We are in this life to enlarge the soul, liberate the spirit, and light up the brain.
~~Tom Robbins
When it comes to our soul’s evolution and healing, it is imperative that we free ourselves from the many layers of the human condition that wear us down and hold us back. By learning to let go of the many burdens of daily life, we can liberate ourselves from that which binds us. This frees our innermost self to return to its most natural state of joy and contentment. Without this process, our souls remain buried under the thoughts and emotions that first caused our misalignment.
I was recently asked to explain what soul healing really is. I provided an explanation of a spectrum of resolution that ranged from helping people understand and release simple wounds and hurts they had incurred over their lifetime to the deep, energetic imprints that influence every aspect of our lives—particularly situations in which we are viscerally fractured or fragmented from trauma or other unthinkable circumstances in this lifetime or any prior. While some soul healing occurs simply by changing our mindset or thoughts, it is often the deeply embedded energetic injury that triggers us when least expected. In these cases, skillful removal and co-facilitated healing (between a person and their specially-trained practitioner) is necessary to fully dissolve residual soul-based injuries. Regardless of the depth of the wound and extensiveness of the healing method, without a conscious release of the emotional wound that is held within, liberation won’t occur. It just won’t happen.
After nearly thirty-eight years of working in the field of mental health, I am more certain than ever that the emotional storage or “warehousing” of unresolved issues is the barrier to healing the soul—our innermost ally. It is also what blocks both our human as soul evolution. The essence of who we are cannot live freely unless the debris of the human condition is cleared away. We will never return to the desired state of joy unless we do our work—the conscious exploration and remediation of that which distanced us from joy to begin with.
The main problem is that many have lived in the rubble of their human condition for so long that they don’t know anything different. They maintain the unhealthy behaviors they learned or saw as children. Some enter the same kinds of undesirable relationships over and over again. Others remain mired in old patterns because they can’t see beyond the filter of their familiar lives.
Another issue most people don’t always understand when mired in the layers of their rubble relates to the understanding of future lifetimes. You see, if we don’t clear unresolved issues, it carries over into the next life in one way or another. Our emotional warehousing in our current life guarantees we will return to experience discomfort in future lifetimes. If we have learned what we are supposed to by the circumstances we have found ourselves in, then chosen to release the energetic buildup, we find ourselves free from what burdened us or held us back. We liberate ourselves from the binds of the human condition so we can evolve as souls.
Until we clean our internal house, our innermost self will never see the light of a liberated life. We will not reach the radiant state that is rightfully ours.
Soul healing can look a lot like therapy. In fact, without knowing it, therapists, psychologists, social workers and other mental health professionals likely work toward resolving matters of the soul more than any other field—even if they don’t know they are doing it. However, to achieve true soul health, it is often necessary to seek the assistance of a soul-based practitioner to reach the core of an energetic soul wound. It is only in dissolving and redirecting this energy that a person finds themselves liberated.
During a review session in my Soul Health Scholars Level One certification a few weeks ago, I asked, “What has changed in studying the concept of soul health?” The first person who answered emphatically said, “That the soul is present in EVERYTHING!” She hadn’t known this before starting the course, but has since recognized that all that we are is represented in how the soul shows up in every aspect of life. Others noted their newfound awareness of the importance of emotional healing, while some acknowledged insight into the interconnected nature of each branch of the human condition (as depicted in my Soul Health Model™).
When we are buried under the human condition, our true self cannot express itself. It cannot breath nor expand. As Moche Dayan said, “Freedom is the oxygen of the soul.” He was the former Minister of Defense in Israel, who later became a crusader for peace. While he said this about freedom from war, the independence from anything that imprisons a person applies here as well.
I feel compelled to remind you of an interesting fact I’ve shared before. As a bit of a word nerd, I like to research the entomology of words—where they originated and how they evolved. Several years ago I became curious about the words “heaven” and “hell”, knowing that they are now used primarily as religious terms. Interestingly, the word heaven originally meant “big sky” and nothing more. Conversely, the word “hell” was used to simply describe something that was “kept hidden”.
Upon learning this, it confirmed to me that the soul’s hell occurs when our innermost self is kept obscured in some way. When we cannot be our true selves, we feel misaligned, inhibited and even depressed. When the essence of who we are is hidden—or even buried beneath something (in the case of healing, it is our wounds that bear down on us), it is guaranteed that we will suffer. Only the release and liberation of that which burdens us will free us from the hell we experience within.
This may seem dramatic, but it is the crux of soul healing. In fact, it is the root of ALL forms of healing—physical, psychological, social, interpersonal, intellectual/occupational, environmental, financial, spiritual, sexual and recreational. In explaining the “soul side” of the human condition to the participants in my Soul Health Scholars course, it became apparent that the soul does, in fact, influence every aspect of who we are. It is only in the release and resolution of all concerns related to the human condition that we liberate ourselves and evolve beyond our challenges.
Throughout my book, Soul Health: Aligning with Spirit for Radiant Living, I say many times that “we must clean out before we can fill up”. I emphasize that each aspect of who we are needs attention. We must become stewards to our soul in both proactively releasing that which no longer serves us and restore ourselves with things that nourish us at a deep level. We cannot absorb the goodness of life if we are blocked by the many layers or wounds that altered our most natural state. It is not only our responsibility to tend to our innermost self; it is also our duty—both for ourselves and all whose lives we touch along the way.
Liberation is an uplifting word. While healing may not feel pleasant or seem appealing, doing our work frees our soul from the captivity of the human condition. Deliverance, then, is the reclaiming of our true and unencumbered self—the freeing of our innermost and most valuable asset. Our soul.
What are you willing to do to free your innermost ally?
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.