Explore the multifaceted aspects of healing, diving into the recognition of childhood wounds, the transformative power of embracing pain for self-discovery, navigating the complexities of the healing process, and promoting introspective techniques such as journaling and inner child meditations. These elements intertwine within a path of self-discovery and personal growth.
- Understanding Childhood Wounds and Subconscious Influence: acknowledging childhood wounds and subconscious influences dictating behaviour and life choices.
- Elements of Healing: Awareness, acknowledgment, and emotions. Healing involves deep introspection to unravel the roots of suffering, acknowledging wounds, feeling the pain, and fostering self-awareness and conscious responses to triggers.
- Embracing the Paradox of Healing: the journey through pain leads to the healing of pain.
- Practices for Introspection: Although seemingly simple, journaling correctly and giving yourself space for inner child meditations will help you through your healing process.
Healing — a word that often evokes myriad thoughts yet frequently falls short in its explanation. What exactly does it mean to "heal"? In a world where phrases like "inner work," "self-love," and "meditation" have become buzzwords, the essence of healing remains elusive.
I found myself at my lowest point in 2022 and was advised to take time to heal— from everything: childhood wounds, past relationships, and the relationship with myself. But I didn’t understand how. I didn’t know what I was healing. I didn’t even recognize that I had past traumas or wounding. It turns out, all of us have wounding, it’s a fundamental part of being human. And a big part of healing is about acknowledging that things have happened that have hurt you since you were a child that have been subconsciously dictating your actions, reactions and your life.
Healing is about ACKNOWLEDGING the pain and wounding, and allowing oneself to FEEL so that you can finally be AWARE of oneself and one's reactions. It requires diving deep within, finding where our pain and wounding comes from, acknowledging these moments that have caused pain or discomfort in our past, sitting in the uncomfortable emotions, and allowing oneself to finally feel everything and release.
Healing, I discovered, is a paradox—it wields immense power while inducing profound pain. The only way out of pain is to go right through it, sit in it, feeling everything, and acknowledging it. No more hiding it, running from it or burying it under lock and key. It’s not merely admitting sadness; it's diving into the depths of your pain, unraveling the roots of suffering, and truly feeling the hurt. Healing involves recognizing and acknowledgment of childhood wounds, unhealed scars, and long-buried emotions clamoring for your attention. It's a journey towards self-awareness that enables recognition when triggered, allowing you to respond consciously rather than reactively. You'll become aware of triggers stemming from past scars, enabling you to respond differently. Instead of reacting impulsively or avoiding, you'll learn to sit with these emotions. Recognizing that the intensity of your feelings isn’t solely arising from present events but is linked to past experiences of abandonment, unworthiness, fear, and more. This awareness allows you to listen actively to others without preemptively forming judgments or shutting down emotionally as a protective measure. Doing this work requires time, effort, a safe space, and grace, but on the other side lies a treasure trove of love and serenity.
There’s also the side of healing that’s about acknowledging your shadow side—the side of you that a lot of people shy away from. It’s the side of you that has hurt others. It’s the dark part of you that isn’t always kind. It’s the part of you that you need to acknowledge had caused pain and suffering in others, and has caused pain and suffering to your own self.
But why look inward and undergo such a painful process? Because the alternative—living in perpetual fear, battling anxiety, succumbing to depression, and allowing our wounds to steer our lives—is far more excruciating. The journey through pain is arduous, but evading it only sustains the agony, engraving it deeper into your existence. By going through your pain and wounding, you unveil the light at the end of the tunnel. The world won't look as dim. The weight on your shoulders will be released. Walls that once confined you crumble, freeing you to embrace who you truly are. No longer enslaved by the urge to please others, you establish self-love, self-respect, and boundaries. You feel confident and strong in yourself and your self-worth, no longer fearing allowing people and love into your life, which you once held at arm's length. You find happiness with yourself, and when that happens you call in all the things you have been trying to manifest.
During the process, you’ll find many moments of realization and understanding. It will be breathtaking. It will make you laugh, make you cry; it will provide clarity. And most of all, it will give you the capacity to hold all the love in the world for yourself.
You are this beautifully complex being, and it’s time to focus on yourself and what’s happening inside rather than in the external world. Think about it this way: we’re so interested in what’s going on outside of us and what other people are doing, but we don’t even know ourselves. Aren’t you curious about you, why you are the way that you are, who you are deep down? What has this life shown you? What have you learned? Where are you heading, and where do you actually want to be heading? What do you actually want from life?
I think that a lot of people will answer that last question with the same answer - "I want to be happy." It’s so simple yet feels so unattainable, but happiness and peace are literally on the other side of your pain. Feel your pain, go through your trauma. Find your true self again. You have to change internally before you see external changes. As within, so without. You could be a millionaire tomorrow, and you will still be in pain. We have to heal ourselves first, and then see life unfold in peace and happiness.
So, how do we heal? How do we dive deeply inward, acknowledge pain, feel everything we’ve bottled up, and become aware of ourselves and our wounding?
This is going to sound like the most basic answer but I promise you, it is a game changer. There are 2 things that will change your life.
Journaling & Inner child meditations.
One final note. Healing is not linear and there is no expected timeline. Take the time you need. Expect that some days you will feel like you're making progress, and some days you will feel like you're back at square one. Healing can be viewed as a process of a scribble. The lines cross, they go up and down, side to side, back and forth, but just know every move is progress. Allow yourself the time you need. Allow yourself rest between breakthroughs. Allow yourself to be so proud of each step no matter how seemingly small. All the small things make up the biggest impacts in your life.