Holistic therapy starts from the perspective that mind, body and spirit are inseparable.  By valuing and bringing awareness to all aspects of our experience, transformation and healing can unfold naturally.  Our emotions, thoughts, physical senses, dreams, relationships, longings, addictions, joys and pains, everything that arises moment by moment, is of value if we can relate to it mindfully. 

The important thing is not what conditions are like in our lives but how we respond to them.  We can remain stuck in habitual patterns of reaction, or we can begin to see the layers of conditioning for what they are, as repeating patterns of reaction which were formed to help us cope with past difficulties but which may have outlived their usefulness, as expressed in the Biblical passage,

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‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face…’

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or again by William Blake:

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‘If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.’

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In becoming experientially aware of our personal patterns of conditioning we can begin to step away from compulsive reactions and open to new potential responses based on our innate wisdom and compassion

for ourselves and the whole.

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The value of cultivating moment-by-moment awareness is beyond measure.  This can sound so simple and yet it takes ongoing practice and dedication to make this a way of being in our daily lives.  The benefits can only be known by the direct experience of actual practice – no amount of intellectual understanding can replace this.  As with every endeavour though, there is no mountain to climb, no success or failure, only living one mindful moment at a time with as much awareness and presence as we can.

People sometimes question, ‘Yes, but once I’m aware, what do I do then?’, as if there is some other quality beyond awareness that has to be found, when actually awareness is all that is needed.  Actively acknowledging and deeply listening to our embodied experience in the ‘now’ will tell us all we need to know about how to take care of ourselves and how to act with wisdom and compassion.  ‘Trust the process’ is a mantra that can guide us all the way through life.  We are always connected to the whole of life,  inter-dependent, constantly receiving information through our senses which will show us how we can go forward towards healing and wholeness.  We only have to listen and allow ourselves to be guided from within.