**This post was originally written for Space of Grace, a holistic wellness center, a project I and the other practitioners have tabled for the time being. Links in this post may be broken.
On our About Us page we refer to Space of Grace as a holistic center, describing it as follows:
“It’s a Holistic center – which means that we consider and take into account the whole of you within the understanding that all aspects of our humanity are interconnected and that misalignments in one part of ourselves or our lives can ripple into other levels and parts of who we are. In the same way, we understand that the individual and the collective, the big and the small are reflections of each other. Facilitating empowerment on an individual level is our way of bringing out the best in humanity and the world at large.”
We expanded on what it means to treat a person holistically in a previous post, but we haven’t yet expanded on the second dimension of holism relating to the part and the whole – the individual and the collective – being mirrors of each other.
When we try to understand this aspect of reality in a ‘linear’ or ‘logical’ fashion, we can generally understand how the world around us and its norms, values, cultures, languages, rules, customs, habits have an impact on each individual. Or in other words, that the individual shapes and molds itself according to its environment, and so becomes a ‘product’ of its environment. We can also understand that society as a whole is made up of individuals and that the sum of individual actions and choices influences and creates the collective outcomes, norms, values, cultures, rules, customs and habits in society. We tend to be able to wrap our heads around these linear cause and effect methods of creation. But when we talk about holism, it goes a step further.
Within holism, we consider that each part creates the whole, but also that the whole exists within each part.
Okay, what now??
Lol – This is where our logical thinking fails us and we have to start taking quantum leaps.
And yet I’m sure you’ve come across and heard of modalities that uses this principle quite clearly. Take foot reflexology. A reflexologist can work with and support each organ in the body solely by working with specific points and parts on the feet. No instruments are used to penetrate the skin and reach the particular organ to for instance massage it, they are all accessed purely through points in the feet. In the same way, body stress release works with the entire body through working with the body’s nervous system.
If we look at humanity, at our collective – each of the ‘phenomena’ we can observe in the world at large, exists in some form or fashion within us as well. On a large scale we have wars, on a personal scale we have internal and interpersonal conflict. On a large scale we have hunger, on a personal scale we don’t nurture our authentic beingness and expression (or not enough). On a large scale we have corporations competing, on a personal level we compete with each other.
When we identify the ‘nature’ of large-scale systems and dynamics, we can find a frequential and resonant ‘match’ of that nature within ourselves. Through participating within those aspects of reality on a personal level, we resonantly, quantumly support, feed and keep those phenomena alive on a collective level. As such, from a holistic perspective, every moment, with every breath, we are collectively co-creating the world at large.
Let’s look at another example:
If we entertain thoughts of spite and vindictiveness within ourselves – we support, feed and strengthen the cancel culture on a larger scale. This means: even if we are not personally involved in specific large-scale events, we still contribute towards them simply by virtue of who we are and what we do in thought, word and deed. It does not matter if we personally, actively campaigned or took actions towards ‘cancelling’ someone – if we blindly accept and allow ourselves to be vindictive and allow ourselves to follow and participate in that energy, we are ‘equal and one the same’ and a resonant supporter of the cancel culture.
Understanding this aspect of reality reveals something significant: personal power. Each of us, has in fact, the power to change the world through becoming aware, specific and directive in terms of what we accept and allow ourselves to participate in within ourselves. With every change we make, we start resonating differently, and so also resonantly support others to let different parts of themselves shine through. No, we are not ‘Gods’ in the sense of having absolute power and control to make others do what we want them to or make the world be different with a moment’s decision, but we do have immense power to change who we are on a personal level, and this in turn, definitively changes the way the river of life flows.
For instance, when we become aware of how the cancel culture exists within ourselves and how we in moments wish to ‘make someone feel how they wronged us’ or ‘make someone pay for their mistakes’ – we have the opportunity to stop, breathe, understand this part of ourselves and choose to live differently. As we change on that personal level, we withdraw our vote, we withdraw our permission on a resonant level for any other events and actions done within the same starting point, and instead vote for compassion, understanding, forgiveness and grace.
The greatest gift we can give the world, from that perspective, is to foster self-awareness, to become attentive and attuned to our thoughts, our emotions, our feelings. To start asking ourselves what goes on within ourselves? What is the nature of our thoughts, energy or behavior? What does that look like on a large scale? Is this who I want to be? And once we see what we’ve been entertaining and tolerating within ourselves for so long, we can reclaim our personal power within our direct sphere of influence: who we are in thought, word and deed.
Because of the holistic nature of reality, we cannot change the world by focusing only on ‘the world’s problems’ using only ‘external tools and methods’. We cannot for instance ‘create peace on Earth’ or ‘peace between countries’ through diplomatic means alone, because on a personal level, we still participate in war, we still wage battles with ourselves and the people around us – if not in deeds, in thoughts and words most definitely. All our external efforts are simply continuously being contradicted by the natures we accept and allow ourselves to live and embody. Creating change externally, from that perspective, requires our actions and our selves to be aligned, to be honest, to be true, to be authentic in terms of what we actually stand for as shown in who we create ourselves to be in the small and seemingly meaningless moments of our everyday lives.
From this perspective, we all have our part to play in the shaping of the world and the legacy we’ll leave to the children, the animals, and the natural world. It starts with us, and it starts with all the little bits that are so readily taken for granted, our thoughts, our emotions, our feelings, our cells, our beingness, our expression. We are a universe unto ourselves and need to change that world first – to then direct our external actions and efforts as an actual expression of who we are – a clear message – aligned actions – then… perhaps… we have a chance to turn the tide.
If you’re not sure where to start in taking responsibility for yourself in terms of what you’ve been creating in your personal life, and contributing to the whole – you can use our free holistic self-assessment tool. The first step is simply to connect and open up to yourself so you can see where you’re at. We cannot do anything about the things we’re not allowing ourselves to see or acknowledge and cannot plot a course to where we want to go if we’re not sure what our current location is. Initiating change will always start with initial resistance – remind yourself why it matters to take that first step, not only for yourself, but for everyone else too – take a nice deep breath… and then go for it!
Commentaires