What is Healing? A Short and Simple Guide to Get You Started

It’s a shame.

Every day I see people who are hurting inside. Who could be helped if they only understood.

This is why I’m so passionate about getting the truth out about healing.

Most people aren’t ready to take control of their healing journey. But you are.

Healing doesn’t have to be restricted to psychological theories and medical science. Or put solely into the hands of a therapist.

It is much easier when it starts with us. When we ask important questions, such as Who are we as human beings? and What does who we are have to do with healing?

We don’t learn this in school. And society has the wrong idea. Even the professionals haven’t figured it out.

So here is a short and simple guide to help get you started.

 

 So what is Healing?

Healing releases the darkness that obscures our inner light.

It brings us closer to a peace.

If we live in a house, we take good care of it by keeping it clean and in good condition. Over time we might experience a window breaking, stains on the carpet, or the toilet overflowing.

Healing cleans the garbage of our “inner” home.

It washes our windows. Sparkles our living space. Allows in the sunshine.

Our worldview changes when we heal. We see more clearly.

Internal and external are ultimately one. When you no longer perceive the world as hostile, there is no more fear, and when there is no more fear, you think, speak and act differently. Love and compassion arise, and they affect the world. --Eckhart Tolle

Old childhood wounds.
Dysfunctional belief systems.
Abusive behaviors.

These all keep us from peace. They create cobwebs.

We generally are born into this world feeling that it is safe. But then trauma happens and our view changes. The problem is that this view then colors everything we see about life.

 

 Wounding as a story

Sometimes wounds are referred to as stories. Such as:

• The abuse I suffered as a child makes me feel incomplete.
• I'm in an abusive relationship that is breaking my spirit.
• I feel alone and unloved.

All of these examples are true for those experiencing them. But story can be a metaphor on how trauma changes our perspective. In other words, trauma takes us away from the truth of our wholeness and into the perspective (or story) of being broken or incomplete. So healing is the beauty of changing the story of trauma into a story of wholeness.

What does changing the story of trauma look like? Let's turn the previous examples around.

• I've been able to find wholeness again through a good therapist, learning to be with difficult emotions, and loving myself.
• I found enough inner empowerment to leave my abusive relationship.
• I learned how to recognize the thoughts and behaviors that were keeping me feeling unloved and isolated.

Someone may not be completely cured, but the story has shifted into something more peaceful.

We get closer to wholeness, both inside and out.

We stop seeing our chatty and intrusive neighbor as annoying, and instead realize through the eyes of compassion that she is just lonely.

We realize our anger toward an ex-spouse is emotionally and physically draining and one day decide to simply let the anger go.

We sense that something much larger than ourselves exists in life, leading to more inner peace despite facing financial, emotional, or physical hardship.

As you can see, healing can look like many things.

Sometimes these changes happen spontaneously and without our conscious effort. But usually we need to work on creating the change for ourselves.

 

How do we heal?

Sometimes healing takes an instant. Sometimes it takes a lifetime. (Or more.) For most of us, healing is an evolving process.

Many things can heal us.

A book, therapist, or teacher can spark a change of perspective. We need to be open for this to happen though. If we are not ready to hear something new, then the teaching will not mean anything to us.

What makes us ready and open to something new?

Sometimes we just get so sick of the situation that we’ll try anything to change it, including listening to a new teaching. Sometimes we become open through self inquiry and questioning things on our own. Sometimes we become open by a mysterious force. This force is called grace.

Awareness of ourselves and others through self inquiry, reflection, or questioning our thoughts allows us to see things more clearly. This seeing helps us to realize what needs to change in our lives.

If we question our thoughts about people who have angered us, we might see that this anger is holding us down. This anger is a limitation. A block that is actually causing depression. Just seeing this dynamic can cause us to start to release the anger.

A life changing circumstance can also be a catalyst for changing our story. An alcoholic might realize he needs to change his life or risk losing everything after hitting rock bottom. A successful millionaire might learn that love is worth more than money after losing everything he owns in a fire.

