Remembering Wholeness
Healing can be thought of as the process of our innate wholeness unfolding. There is wholeness and perfection in every moment of that unfolding, just as there is perfection and wholeness in the seed, the bud, the blossom, and the death of the flower. To be truly healthy is to have an acceptance and appreciation for Life.
The Chinese yin yang is one symbol of wholeness. The circle of wholeness encompasses and embraces both dark and light—duality. In the light is a spot of dark, in the black a spot of white—nothing is completely black or white. Duality is not separate from wholeness, just as death is a part of life and destruction is an inevitable part of every creation.
Wholeness is not an end point. It is a process. Therefore, change is an integral part of wholeness. With change, we move from the familiar (status quo) through an experience of separation and loss and often into discomfort or pain. Stress is defined as our response to change. Resistance to change creates distress.
Buddhism teaches that attachment is the root of all suffering. Aversion is another form of attachment. Both our attachments and aversions result from our resistance to change... to Life.
The Sanskrit word "yoga" implies both the concept of wholeness, or oneness, and the process of connecting (which implies separateness). In the practice of yoga we are intentionally remembering the interconnectedness of body and mind, bodymind and soul, ourself with another, the individual and the collective, humanity and divinity. Similarly, the word "religion" comes from a Latin root meaning to link, or re-link, to reconnect.
Bodymind approaches to therapy, such as the Hakomi Method, are based on this belief in intrinsic wholeness. Hakomi identifies this as the "unity principle". Healing is built-in. The inner wisdom within each of us is what Hakomi calls "organicity". A bodymind approach to therapy pays attention to the many ways that both the body and the mind signal what is needed for the person's healing. With a certain quality of attention, called mindfulness, a state of presence is created that is non-judgemental, aware, non-violent, and spacious.
Tibetan teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, said that "the basic work of health professionals in general... is to become full human beings and to inspire full human beingness in other people." How do we become full human beings who have the kind of energy, attitude, and presence that inspires healing?
The practice of mindfulness is one that embraces and supports healing, as wholeness unfolding, in a way which is nourishing to the soul. Remembering wholeness heals the soul.