ON THE PATH
The Healer Within Spiral: A Framework for Understanding Your Journey of Healing
BY TANIESHA GARRISON, EDM
As much as we would like the opposite to be true, the healer’s path GRHVQ¶WEHJLQZLWKFHUWDLQW\,WEHJLQVZLWKDVSDUNDFRQÀDJUDWLRQ even, moments when life tilts just enough to make pretending im- possible, initiating us with the strident clarion call to heal. This call — maybe wrapped in crisis, often painfully inconvenient — holds the SURPLVHRIVRPHWKLQJVDFUHG /LIHLVQ¶WEUHDNLQJXVGRZQ,W¶VEUHDN - ing us open. Again. %XWKHUH¶VZKDWQRRQHPHQWLRQVLQWKRVHUDZPRPHQWV A key fea- WXUHRIWKHKHDOLQJMRXUQH\LVDPELJXLW\<RX¶UHQRWVXSSRVHGWRKDYH WKLQJV¿JXUHGRXW\HWDQGFHUWDLQO\QRWDWWKHRXWVHW7KHFRQIXVLRQ is part of it. In fact, trying to understand everything right away might be the only thing standing between us and actual healing. To clarify, healing operates on two levels, and we need both. Heal- ing work UHIHUVWRWKHVSHFL¿FSUDFWLFHVWKDWKHOSXVIHHOEHWWHUDQG stronger in the moment — the energy sessions, the bodywork, the therapeutic practices that realign us when we’re wobbling. The heal- ing journey is the ongoing, sometimes maddeningly slow process of returning to our full awareness of our wholeness, especially when we feel anything but. This distinction matters because you can have a profound heal- ing session (healing work) and still be very much in the middle of your healing journey (the path). One is an event; the other is a path WKDWSUHW]HOVEDFNRQLWVHOI<RX¶OOUHYLVLWWKHVDPHWKHPHVWKHVDPH ZRXQGVWKHVDPHTXHVWLRQV\RXWKRXJKW\RX¶GDOUHDG\UHVROYHG%XW here’s the beautiful thing (and the horrible thing, depending on where \RXDUH Each time you come back around the bend, you’re not start- LQJRYHU<RX¶UHHOHYDWHGZLWKPRUHWRROVDQGJUHDWHUDZDUHQHVVDW \RXUGLVSRVDO:KDWRYHUZKHOPHG\RXWKH¿UVWWLPHEHFRPHVUHFRJ - QL]DEOH WKH VHFRQG WLPH 7KH UHFRJQLWLRQ WKDW WRRN PRQWKV EHIRUH might take weeks this time around. Wisdom traditions across cultures have been teaching this truth for FHQWXULHV WKH0HGLFLQH:KHHO¶VIRXUGLUHFWLRQV ; the cyclical descent and return of the Hero’s Journey; nature’s endless spiraling seasons. The Healer Within Spiral draws from this ancient understanding ZKLOH R̆ HULQJ D OHQV VSHFL¿FDOO\ IRU WKRVH QDYLJDWLQJ KHDOLQJ ZRUN It maps the cyclical nature of transformation, as well as the distinct support needed at each phase, helping us discern whether we need a healer, a teacher, a community, or a guide. Each phase calls for its RZQNLQGRIFRPSDQLRQVKLS healers to hold us when we Stand; teach- HUV WR DFWLYDWH RXU 6HQVH0DNLQJ ; community to help us Sync; and guides to support our Sustaining. The Four Phases of the Spiral 1. STAND: Present Yourself to Be Held The spiral almost always opens with an act of standing. This isn’t WKHWULXPSKDQW¿VWVLQWKHDLUVWDQFH , though if you’ve got that en- ergy, more power to you. This is the trembling, uncertain, “I’m-not- sure-my-knees-work” kind of stance that happens when something LQVLGHUXSWXUHVEHIRUH\RXKDYHODQJXDJHIRUZKDW¶VKDSSHQLQJ<RXU primary job here is to present yourself to be ministered to, witnessed, helped and held. When the ground feels unstable and you’re not sure ZKLFKZD\LVXSVWDQGLQJEHFRPHV\RXUJUHDWHVWR̆ HULQJWR\RXUVHOI The support that serves best in this phase comes from practitioners
Photo by Raphael Brasileiro, pexels.com
ZKR FDQ KHOS IRUWLI\ WKDW VKDN\ VWDQFH HQHUJ\ ZRUNHUV LQWXLWLYHV bodyworkers, somatic therapists, grief counselors, anyone who can KROGVWHDG\VSDFHDVWKH\KHOS\RX¿JXUHRXWKRZWREUHDWKHDJDLQ Here, you are slowly orienting the scattered pieces of your experience LQWRQHZFRKHUHQFH6RPHRQHKROGVDPLUURUXSDQGVD\V³<RX¶UHVWLOO KHUH<RX¶UHVWLOOZKROH/HWPHKHOS\RXUHPHPEHU´ 2QHZRPDQGHVFULEHGKHU6WDQGSKDVHWKLVZD\ ³,VKRZHGXSWR acupuncture appointments when I could barely leave the house. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, but those needles and that practitioner’s steady presence gave me something to anchor to while everything else was shifting.” 7KDW¶VWKHSKDVH<RXVWDQGOHW\RXUVHOIEHKHOGDQGEHJLQWRVWD - ELOL]H 2. SENSE-MAKING: Follow Curiosity into Understanding $IWHUEHLQJIRUWL¿HGE\KHDOLQJZRUN\RXUOHJVJURZVWHDGLHU/HW¶V be honest. They still wobble, and there’s wobbling for a while, but cu- ULRVLW\VWDUWVWRHPHUJH/LWWOHÀDVKHVRILQVSLUDWLRQDQGZRQGHUZKLV - SHU Wait, how did that work? Why did I feel that shift in my body? What’s actually happening here? 7KLV LV ZKHQ WKH 6HQVH0DNLQJ SKDVH EHJLQV DQG LW¶V D GHOLJKWIXO rabbit hole. Suddenly you’re diving into podcasts, devouring books, VLJQLQJ XS IRU FRXUVHV DWWHQGLQJ ZRUNVKRSV <RX PLJKW ¿QG \RXU - VHOI SXUVXLQJ 5HLNL FHUWL¿FDWLRQ OHDUQLQJ DERXW VRPDWLF SUDFWLFHV studying ancestral healing modalities, exploring herbalism, diving into astrology, practicing breathwork. The impulse is often to learn everything at once, and that’s okay. This phase can feel overwhelming, DQGPDQ\SHRSOHZRUU\WKH\¶UHGRLQJLWZURQJ ³6KRXOG,IRFXVRQRQH WKLQJ"$P,VSUHDGLQJP\VHOIWRRWKLQ"´%XWKHUH¶VWKHVHFUHW … 'ULQN IURPWKH¿UHKRVHDQGWUXVW\RXZLOODEVRUEZKDW\RXQHHGWRDEVRUE <RXUV\VWHPLVVPDUWHUWKDQ\RXWKLQN The teachers who serve best here aren’t necessarily those with all the answers (though they often have many), but rather the ones who acti- vate. Look for the practitioners who inspire deeper curiosity and make you want to keep going. Their role is to open doors, not close them; they say, “Here’s what I know, and here’s where you might look next.” As your learning deepens, the heart and brain start talking to each RWKHUPRUHFOHDUO\7KLQJVEHJLQWRFRKHUHFUHDWLQJDQHZ SXOO WKH call of community. continued on page 21
PATHWAYS—Winter 25-26—9
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