Prep: The Practice of Gentle Healing
My name is Jessica, and I’ll be your hostess at The Practice of Gentle Healing gathering. Before we spend time connecting in circle, I ask that you take some moments to go over these writings as you prepare to share space with the other women in attendance. While we all have our own relationship to healing, it is so important for us to have some context and direction going into our circle. If you are unfamiliar with women’s circles, please take a few minutes to read about them here.
It is a blessing that with the rise in social media, “Healing” has become a more prominent topic in the public discourse. Countless people have been inspired to take action on their lives and become better versions of themselves through many different methods, modalities and practices. It is ironic, however, how easy it has become to attach our worth to how “healed” we perceive ourselves to be. We all see content made by well-meaning people who supposedly have it all figured out: making videos about meditating, showing pictures of the nourishing foods they eat, sharing the highs of their romantic relationships, speaking on how they healed their nervous system, and the list goes on and on. While much of this content CAN be helpful, we tend to subconsciously add it to a never ending list of “once I do this, I’ll finally be okay”, which often causes us to scramble to find what quick fixes we can adopt to become our highest selves as soon as possible. Then we start to pay attention to the kind of content that says things like “How I cleared my acne overnight!”, “I said these affirmations everyday for a week and my life changed”, “This video will change your relationships forever”, “This is what you’re missing from your morning routine”. And once those methods don’t quite work for us in the way we hoped, we are left to wonder if we’ll ever heal. Does this sound familiar?
Yes, there are times that healing can be fast, and even jarring- but those times are few and far between. Usually, healing is soft, gentle and constant. Biologically, our bodies are always trying to heal-every second of every minute, and every hour of everyday until we die. It is my belief that the same goes for our entire being. Without thinking or realizing it, we are always trying to find ways to heal from traumas, triggers, limiting beliefs, and spiritual blocks- every part of you wants to improve and feel safe. The key is to hold space for it. As we accept and love ourselves for who we are right now, we can slowly implement practices that make life a little easier and a little brighter over a longer period of time. Healing is those days where you allow yourself to watch the rom-com, healing is the simple choice to not allow a trigger to dictate your choice in one instance, healing is being fully present while making a meal for yourself, healing can even be giving yourself permission to order take out after a heavy day, healing is keeping a promise, healing is also allowing yourself to say no. It is little choices, little moments, and little changes. It is allowing yourself to take one step back if needed and graciously hold yourself through it. It is the acknowledgement that you can only be exactly who you are in this moment and choose to love exactly who you are in this moment.
Sister, there is no rush, and there really is no finish line. I hope you can find peace in that.
I am so looking forward to sitting in circle with you and hearing your thoughts on these ideas. Some of this may not have resonated with you and that is perfectly okay. The goal in our circles is to find our shared experiences and teach one another how we navigate those experiences in our own unique ways.
I’ll see you on September 22nd at The Practice of Gentle Healing gathering and look forward to hosting you.
