The Unfolding
The energetic opportunity that occurs between the corporeal self and the infinite or Soul is one centered upon a letting go of control around the very fabric of reality. What appears to be occurring and what can be known around any given experience can be seen as unfolding within time. A concept of time within the Soul that is neither linear nor arranged in any rational order. One example that can help in grasping the notion of the unfolding occurs within an event that has already been experienced. As we Heal & Grow within a deep surrender into our Souls, this experience can continue to change within our perception. This can happen not just once with a given event but many times as the Soul has its way with our perception of reality. Practice in presence opens us for any event, past, present or future, to be an opportunity for Healing & Growth. In the absence of presence, the unfolding of the same event can become suspended, stagnant or depleted. This can be dependent on the individual and their accompanying patterns of habituation often expressed as dis-ease. In other words, unfolding is carried forth in time through the intention of presence. This is why consistent restfulness and stillness practice along with a conscious intention in presence are crucial elements of the Healing & Growth process. These practices allow us to experience healing in ways that exist beyond the rational mind’s understanding of what is possible.
Healing & Growth
Healing or Growth, without the other, is incomplete in the complementary way yin is incomplete without yang. They are companions and in this way complete each other. Healing & Growth are complementary human experiential practices that serve us in living a vibrant life.
Healing carries a larger meaning than to simply cure an ailment. Healing is the process of bringing life to soundness, to resolve. Its PIE (proto-indo-european) root, kailo, means to make whole.
Growth is to augment, to expand. Growth within this context is not so much about development as much as it is an awakening process.
By bringing together Healing & Growth we enable an integral practice through the awakening of our essential selves. It is conscious practice centered around our choices and how we make those choices. Making conscious choices that bring Healing & Growth into union. To make unconscious choices creates discord. Explained further, a choice made from reactivity is not the same as a choice made from presence or being present. Reactivity being choices made from anxiety, worry, frustration and chronic sadness. To further connect our awareness to these habitual patterns, let's include anticipation or expectation with anxiety, overthinking with worry, and anger with frustration. Another important thread to connect is recognizing depression or chronic sadness as a buried or segmented emotion like anger. They are buried in similar ways inside us and often arise as a habitual pattern because of our resistance to their expression. Said another way, we experience depression due to our resistance to feeling sadness. This explains the disconnect from self and others within the experience of the angry and/or depressed individual.
Any choice made from reactivity or non-presence is like falling into a hole and not knowing how you got there. Making wise choices can occur by accident in reactivity. Like falling into a hole. Even if the choice ends up appearing wise, it is accidental wisdom. Accidental wisdom is like any accident…not reproducible. This is why how we practice life matters so much. Though we are all inherently wise, conscious decision-making or wise choices are accessed on a consistent basis by practicing presence.
Presence is the outcome of stillness. There are many ways to quiet or still the mind. Meditation, yoga, qi gong, and tai chi are but a few of the more common ways. In my case, I practice Daoyin, the energetic root of qi gong and tai chi. Within a stillness practice a quiet mind creates the observer. The part of us who bears witness in the present moment. Without the observer in place, we don’t see that our conscious awareness is absent. That is the gift of the observer cultivated within the stillness practice. Our arrival here at the moment. And with consistent practice, we dwell more and more in presence. Said another way, practice in stillness activates the observer and potentiates a choice within presence. The choice to let go into being present or the choice to continue to suffer in our reactions or habitual patterns. Presence, as seen through the observer, opens up another opportunity as well. When we can reside in presence consistently, we gain entrance to the whisper that is our wisdom. Within this connection to wisdom we experience an ease. An absence of difficulty or effort. See this in contrast to its opposite: dis-ease. The feeling of dwelling in division and/or conflict. In a nutshell this clarifies the importance of seeing Healing & Growth as companions. It is no small thing to experience ease in one’s life regardless of what is happening. To do so by focusing on how one practices life rather than riding the rollercoaster of windfalls and obstructions that seemingly dictate one’s state of mind.
Coming full circle, I have outlined the how within a life practice that enables an embodied sense of ease in life. Healing & Growth, within the practice, is the why. It is why we are here. It is as well the universal path that connects us to purpose. Purpose has infinite expressions, however, it is most effective when the expression of why and how are answered clearly in practice. How and why, expressed through depth and stillness, creates a sense of peace and joy.