We can heal through talk therapy, yoga, meditation, or plant medicines. We heal through a chance encounter with a stranger, our pets, nature, or music. Healing can take many forms.

 

The four layers of the human being

Human beings are comprised of four main parts. We are spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional. Let’s break this down.

The Spiritual Layer is connected to the divine. It is pure spirit. Pure light and energy. Spiritual traumas cause a depletion in our energy body, draining us emotionally, mentally, and even physically.

The Physical Layer is our physical body: our skin, muscles, organs, and blood. The physical layer allows us to survive in the material world.

The Mental Layer is the mind. It is our intellect. Our thoughts, beliefs, and ideas. The mental layer allows us to figure out how to live in this world.

The Emotional Layer is how we feel. It is felt in the body and often interpreted by the mind. Our emotions allow us to interact with the world in a meaningful way.

All these layers interact with each other.

A car crash can cause broken bones and internal injures. This we can obviously see. But the impact can also cause trauma to be held in the body. Emotionally, we may still feel fear long after the crash has happened. And spiritually, we may disassociate or split off from the experience.

Healing modalities usually focus on a specific layer, but sometimes focus on many layers at once. In either case, other layers are indirectly affected as well.

One example of this is energy healing.

Energy healing mainly focuses on the spiritual layer of the human energy system. The healer acts as a conduit to bring healing energies from Spirit to the physical world and into the client. This not only helps us spiritually, but also emotionally and mentally. And even physically in certain cases.

Therapy helps us emotionally and mentally. But it can also heal us spiritually depending on the therapist.

Body work helps us on the physical layer, but can affect us emotionally.

Spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental. They are all connected.

Healing bridges these connections to create a new story of wholeness.

And whether the change in our story is small (such as having more patience) or large (such as forgiving an abusive parent), healing has occurred.

 

Healing is everywhere

When healing is put strictly into a medical model, we forget to listen to the human process.

Put away the clinical approach and forget the the experts for a while.

Ignore the diagnosis. Instead, feel into the energy of what you're going through.

Don’t fall into the trap of labeling mental illness. This distances us from our human experience.

Instead of saying you have clinical depression, see the experience for what it is….

• a heavy sensation in your heart
• a realization that something is missing in life
• a disconnection from spirit

These are the clues to your healing.

Be your own detective.

Learn to listen to you.

Good healers help us to change our perspective and to change our stories. They help us to become more empowered.

Now you know the gist of healing. The rest is up to you.

7 Misunderstood Truths About Healing

The internet is full of self help and spiritual teachings.

Experts on healing your inner child. And teachers with the secret to eternal bliss.

As someone on the healing path this can feel overwhelming.

You may feel lost in a maze of non-stop techniques, teachings, and tips.

How do you know what to trust?

Our culture immerses us in shiny advertising, copious information, and promises of instant results. It’s easy to get caught up with false expectations. This set-up takes our power away.

Let’s get back into our power. Let’s clear the confusion. Here are seven smart tips to help you on your path.

1. No one healing method or teaching will cure you.

Our culture loves one-fix solutions.

Advertising tells us we need that one perfect thing. The right pill. The right self help book. The right therapist.

The truth is that healing is multifaceted. It is ever evolving.

Relying on the same method can keep us stuck. It can take us out of our power. When we rely on one solution, we close ourselves off to other opportunities for growth.

Is it a bad thing to stay with what works? Not at all.

But be proactive about your healing. Be aware of what your therapy or healing sessions are actually doing for you. And keep yourself informed.

Keep exploring.

2. Healing is an evolving process.

We heal to reduce emotional pain.

But there is also a deeper purpose.

Healing increases our awareness. It allows us to see an expanded view of life. It also brings neglected parts of ourselves to light.

Pretend for a moment that you are a house. (A common metaphor in dreams by the way.)

You see a dirty window and it’s completely distorting your view outside. It’s painful to look at, so you clean the smudges and dirt. Suddenly, new light comes into your perspective. The world becomes a little clearer.

But now with all that light shining in you realize what a mess your house is.

