STORY OF A HEALING ARTIST

Healing Arts is my profession and Mind-Body wellness is my passion. The journey to becoming a Healing Arts Practitioner started long before I had any awareness of my life purpose. And just like many others who have undergone transformational shifts in their life, saying “yes” to this mission wasn’t exactly a whimsical decision. There weren’t any beautiful rays of sunshine radiating off of my face or sounds of angelic music blazing in the background.  Saying “yes” was birthed from a place of despair, loss, and grief.  I was in total surrender when I decided to change the trajectory of my life. The “yes” moment came right in the crux of this pandemic that shook the entire world.  Illness, fear, financial strain, and social isolation were on their way to becoming an uncomfortable norm. I was forced to deal with the discomfort of facing the reality of my existence. I had to confront my wounded self, the pains of my past, my insecurities, and my loneliness.  When the world was open, I was able to easily distract myself from dealing with myself.  In isolation, my only company was my own reflection in the mirror. Who am I? What am I here for? What was my contribution to this world? What am I passionate about? What did I want out of my life? The breaking point was losing my job. That was an earth-shaking pivotal moment that brought me into full surrender. Shortly after being laid off, I found myself enrolling at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts Program studying to be a Healing Arts Practitioner.

My story only highlights the dawn of a new beginning in my life. The real journey was all the years leading up to that moment. Finding your purpose, awakening to your true authentic self is the pathway to personal expansion. Doing the intentional work on yourself is the only way to experience that type of unfoldment. Commitment to my healing work throughout the previous years helped me to transcend unhealthy generational imprints, limiting beliefs, low self-esteem, and lack of worthiness. Through meditation prayer, spiritual study, energy work fused with powerful intention I awakened to the truth about myself.  I realized my personal connection to spirit. I realized the beauty of being an empath and how my gifts of being lovingly available to others made me a perfect conduit to express the power of the healing arts modalities. Now my passion is to inspire others to take the courageous steps to heal, transform, and elevate.

THE HEALING JOURNEY

The term “Healing” has been trending a lot lately and the definition of healing spans across a huge spectrum. Demystifying the complexity of various meanings, “Healing” in a simplified sense is creating an intentional focus on an area to unearth the “You” hiding deep down inside of you. The “You” seeking to emerge and express your highest potential. Healing is about resolving negative experiences, reframing limiting beliefs, bringing love to wounds, releasing attachments to unhealthy behaviors, and creating acceptance around every experience that has shaped your life. It’s like taking the juice from a lemon, adding in the life force energy of water and a little loving sweetness to make something enjoyable and appealing. Making lemonade is not a pleasant process. And it certainly isn’t pleasant for that poor lemon with the tough protective outer skin. Squeezing, pulverizing, and discarding excess pulp and seeds just to get to the luscious vulnerable nectar. Once the hard part is over, the process becomes worth it when you get to fully experience what you created.

THE HEALING PROCESS

How do you start healing work? Beginning the healing process doesn’t have to be initiated with any grand gesture. The process naturally involves a series of small simple steps. It is recommended to focus on lighter personal matters as the hard content will emerge when you are ready to handle it. It is important to trust the process and allow things to unfold organically. There can’t be any healing without tapping into the essence of who you are. Take the time to get to know yourself. Here are some practices to consider in the discovery phase:

• Meditate, Meditate, Meditate

Meditation is a beautiful practice offering many benefits to well-being. Within this space, you can activate calmness, create mindfulness and connect to spirit. Meditation isn’t about silencing your thoughts completely; it’s about letting them rise and fall observing them without judgment. Here you will get a better understanding of yourself. Just 10 minutes a day is enough, to begin with. As your practice becomes stronger you will naturally desire to be in that space much longer. The secret element to meditating is focusing on your breath. Slow and steady inhales and exhales.

• Adopt a Journaling Practice

Journal at the beginning and/or at the end of your day.  Write out your thoughts and feelings about anything that comes up. You can do this daily or every other day. Just choose a timeframe that feels the most comfortable for you to practice. Journaling helps to release tension. It also helps you gain clarity and gather insights on topics. I started journaling just to release my emotions and sadness that I couldn’t share with others then it evolved into thoughts, ideas, dreams. I found journaling to be best right after my evening meditation.

• Learn Self-Love: Fill Up Your Cup

Filling your cup is a metaphor for cultivating self-love. Self-love practices are crucial for cultivating strength. This process will help you discover and identify what your mind, body, and heart needs. It is imperative to incorporate learning these practices as it will help you get through the rough patches of the healing process. This step is where devoting time to yourself is important. Put your well-being first, say “No”, set boundaries, be selfish. It is ok. The only question you’ll need to ask is “What brings me joy?” Be sure to answer that question unattached from anything outside of yourself. The pleasure you find within is the secret to loving you.

