How often do we listen to and pay attention to the soul?
I listened to a podcast where Dr James Hollis, an American Jungian psychoanalysist and author was interviewed. It's rather long, but packed with such profound wisdom of a 84 year-young man!
Spiritual wellness is one of the 8 dimensions of wellness. Although spiritual wellbeing has yet to be fully embraced in the current medical system, except perhaps in palliative care and for some chronic diseases management, it may really be the foundation of overall health and wellbeing.
(Gruppen, L.D. & Fogarasi, M.,2021)
The traditional Aboriginal model of illness causation emphasises social and spiritual dysfunction as a cause of illness (Maher, P. 1999). In Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is believed nurturing the heart and cultivating one's spirit are essential to achieving the goal of health and longevity that it's more vital to cultivate one's mind than one's physique, as the body and the mind are interwined (She, L. & Zhang, C., 2012). Dr James Hollis says; "What we resist in time becomes pathology, either through platitudinous, superficial lives or embodied as addiction, depressions with those objects upon which the unlived life has been projected."
"What we resist in time becomes pathology, either through platitudinous, superficial lives or embodied as addiction, depressions with those objects upon which the unlived life has been projected."
In our naturopathic reflexology clinic, we frequently but subtly discuss these topics as spiritual welbeing is crucial to holistic healing, which is unfortunately often overlooked in humans...
How do we listen to the soul, our life? How do we maintain harmony within ourselves and evolve?
Dr James Hollis says in his book (2013)
“How different the world would be if each parent could say to the child: “Who you are is terrific, all you are meant to be. And who you are, as you are, is loved by all of us. You have a source within, which is the soul, and it will express itself to you through what we call desire. Always respect the well-being of the other, but live your own journey, serve that desire, risk being that which wishes to enter the world through you, and you will always have our love, even if your path takes you away from us.” Such persons would then have a powerful tool to enable them to change their lives when it was not working out for them. Such persons would be able to make difficult decisions, mindful always of the impact on others, but also determined to live the life intended by the gods who brought us here.”
... what if, we could be that parent to the child within us...
Self-compassion and self-love can make us more resilient in the face of adversity, transform us and improve our overall wellbeing.
Do you listen when the soul speaks?
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