Limiting beliefs piled up in the kitchen sink. Old childhood wounds cluttering up the closet.

As our awareness expands we see what needs to be healed. And as we heal, our awareness expands. As each layer of wounding comes to the surface, we will see it with a new understanding. Thus, we will use different approaches to heal as we grow.

The healing process is ongoing. Eventually, healing merges into stages of awakening. And as long as you are a human being, it will never stop.

You will always be a part of this evolving process.

3. We need to heal who we are on all levels: spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental.

We are spiritual beings manifested in physical form. This complicates things a bit.

The spiritual self is connects us to our divinity.
The physical self allows us to survive in this world.
The emotional self allows us to interact with life.
The mental self allows us to process life.

Each of these layers interact with each other. If we heal our emotions, for example, our thoughts (or mental layer) will become more healed. This is why holistic healing addresses who we are as a whole being.

Not all types of healing address each layer.

Traditional medicine focuses on the physical body.
Traditional therapy focus on our emotional and mental selves.
Shamanic healing, energy healing, and spiritual practice focuses on our spiritual selves.

For wholeness to occur, we must focus on all aspects of ourselves.

4. Instant healings, awakenings, and “miracle cures” are rare.

These stories capture our attention and fascinate us. But this can lead us into an expectation trap.

Healing doesn’t happen all at once.

Okay. Yes, there are some exceptions. There are people who have healed instantly. Or with just a few healing sessions.

But this is rare.

Most of us are taking the slow path toward healing and awakening. (With quick spurts of growth here and there.)

What does this mean for us? It means we need to listen to and accept where we are now.

Don’t get trapped by expectations. Be realistic about Now. Follow what inspires and pulls at your heart.

But don’t get fooled into the expectation hype.

5. Assume you're not being told the entire story.

When I first became interested in ayahuasca and shamanic healing, I read several stories about people who healed their depression or back pain (or whatever) after only a few ceremonies. It seemed amazing.

But after a year of participating in healing ceremonies, I found that this type of quick fix is rare.

It is easy to become inspired by stories that give us hope.

But a story is just a snapshot of one person’s experience.

We don’t know her history or her current situation. Was she already far along the healing path? Has she had a relapse since then? What does she do to maintain the healing?

Our minds like to fill in the gaps of what hasn’t been told. It’s easy to imagine that Jane Doe is now enjoying an awesome life free of PTSD after doing four ayahuasca ceremonies in Peru.

A safer expectation is to assume that there’s more to the story than we know.

6. Learning to love ourselves is not enough heal us.

Don’t get me wrong. Self love is essential.

But when people get the idea that they only need to love and forgive themselves to heal, it creates unreasonable expectations.

Healing requires us to look at our wounds and destructive patterns. And sometimes we hate what we see. Sometimes we can’t accept who we are or who we’ve been in the past. We become incredibly frustrated at ourselves.

And this is okay.

To love ourselves, we need to accept both the light and the dark within us. The concept is simple, but not so simple to do.

Again, this is okay.

Being present to the messiness of healing, no matter how “unloving” it may feel, is more of an accomplishment than most people realize. Going through our life experiences—fully, without numbing ourselves—is what’s most important.

And eventually we can learn to love even that.

7. Mindfulness and questioning our thoughts is not a cure-all.

Mindfulness lessens our attachment to pain. Questioning our thoughts allows us to investigate the validity of limiting thoughts.

Both of these tools are invaluable at rooting out the cause of our suffering.

But sometimes pain is so intense that our ego can’t stand to be mindful for even one second.

And sometimes there is no thought related to the suffering we experience.

We just feel terrible for no conscious reason.

A few months ago I missed a step and twisted my ankle. I passed out from the pain.

No amount of mindfulness would have prevented my body’s reaction. No amount of self inquiry would have reduced the pain.

Certain levels of depression, anxiety, and mental illnesses are on par with physical injury. The pain is uncontrollable and intense no matter what we do.

We can learn to be with pain. But do we tell someone with a broken leg or schizophrenia that they just need to question how bad things are? That would be unkind.

