Embodying Holistic Harmony
For the month of May, I have been diving into various realms of my work, my approach to healing, and the vast practices that I use personally and professionally. I have been offering some of these gems on Instagram daily, as well as in these newsletters.
It is my hope that my sharing will inspire someone to take that leap towards their own healing, a step into their own inner empowerment and truly embody exactly who they are.
Today's offering is a continuation of this journey as I share some nuggets around how I landed on the holistic wellness path 24 years ago and why we must work through the body in order to sustainably heal from the inside out.
I spent years upon years sitting on various therapist’s couches…talking, rehashing my stories, traumas and dramas, crying and commiserating, and…not healing.
I talked and talked and talked until I was blue in the face and just wasn’t progressing in healing from a lifelong and restricting eating disorder and subsequent depression and anxiety.
When I was 23-years old I finally took the leap and checked myself into an inpatient Holistic Treatment Center for Eating Disorder Recovery. This choice changed my life’s trajectory and has informed my work in the world today on every level.
It was during those many months of intensive healing that I was able to access myself in a way that I never could before.
The treatment center approached our recovery process and healing from every angle in a truly holistic manner.
The approaches were vast and comprehensive. They included: group therapy, somatic 1:1 therapy, art therapy, yoga/movement/dance, nature, acupuncture, energy work, meditation and mindfulness, chanting, holistic nutrition, herbal wellness, ceremony and ritual, flower essence therapy…a highly effective, whole being experience of healing and harmonizing the system.
Gaining the inner resource to stay present, in my body, in midst of the swirls and overwhelm of life granted me the opportunity to turn towards myself rather towards the food, the drugs/alcohol, the men/sex, the over-exercise….all of the many avenues I was using at the time to numb myself.
Rather than checking out with these various means, they became fuel for my growth.
I learned how to meet my patterns, tendencies, and addictions embodied and integrated with myself. I gained skills to know how to relax my nervous system, open my heart, connect to my body, and stay upright in myself in midst of all of the flavors and experiences of life.
I gleaned insight into myself in a way that had been elusive up until that point. Taking a magnifying glass to these ingrained patterns and learning how to meet them and respond appropriately provided me with the platform for a deep inquiry into the truth of who I am.
Nearly 24 years later, I am continuously humbled, enlightened, and enhanced by these practices and this journey on the whole.
We have to get into our bodies to heal sustainably. Period.
Solely talking and recapitulating our stories keeps us stuck in the swirl and does not open up the channels to new possibilities.
We can learn how to feel our feelings without numbing, how to stay grounded and centered in midst of adversity, how to remain upright in the truth of who we are while moving through life.
When we get out of our heads and into our bodies we gain perspective and can make choices on our own behalf.
We can choose to turn towards ourselves, rather than towards the substance, behavior, person, or disempowering action.
We can heal on an embodied, integrated, and aligned level providing the opportunity for sustainability along our path.
It is an empowering journey to take when we choose to love ourselves through sticky life situations, rather than punish, berate, or abandon.
When we learn to stay present in the moment with ourselves and meet all of the flavors of our human experience with care and kindness, infinite healing can occur.
Our bodies are our vehicles for change.
In order to create lasting change – change that resonates on a cellular level – we must orient into our bodies…our vessels for change.
The body holds all of our thoughts, emotions, memories, and experiences. Connecting to them provides a gateway to our hearts and our souls.
There is so much stigma around our bodies and for many it is a terrifying place to reside from.
Many walk around in a state of shame and constantly berate themselves and their human form. The disconnect from our bodies sensations and needs is rampant.
Disordered eating, body image issues, and all-encompassing disconnect and abuse of the body is epidemic and greatly interferes with our ability to heal. Trauma embeds in our tissues and it takes patience and skill to unwind from them.
The body never lies. Our bodies are our messengers and must be treated with reverence and care as we navigate our healing process.
When we set out on a healing path of any sort it is so important to honor the progress of our process. The path of possibility that I offer in my work is not a straight and narrow one – it is not clear cut or a step-by-step formula to follow. It is a fluid, wide, deep, and vast path that is difficult to track progress unless you consciously choose to.
Cultivating the practice of acceptance in your process of life is a life-altering way of approaching yourself. Honoring each step along the way as a crucial and pivotal part of one’s process, is an empowering way of living.
Everyone gets stuck at moments along their path. It is part of being human. What we do in those stuck moments dictates how we will continue to unfold. It informs our relationship to ourselves and gifts us with an opportunity to make choices on our own behalf. Choices that are life-serving and empowering or choices that diminish our existence and berate us for our humanness.
We need to be active participants in our own healing. No one can do this work for us and it will not just happen on it's own. It takes practice, diligence, and an unwavering belief in your worthiness and who you are.
Every single day we have the opportunity to heal ourselves.
What do we do when faced with inevitable adversity in our lives? How do we meet the hard moments with presence? With care? Steadiness? Equanimity?
That is the practice. Orienting to the present moment, learning how to drop your energy down into your body, how to reside in your body, upright, eyes wide open, heart lifted....awake, aware, curious, connected.
Are you curious about how this path of healing can be of support to you? I have a few spaces open in my coaching practice and would be honored to support you! Please go HERE to set up a free 20-minute Clarity Call. xx Alison