You Are a Healer
*Picture of Christina and Janneke in San Diego, CA
I am hearing more people identify themselves as healers, or use this term as a qualifier for the kind of work they do. But what exactly does being a healer mean?
In the past we may have reserved healing for more medical professions—areas that focus on physical health or recovery. But we are multifaceted beings. We have minds, hearts, souls, and bodies, among other things. Every facet of who we are is in need of care and at times repair.
Through a healer’s specific focus or training they help bring the whole person back into a state of wholeness. You may receive healing through a therapist, chiropractor, acupuncturist, or nutritionist, to name a few. As you process emotional issues you may find that physical ailments begin alleviating. Or as you focus on your diet, your depression begins to lift. Healers see that the physical, spiritual, and emotional are interconnected and work together.
Healing takes place both individually and collectively. As you work toward your own healing, you help heal the people around you. You start relating to others from a place of health, helping to heal unhealthy dynamics. You start repairing what is in your jurisdiction to repair, setting off a ripple effect that extends to our entire inter-connected system—people, animals, and the environment, all the way to the cosmos.
It is important to know that healing isn’t reserved for those who have developed a specific or marketable skill. We are all called to be healers. We each have God's presence inside of us, giving us the divine, innate ability to join with God in healing others and ourselves. We do this through:
Compassionate listening
Speaking the truth
Extending forgiveness
Responding empathetically
Offering hospitality
Serving vulnerable people
Taking care of our own health
Prioritizing the health of others
Caring for creation
Creating beauty
Asking for help when we need it
The list is endless, because the more we heal the more we grow good, life-giving habits and characteristics. We become participants in uncovering and cultivating our individual and collective natural state of wholeness.
During this time of global pandemic and self-quarantine, what in your life needs emotional, physical, or spiritual healing? Perhaps today you can take a moment to address one of these areas, even in the smallest of ways. Remember that you are a healer, capable of restoring wholeness in yourself and others during COVID-19.