Peace does not dwell in outer things but within the soul. ~~Francois Fenelen
The human condition is a messy thing. The more the problems of everyday life pile up, the more our soul gets muffled, buried and suppressed. When these issues are left unattended, or when we avoid dealing with them altogether, our soul is guaranteed to suffer.
Although scientists are still unclear about the actual origins of mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression, one thing is clear: the essence of who we are struggles to enjoy life. While medication can assist in relieving symptoms, the problems don’t go away. Psychotherapy can help in understanding how to manage these symptoms and in some cases put the problems to rest, but something deeper often keeps us stuck. It isn’t until we get to the true bottom or core of what caused the upset that releases it from our energetic memory or blueprint. Sometimes this is possible through therapy but at times the residue from our wounds blocks resolution.
Many events leave an energetic imprint on the essence of who we are. Our soul becomes marked, wounded or even suffocated by unfinished business. These wounds stick with us until we decide to resolve these concerns. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to understand and release a particular hurtful experience but if left unattended, these wounds carry over into future lives. Regret is one of the worst afflictions of the human condition, but finding closure can heal anything that injures us at either the human or soul level.
Closure refers to having a sense of peace, understanding and acceptance about a situation, event or relationship. It is the resolution of concerns that once left our soul upset. Once we find closure, our body, mind and soul are liberated from the wounds that once bound us. We are then freed to live our lives with a sense of lightness that could only occur after we’d done the work to move beyond those unseen barriers.
I think of the resilience of trees and how their roots, trunks and branches grow around the things that get in their way or wound them. I’ve seen pictures of barbed wire embedded deeply within the bark of a tree and bicycles hanging from a trunk that grew around it. Roots encircle metal posts or wrap themselves around bricks, concrete or other objects that once wounded their flesh. In all cases, the trees, though wounded, continued to grow but became forever altered or malformed by their past events. Somehow they accepted and adapted to their conditions and grew anyway. But the wounds are still there.
It is much the same with humans. Our lives are altered by the events which negatively impact our lives. This is why we tend to remember the difficult or challenging experiences more than the positive ones—they often leave an unforgettable mark. The difference is that humans don’t often accept and resolve whatever changed our path. We might adapt enough to move around the obstacle, but sometimes these events change the natural course of our life so much so that a deep sadness or regret is carried with us from that point forward. We might continue to live our lives, but they are never the same. Identification of the core initiator of what changed the course in our soul’s evolution and the ability to resolve any leftover emotions or wounds is the only thing that truly restores our inner light.
This relates to the “physics” of the soul. Our soul’s evolution is infinite, but can be altered depending on our human experiences. In the English language the term “inertia” means to do nothing or remain unchanged. However, in the study of physics, the word refers to a property of matter that continues in its existing state of rest or motion unless changed by an external force. With this in mind, our soul’s path is altered when unfortunate experiences of the human condition interfere with its natural progression. As humans, we might go along enjoying life but something happens to disrupt that natural flow. If wounded at a deep level (through tragedy or even betrayal by another human being), our course AND the essence of our soul is forever changed. Our soul becomes imprinted with the wounding event, which often results in a fragmented or fractured energetic foundation. The energetic stability or our sense of self is now impaired. Making peace and healing this wound is the only way to reach whole soul health.
How will you know if you carry an unresolved soul wound? There are many ways to know:
- Is there a time in your life in which you feel everything changed?
- Is there an event—or a series of events—that you revisit when you feel upset?
- Do you still feel troubled about relationships that happened long ago?
- Are there things you regret saying or not saying to someone in your past that go over and over in your mind?
- Is there an emotional wound that seems impossible to heal?
- Are there people in your life that brought strife and hurt but you don’t know why?
- Does there seem to be something deeper than you’ve been able to reach when trying to resolve anger, hurt, jealousy or betrayal?
- Do you continue to have conversations in your head with someone you know or someone with whom you no longer have contact?
These examples and many others may indicate that soul wounds exist and that closure might be necessary to unlock the blockage to heal and move on. Even if there’s something you can’t put your finger on to make peace with a person or situation, it usually means some soul-based healing could be of benefit.
As mentioned, sometimes therapy alone is not enough to make closure with something that hurts. Because the soul’s most natural state is joy and contentment, anything that persists beyond your attempts to heal in traditional ways likely struck in a way to wound your inner ally.
I call myself the Closure Queen because I can’t allow things to go unsaid, unfinished or unattended. I’ve spent a great deal of time, energy and money to release old wounds and I strongly endorse closure activities and rituals to assist not only in healing the human condition but in enhancing your soul’s evolution.
How can you make closure? Many methods are helpful:
- Identify the precipitating event, then ask yourself what you were supposed to learn from that situation.
- Make a list of what you lost at the time you were wounded, then make another one to identify what needs to be reclaimed in order for you to feel whole again.
- Write a soul-to-soul letter to release the pain. While the other party may not be interested, willing or capable of resolving the issue with you, you can still write a letter to their soul that you never mail. Releasing your hurt and frustrations in a soulful way can help you resolve the issues that once bound you.
- Enlist the assistance of a therapist, energy worker, shamanic practitioner or other soul-healing practitioner (depending on preference and accessibility) to help you identify and release what has kept you stuck.
- Schedule an Akashic Record reading, a past-life regression or Soul Realignment session to assist in understanding and resolving issues from this life and prior.
Many more methods exist, but this gives you a few to consider.
The three levels of healing I teach to others includes: 1) intellectual healing—understanding how your wounds resulted from events in your life, 2) emotional healing—the release of emotions embedded in the wounds left by painful events and 3) soul-healing—removing the energetic imprints left on your soul by difficult or traumatic circumstances. While most traditional methods are able to address the first two levels of healing, soul healing goes much deeper.
Give yourself the gift of reaching deeper to release the wounds of the soul.
The soul always knows what to do to heal itself.
The challenge is to silence the mind.
~~Caroline Myss
Katherine T. Kelly Ph.D., M.S.P.H.
With 35+ years of direct clinical experience, Dr. Kelly doesn’t just believe in helping others to heal; instead, her mission is to help them to evolve. Using her own integrative and trademarked framework—the Soul Health Model—Dr. Kelly approaches her work with clients from a “whole person” or “whole organization” perspective. She provides a uniquely progressive, yet down-to-earth approach and is well-known in therapeutic, medical and corporate communities. She thrives as she helps clients and organizations to reach what she calls “conscious evolution” through a variety of self-designed strategies. Her dedication to healing has been widely recognized as she was the recipient of the Provider of the Year Award by the regional Mental Health Association and was nominated as an Incredible Woman for a local community television network, which spotlights role models to inspire young women to pursue their own passions.