Healing: The Long View

A very warm Hello to you,  Every morning, before the day wakes fully, I write. It’s a timed writing practice I do that I learnt from the writer and teacher Natalie Goldberg. The rules are simple: set a time, start with a sentence seed, and keep writing for the allotted time without worrying about typos or grammar or even whether the writing makes any sense. Just keep the pen moving. Currently, I take my inspiration from the ten pāramīs, or perfections – interconnected qualities listed in early Buddhist writing that are said to support the spiritual journey. They are: Generosity, Virtue/Morality, Renunciation, Wisdom, Energy/Diligence, Patience/Acceptance/Endurance, Truthfulness, Determination, Friendliness/Loving-kindness and Equanimity. I go where my writing takes me. Sometimes, other words seed my writing, such as courage, healing, gratitude, contentment, freedom, and beauty. I choose one of these qualities that speaks to me on the day then write for five minutes. It always surprises me how such a short practice can offer insight, offer clarity and an open the heart. The word I’d like to focus on in this Holon is healing. Etymologically, the word ‘healing’ represents the idea of ‘restoration to wholeness’ and ‘making whole, sound and well’ and closely aligned to the etymology of the word ‘therapy’ meaning ‘to attend to, do service, take care of, to cure’. I’ve been therapist and holistic health practitioner, teacher and group facilitator for over 30 years, and it’s been the deepest honour to accompany and support thousands of people on their healing journey.  And I’ve been attwnding purposefully to my own therapeutic and spiritual path.  Stepping intentionally into one’s healing journey is a profound act of courage, and a gift to oneself and to future generations. Why future generations? Let me expand.     The need for healing is preceded by a wound, or using its Greek word, a trauma. I tend to think of trauma as the imprint of harmful experiences on the fabric of our being without changing the wholeness of our being. However, here is a general definition of psychological trauma from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014): ‘Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that an individual experiences as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening, and that has lasting adverse effects on the their functioning and their mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing’. Thankfully, over the past few decades the understanding of trauma has grown exponentially, and many healing modalities are now widely on offer. In the spirit of the holistic nature of my work, I see healing from trauma as a multifaceted and deeply collaborative process and am always seeking to cocreate the ‘best medicine’ approach for each client-inclusive of body and mind and heart and soul. A holistic lens, by nature, also locates trauma not just in the one person who carries the wounds but in the systems we live in and the people who have shaped us. None of us are here in isolation, we are all deeply connected to one another, and to all living beings as well as to those who came before us. And we are the ancestors of future generations. Our ancestors’ stories have shaped each of our lives in intricate and multifaceted and even in mysterious ways. The transgenerational legacy makes intuitive sense through the lens of our shared humanity, our interconnectedness and the deep impact we have on each other across the lifespan. However, the psychological inheritance beyond the previous one or two generations is only slowly being understood through scientific means. Resonant with the dynamic nature of all living processes, events in a person’s lifetime can change the expression of their DNA without changing the DNA code itself-this is called epigenetics. Environmental factors can literally “get under the skin” to shape health outcomes by altering gene expression. Psychoanalyst, researcher and author Galit Atlas describes transgenerational trauma as ‘the inherited trauma transmitted from one generation to the next, our ancestors’ trauma passed down as an ‘emotional inheritance’, leaving a trace in our minds and those of future generations’. Emotional inheritance, Atlas defines as ‘the silenced experiences that belong not only to us, but to our parents, grand-parents and great-grandparents’ (Atlas, 2022). Onaje Muid (2006) defines historical trauma, a related concept, as ‘the subjective experiencing and remembering of events in the mind of an individual or the life of a community, passed from adults to children in cyclic processes as ‘collective emotional and psychological injury … over the life span and across generations’. As we are the ancestors of tomorrow, the healing work we do shapes not only who we are now and how we relate to the world around us, but also the very expression of genetic material – the whole, the healed and the unhealed-in generations to come.     Unlike the dominant Western approach to psychology that locates wellbeing primarily in the individual, indigenous people respect the role of kindship between humans, the natural world, Country and Spirit as the foundation of psychological flourishing. Professor Pat Dudgeon, a Bardi woman from the Kimberley, and her colleagues, state the following: ‘Indigenous psychology is imbued with spiritual philosophies about the steward ship of Country or land and guiding relational principles of reciprocity, responsibility, and respect that aim to safeguard, empower and heal communities, and revitalize healing systems…’(2020). I take from this that personal healing is intricately intwined with collective healing, of ancestral repair and a gift to future generations. The Buddha, too, emphasised that we cannot heal in isolation. A famous story (Upaḍḍha Sutta) recounts a conversation between the Buddha and his attendant Ānanda that illustrates this. ‘Sir’ Ananda says, ‘good friends, companions, and associates are half the spiritual life’. ‘Not so, Ānanda!’ the Buddha replies, ‘Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life’. For close to 26 centuries now the sangha, the community that includes all sentient beings, has been at the core of a wholesome life aspired to by Buddhists across the world.   The Buddha’s words remind us that sangha – community- and kind, respectful, caring and reliable connections are container for a wholesome life. However, we may not always feel ourselves part of such communities, in sufficient measure. What may help is to expand the vista of what community means. If it is more than the people we are in contact with it may well include a connection to our ancestors, a spiritual connection and/or connection to all living beings. To foster this connection to all living beings, to cultivate a sense of belonging rights where you are, may I suggest the following practice: its called the ‘Sit-spot’ practice. The ‘Sit-spot’ practice is a simple yet meaningful nature-connection practice rooted in mindfulness and deep observation. It involves regularly visiting the same spot in nature – perhaps a corner of your garden or local park, or a tree, or a place by the ocean or near a lake – any place really that you enjoy. Simply spend a few minutes sitting quietly and becoming fully present with your surroundings. Noticing the sights, sounds and other sense experiences. Observing the coming and going of other living beings. Sensing the touch of the wind or sun, the dryness or moisture in the air, the temperature. Allow the environment to unfold and enfold you, sensing yourself as participant not bystander. Over time, you’ll find, that it cultivates a deep relationship with the land, perhaps offering you a sense of kindship, a sense of place and source of strength and resilience. It’s been lovely writing this piece, hope you enjoy it. Warmly Sabina

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