CHRYSALIS

The journey begins with attending the soma, the body: the nexus of our psycho-emotional-spiritual lives, the seat of intuition, the storehouse of all unprocessed and unresolved wounds and frustrations — a largely ignored facet of our existence and yet literally the most sophisticated entity in the known universe.

If we accept the well-established notion that the body has self-healing propensities that emerge in the presence of certain conditions, then what are those conditions? And how can we bring them into the sphere of our daily practice? And — here’s a curious question: Why is it that the concepts of spirituality and healing always seem to go hand and hand? This week, we go further into the deceptively simple intention of relaxation as an exploration of embodiment, presence, and possibility.

It is not just us and what we experience. It is us, what we experience, and how we relate to that experience. This week, we deepen the exploration of the Healing Formula (presence + warmth x generosity) and focus on relating to our experience with warmth. In this module, we use the breath as the vehicle of warmth; sending breath to the contracted regions of the body. This lays the foundation for future work within our emotional worlds.

“The owls are not what they seem.” —David Lynch

We live in these subjective worlds, but we actually have no idea. This course discusses inviting curiosity rather than certainty. Learning to notice perception as perception, interpretation as interpretation, and to gently question the stories our mind automatically believes or creates.

There’s a reason why they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day: We can feel the residue of our first meal well into the day. Same thing with the mental impressions we take in. Mental impressions are a form of nutrition as well, and they matter. What you mentally consume first thing in the morning can alter the rest of your day, and the 5-3-1-1 practice is my favorite way of meeting that truth with intention.

As we pivot to the next series, we begin to deepen many of the concepts that we’ve been working with. We also begin to turn away from being self-concerned in our practice and process and begin considering the well-being of others. This lays the groundwork for the heart-awakening of the next course.

Our entire lives flow out of our relationship with ourselves. Yet so often we resort to self-shaming rather than self-compassion when trying to bring about change. In this module, we set the stage for accessing the deeper wisdom within.

Through mind, breath, body, and heart, we explore how personal healing widens our capacity to understand the whole. By listening closely to the wishes we carry for ourselves, we discover a natural pathway towards empathy, connection, and care for others.

At the heart of our inner family is our natural state, our Self-energy, the place from which we reclaim our inherent humanity and remember that we were born whole and full of love. As protective and defensive parts begin to relax and soften, this essential quality of being becomes more accessible.

Aligning lovingkindness phrases with the rhythm of the breath invites a more embodied experience, opening the doorway for self-compassion that can permeate our inner family.

Our practice is to love what is. And when we don’t love what is, we practice loving the parts of us that don’t love what is.

“Commit to an internal experience of love.”
— Elena Brower

We turn towards the heart, allowing afflictions and parts to rest in this compassionate space. Lovingkindness phrases are then gently extended with warmth and a sense of inner care, understanding, and connection.

You are not broken. Your symptoms are meaningful. Every part of you is trying to help. Healing happens not by fixing yourself, but by changing how you relate to yourself. This week we begin gently relating skillfully to our inner worlds — starting with manager parts — practicing unblending and familiarizing our parts to practice.

We are a self made up of non-self parts. This week we practice deep presence and attunement through the “6 F’s,” a structured way to unblend from parts, get to know them, understand their protective roles, and learn what they fear would happen if they stopped protecting. This reveals the material they are guarding and builds trust within the system.

There is who we are, who we fear we might be, who we strive to be to avoid being who we fear we might be, and who we resort to being when our hurt and shame gets triggered. This week we get to know our firefighters — our reactive defenses such as rage, numbing, addiction, dissociation, and compulsive behaviors. Meeting these parts with Self-energy — curiosity, compassion, calm — allows parts to experience that we have more resources than they realize.

“I love you just the way you are,” Mr. Rogers says.

We consciously turn toward our exiled parts in the holding environment of our practice. This is healing that isn’t trying to heal, healing that naturally arises from simply bearing witness, being with. As we bear witness to our exiles’ experiences and burdens, we build trust with our inner system, expand our capacity for adversity, and reclaim our vitality, freedom, and authenticity.

Presence + warmth × generosity = healing

We were born whole, playful, open, and good. Through inner work, we can reclaim this aliveness now. Healing comes from offering our inner children sustained presence, warmth, and genuine care, making sure they truly feel that we are here and there is nothing wrong with them. By reclaiming this inner relationship, we recover our innate goodness, spontaneity, and aliveness, no longer needing to look outside ourselves for what has always been within.

“There’s the suffering that you run from that then follows you everywhere, and then there's the suffering that you turn towards that opens the door.” — Ajahn Chah

This week, we work with our inner critics. Although these voices of self-criticism, doubt, and reactivity seem to sabotage us, we remember that they are protective parts trying to keep us safe from danger. The work, then, is to caringly appreciate them and converse with them so they can begin to act as allies instead of enemies.