock the capacity for us to explore life as it presents itself with wisdom to make decisions that bring us into greater alignment with who we are. 

This is what it means to journey towards meeting our greatest needs for love, security, mercy, and compassion from within ourselves, tapping into that higher Self or that divine spirit that is always ready to offer guidance and support. Sometimes that guidance and support comes through tough lessons. The shedding of what no longer serves our greatest good or the greatest good of those around us can be a painful process. And yet, when we look at these parts that need to be shed as wounds, then the understanding of the healing process can support our own compassionate approach to healing, recognizing that healing takes time, presence, awareness, and loving care. 

This is the spiritual essence that can support healing our conditioned parts in ways that pure grit, toughness, or will power cannot come close to touching. When we tap into the expansiveness of love through the doorways of curiosity, gratitude, and an awareness of the interconnectedness of all life, then we tap into a source of light, love, and unending satisfaction no matter what life throws our way. We develop the tools to deal with life head on rather than bypassing, numbing, or reacting to life. We develop the capacity to meet life with wisdom guiding our steps and a capacity to recognize the power found in slowing down, connecting to nature, and building relationships rooted in humility, mutual respect, and sweet reciprocation that can support our continued journey. 

The more whole we become, bridging our humanity with our divinity, the greater capacity we have to turn our heartbreaks and pains into gifts, sources of strength, and light that can support others on their own journeys towards wholeness. There is no greater act that can transform the world around us than becoming truly, fully ourselves rooted in inner worth, value, and belonging that naturally pours out of us in confident, creative, and often playful ways. 

This is how I desire to support and guide in my coaching. I have experienced what it takes to separate myself from the crowds, define my own values, and live a life of purpose despite the traumas, abuses, and bodily challenges I have faced over the years. Not only have I gained academic knowledge, but also the real-world experience of working through all that could have shattered me and coming out of the ashes of my own darkness with a light of loving joy that emanates through me is a victory I hardly thought would be possible. If it was possible for me, it is possible for you! Please join me as we journey together and see how you can get unstuck so you can shine brightly.

Mountain river in Cali, Colombia

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