The truth about healing

Don’t think a self help fairy will magically cure you.

You need to trust your own path. Because every time you look inside for answers, you decrease the amount of power the "experts" can take from you.

Think beyond the teachings.
Question what you read.

Remember times you’ve helped yourself in the past, and find ways to apply it to the present.

Above all, remind yourself that self help tools and spiritual teachings are there to help empower you.

When you see yourself as knowing your own answers, you become the healer.

Ayahuasca or Psilocybin for Anxiety and Depression?

I struggled with social anxiety disorder and severe depression with suicidal ideation for most of my life. The social anxiety is cured, but most of that healing was done through cognitive behavioral techniques (Dr. David Burns book "Feeling Good"), following a strong spiritual path, and reading self help books. I still struggle with depression sometimes, but it is not nearly as intense since I started working with spiritual healers and plant medicines two years ago. I also meditate regularly. Healing has been a gradual process.

Personally, my first advice to anyone struggling with chronic and severe depression is to get yourself to a spiritual healer. I'm not talking about someone who works with plants, but someone who can do powerful energy healings. A shaman or other such practitioner. (Don't bother with Reiki, it is very subtle and you want something strong.) Finding a healer is cheaper than flying out to Peru, won't require you to go through weird or terrifying visions, and will most likely provide immediate relief. I know this is a stretch for most people, especially if they are not spiritual or don't believe in things like shamanism, etc. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I didn't take a chance and see for myself. It can be hard knowing who to trust without a personal recommendation, but see if any of these people are in your area: http://www.schoolofspiritualhealing.com/our-team-new/. I've worked with a few of these healers and any of them should be good. People who have trained with the thefourwinds.com are worth checking out as well. If energy healing doesn't resonate with you at all, then wait until you feel ready and open to it. Otherwise it might not work as well.

About ayahuasca. If you feel strongly pulled to do it, then maybe you are being called to do it. However, keep in mind that it is no guarantee. While I have seen many people helped by aya, the results have never permanently lasted. This is because healing is always a process, no matter what method you use. I know a few people who didn't have any visions at all and remained depressed. This is rare but it happens. It seems to occur more with people who consider themselves not spiritual, but this is just my own speculation. See aya as one of many tools that are available out there for healing. Despite what people say, there is no one healing modality that will cure you...it is a journey that might require lots of different modalities. If you are feeling a sincere and authentic connection with aya and if you are spiritually open minded then it is worth exploring.

On my own experience: The first time I did aya, I went to Peru and had 4 ceremonies. I felt FANTASTIC for 6 months, went to Peru again for 7 ceremonies and came home really depressed and borderline suicidal. I've done several aya ceremonies since then (with different ayahuasqueros this time) and the results are always positive, but I never again had the same extremes of feeling super fantastic or super depressed like I did with my first two trips to Peru. So basically, you get what you get, but over time you also learn to work with the medicine as you get to know it better. (It took 7 ceremonies for me to realize this.)

I've found mushrooms to be helpful, but sometimes emotional stuff has been triggered by the trip. Then I'm left having to deal with whatever has been triggered (loneliness, sadness, etc) long after the trip is over. But usually the end result is positive. For me, mushrooms have been more of a teacher that brings a lot of psychological stuff up. They haven't been as much of a "fun" plant as they seem to be for other people. However, I have learned a lot from them. Mushrooms might be a good choice to start out with, especially if you don't want to go broke. You can always start small and have a trusted friend watch over you. I imagine doing it out in nature would be really healing, but have someone sober with you if you do this! Also you can try microdosing mushrooms to help with a really bad spell of depression. I haven't done this myself, but have considered it in the past.

I hope this helps and good luck to you.

How to Develop Spiritual Conneciton When You Don't Feel Spiritual

In my last post, I explained that depression often numbs our ability to spiritually connect. The catch 22 with this is that spiritual connection can help us to facilitate healing.

This is important and I'll tell you why.

