Navigating The Healing Journey

Like Peeling The Layers of An Onion

Healing is like peeling the layers of an onion. 

Often when we embark on a healing journey, we may have the expectations of having all our issues, blockages and limiting beliefs healed in one session. We imagine ourselves leaving the healing session completely healed, happy and whole. But in reality, that session might have just opened the Pandora’s box of triggers, resistance and pain that we did not want to experience from our past.

The truth is that healing takes time, and we might not always be able to heal a specific thing in just one go – most of the time we get to peel of one layer at a time, just like an onion, before we get to the core of the issue in question. This is why so many people give up after just trying one type of healing session, because they don’t feel they’ve gotten the results they want, not understanding whether their expectations are what needs to be checked and altered. Maybe you read this and feel dis-heartened - but that is not my intention – I want you to avoid future disappointment and instead be prepared the best way for your healing journey. The truth is that even though it may take time, sometimes many years, for certain issues to be fully healed, all the work, effort, insights and revelations on the way there are so worth it.

Now it’s of course also true that we may experience an “instant healing” in some area of our lives. This often comes down to how ready we are to let this part of us go, from our mind, body and spirit. It’s true that we can do a lot of healing work in just one session, but that doesn’t necessary mean that there isn’t more work to do in the future. This work is truly never ending, and it is an honourable path to take as when we are healing ourselves, we also heal our ancestors and those around us. Each layer we peel off we gain more insight, more clarity and deeper understanding of ourselves and the world, and it’s such a magical journey to be on.

Each layer of healing invites more magic into our life.

In my own healing journey, there has definitely been many ups and downs and layers to unravel. One of the first big healing moments I had for my heart was when I was in deep conversation with my now husband, it was at the start of our dating time together and the love I’d felt from him had gradually been opening my heart up, as if preparing me for this moment. I shared with him a memory of my dad when I was about 11 years old or so, where he was screaming aggressively in my face, for something seemingly not that important compared to the amount of force of anger he projected onto me. In that moment my heart broke, and this in turn created a heart wall for me as a protection. As I told my husband about this, I cried by the memory, and he comforted me at the same time. In that moment I felt this huge energetic shift happening in my heart, and in our minds’ eyes we both saw this upside down purple cone shape released from my heart and floating up into the sky. It felt like such a relief of something heavy and dark within me. The next few moments I felt so alive, and the air around me felt electric, as if I could touch the energetic waves in the fabric of space around me. It was such an expansive experience.

The next few days my heart was so open I felt quite exposed and very vulnerable, and at the same time my intuition had gained a level of clarity I had not experienced before. This lasted for about 2-3 days, and then this feeling slowly started to fade away. Had I known how to integrate my experience better back then, perhaps I’d been able to keep this level of heart energy activated for a longer time. However, in hindsight I also know that there was more healing work to be done around my heart and that it would be a few more years until I felt that heart expansion again, but it gave me hope and an understanding of the healing journey that kept me going and to continue to peel off more layers of old pain and unresolved emotions.

These kinds of experiences are here to tell us that we’re on the right path and give us motivation to keep going. Sometime the signs are subtle, and sometimes they are very intense and impactful memories, either way they are equally an important part of our healing journey.

If you want to get started on your healing journey, or perhaps you have already begun, I’d like to share a few tips on how to navigate this journey easier and how to get the most out of a healing session, no matter what modality you are working with.

What healing intention are you sending out to the Universe?

Steps to prepare for healing session:

1. Set a clear intention, be specific!

2. Visualise & feel the intention.

3. Let go and trust.

First things first – you need to be clear on your intention for your healing session. Pick 1 specific health concern, whether it be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. Write it down in your journal preferably and create an “I am” statement that represents how you will be feeling and behaving once this specific issue has been healed and resolved. For example, if you want to release blockages around not feeling worthy of love, your I am statement might be “I am worthy of love” or “I am lovable”.

Once you have your I am statement ready and you know your intention, it’s time to visualise this new reality. Close your eyes and imagine this new reality as if it has already happened, and really FEEL how this would feel in your body. Do this for a few moments, or for as long as you like. The last step is to let go of this visualisation and trust – trust that Universe (Source/God/The Great Spirit, whatever you want to call it) has your back and will do everything it can to make this wish come true for you. Remember to not attach to any specific way of how this is going to happen, stay open to all possibilities. During your healing session you can bring this I am statement with you along with the feeling of this new reality that you are bringing in.

Connecting with nature can be a powerful way to integrate the new vibration.

How to integrate after a healing session:

1. Reflect on your experience – what came up for you?

2. Write down any particular insights, visions, downloads, ideas and guidance that you’ve received.

3. Write down 1-3 action steps to take to integrate this new energy and vibration into your daily life.

Something I feel is not talked about enough is the integration after a healing session. The truth is that just like we cannot expect to release weight after a gym session while still sticking to a candy binge behaviour, we cannot expect our healing to fully integrate if we go back to old habits that are going against our healing intention. These habits can be certain thought patterns that we are “addicted” to, or other behavioural patterns that are holding us back.

First of all, I highly recommend reflecting and journaling after a healing session. Write down how this experience was for you, if you had any particular emotions, thoughts or memories coming up? Perhaps you had an epiphany that is important to you, or maybe you gained some intuitive guidance from the practitioner, if so, write it down. Are there any conclusions you can draw from all of this? How can you create actionable steps from these insights, that will allow you to maintain this new vibration that you’ve stepped into?

Some practitioners may give you homework, and these are part of the actionable steps to take for integration and are highly recommended to follow. In my 1:1 sound healing journeys I always give a sound recommendation to the client, which will help them with integrating their new vibration into their daily life. These practices may seem simple, yet they are very powerful and important to incorporate into their daily life.

To summarize – embarking on a healing journey is a lifelong mission. Every healing moment peels of another layer of the “onion”, and with each of these layers we gain more insight, clarity and higher vibration to help us onto the next stage of our journey. It’s important to be clear on your intention for healing before a session, to let go of any expectations of how this will happen, and to take actionable steps for integration afterwards.

It is an honour to work on our personal healing journey as we are creating a ripple effect of positive energy to those around us, so it’s always a win-win situation even though we may be faced with challenging moments at times. I wish you all the best on your healing journey!

So much love, light and sound,
Sandra Pavasovic