Well what a delicious summer we have had. As I acclimatise to the shift in light, the darker evenings always the first indicator of Autumn approaching, I am also getting myself ready to begin the next school year of counselling training.
This summer I have been reading up on the modalities I will be focusing on (swotty I know) and it has left me thinking about this question- “when we engage in any form of self-discovery, whether through therapy, spiritual practices, meditation or shadow work, are we trying to find our way back to who we started out as or are we consciously working to move forward into who we authentically feel we now are? Or are they in fact, 2 sides of the same coin?
Much of what I have read calls for us to undo the impact of our early years and acknowledge the influences of conditioning, inviting back the parts of us that got disavowed because they didn’t help us fit in to society, family, school or friendship groups. On the other side is the understanding that we never stop being constantly re-created in a process (known in Gestalt therapy as selfing) of interacting with our ever changing environment to form new experiences and meaning. This ‘environment’ is the place where ‘I’ end and ‘’other’ begins and in this between, we are being being constantly reformed. Readers of this newsletter know how much I love a liminal space!
The combination of these 2 viewpoints really resonates with me as in my shamanic training we often consider who we would have been had we been born into a healthy tribe. What would we have become if the pure seed that we started life as, was guided and our talents honed by our elders? Who would we have moved into after experiencing the challenging initiations meant to shake us into adulthood and force us to know and trust ourselves better? Maybe it is between these 2 states that we find a true sense of belonging, a fitting in by being ourselves.
We are always creatively adjusting through the lens of our personal history in response to the situation we find ourselves in at this current moment in time. As a trainee therapist, my hope is to walk alongside the client as they cultivate an awareness of such a process. Interestingly, in exactly the same way, the tea offers to walk alongside us too as we take up its invitation to drink and enjoy the calm alpha-brain wave state it induces.
By bringing us into a more meditative state of consciousness, we might notice when we are caught up in patterns, feelings and automatic actions that don’t make sense. The tea quietly suggests stopping for a while and allow enjoyment in getting to know ourselves better as we head towards freedom and wholeness and everything along the way.
Wishing you all of Autumn’s delights and we look forward to talking to you again in October
Anne and Ric x