I'm not the type of person to go around proselytizing or pushing new age ideas on people. I will also say that if none if this resonates with you then please move on to something else. I know through my own direct experience that our capacity for spiritual belief is hugely affected by many things that we are unaware of, and I simply want people to be aware of this fact. Spiritual belief and connection are so vitally important because we cannot heal on a spiritual level if our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions are blocking spirituality out.

Spiritual healing can take many forms, including (but definitely not limited to) shamanism, energy healing, prayer, or simply seeing the divine within ourselves. We don't need to be psychic or have some direct connection to God. But we do need to open enough to allow spirit to work with us.

I sincerely believe that many people don't believe in a higher power, not merely because of personal choice, but because they actually can't believe in a higher power. In other words, many people have a block or wound that prevents them from perceiving outside of what can be felt with the senses. It is like not having the ability to smell and therefore believing that scent is not real.

If we knew that the fragrance of a rose would make someone happy, it wouldn't do any good unless that person was able to smell the rose. The same goes for spiritual healing. Spirit works at a subtle level, which is similar to the wavelength of our thoughts and emotions. The subtle energies of spirit can be blocked by thoughts and emotions.

First of all, let's look at why people can be spiritually blocked.

Spiritual wounds from the past can obviously keep us from venturing forward in our growth. This could be a spiritual teacher from childhood who broke our trust or a religious teaching that attacked our sense of who we are (such as homosexuality being a sin if you are gay). Did you have any experiences that wounded you or turned you off to spirituality as a kid? I sure did! :)

In this culture, there is a huge fear of rejection from friends, family, coworkers and or/society in general, and therefore most of us have blocks that serve to keep us safe. These blocks prevent us from being "too open minded" or believing in weird "woo woo" stuff. There is a lot of pressure in this society to be logical, to only believe in what has been scientifically proven, to stay in our heads (as opposed to in our hearts), and to play by the rules. It is a huge risk to be truly authentic, to stretch our belief systems, and live in ways that might be seen as unusual.

Lastly we all have beliefs and ego resistance deep in our subconscious that prevents us from letting go and opening up spiritually. You would be surprised at how far deeply in our subconscious this resistance can be! Imagine that you had a fence built. You might reason that part of the fence might be buried underground to make sure it stands up straight and strong. Just like a fence creates strong boundaries for our home, our ego can create boundaries to keep us safe. However, imagine if you tried to dig up that fence and found out it was buried 20 feet underground instead of just a foot or two! This is what it was like for me what I started having my spiritual awakening. My ego defense was surprisingly deep and prevented me from moving forward in my healing and spiritual growth. In these cases we might need spiritual healing in order to push past the plateau, which is what I had to do.

These are just some examples of why we become spiritually blocked. Of course there are other reasons as well, but the point is that these blocks exist on unconscious levels.

Spiritual connection for the most part requires two things:
1) The ability to FEEL spirit, which uses our emotional capacities.
2) The ability to BELIEVE in spirit, which uses our mental capacities.

So how does one begin to spiritually connect when they are either too numb or just can't believe in the divine?

First of all, we need to look at how severe and numbing the depression is for you. The more depressed and numb you are, the less spirituality you'll be able to take in. And that's okay! The general rule is to just give ourselves as much as we can take in. Anything more will just overwhelm us.

Next, we need to take a look at what your level of faith has been historically. Someone who has always been a die-hard atheist will be able to accept a lot less than someone who has dabbled in spiritual ideas now and again. For a good part of my life I voraciously read channeled books because the spiritual teachings strongly resonated with me. Yet it was a full decade into my spiritual journey before I began to believe that channeling might actually be real.

