An Invitation to Heal
Stand still in a forest for 10 minutes, and you can directly experience what it feels like to be both separate and whole. The trees stand tall above your head, and your feet are firmly planted on the stable ground. The air is clear, and with enough patience and stillness, life seems to go on around you and through you. Now imagine juxtaposing this image alongside a busy street in a downtown urban area, the cars whipping by and noise never ceasing. Both experiences are real, and both allow you to perceive yourself in each environment differently.
As we shift our attention and focus, we shift our reality, and that is the foundation for what my practice of Heal with Amore is all about. With roots in scientific and academic study planted in the soil of spiritual evolution, this story is one that is watered by personal experience and what grows is a unique offering to you that can be completely adapted to meet you where you’re at in any given specific moment in time. You don't have to believe everything you read here, hear elsewhere, or even what you tell yourself. Science is based on experimentation, repetition, and deep observation. In this exploration, I’ll encourage you to find what works for you from an honest place and recognize whether a behavior or idea benefits you, while also considering whether it could potentially cause harm for someone or something else. This follows the belief that these side effects still harm you, because you are part of this greater system. It's all context specific.
In Hawaiian culture, it is said that the elders are whispering to “be pono, be patient, accept that you’re not perfect and protect your inner peace. Swim with the flow of life. Accept others, who, like you, are not perfect. Work on trusting. Spend time in nature. Always expect the best, and, above all, take care of yourself” (Berger, 2020). Pono is described as a way of living with abundance, not resisting what is beyond awareness, and to live each moment with a deep love and respect for all life. It is about arriving in the present moment as “one,” without judgment, and acknowledging gratitude for the plethora of energetic beauty that surrounds us.
This perspective, and what is also known as the Aloha spirit, is what drew me to the Hawaiian Islands as a way to come home, integrate into a culture that aligned with my values, and find my tribe. To my surprise, however, the greatest lesson I’ve learned through this immersion is that the energy comes from within me, and regardless of where I find my physical body, I am always home. This wisdom that has been bestowed upon me is my gift to my fellow humans, and it serves as my greatest honor to share these words. I appreciate you and the time that you are offering to join me in this journey.
The Way Things Are
Context is important. The reality is our society in the United States, and many other human-developed regions, are built on values of scarcity, greed, lack of foresight, and inequity. Humans have long viewed nature as a mine of resources to take, a force to be overcome or feared, a dumping ground, and a concept that is detached and separated from human existence. This compartmentalization and notion of separation goes deeper when we look at the current medical industry, niched and tailored to the parts without considering the whole.
When going to the doctor for a recurrence of back pain, a patient may first be prescribed over-the-counter medications, like Ibuprofen, to help ease the discomfort. After scans are performed and minimal abnormalities are found, they may be offered physical therapy or be instructed to rest. The same person may be experiencing stress, anxiety, indigestion, headaches, and more ailments seemingly unrelated. But what if there were some correlation here? What if instead of covering up the symptoms of discomfort, we could unmask a deeper root cause and eradicate multiple ailments?
The truth is many doctors aren’t taught to ask questions about food and nutrient intake, emotional wellbeing, relationship status, working environment, or any other emotional and social factors that absolutely have an impact on your overall wellness. A whole body approach to healing is gaining popularity through health and life coaching, as well as integrated nutrition and alternative approaches to medicine, but it has yet to disseminate on any real scale in the healthcare sector where most people receive their care. The other side to this truth is many don’t have the time, energy, focus, or know-how to even approach these kinds of questions.
Humans are biologically inclined to seek pleasure and avoid pain, and when a pill is advertised as a quick fix to making a symptom go away, many of us opt in without even considering there could be an alternative.
This has led to an epidemic of suffering, and I believe pain is inevitable, but suffering does not have to be. As the Dalai Lama offered this wisdom, he went on to say, “...we have bigger houses, but smaller families. More conveniences, but less time. We have knowledge, but less judgements; more experts, but more problems; more medicines, but less health.” Pain will always be a part of life, just as there must be darkness to the light. But suffering comes from resistance to what is and making hardship one’s identity.
The approach I take for health coaching supports people suffering from chronic pain, fatigue, depression, and anxiety who want help in understanding the effects of emotional and physical trauma on the mind and body, seek a personalized journey in working through the healing process, and are open to a new approach to living in a way that is harmonious both inside and out. It’s also for those who may be feeling just fine but want to improve their overall health and wellbeing, understand how experience has shaped who they are, better understand their loved one’s pain and suffering, and/or want to learn to love themselves deeper, strengthen their purpose and connection, and find more interconnected meaning in this life. For those that seek to do their part in the climate crisis and live sustainably on Earth, but struggle with grief, anxiety, or are unsure how to make a positive impact, this approach is also for you.
For those wanting a quick fix to cover up their symptoms or those with closed-minds that believe they have nothing new to learn or try, I likely won’t be able to help you. If you’ve got your mind made up about the way things are, feel free to pass this on to someone who you think it could help.
For those ready to dig in to the often painful path to healing, I invite you to schedule a zero cost consultation and see if I may be the right person to help you on your journey.
In this short video, learn about 3 types of pain. Remember: all pain comes from the brain.
