We are living in the information age and there is so much information these days that it can become overwhelming. You might question: what do I need to focus on and where do I need to put my energy into that really works? And ideally in the shortest amount of time.
This blog gives you an overview of the best techniques that you have to know about and can always come back to in your healing journey. It’s a great read if you’re new to all of this information and to figure out where to start your healing.
There is no one answer to self-healing. Any technique can be a crucial stepping stone for someone’s healing. We all go through similar but different phases at different times. And so, you need different practices at different times. And how do you know what you need at the time?
You know ‘when’ if you understand how to tune into your internal guidance system. Then you can shift through different practices at the right time when you need to. And how do you tune into your internal guidance system? Well, tuning into your own internal guidance is an entire practice on its own and you can start with the practices outlined below.
- Meditation
We need to start with meditation. Within meditation you start learning to observe and listen to yourself. You are able to focus on your own thoughts instead of someone else’s thoughts. This is the time you start to really connect with yourself. In meditation your entire focus is on yourself and it’s the moment you can tune into your internal guidance system. This is practice number one and after doing this for a while we can go a step further.
- Shadow Work
Of course, we can’t forget to mention shadow work. After you learn to observe yourself through meditation, hold space for yourself and become aware of the thoughts you are thinking, then you are able go deeper. You can get into the practice of doing shadow work.
Shadow work is an awareness tool and it helps to create resolution within. This is also where you start learning to not only observe your thoughts (and so your limiting beliefs that block you) but you also start to observe your emotions and why you feel that way. This takes a lot of inner work but is one of the most effective practices you want to commit to.
Shadow Work is THE tool to get to the root of the things that we struggle with. Shadow work is about bringing light to the things that are hidden in your subconscious mind (which is a lot). And you can tap into your subconscious mind through your emotions. But it’s not the only tool that you want to focus on, there is more.
- Inner child work
By doing shadow work we work with our emotions and we can view each our emotions as an inner child. Every emotion that is coming up for you in your day-to-day life has its roots in your childhood. That means an inner child is stuck in the past. And you can have multiple inner child parts within you that are stuck in the past. We want to commit to reparenting our inner child in a loving way if we want to feel better about our lives. Healing the inner child is one of the best techniques to use for healing, reconnecting with ourselves and letting go of the past, and not to be underestimated!
- Parts Work
When we communicate with an inner child then we are communicating with a part within us. This is also when the practice of parts work comes into play. And it’s a similar practice, but with a different approach than inner child work. When we do parts work we are working with only 2 opposing parts within us (whether that feels like an inner child or not).
We create parts or fragments within our conscious due to emotional and mental distress. And we become identified with these parts. In general, there are multiple parts within you that are pointing into a different direction. For example, one part of you wants to start a family and the other part of you wants to only work and focus on ambitions. Then you work with these two parts to create resolution. And for this you need to have learnt to observe your thoughts (meditation) and how they make you feel (tuning into your emotions) in order to understand these two parts within your psyche (working with your subconscious mind aka shadow work).
We call something shadow work when we now know or realized something that we didn’t know before. The moment you understand these two parts within your subconscious mind and these parts understand each other, then you have created awareness around something you didn’t know before. In essence parts work and inner child work is a form of shadow work as well, but it’s a different way to go about doing it.
- Nervous System Regulation & Somatic Practices
Something else that isn’t well known yet and is in its early stages, is nervous system regulation or nervous system healing. When some of the practices don’t seem the work for someone like meditation or even breathwork, then we have to go into the foundational work first. We need to work on the level of the nervous system and pull out some roots from there.
Nervous system regulation is important for any person to feel safe in themselves, to feel connected to their body and the environment. It’s also a crucial element of having healthy relationships to name a few. We have to learn to listen to the body very closely by working with the somatic sensations that arises within the body.
This is an entire study on its own but it is very important knowledge to have and an important practice for someone’s healing journey. We don’t want to live with survival stress from our past. And our body needs a way to release that stress or it keeps it inside which create all kinds of mental, emotional or physical disease sooner or later.
Irene Lyon is a nervous system expert and has amazing information on this topic if you want to learn more.
- Movement
We store stress in our body and deep within our tissues. And so, we also want to use movement to release our emotions and survival stress. The body, mind and emotions are all connected and so when it comes down to self-healing we want to work on all levels. When we remove blockages in the body we also remove blockages in the mind and/or emotional body.
That being said, we can also release the stress and blockages through working with the emotional body first, which then frees up space in the physical body which can be experienced as more flexibility or strength in that specific part of the body.
Intense movements and work-outs are actually not so healing and only put more stress on our system. Instead you want to go for gentle movements like for example walking, qigong, nervous system regulation exercises (resetting the vagus nerve) and yoga. Movement is another practice to help in our healing journey.
Be aware of Coping Mechanisms
All these above practices are tools that can serve our healing. But any tool that we use can be used as a coping mechanism as well. A coping mechanism is used to deal with a specific stressor. And so, a coping mechanism is used to avoid pain. Sometimes we need a specific coping mechanism to actually get out of a state of distress, so that we can have some relief that is needed at that time. It may create just enough space (relief) for someone to make a better decision and to move into a better direction.
But at other times a coping mechanism can only do more harm than good. So, any tool can be used to harm or help us. Most of us carry pain (mostly hidden deep within the subconscious mind) and we want to find healthy ways to release this pain. And it’s not about dealing with pain so that we temporarily don’t feel it (bypassing). But fully being able to integrate and release it out of our being.
Blend these Practices
There are more practices you might need. And so, stay open for new information and try out different things when they come along. You might need a piece of information to heal, going more into nature, starting a journal, a healthy way of expressing your anger or practice connecting with your heart. Healing needs a constant shift in gears in order to make progress. So, shift when it needs you to shift.
You can do these self-healing tools 100% by yourself. It also brings the power back into your own hands instead of looking for someone else to heal you. And you simultaneously develop a better relationship with yourself. But at the same time, it’s harder to heal and change patterns alone. Therefore, you may or may not want support in doing any of these practices.
These practices all blend into each other and sometimes we just need a different approach to go down the same (healing) road. There is no one practice that will do it all for someone. For true healing we need a combination of different tools to meet our needs. And they will alternate from time to time. And hopefully we will get to a point in our lives that we don’t need to use them at all and we can build a life where we don’t have to cope with our circumstances.
Until next time.
With Love, Naomi
P.s. to learn more about Shadow Work you may also want to read ‘Shadow Work 101 for Beginners’.
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Written by Naomi
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