Once you gauge where you are emotionally and mentally, I recommend taking four steps:
1) Open yourself up to believing in a higher power. Just try this belief on for size for a while and see how it feels. It is impossible to truly know what the Divine is on a sensory level because it is not anything that can be seen or felt. However it might be helpful to start with a symbolic picture or symbol.
2) Look for the evidence. Do you know someone who had a spiritual experience? (Like me for example!) Do you see synchronicities? One of of the most undeniable pieces of evidence for the existence of the divine are near death experiences, or NDEs. You can read tons of fascinating near death accounts at NDERF (Near Death Experience Research Foundation). Some of my favorite NDE books include:
Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani
To Heaven and Back by Mary Neal
Embraced by the Light by Betty Eadie
If you see the evidence but still feel resistance, that's okay.  Just observe it and let it sit in the back of your mind. Don't try to have everything figured out. Just allow things to become clearer over time at it's own pace, which may take years or even decades.
3) Feel what resonates with you. Our feelings are a tool for inner guidance, so get in touch with how you feel. Have you read something that rings true for you? Maybe you saw something on TV or YouTube that made something inside of you stop and want to learn more. Or, it could be a spiritual friend or loved one who inspires you to open up in ways you never thought possible before. Listen to these inner signals. Any kind of feeling that makes you think, "What if?" or "I'd like to learn more!" is a sign to follow your curiosity and see where it takes you.
4) Heal your emotional wounds. It is so important to clear our negative thoughts and feelings. Doing this allows spirit to flow through us more easily. Additionally, when we clear our wounds we learn to feel in our bodies in healthier ways. When we remain unhealed, negative thoughts and energies stay stuck in our minds and bodies. This prevents us from feeling spirit and our own inner guidance.

Spiritual growth and connection is an ongoing process. It is best to take your time and, again, not force yourself to believe in something. Just keep an open mind, have fun curiously exploring, and don't be afraid to move on to something else once a spiritual belief, practice, or teaching no longer resonates with you. Over time you will find that the little pieces you've gathered will eventually fall into place.

Important: Don't let anyone tell you that there is only one true spiritual belief, practice or religion! This is a fear-based belief and is very limiting to anyone on the spiritual path. It is normal for someone to find a spiritual practice or belief system and stick with it for a while (maybe even forever). A person might discover a spiritual path that works for them and feel like they've found THE ANSWER, but this does not mean it will be right for everyone. Staying in our own personal power is important while on the spiritual journey.

The Catch 22 of Depression and Spiritual Connection

There is a catch 22 to depression that most depressed people may not realize, but may need to realize in order to heal. It is that depression numbs our ability to spiritually connect. The problem is that we need spiritual connection in order to heal.

 When we are depressed, we become so heavy that it becomes impossible to feel freely, to be open, to sense wonder, to become inspired, to take creative action, or to connect to the richness of life. These are all aspects of being spiritually connected by the way. So it is important to realize that when we are depressed, it becomes incredibly easy to not believe in the divine or sense any spiritual resonance or feel spiritual connection whatsover.

To an almost unbelievable extent, I have witnessed this in my own healing journey. I've gone from feeling horribly depressed one minute, like there is no meaning in life and literally wishing that I could just die, to feeling an unmistakable connection to the divine after a good healing session. Suddenly, after a visit with an energy healer, I'd be at peace, with an inner well-being and knowledge that my life had great purpose in this world.

 I have also witnessed the opposite happen. Many times I have felt peacefully content and spiritually connected just to slip back down toward the blackness and void of depression again. Once there, I noticed the distinct lack of spiritual belief or desire for connection that I once had. I would continue with my spiritual practices, but they felt empty and uninspired. No matter how hard I tried, I could not "make myself" feel spiritual again.

For me, this was explicit proof that spirituality and healing go hand in hand.

The problem is that we can't force ourselves to feel spiritual connection when we are depressed, but we need this spiritual connection in order to heal completely. So how do we make this happen?

The answer is multifaceted, and the path is circular. There is no straight, one size fits all, solution to healing. Spirituality is a huge component, but we need to incorporate healing on all levels of our being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. So first of all, don't ignore the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of healing! A discussion about these other components of healing goes beyond the scope of this blog, but I will address it in future posts.

I will also talk more about how to cultivate spiritual connection while depressed in my next post, so stay tuned...

The Reason for Suffering

Renee Pasarow, near death survivor, explains the purpose for suffering on earth.

