I don't know if you've noticed around you but there is so much discussion around healing and self-healing right now. And while I think it's really great that there is this greater consciousness about our responsibility towards ourselves and the gifts of slowing down and turning inward, I also wonder whether it contributes to a broader narrative around 'brokenness' and 'woundedness'.
In Jungian coaching, that is Carl G. Jung's psychological principles and contributions applied to a life coaching model, we don’t really speak about ‘healing’ per se for the simple reason that we see the individual as whole, and not broken. Instead we prefer to talk about the process of 'becoming whole' or becoming one. It is a subtle difference but really the basic principle is that there is no healing to be done, there is no 'woundedness', there is just a need to return to our original state of 'wholeness'. And this, in itself, can be very empowering for a lot of us.
However, beyond semantics of healing vs becoming whole, another message that is particularly important in my view, is that this process is non-linear. By that I mean, you will work through challenges, insights, only to return to them maybe further down the line. And that is perfectly normal and perfectly healthy.
Our logical mind would want us to go through 'challenging times' and come out the other end, and that’s it, for the work to finish there. But often the cycle is as follows - insight/awareness, self-inquiry, resistance, and finally integration. But those steps are non-linear, you can move in between self inquiry and insight and resistance many times, until you finally integrate.
This process also has its own timeline. That is because the issues that will trip us up in life are deeply rooted, and have had an impact on our lives, and a way to express themselves in our lives, so much so that they are actually a pattern and, in a way we're not even conscious of it. So only as elements that no longer serve us become conscious, are we able to work with them and integrate them.
I have myself been reminded in the last few weeks, that this transformation, this integration process, this process of becoming whole is indeed non-linear and follows its own rhythm.
You go through a period of time that feels more challenging, and if you are equipped with the right mindset, tools and sometimes guide, you will navigate it slowly, gently, and arrive at the gold.
Then the process repeats itself. It’s that process of shedding those beliefs, or habits that no longer serve you, that each time bring you closer to ‘your true self’. This is why I like to represent this journey by a spiral, every-time the circle gets narrower, until you reach the gold in the middle. And you will. But you will most likely
circle around the same challenges, the same issues many times. And that is perfectly normal.
But the difference is, the more you go through it, the kinder it is as you learn the ‘ride the waves’ and read the messages from your unconscious. When you do the work, you are able to change your automatic response from one of fear and resistance when challenges come up (both internal and external), to one when you embrace them because you know growth and change for the best are on their way.
The more you practise this, the more you’ll start noticing the pockets of joy, the lightness, and the ease in your life.
This is not work that is meant to be done alone. Simply because a lot of what will come up is unconscious, so in order to see it, you need someone to help guide you, and hold the mirror for you. This is the starting point to really reclaiming your wholeness, your 'enoughness', your creativity and quite frankly, your power.