UNCOVERING THE TOUGH STUFF

Vulnerability with self is just as daunting of a concept as being vulnerable with other people. The tough stuff will come up and it usually rears its little head when you are ready to deal with it. All the inner work you have been doing will have equipped you with the necessary tools to help you move through any difficult wave. This where we cut the lemon open. In this phase, you may want to seek support from others. There are so many gifted people in the world that offer so many creative modalities to support individuals going through challenges. Reiki Masters, Energy Healers, Spiritual Practitioners, Counseling professionals are all great options to pursue guidance. It is important to understand that you are not meant to do this all on your own. Adding in a support system will help you reach depths of inner awareness that would amaze you. Patience and loads of self-love are needed in this phase. Remember processing the difficult stuff that comes up takes time. Here are some tips to help you navigate through this phase:

• Confront your Shadows & Limiting Beliefs

Honor what is coming up and allow yourself to go through the process. Take your time. Shadow work is hard and you will likely uncover answers to a lot of questions. Inner child wounds are likely to emerge and unhealthy habits behaviors will reveal themselves. Heavy reflection and introspection are required.

• Cultivate Self-Honesty

Dishonesty doesn’t work within any relationship dynamic nor will it work within the relationship with yourself. One example of lying to yourself could look like telling yourself that you are not ready to pursue a relationship when your heart is yearning for a loving connection. Resistance will happen and it is natural. Honor yourself by showing up with integrity as you work through your experiences. For practice, look at yourself in the mirror and share a truth that you haven’t been able to express out loud to anyone else. Overall, you just want to get comfortable with your truth.

• Feel it & Release it

Feel into your emotions. Not just the fun ones but all of them. What has been suppressed wants to be expressed and it wants to be released. Write letters to yourself, to your pain, to a person. Start learning about Forgiveness. Cry. Run. Hike. Scream. Do Yoga. Do whatever makes you feel a sense of relief.

• Seek Support

Spiritual advisors, Reiki practitioners, meditation and support groups, YouTube/ Instagram influencers, spiritual communities, counselors &, etc.… When looking for a support system let your heart be your guide. The right person and modality will show up for you at the right time. The comfort and compassionate nature of a supportive stranger is a complete healing experience on its own.

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION AND WELL-BEING

The healing process breaks down your walls. It opens you up and exposes parts of you that were once dormant or hidden. You cannot fake your way to healing and emotional expression is an integral part of the process. The expression of certain emotions gets attached to negative stigma. Most people will only allow themselves to feel only a select few types of feelings, which means they view the suppressed feelings as either weak or not having any real value for communicating. In actuality, our emotions serve as an inner compass to our truth. All emotions are relevant and deserved to be acknowledged and witnessed. EGO, triggers, unrealized fears, insecurities all come into play when we analyze our emotional reactions and behaviors. It is a fact that the suppression of emotions can lead to dis-ease. Many scientific studies support the concept of the mind-body connection surrounding emotions. Pay attention to any physical occurrences that happen on the healing journey. Practice self-care as needed. Here are some inspiring concepts for encouragement during this phase:

• Love, Courage, Compassion

Self-love is more than just stating positive affirmations and indulging in hot bubble baths. It’s really about being Ok with where you are now. At this very moment. It’s about being brave enough to shine your light. It’s about being unapologetic in your being-ness. It’s also about being compassionate when you fall short of your expectations. Loving your wounds, honoring your failures, and accepting every part of the journey, past, and present.

• Honest Expression and Health

Shrinking in the face of anger, depression, disappointment, hurt doesn’t make things any easier and will likely surface in other ways. Your physical well-being can be a direct reflection of your emotional well-being. That is what we call the mind-body connection.

• Inner freedom

The beauty of being in alignment with yourself is the sense of freedom you feel with being dialed in. You start to see others and understand them better. You recognize the value of your inner work. You start to feel love, happiness, and peace unattached to a person, place, or thing. Things that used to bother you no longer do. Be inspired to experience that level of liberation.

CONCLUSION

There is so much power and beauty in this journey. Witnessing your life and way of being transform is a magical experience. I encourage everyone to take the necessary steps to invest in your unfoldment. Fall in love with yourself. Find inner peace and happiness. Open up doors. Attract opportunity. Receive abundance. Find your purpose. Become a beacon of light and encouragement for someone else. The world is going to look even better when you view it from an enlightened state. Out of the cocoon and into a butterfly. I celebrate you and send you so much love.

Peace and Blessings.

Christina L Hall