Healing

I have returned to working at The Westoe Practice this month, and am happy to see you all again and get back to my stones and sticks! Hope you enjoy this months Newsletter, all about healing and weathering the winters of life…

Link to My Wintering beginning 2021

Healing occurs naturally when we fully allow the suffering, so it can transform us into our new stronger selves.

There are endless quotes about life, its ups and downs, unpredictable twists, turns and sometimes full on hoy-you-upsidedown-times too.

It can be tricky to navigate, and I still can’t place a manual or guide that shows you the way! So how do we handle it all? Well, as the famous fish tells us “Just keep swimming” isn’t so far from the truth.

Life is constantly in motion, even in the winter the trees are preparing their spring buds. Stagnant water creates an environment for disease, running water is cleaner and does not accumulate disease.

We can be raised in challenging environments, inherit habits and behavior patterns that cause distress for us and our loved ones. Events occur and traumatize us, our lives unravel in ways we did not wish for or feel prepared for, relationships end, loved ones pass away,and friendships are lost.

These are examples of things that bring us pain and distress and take us out of balance, out of our true nature of well-being and peace. Only by being truly honest with ourselves can we then acknowledge, identify, accept and then manage our emotions. Create the space for transformation, change, healing back to balance. Allow the pain in order to heal with it.

Martyn Blacklock Healing - a yoga teacher and counselor posted on Instagram “can we redefine our problems as solutions? The symptom of your unhappiness, your “problems” can actually be great teachers, telling you what is getting in the way of your happiness, and often offer direct solutions at the same time - so it makes sense to face your problems right?”

Pain is our bodies way of telling us something needs our attention. Instead of avoiding the pain, watching the TV, scrolling on our phones, what would happen if we leaned into the pain? Listened to our bodies cries? It can be greatly uncomfortable, facing emotions we are not ready to accept, beliefs about ourselves that are harmful but familiar, and deeper pains, such as grief, there to move us through the transformation of loss and pain to acceptance and the ability to repair, process, heal and continue on.

Click HERE for a link to my latest blog, ‘Healing from loss’

HERE for a beautiful podcast for living with grief.

It can take time to translate the language of our bodies, and learn how to tune into ourselves in order to keep our energy flowing, not leaving unprocessed emotions to stagnate and infect our joy and well-being. Everyone is so different, and there is no rule to how fast or slow and in what way methods we use to move ourselves through any journey of healing.

Although this is a personal journey that no one can do for us, there are many available supports and therapies which can truly act as a catalyst our healing.

Yoga, Qi gong - moving meditations that not only tune us into our bodies, but move the stuck emotions and help us process them. We can watch for example, giving ourselves a hard time about not being flexible enough in a certain pose, and recognize how hard we are on ourselves. Or notice tension in our muscles, possibly holding onto something that we need to let go of.

Massage! Of course - is a beautiful way to reset your nervous system, bring you back into your body, and gently process and tune into how you are feeling. Book HERE

Talking therapies like Counseling and psychotherapy can really shed light on our blind spots. Giving us an objective perspective on our situation and enabling us to navigate a path out from unhealthy patterns and suffering.

I can highly recommend Martyn and Louise who are both independent therapists who offer amazing healing techniques alongside years of experience and empathy, creating a safe space for you and your healing.

Breath work - Breath is life, it is powerful and can greatly effect our mood, state and health. Check out Hayley Dorian for learning how to use your breath to heal and balance mind and body.

There are of course many other modalities and ways to suit everyone. Getting outside in nature is up there with the best environments to re-balance and rest ourselves. If you really want to get into nature check out Wild sea swimmers Ice guys and Wild sea woman!

Whatever you are going through, you are not alone in the challenges and sufferings of life. They do make our great days and joyful times more cherished and richer too.

Even though there will be dark days which are guaranteed in life, so to are the best and brightest ones. Be ever so gentle with yourself and know you are stronger and more capable than you realize.

Song for when we need to let go and flow - Click Here

See you all soon,

Love and Lavender

Amanda xx