The importance of authenticity in healing

About a year ago I decided I needed to network more with the therapists in my area.  I set up a faceook profile that I could use for this.  I added random people that seemed to be working in the healing community in the area and to a certain extent it has been a great success.  I have met some lovely people, formed new friendships and it has been, for the most part, a positive experience. 

However, there has been an undercurrent of messages that has slowly wormed its way into my consciousness, and, it is possible I am going to piss people off for saying this, it what I became aware of was quite disturbing.

I can be a bit slow at times, something starts to filter through and initially all I feel is upset and "less than". After a period of deep listening I come to an understanding of what it is that is bothering me and when that happens I can start to look for the positive lesson in it.  In this case it was a lack of deep authenticity in the range of posts I was reading and those I felt I should make to be seen as a successful and effective healer.

Quite often in the healing and self development circles there is the ethos of "leading by example" and this is often manifested in the belief that we should somehow be more enlightened, more peaceful, more loving and compassionate than the ordinary Joe on the street.  The problem is, most of us just aren't there yet.  The intention is there, but there is still work to be done.

In normal day to day life we don't like to admit we are not perfect so we hide all our embarrassing aspects away and try to look normal.  Consider the level of hiding you have to do to try and be the "enlightened one" that leads by example?  It's almost impossible and actually quite damaging.

Over the past year I have felt I needed to hide my choice in music;  yes, I love Constance Demby's Sanctum Sanctorum, but in actual fact I also love listening to Ministry too.

I felt the need to hide the fact that I ride a motorbike and get drunk at bike rallies, swear, get angry, eat junk food, have controversial opinions, all the human traits that we are led to believe are not "enlightened".  Well, it ends here!

I personally believe that to truly "lead by example" we need to be utterly authentic.  We have to admit we have bad days when we just want to rant, or turn on the metal and kill monsters on the ps3.  Once we have admitted to being human we can then show that we have found solutions, learnt from our experiences, owned our reactions and grown as a result of it.  The yin-yang shows that in our light there is always darkness and in darkness light can be found.  In owning the whole we become more.

I also strongly believe that if we are to lead by example we have to make that example attainable.  It's no good me looking at an ascended master and wanting to be like them because it takes lifetimes to get to that stage.  But, if I can look at someone who has been through hell and not become bitter, then maybe that is something I can achieve and build on.

So, from now on I intend to learn to wear my human-ness  on my sleeve.  I will let people from the healing community see me in my bike leathers, wearing a metal t-shirt and swearing like a trooper.  It is an aspect of who I am and if people don't think it is enlightened enough for them then they are welcome to find someone else.

This in itself doesn't stop me being deeply in love with and connected to Spirit or able to work as a healer in any way, in fact, I would like to think that it not only makes me more approachable it also shows I will not judge others for their lifestyle choices.

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/