Renee, Anchorage, Alaska June, 2013
I wasn’t too interested in core emotional processing when I first went to White Raven Center. I was more accustomed to ‘sit and talk’ counseling sessions that were brief and didn’t get to the core of anything. I resisted feeling my feelings because my mind erroneously told me I didn’t need the help. However, the body never lies. My body tried to tell me this truth for several years, but I ignored every sign and symptom as just being a physical ailment instead of acknowledging that my stress and bottled up feelings were part of what was being manifested. For a long time I didn’t know how to tap into emotions of abandonment, anger, rage, self-hate, fear, grief, trauma and pain. It wasn’t until I went to a workshop that I started to give myself permission to fully release the pockets of energy that were stuck and consuming my life. I had become a master of numbing out and escaping my own body to avoid feeling pain. Now I embrace the pain. I welcome the opportunity to feel what I previously thought I couldn’t survive. I accept my truth and I’m not afraid. As I unpacked loads and loads of emotional sludge, I made room for the love and light. I have gone through a tremendous transformation and energy is still shifting. As my energy has shifted, my relationships have greatly improved. My heart is open to myself and others. I see life differently. I feel hopeful and alive. My prayer for all of our relations, our communities, our world is for this healing and inner peace to be seen as something that is within everyone’s grasp. We are all connected. As I have heard said many times at White Raven Center, “When we heal ourselves, we heal the world.” This is making more and more sense everyday. Life is a beautiful gift and we are a work in progress. I am very grateful for this healing journey and as a keychain that I have says, “the healing journey continues.”