...it became very clear to me that suffering in this life can very much be a gift. Not necessarily a gift. It's a catalyst, and a catalyst is neutral. But suffering gives us the opportunity to grow spiritually. And if our true reality is spiritual and not physical, and if our physical suffering results in the development of our spiritual being and spiritual qualities, then it can indeed be a gift. Because if you think about it there is no moment we can be courageous without the existence of pain and danger. There's no way we can truly show compassion in this realm of existence unless, unfortunately, someone else may be suffering. There's no way we can have patience--that spiritual quality of patience--and endure, unless things are not going according to how we may desire. And so, if as a result of our physical suffering we can develop these eternal, these essential, these everlasting, these non-ephemeral qualities that are going to last beyond our mere 70 years of life, into the next realm, then we are creating our own spiritual being that we are going to take with us. And that is the most glorious achievement that we can possibly have.
--Renee Pasarow

Click here to view her video on how suffering serves as a catalyst for spiritual growth.

You can also view the entire video from the beginning for a spectacular near death account.

Spiritual Beings Living in Physical Form: The Root of Depression

I realize that many people will not agree with what I'm about to write, but what I convey comes from my direct experience, and it is something I feel compelled to share.

I believe we are depressed because we are not existing in our true home. We are spiritual beings who belong with the unconditional love and light of the Divine, but are instead living in physical form. This is like forcing a bird to wear scuba gear so it can live in the sea.

Could a bird learn to be happy living underwater? Perhaps. But inevitably some birds will realize that something does not feel right. Something will continue to gnaw at them, and unless they have some knowledge of who they truly are, and to live in ways that reflect their True Selves, peace will be hard to come by.

Spiritual beliefs and practices were always my core foundation for healing at a deeper soul level. But I always kept my spiritual beliefs at a safe level. I didn't want to (or wasn't able to) completely believe in anything that seemed too weird or new agey. Chakras, energy bodies, smudging, healing herbs, and crystals. These all seemed like silly and unrealistic new age ideas. Even more important, I didn't want other people to laugh at my strange spiritual beliefs.

But then when I was 41 I had my first energy healing. It blew me away. For the first time in my life, I felt like my thoughts and emotions were completely cleansed. This healing, as well as the soul retrieval I had two weeks later, literally blew my mind. This was followed by full blown spiritual experience that lasted a good two weeks.

Since then I have learned to sense my chakras and blocks in my energy system, use herbs for healing baths and smudges, and to be open to spiritual healing techniques and teachings. But most of all, I learned to strengthen my connection to the Divine in ways that I wasn't able to before.

This connection guides me and heals me. It helps me to realize who I Truly am and to envision a world that I wish to see, rather than trying to fit into a world that does not reflect who I am at my core.

I believe my depression has been a calling for me to come back Home. I have seen this in ayahuasca ceremonies, in my spiritual teachings, and can feel it in my heart and in the depths of my soul. It teaches me to let go of the things in this world and focus on love. My pain is caused by my attachment to being human, and all of the cultural, societal, familial, and personal expectations on what it means to be a special and deserving human being. These definitions of happiness say I need to look young, have a family, fulfill a special purpose in life, or whatever. When in reality, if I simply know my True Divine Self and just focus on love, there would be no need for that.

The answer is to know ourselves as Love. To love and forgive ourselves unconditionally. To envision a world where love across all ethnic, cultural, religious, and geographical boundaries is possible. To see the Divine in the people we meet. To know that the Divine is with us, supporting and guiding us in a multitude of ways.

I believe that the closer we get to doing this, the more we can heal.

We might need additional tools to help us through, including self help techniques, therapy, or energy healings. But if we keep up the practice of knowing ourselves and others as Divine Love, then we get closer to creating our True Home right where we are on earth. I believe this is the true path to healing.

P.S. As a side note, I no longer care what people thing about my spiritual beliefs, although I am still careful about who I express them to. In fact, I can now talk about guides, angels, crystals, and spiritual herbs so confidently that my friends, family, and even some co-workers, listen openly and without judgment!